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Sisco is reacting to news that the Burlington City Council is considering banning smoking in public parks, beaches and on the Church Street Marketplace. City Councilor Karen Paul (I-Ward 6) is backing the ordinance and hopes it will pass by spring.
If approved, Burlington would join a growing list of U.S. cities that have expanded smoking prohibitions beyond the confines of bars and restaurants -- where it was banned to protect workers indoors from harmful secondhand smoke -- and into outdoor gathering places.
Burlington already has a reputation as one of America's healthiest cities, and Paul sees a partial outdoor smoking ban as a way to build on that image.
"What you do in your own home is for you to decide," says Paul, an ex-smoker who went cold turkey when she became pregnant 16 years ago.
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United Health Foundation, the American Public Health Association and Partnership for Prevention today released the 20th Anniversary Edition of America's Health Rankings(TM) showing that Vermont ranks 1st when compared to the health of other states. This is the 3rd year in a row that Vermont has been at the top of the rankings.
"I'm so pleased that Vermont continues to receive national recognition for successfully implementing comprehensive health reforms that incorporate aspects of high quality, coordinated public health and health care - particularly the Vermont Blueprint for Health - along with expanding coverage to the uninsured," said Governor Jim Douglas. "The successes we've realized in Vermont have not come easily - they've required teamwork, compromise and a willingness to address the tough issues surrounding public health care - but they are vital for the people of our state and for all Americans." . . .
Tobacco use and obesity have emerged as the two priorities that threaten the health of the nation, according to the report. Obesity has increased nearly 130 percent since the first edition of America's Health Rankings(TM) was issued 20 years ago.
Vermont ranked among the top states in lowest smoking and obesity rates. Nearly one in five Americans still smoke, and smoking continues to be the leading preventable cause of disease and death in the country. In Vermont, 16.7 percent of the population smoke, compared to 19.8 percent of the nation
Risk of bladder cancer for smokers has increased since the mid-1990s, with a risk progressively increasing to a level five times higher among current smokers in New Hampshire than that among nonsmokers in 2001-2004, according to a new study published online November 16 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Furthermore, researchers found that among individuals who smoked the same total number of cigarettes over their lifetime, smoking fewer cigarettes per day for more years may be more harmful than smoking more cigarettes per day for fewer years.
It is well known that cigarette smoking causes bladder cancer, but the influence of various parameters of smoking history, including trends in risk over time, is unclear.
Dalsu Baris, M.D., Ph.D., of the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, in Bethesda, Md., and her colleagues from NCI, Dartmouth Medical School, and the departments of health for the states of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, examined bladder cancer risk in relation to smoking practices based on data from a large, population-based case-control study conducted in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont from 2001 to 2004.
The Manchester Parks and Recreation Department and The Collaborative are considering an ordinance, which if ultimately approved, would ban smoking in the Rec Park.
The concept was first discussed several years ago when Ryan Scovil was director of the parks and recreation department, said Amy Herrmann, the department's interim director.
The two organizations had recently talked about banning smoking at Applejack Field and the grandstand, but decided to take the initiative further, Herrmann said.
"Upon further discussion we determined that it would be easier to make the whole park smoke free as opposed to one small piece of it being smoke free," Herrmann said.
We encourage you to attend the “First Annual C. Everett Koop, MD Tobacco Treatment Conference” to be held at the Lake Morey Inn in Fairlee, Vermont on Friday, September 18, 2009. Nationally recognized expert on tobacco, Founder and Director of the University of Wisconsin Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention (UW-CTI), Michael C. Fiore, MD, MPH, MBA, will provide the keynote address for a stimulating day on innovative approaches to current evidence-based tobacco treatment.
Physicians from across the nation gathered to discuss smoking-related issues in the first-annual C. Everett Koop Tobacco Treatment Conference, held on Sept. 18 and sponsored by Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.
Former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop ’37 gained national attention as surgeon general in part because of his work to increase awareness about the dangers of smoking tobacco.
The event’s speakers highlighted emerging treatments for nicotine dependence and discussed the updated clinical guidelines for treating tobacco addiction. Attendees also completed an instructional clinic focusing on motivational interviewing techniques that may help patients stop smoking.
University of Wisconsin professor Michael Fiore presented the keynote lecture, “Treating Tobacco Dependence: New Clinical Practice Guidelines,” which focused on new strategies and medications that can be used to help people quit smoking. Roughly 20 percent of Americans have a smoking habit, he said.
Police say a nail salon manager upset with a man smoking outside of his business stabbed him after they started to fight.
Police say Stephen Le, 40, of of South Burlington was cited for aggravated assault and is to be arraigned today. Daniel Dennis, 23, of Essex was treated for an abdominal wound. Police Chief Trevor Whipple said Le apparently became upset that Dennis was smoking outside Le's business Wednesday and began arguing with him.
MANCHESTER VILLAGE -- Burr and Burton Academy's Health Clinic Director Megan Cornell (center) and members of the Leaders Advocating Mega Outstandingness and Our Voices eXposed group, also known as BLAMO, want the community to know that the school grounds are a Tobacco-free Zone.
students from six Southern Vermont schools will gather at Burr and Burton Academy Sept. 13 to pledge to remain substance-free for the school year.
The Refuse to Use program, sponsored by The Collaborative in partnership with Stratton Mountain Resort, Viking Nordic Center and Riley Rink, is in it's seventh year of promoting healthy choices. Similar to previous years, about 400 students grades 7 through 12 are expected take the pledge to refrain from use of drugs, alcohol and tobacco.
On July 1, Vermont's tax on cigarettes increased by 25 cents a pack. That means a pack-a-day smoker will now spend more than $2,360 on cigarettes in a year; a two-pack-a-day smoker will spend almost $4,720.
Quitting eliminates or reduces all of the expenses that go along with smoking. Just imagine what you could do with those savings -- pay off that credit card debt, plan a nice vacation or get a new flat-screen television! . . .
A great step is to use the Vermont Quit Network. This resource is available thanks to Vermont's Tobacco Control Program and it's free. Quit by phone by calling 800-QUIT-NOW (784-8669) where you can get free advice and counseling on how to stop. You can also get help online at VTQuitNetwork.org. Quit-in-person coaches are also located at hospitals throughout the state. To find your local coach, call 800-QUIT-NOW. The Vermont Quit Network also offers free nicotine replacement therapy -- patches, gum or lozenges -- to all Vermonters.
With the new tax, the health risks, and the support available now, there's never been a better time for smokers to kick the habit.
In one of the most recognized student-based rankings in the country, Bennington College students stand out for their liberal views, lack of religious beliefs, participation in class discussions and for being self-described "Birkinstock-wearing, tree-hugging, clove-smoking vegetarians."
This comes from The Princeton Review's annual college guidebook, "The Best 371 Colleges: 2010 Edition," which lists the top 20 schools -- from the best 371 institutitions of their choosing -- in 62 different categories.
On July 1, Vermont's tax on cigarettes increased by $.25 cents per pack. That means a pack-a-day smoker will now spend more than $2,360 on cigarettes in a year; a 2-pack-a-day smoker will spend almost $4,720. Quitting eliminates or reduces all of the expenses that go along with smoking. Just imagine what you could do with those savings - pay off that credit card debt, plan a nice vacation, or get a new flat screen television! . . .
A great step is to use the Vermont Quit Network. This resource is available thanks to Vermont's Tobacco Control Program and it's free. Quit by phone by calling 1-800-QUIT-NOW (784-8669) where you can get free advice and counseling on how to stop. You can also get help on-line at VTQuitNetwork.org. Quit-in-person coaches are also located at hospitals throughout the state. To find your local coach, call 1-800-QUIT-NOW. The Vermont Quit Network also offers free nicotine replacement therapy - patches, gum or lozenges - to all Vermonters.
White River Junction -- Not long ago, the VA Medical Center here provided a room where veterans and employees could go to smoke. But ashtrays have since been replaced by high-tech fitness equipment, and smoking has been relegated to an outdoor shelter by the parking lot.
The former smoking lounge, just off a lobby in an administrative building, closed about two years ago, according to VA Medical Center spokesman Andy LaCasse.
At the time, Vermont law allowed employers to set aside indoor smoking areas for workers. LaCasse said that the hospital's acting director, Kathryn Harty, took the initiative to move smoking outside.
"It was obvious that it needed to be out," LaCasse said.
On the first of this month, all Vermont workplaces that hadn't already banned smoking indoors were required by law to do so.
Setting
School- and telephone-based surveys in New Hampshire and Vermont between September 1999 through November 1999 and February 2006 through February 2007. . . . Conclusions
Team sports participation clearly plays a protective role against established smoking, even in the face of exposure to movie smoking. However, movie smoking exposure increases the risk of established smoking among both team sports participants and nonparticipants. Parents, teachers, coaches, and clinicians should be aware that encouraging team sports participation in tandem with minimizing early exposure to movie smoking may offer the greatest likelihood of preventing youth smoking.