Tobacco.org

Smokers fuel prediction of steep rise in lung disease 

DUBAI // The prevalence of a progressive and irreversible lung disease is increasing rapidly.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) affects 4 per cent of the Abu Dhabi population, according to a study by UAE University, Zayed Military Hospital and the Emirates Allergy and Respiratory Society (Ears).

Worldwide, the disease, caused mainly by smoking and characterised by severely restricted breathing as a result of lung damage and inflammation, affects between 2 and 9 per cent of the population, placing Abu Dhabi slightly below the average.

However, with smokers making up nearly a quarter of the adult population in the emirate, experts project that the prevalence of COPD could increase to 7 per cent in the next five years.

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• PepsiCo Unions Seek NLRB Help to Combat Company’s $50 Tax on Fat, Smoking  

Teamster union members at PepsiCo (PEP) Inc. in upstate New York are seeking National Labor Relations Board help to fight the company’s health-care policy that charges employees $50 a month when they smoke or have medical issues that may trigger weight gain.

Three International Brotherhood of Teamsters locals, representing about 300 drivers, sales agents and warehouse workers in Binghamton, Latham and Syracuse, complained to the labor board in October. PepsiCo is hindering the union’s effort to shop for a health plan without a “sin tax,” said Ozzie Martucci, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 669.

“We’re against that type of tax, frankly,” Martucci said yesterday in a phone interview. “It feels wrong to tax workers if they are overweight or happen to have diabetes or smoke, and we wanted to look elsewhere for different insurance.”

PepsiCo (PEP) workers can avoid the fee if they join programs to stop smoking or lose weight, said Dave DeCecco, a company spokesman. “These programs enable our associates and their families to live a healthier lifestyle,” he said.

The fee is applied to smokers, as well as to workers who have diabetes, hypertension, high blood pressure or asthma, conditions that often lead to being overweight, he said.

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Plain-pack case strong, says Roxon  

In its defence filed with the High Court, the government argues its plain packaging laws do not amount to an acquisition of the companies' property, because they do not deliver to the Commonwealth or anyone else ''any identifiable and measurable benefits or advantages''.

It argues that the rights of the companies as trademark owners have always been subject to other laws. It also argues the companies use the trademarks to maintain or increase the consumption of cigarettes, which was harmful to the public and the public interest.

High Court judges have previously held that ''just terms'' were not required for laws ''which provide for the creation, modification, extinguishment or transfer of rights'' in ''areas which need to be regulated in the common interest''.

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Electronic Cigarettes Debated At Legislature 

A bill that would ban the sale of smokeless electronic cigarettes to minors and impose the 70% tobacco tax on the devices was briskly debated at the state Legislature today.

All of the testimony favored a ban on sale of the products to minors but more than 1,000 individuals and companies protested imposition of the tobacco tax on “e-cigarettes”.

The devices deliver vaporized nicotine mist to users but contain no tobacco and generate none of the carcinogenic smoke generated by a burning cigarette, proponents said.

State Health Department Director Loretta Fuddy told members of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, “There is very little known about the long term health effects of the use of e-cigarettes or the vapors given off. Recent studies have shown that within one liquid nicotine cartridge there is enough nicotine to cause serious illness or even death.” . . .

Cory Smith, president of local retailer Volcano Fine Electronic Cigarettes, said the product actually helps tobacco smokers quit their habits and produces none of the second-hand smoke issues associated with traditional tobacco cigarettes.

"The tohacco tax is aimed at deterring tobacco use and generating revenue to pay for health care costs associated with tobacco-related harms,” Smith said.

"Since the research thus far indicates that e-cigarettes show promise as a means to deter tobacco use and thereby reduce the cost of tobacco-related harms, it makes no sense to subject e-cigarettes to the tobacco tax,” Smith said.

Taxing e-cigarettes at the 70% tobacco rate would shut down his business and drive customers to the internet

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Norquist asks Mass. lawmakers to reject tax hikes  

Anti-tax activist Grover Norquist called on Massachusetts lawmakers to reject what he termed "lifestyle tax increases" proposed by Gov. Deval Patrick, saying hikes in taxes on tobacco products and soda would hurt the state's economy while doing little to encourage healthier habits.

Norquist, a Massachusetts native who heads Americans for Tax Reform, recently sent a pair of letters to members of the state House of Representatives and Senate, who will be considering the proposed tax increases as part of a $32 billion state budget for the fiscal year starting July 1.

"As you work through the budget process, I encourage you to focus on cutting the fat in government, rather than trying to control the personal choices of your constituents through misguided lifestyle taxes," he wrote.

Patrick has proposed hiking the cigarette tax 50 cents from $2.51 to $3.01 per pack and doubling taxes on smokeless tobacco, cigars and other tobacco products. The increase is expected to generate $73 million in revenue that would be used to help offset the cost of a recent ruling by the state's high court that legal, non-citizen immigrants are eligible to enroll in Commonwealth Care, the state's subsidized health insurance plan.

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How Are Hookah Bars Still Legal? 

Are hookah bars legal?

That's the real question you should be asking, as the law treats hookah smoking and cigarette smoking the same, as they are both tobacco products regulated by the same statutes.

As cigarette smoking decreases, hookah use seems to be rising, particularly amongst the younger generations, possibly contributing to the perception that hookah bars are legal while cigarette smoking is not.

This is actually not the case, as many hookah bars operate illegally.

The reason for this is the state of smoking laws across the country.

Smoking bans operate on a city, county and state level, prohibiting tobacco smoking in workplaces, with minor exceptions.

In jurisdictions with such bans, hookah bars must fit into these exceptions in order to operate legally. . . .

Now that you know the facts, keep in mind the following:

Hookah bars, legal or not, pose the same risks as establishments where cigarette smoking is permitted.

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Heavy metals and couple fecundity, the LIFE Study  

Highlights

► Female cadmium and male lead blood concentrations associated with a longer time-to-pregnancy.

► Male blood lead effect remained in the context of female exposures.

► Environmentally-relevant concentrations of metals adversely affect couple fecundity.

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• Smoking, lead linked to pregnancy delay 

Higher blood levels of cadmium in females, and higher blood levels of lead in males, delayed pregnancy in those trying to have a baby, U.S. researchers said.

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., and colleagues said smokers are estimated to have twice the levels of cadmium as do non-smokers, but exposure also occurs in workplaces where cadmium-containing products are made and from industrial emissions. Common sources of lead exposure include lead-based paint in older homes, lead-glazed pottery, contaminated soil and contaminated drinking water. . . .

The study was published online in Chemosphere.

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Withdrawal from Chronic Nicotine Exposure Alters Dopamine Signaling Dynamics in the Nucleus Accumbens 

Background

Unaided attempts to quit smoking commonly fail during the first 2 weeks of the nicotine withdrawal syndrome. Alterations in dopamine (DA) signaling correlate with withdrawal from chronic nicotine exposure, but those changes have not been well-characterized. . . .

Conclusions

The relative increase in the sensitivity of DA release to phasic stimulation suggests an increase in the signal-to-noise relationship of DA signaling during the withdrawal period. Therefore, the DA signal produced by acute nicotine re-exposure produces a DA response that might reinforce relapse to drug use (i.e., smoking). Because the basal DA concentration is low during withdrawal, therapies aimed at elevating the background DA signal represent a reasonable treatment strategy for nicotine-dependent individuals attempting to quit.

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Low dopamine levels during withdrawal promote relapse to smoking 

A new study in Biological Psychiatry this month now suggests that low dopamine levels that occur as a result of withdrawal from smoking actually promote the relapse to smoking.

Dopamine is a brain chemical messenger that is critically important in reward and motivation. Some research suggests that one of its central roles is to send a signal to the brain to 'seek something enjoyable'. Indeed, dopamine is released during many rewarding experiences, including taking drugs, smoking, having sex, and eating food.

This signal seems to depend on the dopamine which is released in response to environmental cues, called phasic release, as opposed to the tonic seepage of small amounts of dopamine from nerve cells. The tonic release of dopamine is implicated in helping the dopamine system set the level of its reactivity to inputs.

Since dopamine is released by smoking, it makes sense that dopamine levels become abnormal when a smoker chooses to stop smoking. Researchers from Baylor College of Medicine in Texas undertook their study to characterize these changes.

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Smoking Cessation Treatment Preferences, Intentions, and Behaviors Among a Large Sample of Colorado Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Smokers 

Conclusions: GLBT self-identification was not associated with lower than average acceptance of evidence-based smoking cessation strategies, especially NRT, but a large minority of GLBT smokers were unlikely to seek cessation assistance through clinical encounters. Public health campaigns should focus on supporting motivation to quit and providing nonclinical access to evidence-based treatments.

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• Smugglers Prosper in Spain’s ‘Perfect Storm’ for Tobacco  

Spanish smokers, squeezed by higher taxes and a deepening recession, are increasingly relying on smugglers to feed their habit.

Illegal imports now account for 7 percent to 8 percent of Spanish cigarette sales, compared with almost nothing a year ago, according to the country’s tobacconists association. In southern provinces such as Cadiz, Seville and Malaga, the proportion is 20 percent.

“Smuggling and fake tobacco, which had been eradicated since 1993, came back strongly last year,” said Jaime Gil- Robles, corporate affairs director at Altadis, the Spanish unit of Imperial Tobacco Group Plc. (IMT)

Smuggling, encouraged by a December 2010 increase in tobacco taxes and a ban on smoking in public places, has eroded both government coffers and company revenues. Spain, which has the European Union’s highest jobless rate, collected 14 percent less tobacco taxes in 2011 than a forecast of 9.05 billion euros ($12 billion), excluding value-added tax, according to Altadis.

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• Proper deterrent missing in black market tobacco battle  

THE STATE imposed fines of €250,000 arising from illegal tobacco sales and smuggling last year, according to Revenue figures.

The annual loss to the exchequer from black market cigarettes is about 1,000 times the amount imposed in fines.

In 2011 a total of 102 convictions for cigarette smuggling led to €136,300 in fines and 31 custodial sentences, 21 of which were suspended. The longest of the 10 sentences which were served was 12 months.

A total of 57 convictions relating to the illegal sale of cigarettes resulted in €115,850 in fines and 14 custodial sentences, seven of which were served, the longest of which was three years, with one year suspended.

Benny Gilsenan of Retailers Against Smuggling, a retailers’ organisation which has 3,000 members across Ireland, said the level of convictions relating to illegal tobacco was “not nearly adequate enough” given that the Revenue Commissioners estimate that the cost to the exchequer in lost revenue through counterfeit cigarette sales stood at €250 million in 2010.

“Considering the level of illegal cigarettes that are being sold throughout the country that is a very small proportion of those who are being caught and fined,” Mr Gilsenan said.

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A Network Method of Measuring Affiliation-Based Peer Influence: Assessing the Influences of Teammates’ Smoking on Adolescent Smoking  

Using a network analytic framework, this study introduces a new method to measure peer influence based on adolescents’ affiliations or 2-mode social network data. Exposure based on affiliations is referred to as the “affiliation exposure model.” This study demonstrates the methodology using data on young adolescent smoking being influenced by joint participation in school-based organized sports activities with smokers. The analytic sample consisted of 1,260 American adolescents from ages 10 to 13 in middle schools, and the results of the longitudinal regression analyses showed that adolescents were more likely to smoke as they were increasingly exposed to teammates who smoke. This study illustrates the importance of peer influence via affiliation through team sports.

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Playing school sports affects youths' smoking 

Young people's choices about using drugs and alcohol are influenced by peers--not only close friends, but also sports teammates. A new study of middle schoolers and their social networks has found that teammates' smoking plays a big role in youths' decisions about smoking, but adolescents who take part in a lot of sports smoke less.

The study was conducted at the University of Southern California (USC) and appears in the journal Child Development.

Researchers looked at 1,260 ethnically diverse, urban, middle-class sixth through eighth graders. They asked the students about their own smoking behavior, and they asked them to name friends at school as well as the organized sports they took part in at school. Then, using a social network method they developed, they examined how participation in sports with teammates who smoked affected adolescents' smoking behavior.

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