Tobacco.org

• Dual Users of Both Cigarettes and Cigars Are More Likely to be Young, African-American, and Male 

To date, however, the FDA has not exercised its authority to assert jurisdiction on cigar products.

Although the tax structure is not a part of the act, tax treatment of cigars differs from cigarettes, making many cigar products less costly. This is concerning, as there is a direct correlation between higher costs and lower consumption of tobacco products.

Cigars can be just as harmful as cigarettes. Like cigarettes, cigars pose significant health risks, contributing to cancers of the mouth, lung, esophagus, and larynx and possibly contributing to the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. In order to more fully understand tobacco use patterns, researchers from Legacy - a national public health organization dedicated to helping people quit smoking or never start - analyzed the demographics of a sample of people who smoked cigarettes and cigars.

Researchers found that this subgroup of dual-use smokers fit a different profile than cigarette-only smokers. Results from the study show that adult smokers who indicated that they use both cigarettes AND cigars (12.5 percent), were more likely to be young, African American, male, of low educational attainment and unemployed, compared with cigarette-only smokers.

Jump to full article »

Millions of Smokers Don't Tell Docs that They Light Up 

More than one smoker in 10 tries to hide his or her tobacco use from physicians, according to a survey by an anti-tobacco group.

Top reasons cited by the 13% who said they concealed their smoking habit were wanting to avoid a lecture and being ashamed, the American Legacy Foundation reported.

The findings mean that doctors and nurses are missing important health information on more than six million U.S. smokers, warned Cheryl G. Healton, DrPH, president of the organization.

"Healthcare providers play a critical role in reaching smokers with appropriate messages and resources for quitting, especially now that insurance coverage has expanded to include some smoking cessation treatments," she said in a press release.

Jump to full article »

• National Survey: One-in-Ten Smokers Reported They Have Concealed Their Smoking From Health Care Providers  

New results from a national survey show that one-in-ten smokers (13%) in the United States did not disclose their smoking status to their health care providers (HCP), who are among the most important resources that a smoker could have in quitting successfully. Furthermore, social stigma around smoking may contribute to why smokers sometimes keep their smoking status a secret from their doctors. The survey of 3,146 adult participants in the U.S. (smokers and former smokers) was conducted using the web-enabled KnowledgePanel®, a probability-based panel designed to be representative of the U.S. population.

Researchers from Legacy®, a national public health organization dedicated to building a world where anyone can quit, say that while a majority of smokers did admit their smoking status, only one-quarter sought help from their doctors or health care providers during their last quit attempt. Although most smokers surveyed stated they are honest with their health care provider (HCP), one in 10 smokers reported they do not disclose their smoking status. The findings have important implications for how HCPs can more effectively reach smokers with resources to help them quit.

"Health care providers play a critical role in reaching smokers with appropriate messages and resources for quitting, especially now that insurance coverage has expanded to include some smoking cessation treatments. It becomes a missed public health opportunity if what amounts to more than six million smokers in the United States do not talk to doctors and nurses about smoking and quitting," said Cheryl G. Healton, Dr PH, President and CEO of Legacy. . . .

To address the void between doctors and all smokers, Legacy has developed a guide for HCPs with strategies on how to conduct more meaningful and effective conversations with their patients about smoking and quitting. "If we can start the conversation by acknowledging smoking behavior, we can get smokers on a path to quit," Healton said.

Jump to full article »

A New Year, A New You: 'Tis the Season to Resolve to Quit in 2012  

More than 45 million Americans smoke and two out of three - nearly 69 percent - want to quit. More than 52 percent tried last year. For some smokers, the New Year brings an opportunity to resolve to quit, for others like Tommy Piver, it marks an important anniversary of starting a new life as an ex-smoker.

Born in North Carolina in 1952, Tommy lived in the 'world's foremost tobacco market.' His uncle was a tobacco farmer and his dad worked the tobacco markets. Everyone he knew smoked and by age 13, Tommy was a pack-a-day smoker.

"After 44 years of smoking regularly, taxes and insurance rates made me realize that I had to quit, and on January 1st, 2010 I just did it," recounted Tommy of his decision to quit. "I had no idea how I was going to make it. By day 8, I was ready for a fight and I saw a commercial for BecomeAnEX.org and thought that might be just the place for it. After spending a little time on the site, I figured out that the people on the site wanted to help me."

Jump to full article »

To the Orange Bowl Committee and the NCAA: (PDF) 

As public health groups that combat the use of tobacco and its devastating toll on American families every day, we urge the Orange Bowl Committee and the NCAA to cancel a cigar company sponsorship of the Discover Orange Bowl. Tobacco has no place in sports, and the promotion of cigars at such a prestigious sporting event entices youth and young adults, putting them at risk of developing a deadly addiction.

We were deeply disappointed to read the recent announcement by Davidoff of Geneva, parent company of Camacho Cigars, that it has signed a three-year agreement making Camacho Cigars a corporate sponsor of the Orange Bowl Festival, which includes the 2012, 2013 and 2014 Discover Orange Bowls, the 2013 Discover BSC National Championship game and related fan events. The 2013 Discover BCS National Championship game will draw particularly intense fan interest and media attention.

Under the sponsorship agreement, Camacho Cigars will have a substantial presence at Sun Life stadium, with cigar lounges open to fans, and there will be a Camacho Club Lounge at the Orange Bowl Game Day Fan Zone, the largest pre-game event. The Camacho Cigars logo is also featured on the official Orange Bowl website.

The sponsorship should be cancelled because it promotes tobacco use, the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. The association of cigar smoking with one of the nation’s top collegiate sporting events sends the wrong message to impressionable young fans and helps market cigars as athletic, masculine and cool. Linking tobacco use to sports also downplays the serious health risks of tobacco products.

This blatant promotion of cigars at a high-profile sporting event continues the tobacco industry’s decades-long practice of using sports and entertainment sponsorships to promote tobacco products, especially to youth. . . .

The Orange Bowl Committee and the NCAA have an obligation to eliminate the Camacho Cigar sponsorship to protect the health of fans and to ensure that college athletic events provide proper role models for youth. We ask that you do your part to help curb the terrible toll of tobacco use on America’s children and families.

Jump to full article »

Legacy® Announces 2011 Community Activist Award Recipients  

An Arizona couple who have spent decades working on tobacco control issues are the co-winners of the 2011 Community Activist Award from Legacy®. Donald (Don) N. and Patricia (Pat) L. Morris are the recipients of the Legacy award for their long record of tobacco control achievement in Arizona. Legacy, a Washington, D.C.-based public health organization, presents the award annually to exceptional individuals who have demonstrated extraordinary commitment to community-based tobacco control efforts.

"The Community Activist Award honors an integral aspect of Legacy's mission," said Cheryl G. Healton, DrPH, Legacy's president and CEO, "because we recognize that we can better inform the public about the effects of tobacco with grassroots activists like the Morrises and their community-based initiatives."

Considered the leading activists in the Arizona tobacco control community, the Morrises advocated heavily for early legislation mandating that all state offices, agencies and vehicles be smoke-free. More recently, in collaboration with many national public health groups, their efforts culminated in the statewide "Smoke-Free AZ" voter initiative covering all public places and workplaces in 2006. Other notable efforts spearheaded by the Morrises include:

Jump to full article »

Under Proposed Consent Order Filed Today, Leading Tobacco Manufacturers Would Provide Important Funding for Legacy® Tobacco Documents Library as Online Depository for Once Secret Tobacco Document 

As part of the remedy phase of the largest civil racketeering case in the nation’s history, the U.S. Department of Justice, Altria Group, Philip Morris USA and RJ Reynolds today filed a proposed consent order with a federal district court designed to make once secret tobacco documents more accessible to the public. If the order is approved, Philip Morris, Altria and RJ Reynolds will provide $6.25 million over the next three years to be used by the Legacy® Tobacco Documents Library at the University of California at San Francisco to enhance the public’s access to formerly secret tobacco documents. These funds, and related requirements governing how the companies produce their documents, would enable the Legacy Library to better code, index, digitize and improve free online public access to the documents, many of which focus on the tobacco companies’ advertising, marketing, manufacturing, sales, political, public relations and scientific activities.

The Legacy Library was created in 2,000 and currently houses nearly 14 million documents. It is a resource for tens of thousands of investigators, journalists, public health advocates, researchers, scientists and students from around the world.

“When Legacy first launched this library, it was our vision that it would grow to be a respected source of information, and it has exceeded all our expectations,” said Cheryl G. Healton, DrPH, president and CEO of Legacy. “We hope this proposed consent order is approved so that UCSF can continue their important work to make these documents as accessible as possible.”

Jump to full article »

New Data Shows Significant Decline in Teen Smoking Rates from Last Year  

Washington, D.C. - New data announced today by the University of Michigan's Monitoring the Future study shows that rates fell significantly from 12.8% in 2010 to 11.7% this year. The data shows that smoking rates for students in the 8th, 10th, and 12th grades all declined - with the decline among 10th graders statistically significant. Today's findings are welcome news and prove that youth smoking prevention programs, such as Legacy's truth® campaign, are critical to continuing to prevent youth from becoming new smokers.

"This is very hopeful news for the public health of our nation's youth," said Cheryl G. Healton, DrPH, president and CEO of Legacy®. "Any reduction is a welcome one, and this decrease in smoking prevalence can translate into thousands of lives saved from premature deaths from tobacco-related diseases. Legacy's mission in part is to create a world where young people reject tobacco. It is very encouraging to see that after last year's signs of an increase in smoking among younger teens, we are once again witnessing youth smoking rates decline."

Jump to full article »

A Silent Killer: Tobacco Use has a Deadly Toll Among Hispanic 

wenty-five year old Anna Luzania knows first-hand the effects of tobacco in the Hispanic Community. As a student at California State University (CSU) at Fresno, she did what many young people enjoying their first years of college do not -- she took action to save the lives of her fellow students and community. Nearly 5.1 million Hispanic adults in the United States smoke, and smoking takes a deadly toll. In 2007, heart disease and stroke accounted for nearly 30 percent of all deaths among Hispanics and more than 27,000 died of cancer. Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the U.S. and among Hispanics; smoking causes nearly one third of cancer deaths each year. Additionally, lung cancer is the leading cancer killer among Hispanic men and the second leading cancer killer among Hispanic women.

This year, in the spirit of celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month, Legacy®, the national public health foundation dedicated to reducing tobacco use, applauds individuals like Anna, a past Fellow in the Legacy Youth Advocacy Fellowship program, who is are working to help educate Latinos about the dangers of tobacco. As a member of Individuals, Mentors, and Peers Advocating to Control Tobacco (IMPACT), Anna worked to tackle the prevalence of tobacco use among youth and young adults in the Fresno area. She took the lead in initiating voluntary tobacco control policies via the implementation of campus legislation on the CSU Fresno Campus, making it one of the first of 23 CSU campuses to adopt a smoke free policy.

Jump to full article »

We Are One-Step Closer to Life-Saving Treatment for Lung Cancer  

Last month, the leadership representing 21 of the world’s leading cancer centers made bold recommendations on the use of low-dose CT– computed tomography – scans, which have clearly demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in lung cancer mortalities. OnOct. 26, 2011, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) released comprehensive clinical practice guidelines on lung cancer screening. They also became the first professional society to recommend the implementation of low-dose CT scans for lung cancer screening of high-risk individuals.

With November marking Lung Cancer Awareness Month, the announcement from the NCCN is a breath of fresh air for tens of millions of Americans – many former smokers – at risk of developing lung cancer. With no current cure for late-stage lung cancer, early detection is key and in high risk smokers (i.e., older, current and former heavy smokers), low dose CT scans have the ability to reduce lung cancer mortality by 20 percent when compared to chest X-rays.

Jump to full article »

U.S. District Court Ruling on Graphic Warning Labels Disappointing Setback for the Nation's Public Health 

In its ruling, the Court maintained the industry's First Amendment rights were violated and that the Government had not presented a compelling enough case as to why it should encourage people to not smoke. As a result, the implementation of the graphic image and textual warnings requirement is stayed until 15 months after a final ruling by the Court on the case.

We take exception to this thinking. More than 400,000 Americans die each year from tobacco-related diseases, costing our healthcare system and wider economy many billions each year. Surely, it is exactly in the interest of the Federal Government to play a role in helping smokers conquer their addictions and in keeping young people from ever starting to smoke in the first place.

In his ruling, Judge Leon maintained that some of the images were "unquestionably designed to evoke emotion," and the images were crafted to "provoke the viewer to quit, or never to start smoking."

We believe that, too, is precisely the point of these images: dying from a tobacco-related disease is never pretty, or pleasant or comfortable. . . .

We urge the Federal Government to appeal today's ruling and continue to press its case as to the effective role graphic warning labels can play in a comprehensive tobacco education program. It's a matter of our nation's collective public health and public interest.

Jump to full article »

• Just When Smokers Need Help Most, "Blueprint To Quit" Campaign Steps Up to the Plate 

On the heels of new research released just last week from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) finding that nearly 69% of smokers want to quit but only 6% succeeded last year, a new campaign called Blueprint to Quit is being launched today, teaming discounted online behavioral support and nicotine replacement therapies (NRTs). GlaxoSmithKline is offering this program exclusively at Walmart stores around the U.S. for people who smoke and who want help to quit with evidence-based tools to increase their odds of success. Blueprint to Quit is supported by trusted advice from a respected "Wellness Team of Experts" to arm smokers with the tools they need to try to beat their nicotine addictions for good.

Cheryl G. Healton, DrPH*, president and CEO of the national public health foundation Legacy®, is one of the three quit smoking experts, bringing the personal story of her own struggle to quit smoking to the 34 million smokers who shop at Walmart stores nationwide. . . .

About "Blueprint to Quit" The Blueprint to Quit comprehensive quit-smoking program is a two-part plan that helps smokers address both the physical and psychological aspects associated with quitting smoking. The first part of the program involves using an NRT stop-smoking aid to address the physical cravings and withdrawal symptoms, and the second part uses a behavioral support program (BSP) on QuitNet to facilitate the changing of behaviors commonly associated with smoking.

Jump to full article »

Ritney Castine Appointed as New Youth Liaison to Legacy's Board of Directors  

Today, Legacy, the nation's largest public health organization dedicated to preventing teens from smoking and providing resources to smokers who want to quit, announced the appointment of Ritney Castine as Youth Board Liaison to its Board of Directors. Every 18 months, Legacy selects a Youth Board Liaison from a group of tobacco control youth advocates who have previously or are currently serving the organization.

Castine, 24, from Napoleonville, LA, is currently the Youth and Community Programs Coordinator with the Louisiana Tobacco Control Program. In his role, he has overseen the implementation of nine community partnership grants. He also plans youth activities in coordination with the Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living. In addition to his public health work on tobacco, he has worked on substance abuse, AIDS, teen pregnancy, teen violence, and literacy issues.

"The future of tobacco control begins with young people," said Cheryl G. Healton, DrPH, President and CEO of Legacy. "Ritney has traveled across the country energizing, empowering, and advocating for youth of all backgrounds against the ills of tobacco use and we are grateful to have his enthusiasm as a valued asset to our Board of Directors."

Jump to full article »

Make The Great American Smokeout Your Quit Day With EX®  

During November's Lung Cancer Awareness Month, the Great American Smokeout serves as another important reminder about the deadly addiction of tobacco that impacts the 45 million Americans who smoke. In 2010, approximately 69 percent of smokers said they wanted to quit, but only about six percent of smokers were successful long-term. EX® offers a free way to seek help and break the smoking addiction.

With the latest research estimating that nearly six million people worldwide will lose their lives to tobacco this year, EX takes an innovative approach to helping the 45 million Americans who smoke to finally quit. EX is a national quit smoking campaign, spearheaded by Legacy®, a national public health foundation located in Washington, D.C.

"The prevalence of quit attempts has increased from 2001 to 2010 among those aged 25-64 and we aim to increase that figure in the months and years to come," said Cheryl G. Healton, DrPH, president and CEO of Legacy. "EX provides free personalized quit plans at www.BecomeAnEX.org and we encourage smokers who want to quit, to 'seize the day' and plan a quit attempt in observance of the Great American Smokeout."

Jump to full article »

• Marketing Misfires Trigger More ‘Text Spam’ Lawsuits  

Text messages are an irresistible marketing opportunity for brands to connect with their customers. But some text campaigns are tripping over a federal law, leaving companies with a nasty legal bill instead of new sales.

In a federal class action suit filed last week in Oakland, a California man accused a PR firm of sending an unsolicited quit smoking message to his cell phone. He said the firm, PHD, broke the Telemarketing and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and should be penalized at least $5 million.

The Oakland case appears to be one of at least a dozen such lawsuits filed in recent years against companies like Burger King, Jiffy Lube and NASCAR. The lawsuits are not only embarrassing for the companies--they are expensive. . . .

A spokesperson for Omnicon, the parent company of the PR firm that was sued last week, had no comment. The text messages that form the basis of the lawsuit were sent on behalf of the American Legacy Foundation, an organization funded by tobacco makers that encourages teens not to smoke.

Jump to full article »