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While communities around the country prepare for more tobacco-free measures, new research has shown that the tobacco industry has not only manipulated menthol to enhance addiction but also hidden what it knew about tobacco smoke containing radioactive polonium-210.
Mayo Clinic and Stanford University research has revealed recently that tobacco companies knew tobacco smoke actually exposed smokers and those around them to 300 times the radiation from an annual chest X-ray.
Published in the American Journal of Public Health, the study shows that tobacco companies suppressed their own internal research finding significant levels of Polonium-210 in tobacco. . . .
Federal legislation passed the U.S. House of Representatives recently to allow the FDA limited authority over tobacco. . . .
Area Representative John Boozman voted for the bill. Senators Lincoln and Pryor have yet to vote on the Senate's version.
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A government nanny may be meddlesome, but it can make life better for all of us, as a state health survey about smoking demonstrates. . . .
State Rep. Gene Shelby, D-Hot Springs, is considering introducing a bill to raise the tax by 50 cents a pack to pay for a statewide trauma system, which is badly needed. The extra tax would curtail smoking so much that the tax might produce only marginally more revenue for the state than the current levy, but that would be all right. Urge your favorite lawmaker to vote for it.
While you're at it, page your Washington lawmakers -- Senators Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor and Representatives Vic Snyder and Marion Berry -- and tell them to support legislation to authorize the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes that hook young blacks.
Arkansans are kicking the smoking habit, and fewer young people are puffing away these days. That's the word from the Arkansas Department of Health.
This definitely is good news and shows anti-smoking efforts in the state are having a positive effect. Changing public opinion about smoking undoubtedly has had an impact, too.
Besides clearing the air, anti-smoking campaigns have had another result -- fewer Arkansans going to the hospital for smoking-related ills.
According to the Department of Health, about 84,000 Arkansas residents broke their addiction to tobacco between 2002 and 2007. . . .
Another development on the smoking front is the possibility Rep. Gene Shelby, D-Hot Springs, may again introduce an increase in the state tobacco tax
Lawmakers next year will likely consider raising Arkansas' cigarette tax by around 50 cents a pack to fund a proposed statewide trauma system, a state lawmaker said Monday.
State Rep. Gene Shelby, D-Hot Springs, who proposed a cigarette tax increase that failed during the 2007 legislative session, said he has spoken with the governor's office and other lawmakers about bringing up the issue next year. Paul Halverson, director of the Arkansas Department of Health, also said he has proposed to Gov. Mike Beebe that the tax be raised as a way to cut the state's smoking rate.
However, that could be a difficult task as Beebe and lawmakers face pressure to further cut the state's grocery tax in a legislative session before an election year.
New research shows that Arkansas is making definite headway in its fight against tobacco use in the state. Three separate studies indicate positive outcomes, including significant reductions in adult smoking, lower hospitalization rates for diseases related to tobacco use, and positive results for youth smoking. This news is significant because tobacco use has been linked to the top three causes of death in the state which are heart disease, stroke and cancer.
"From the beginning, Arkansas has pledged its tobacco-settlement funds strictly to health programs, and these are the benefits of that investment," Governor Mike Beebe said. "Continuing this trend can help curb the spiraling costs of health care for Arkansans."
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock Chancellor Joel E. Anderson announced Wednesday a new smoke-free policy for the university that will be implemented in August 2009.
Anderson said the decision was based on a recommendation by the University Assembly. The policy will apply to all locations of the university, including the main campus, the Bowen School of Law and the Benton Center.
The decision whether to ban smoking on the UALR campus could come in less than a month. The chancellor is opening the smoking issue up for discussion on both sides but it's happening only one side at a time.
Bring up the topic of making UALR a smoke free campus and you find everyone has a take. . . .
It's called two meetings. One for smokers in the morning and one for non-smokers Thursday afternoon at the Donaghey Student Center.
"We wanted to give each side the opportunity to discuss without getting into an argumentative kind of situation," UALR chancellor Dr. Joel Anderson says.
Usually universities are known for debate on both sides of an issue. But the smoking issue at UALR is controversial enough to where the sides are not even meeting in the same room at the same time.
Arkansas' largest university will rely on common courtesy when its new campuswide ban on cigarettes, cigars, pipes and tobacco use of any kind goes into effect Tuesday.
The University of Arkansas at Fayetteville announced the tobacco-free policy in May 2007 and began a marketing campaign called "Fresh" that includes a Web site, banners, decals and notices to sell the ban to the college community.
The University of Arkansas will become one of the first major universities in the country to be completely tobacco-free when the policy prohibiting use of all tobacco products goes into effect on July 1. . . .
The University of Arkansas' tobacco-free policy was developed by Mary Alice Serafini, assistant vice chancellor for student affairs and director of the Pat Walker Health Center. She used a model provided by the federal Centers for Disease Control. Students in a substance-abuse prevention class made several suggestions; campus administrators and other student groups were consulted; and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences' College of Public Health and the Northwest Arkansas Tobacco-Free Coalition provided support information.
The policy is clear and states:
* Smoking and the use of tobacco products (including cigarettes, cigars, pipes, smokeless tobacco and other tobacco products) by students, faculty, staff and visitors are prohibited on all University of Arkansas properties.
There could there be a ban on smoking in Little Rock parks. It's a topic of discussion at a public hearing Wednesday.
Kids and teens seem to be the most frequent visitors at Little Rock's 55 parks. And it's concern for their health that brought the idea of banning smoking to the forefront.
The Parks and Recreation Department wants to explore the issue. "I think it might become a law," says park goer Sharon Niemcyzk.
Niemcyzk comes to Burns Park regularly with school groups. "It is a dirty smell," she describes. Having a safe environment she says is a number one priority.
Could there be a ban on smoking in Little Rock parks? It's a topic of discussion at a special meeting Wednesday.
The Parks and Recreation Dept. is considering knocking out smoking in its parks, leaving some people happy and others frustrated.
If you want to voice you opinion on this ban, the Parks and Recreation Dept. is hosting a public input meeting Tuesday at Southwest Community Center at 6 pm.
The Gurdon School District Coordinated School Health will be sending home "Smoke-free Home and Car" pledges to the parents of students in grades K-8 next week.
"In recognition of the National Kick-Butts Day on April 2, 2008, we are asking for parents to join us in the fight against second-hand smoke by committing to be a smoke-free home and car family." said Lisa Turner, Gurdon Coordinated School Health Coordinator.
When the student returns the pledge card to their teacher their name will be entered into a drawing for a $25 and $50 Wal-Mart gift card. The deadline for the pledge cards is April 11, 2008.
John Glasgow had a healthy salary, with an opportunity to pick up stock in the construction company where he worked. He was the kind of guy who paid back a $500 bonus he got for completing an anti-smoking program because he started to light up again.
But now Glasgow has been missing since Jan. 28, with his car was found abandoned the next day, and family and police say it's impossible to tell whether he killed himself, was abducted or left to start a new life elsewhere.
His family said the easygoing 45-year-old felt overwhelmed and anxious about a company audit, but the company says no money is missing.
A Little Rock Parks Commission panel is exploring the idea of restricting tobacco use in city parks.
Depending on the rule's final form, smokers could find themselves with fewer locations to light up, and nonsmokers could see a concert or watch children play without breathing in fumes.
"Smoke-free facilities are important, and we want to be a proactive group for Arkansans and their families," said Scott Daniel, a parks commissioner serving as a spokesman for the advisory committee.
The group also is troubled by the time and money spent picking up cigarette debris