Tobacco.org

Picture this and Stop Smoking 

A smoking heart, burning fingers and a snake coiled around the shisha pipe are among the five graphics that will be used as warnings on tobacco products in the country soon.

People can expect to see these pictures, acquired exclusively by Khaleej Times, on cigarette packets and other tobacco products as soon as the Emirates Standardisation and Metrology Authority (ESMA) finalises the standardised packaging procedures being implemented GCC-wide.

The graphics that will replace the written word will be revised every one to two years. Nearly half of the cigarette pack will be covered by the pictures.

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Michigan bans smoking in grandstands, suites 

Michigan International Speedway's seating, mezzanines, concession and restroom buildings, suites and chalets will now be smoke-free, according to a track release.

The announcement follows a state measure banning smoking in public places which will take effect May 1.

Michigan hosts two NASCAR race weekends this season.

"Not only are we adhering to the law, but we are addressing a growing number of concerns from our race fans who do not smoke," MIS President Roger Curtis said in a news release. "Race fans who smoke can still do so in approved areas.

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Worldly Renowned Artistic Figures Attend Cuba´s Cigar Festival  

Enthralled by the international impact Cuban cigars have in commerce and tourism, a bunch of renowned artists, musicians and sportspeople are attending the 12th Habano Festival underway in Havana.

Invited by Grammy Award winner Chucho Valdes, Brazilian singer Ivan Lins and the Portuguese interpreter Mariza are among the musicians. . . .

Other of the illustrious guests is Christopher Menaul, from Great Britain, a television and movie director who won the BAFTA Prize of the British cinema.

The organizers are eagerly awaiting the arrival of British soprano and actress Sarah Brightman, internationally famous for interpreting the so-called Classical Crossover. . . .

British film producer Stephen Evans, who´s produced 14 pictures and obtained 11 Oscar nominations . . .

Mia Maestro, the Argentinean young actress . . .

Among the sportspeople is Spanish golf player Miguel Angel Jimenez

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As Habano Cigar Sales Drop, Exiled Smokers Shrug  

On Tuesday afternoon, four Cuban goombahs were halfway into the third round of their daily dominoes game at Macabi Cigar Factory.

​Heli Montoto slammed one of the white pieces on the table and taunted his partner, Jacinto Perez, "Put on your batteries, man."

The two had already lost two games to Adrian Lopez and Jorge Azze, two other middle-aged, tanned exiles with huge cell phone holsters on their belts. Earlier in the day, El Nuevo Herald eagerly announced in splashy, colorful graphics that sales of Habano cigars had dropped eight percent from last year to $360 million.

Cubans blame the economy and the global anti-smoking lobby for damping sales But these guys had other theories. Of course. "The anti-smoking, the economy - those are all factors," Lopez said. "But the Habano is not what it used to be. It's the regime's fault." Azze chimed in: "It's always Fidel's fault."

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Cigarette may have caused fire in Griggsville that killed Pamela Cadwell 

GRIGGSVILLE, Ill. -- A spokesman for the Illinois state fire marshal's office says a cigarette might have caused a fatal house fire early Tuesday morning.

Pamela L. Cadwell, 58, was found near the door of a utility room on the north side of the house and was pronounced dead at the scene

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Drinking, Smoking Often Intertwine for Students 

Mark and Mimi Nichter have published a series of articles recently about the smoking behaviors of college students, offering important insights about smoking related to drinking, gender and stress.

Interventions against alcohol consumption targeting college-age students have tended to focus solely on drinking without including any discussion of tobacco.

This is concerning to University of Arizona anthropologists Mimi Nichter and Mark Nichter, whose research indicates that, among other key findings, college students in social settings often smoke and drink in tandem.

As a consequence of years of research, the two conclude that preventative interventions should be structured in a way that drinking and smoking are addressed simultaneously.

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Missing data assumptions and methods in a smoking cessation study. 

Aim

A sizable percentage of subjects do not respond to follow-up attempts in smoking cessation studies. The usual procedure in the smoking cessation literature is to assume that non-respondents have resumed smoking. This study used data from a study with a high follow-up rate to assess the degree of bias that may be caused by different methods of imputing missing data. . . .

Findings

The most important predictors of SHS exposure were modifiable factors—whether people smoke in the house on most days, whether the parents smoke and whether the children are looked after by carers who smoke. Children from more deprived households were more exposed and this remained the case even after parental smoking status has been controlled for. Exposure over time has fallen markedly among children (59% decline over 11 years in geometric mean cotinine), with the most marked decline observed in the period immediately preceding smoke-free legislation. Declines in exposure have generally been greater in children most exposed at the outset. For example, in children whose parents both smoke, median cotinine declined annually by 0.115 ng/ml compared with 0.019 ng/ml where neither parent smokes (P < 0.05).

Conclusions

In the 11 years leading up to smoke-free legislation in England, the overall level of SHS exposure in children as well as absolute inequalities in exposure have been declining. Further efforts to encourage parents and carers to quit and to avoid smoking in the home would benefit child health.

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• Trends in and predictors of second-hand smoke exposure indexed by cotinine in children in England from 1996 to 2006. 

Findings The most important predictors of SHS exposure were modifiable factors—whether people smoke in the house on most days, whether the parents smoke and whether the children are looked after by carers who smoke. Children from more deprived households were more exposed and this remained the case even after parental smoking status has been controlled for. Exposure over time has fallen markedly among children (59% decline over 11 years in geometric mean cotinine), with the most marked decline observed in the period immediately preceding smoke-free legislation. Declines in exposure have generally been greater in children most exposed at the outset. For example, in children whose parents both smoke, median cotinine declined annually by 0.115 ng/ml compared with 0.019 ng/ml where neither parent smokes (P < 0.05).

Conclusions

In the 11 years leading up to smoke-free legislation in England, the overall level of SHS exposure in children as well as absolute inequalities in exposure have been declining. Further efforts to encourage parents and carers to quit and to avoid smoking in the home would benefit child health.

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A new approach to the diagnosis of tobacco addiction. ($$) 

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Commentary on Sims et al. (2010): The decline in passive smoking. ($$) 

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Commentary on Sims et al. (2010): The decline in passive smoking.  

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RAK Bans Shishas on Corniche 

The Ras Al Khaimah Municipality on Monday issued a new law banning smoking of shisha in the Al Qawasim Corniche area and prohibiting littering, spitting and throwing cigarette butts on the streets and in public places in the emirate.

Mubarak Ali Al Shamsi, Chairman of Ras Al Khaimah Municipality, said the law was issued after receiving complaints from several residents about prevalence of bad habits including littering especially among youths and visitors of the Corniche area, which has increasingly become a popular outing destination for families.

Law No. 5 of 2010, which came into effect from the date of issue, supersedes any laws issued earlier regarding the protection of public health and 
environment.

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Doctors say victims of lung cancer are getting younger  

Lung cancer victims are getting younger because of smoking and unhealthy lifestyles early in their lives, health officials here said.

Dr. Donna Tubera, head of the city epidemiology and surveillance unit, said smoking at an early age is a key reason people are getting lung cancer early.

She said the cold weather in this city could be one of the reasons for early smoking.

She said, however, that teenagers are lured into smoking mainly because of peer pressure.

"In our study, we found out that [some] smokers were high school students who started smoking because of peer pressure," she said.

She said smokers who are diagnosed with lung cancer are usually in their 40s and 50s.

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It’s all joy for tobacco farmers 

Tobacco farmers from Migori, Kuria East and Kuria West districts continue with their lavish lifestyle as their payouts were boosted by more than Sh30 million this week.

The leaf-buying companies are paying them daily through local banks.

Long queues have become the order of the day in local banking halls as the growers receive their payments from BAT Kenya, Alliance One Tobacco and Mastermind companies.

Staff at the Migori Postbank on Monday said they were paying up to 500 farmers a day.

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• Recession forces cocaine gangs to move into the booming illegal cigarette market 

A massive shipment had been taken off the streets, but nobody was caught. It’s a familiar pattern in the booming and expanding cigarette smuggling trade, which cost the exchequer €400 million last year in taxes and duties forgone.

Senior gardaí who spoke to The Irish Times said that during the Troubles the contraband and counterfeit cigarette trade was dominated by the Provisional IRA. Many of those involved were based in Co Louth, across the Border in South Armagh, and at a number of other locations along the Border.

The proceeds of the trade – and that of diesel laundering and smuggling, which the Provisional IRA also specialised in – mainly went to “the movement”.

“At the height of it they weren’t only funding a terrorist campaign both here and in Britain – they also had to find money to look after their people, prisoners’ families and so on,” said one Garda source.

The same source said while republicans were responsible for sourcing and importing the cigarettes, they worked with “ordinary decent criminals” in the distribution of the contraband around the country.

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