Tobacco.org

• Sandro, known as Argentina's Elvis, dies 

Argentine singer Sandro, whose gyrating pelvis and romantic ballads brought comparisons to Elvis Presley and made him the first Latin American to sing in Madison Square Garden, died Monday of complications from heart and lung transplant surgery. He was 64.

Sandro, who recorded 52 albums, acted in 16 movies and was awarded a Latin Grammy for career achievement in 2005, suffered from chronic lung disease that led to the Nov. 20 surgery. He died at the Italian Hospital in the Argentine city of Mendoza, said Dr. Claudio Burgos.

Born Roberto Sanchez in 1945 in Buenos Aires . . .

Last year, in one of his final interviews, the singer blamed his smoking habit for his long illness.

"I am debilitated because I cannot move. My life is my bed, my spot in the dining room where I read the newspaper, and from there I do not move," Sandro told Mitre radio of Buenos Aires. "I am to blame for the condition that I am in. I deserve it; I sought it out. I picked up this damn cigarette."

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I am debilitated because I cannot move. My life is my bed, my spot in the dining room where I read the newspaper, and from there I do not move. I am to blame for the condition that I am in. I deserve it; I sought it out. I picked up this damn cigarette.
Latin pop icon Sandro (Roberto Sanchez), who recorded 52 albums and acted in 16 movies. He died Jan. 4 after battling emphysema.

Italian parents stage 'Avatar' protest 

"Avatar" is sparking protests from parents' groups in Italy where the James Cameron blockbuster bows Friday with a controversial general admission rating. . . .

Elsewhere the MPAA's PG-13 rating for "Avatar," "for intense epic battle sequences and warfare, sensuality, language and some smoking," has been echoed by age restrictions in most countries, such as 12 in Germany, a 12A (accompanied) in the U.K., and 14 (accompanied) in most of Canada. Exceptions include Quebec and France where "Avatar" has also hit screens unrestricted.

In Italy, the "Avatar" general admission rating prompted the Italian parents org Moige to complain that "the decision represents a discrimination against the protection of Italian children,"

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• What's in a Cigarette? FDA to Study Ingredients  

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In June, tobacco companies must tell the FDA their formulas for the first time, just as drugmakers have for decades. Manufacturers also will have to turn over any studies they've done on the effects of the ingredients.

It's an early step for an agency just starting to flex muscles granted by a new law that took effect last June that gives it broad power to regulate tobacco far beyond the warnings now on packs, short of banning it outright.

Companies have long acknowledged using cocoa, coffee, menthol and other additives to make tobacco taste better. The new information will help the FDA determine which ingredients might also make tobacco more harmful or addictive. It will also use the data to develop standards for tobacco products and could ban some ingredients or combinations.

"Tobacco products today are really the only human-consumed product that we don't know what's in them," Lawrence R. Deyton, the director of the Food and Drug Administration's new Center for Tobacco Products and a physician, told The Associated Press in a recent interview.

While the FDA must keep much of the data confidential under trade-secret laws, it will publish a list of harmful and potentially harmful ingredients by June 2011. . . .

The real test is whether the FDA acts on the information it receives, said David Sweanor, a Canadian law professor and tobacco expert. Canadian authorities are collecting similar data, but they haven't taken much action based on it, which is critical, he said. The European Union also has similar submission requirements.

Myers warned that a list of ingredients or an unexplained product label is "just as likely to mislead as it is to inform"

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• Expert:Tax hike has little effect on tobacco use  

The tobacco industry's profits and taxes levied by the government in 2009 reached 513.11 billion yuan, 55.93 billion yuan more than 2008, or rising 12.2 percent, the State Tobacco Monopoly Bureau spokesman Zhang Xiulian said on Thursday in Beijing.

Of the amount, 416.3 billion yuan belongs to taxes, rising 86.4 billion yuan over a year ago, or 26.2 percent on 2008, Zhang said.

However, although the hike of tobacco taxation by the government has increase its financial coffers, it has little effect in controlling and reducing public tobacco use.

"The adjustment did not result in ‘tax price linkage' effect. It has little impact on tobacco sales and thus has little effect in tobacco control," said Hu Angang, professor of the School of Public Policy and Management (SPPM) of Tsinghua University and director of the Center for China Studies of Tsinghua University.

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Student nurses should quit smoking as part of training 

Student nurses who smoke should be encouraged to quite as part of their training, say researchers.

They found nursing students were twice as likely to smoke as the general public and, as a result, say smoking cessation should be incorporated into nurse training courses.

The Italian survey of 800 student nurses, published in the Journal of Advanced Nursing, found 44 per cent were current smokers. A further 12 per cent said they were former smokers.

Additionally the results suggested 37 per cent smoked up to five cigarettes a day and 4 per cent smoked more than 20.

Study author Anna Maria Tortorano, a professor at Milan University’s department of public health, said: “Smoking prevention is an important issue and healthcare professionals, especially physicians and nurses, can play a major role in helping people to understand the consequences that smoking can have on their health and their lives.

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Campus battle to butt out  

Muhammad Haroon has talked to dozens of student smokers in the last five months on campus.

The second-year University of Toronto life sciences student spends his spare time urging his peers to quit smoking for the good of their health.

"Reducing tobacco use was a cause that really attracted me. I find it really interesting directly speaking with students to help them quit," said Haroon, 19, who is the team leader for the Leave the Pack provincial program at U of T.

"I've realized through speaking to smokers how tough it is to quit. They often relapse and fall back especially when there's exams, school stress, or peer pressure when you're going out to clubs," Haroon said.

Haroon is a leader at one of the 51 Ontario and university and college campuses, helping students to quit.

Haroon is promoting a provincial quit-for-cash contest called "wouldurather."

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• Chinese cities set to order ban on smoking 

To protect people from exposure to secondhand smoke, seven cities in China will take the first steps in creating legislation on stopping smoking at public venues and workplaces.

Under the project, jointly held by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease(UNION), the cities - Tianjin, Chongqing, Shenyang, Harbin, Nanchang, Lanzhou and Shenzhen will implement a smoking ban in public and in workplaces.

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• National Non-Smoking Week Kicks Off 

Ontario is teaming up with the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario, Ontario Lung Association, Canadian Cancer Society - Ontario Division, and Ontario Federation of Indian Friendship Centres to encourage Ontarians to become smoke-free at today's launch of National Non-Smoking Week 2010.

The province is promoting the National Non-Smoking Week theme of "Quitting is contagious, pass it on!" which is based on research that indicates it is easier for people to quit smoking when others in their social circle also kicked the habit.

Ontario's Smoke-Free Ontario Strategy, one of the most comprehensive strategies in North America, has surpassed its goal of reducing tobacco consumption by 20 per cent by 2007

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Woman who quit smoking now helps others stop 

Neace got so fed up with the cost and social side-effects of smoking she decided to do something about it. She enrolled in a smoking cessation class offered through the Boyle County Health Department.

Eight smoke-free months later, Neace is beginning a new year with a lighter chest and a heavier wallet.

On Thursday, she spoke to a new class of quitters at the health department about her struggles and victories on the road to becoming a non-smoker.

"The only way that this class is going to be successful for you is if you're here for your own benefit," she told the new students. "If you're here because somebody else wants you to become a non-smoker, it's probably not going to work for you."

Neace said quitting successfully is an amazing feeling.

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MARTIN: Do cigarette taxes reduce smoking? My lungs say yes  

​Confronted with a gaping hole in the budget, Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson has proposed a tax hike on cigarettes. Parkinson wants to raise the tax from 79 cents a pack to $1.34.

Politicians tax smokers because they're outnumbered by nonsmokers. Taxes on tobacco also have the virtue of saving lives. According to the American Lung Association, every 10 percent increase in the price of cigarettes reduces consumption by about 4 percent.

My experience tells me the statistic is true. I was once a 4 percenter.

I had started smoking in college. A lot of college students smoke when they drink or are stressed about their coursework. I tend not to dabble in things. The route from being a tobacco-free to someone who liked to light up before and after a 9 a.m. class was short and direct, in my case.

As a new but enthusiastic smoker, I imagined that I would discard the habit . . .

The cigarette tax that motivated me to quit did not occur, incidentally. The state legislature rejected the governor's proposal. But the budget problems did not go away, and in 2005, the tax went up an additional 70 cents per pack.

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Nicotine Replacement Therapy Does Not Increase Mortality in Critically Ill Smokers in the ICU 

Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) is not associated with increased hospital mortality in critically ill active smokers, according to a new observational study from the Mayo Clinic.

Lead author Rodrigo Cartin-Ceba, MD, senior associate consultant and instructor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, reported the results during an oral presentation here at the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) 39th Critical Care Congress.

He said that NRT is often given to smokers admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) to prevent their withdrawal. "However, the safety of NRT in the critically ill has not been very well studied, and current data are controversial."

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Abra tobacco farmers get financial assistance 

Tobacco farming in Abra is a single cropping season. Because of this, tobacco farmers are idle during the second cropping and are therefore left without an income during the rest of the year.

In response to this problem, and in order to enhance the productivity of the tobacco farmers and increase their family income, the National Tobacco Administration (NTA) has adopted a special program to capacitate them to have a continuing activity all-year round.

For some years now, the NTA had been providing soft loans to the tobacco farmers in the province to help them do rice farming after the tobacco season.

For this year, since the repayment of loans given out last year had not been very successful due to the damages caused by typhoon Ondoy, NTA devised a mechanism to source funds for the rice farming activity of the tobacco growers. The funds distributed to the farmers as loans are the repayments of the loans of the previous year which are rolled back to the same farmers

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GHIMIRE: Killing Oneself With Tobacco 

I often ask my husband what is there in smoking, and every time he says that he smokes to relax and to rid himself of tensions.

To convince him to stay away from smoking, I have told him what the doctors and researchers say: that nicotine in tobacco makes one an addict. The same substance leads to various diseases, including cancer. I also tell him that his breath stinks and is disgusting, but he refuses to give up smoking. . . .

The workshop ended with an appeal to minimise the number of deaths caused by the use of tobacco. No sooner had I finished this long presentation than my husband lighted another cigarette and said he was highly impressed by the presentation. Can you tell me how I can convince my husband and many other people to give up smoking?

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AUDIO: Risks of tobacco smoke to pets podcast 

Dr. John Reif, professor at the Colorado State University College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, talks about the health risks of tobacco smoke to pets.

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Bulgarian tobacco producers to organize petition for cancelling Lisbon Treaty clause 

Bulgarian tobacco producers will organize a petition for cancelling a Lisbon Treaty clause, Fikret Bekir, chairman of the Association of Tobacco Producers in the village of Listets, told FOCUS – Shumen Radio. The petition will call for permission to grow tobacco after 2013.

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