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WI Sees Decrease In Tobacco Sales  

Governor Jim Doyle announced a significant decrease in tobacco sales to Wisconsin minors Monday.

The state’s 2009 Synar sales compliance survey, which determines the number of retail outlets that are selling tobacco illegally to minors, shows a noncompliance rate of 5.7 percent—20 percent lower than the 2008 rate of 7.2 percent.

“In Wisconsin, we are working hard to protect our kids from the scourge of tobacco,” Governor Doyle said. “Our state has a long history of preventing youth tobacco sales and I’m pleased our efforts are paying off.”

Governor Doyle also thanked retailers for helping keep tobacco out of the hands of minors and for their dedication to protecting young people from tobacco’s harmful effects.

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• Researchers Study PTSD, Smoking Link For Soldiers 

A new University of Wisconsin study set to begin in January is aiming to help troops coping with post-traumatic stress disorder to overcome smoking when they return home.

The study by the UW Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention has a goal of helping soldiers kick their smoking habit.

"A lot of time that you were exhausted and you needed to have some time out," said veteran Deeann Hansen. "We were on a road march and when we were told to stop we were allowed to take a break, and the comment was made to us that, 'Smoke 'em if you got 'em,' and if you don't they told us to pick up cigarette butts and trash."

Studies show Hansen isn't the only one to leave the military addicted to tobacco. It's something she blamed on the high stress load of life in the services.

Around 7 million U.S. vets suffer from PTSD and more than half smoke -- and that statistic is sparking some research.

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UW Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention receives $9 million grant 

University of Wisconsin Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention has received a grant for more than $9 million for research to help people quit smoking.

UW-CTRI will receive the money over a five-year period from the National Cancer Institute, which is part of the National Institutes of Health, said UW-CTRI Director Michael Fiore. UW-CTRI had to apply for the grant and was selected to receive the research money.

Fiore added the grant money will be used to help people who are already smokers and actively are trying to quit or are considering trying to quit.

"We're really trying to expand the treatments that will help smokers who want to quit to do that successfully, and specifically were trying to come up with treatments for people who are ready to quit today as well as those who are open to quitting but are not ready yet, and how do we motivate them so they are willing to make a quit attempt," Fiore said.

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Tobacco research center gets $9 million grant  

The Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention, affiliated with the University of Wisconsin-Madison, on Friday announced a $9 million federal grant to explore the best ways to quit smoking.

"We know that most smokers want to quit, but so many struggle with this addiction," the director of the center, Michael Fiore, said in a statement.

In southeastern Wisconsin, clinics that belong to Aurora Health Care will participate in the full-year study, which will start in spring of 2010.

The center's researchers will recruit a total of 2,300 smokers

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Students support smoke ban 

According to a recent survey conducted by UW-Oshkosh, a slight majority of people would support a University-wide smoking ban.

Representatives in the Oshkosh Student Association Assembly raised concerns that smokers were not obeying the current smoking policy, which is no smoking within 25 feet of any building entrance.

OSA Speaker of the Assembly Ann Duginske gave a presentation of the survey results at the OSA Assembly meeting Monday evening and went over many of the other UW-System school smoking policies.

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FdL County tobacco group commended  

The Fond du Lac County Tobacco Control Coalition was commended when the Wisconsin Cancer Council hosted its annual meeting recently at the DoubleTree Hotel in Madison.

During the annual meeting, state legislators and regional organizations were recognized for the work they have done to help control the incidence of cancer in Wisconsin.

The Fond du Lac County Tobacco Control Coalition was recognized for its work over the last 20 years.

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Cigarette Companies Use Color, Rather than Words, To Convey Message 

Even without words like 'light' on the packaging, many of the people we showed the new packaging to still perceived the lighter or brighter colors to be lower in nicotine, tar, or tobacco, and less harmful.

"Certain colors do elicit certain responses, feelings, emotions", said Tom Neal, Director of Brand Development at Kinziegreen in Wausau. He says with the tobacco already so heavily regulated, they're using the methods that are allowed as effectively as possible. "As the color scheme goes from darker towards lighter, you're seeing they're trying to say to the consumer the things they can't really say with words."

So while cigarette companies won't be able to say 'mild', 'light', or 'ultra-light', by using a cool, calming blue, an energetic orange, or even a natural, healthy light green, would-be customers are getting the message. That's something that has health officials concerned.

"They're trying to make the consumer believe that they are getting a healthier product as a result of the packaging.", said Renee Trowbridge, a public health educator for Marathon County. "They are doing a very good job of making it appealing."

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Anti-smoking funds cut  

Although Wisconsin taxpayers are paying more for cigarettes, programs aimed at curbing smoking are getting cut.

State Rep. Kim Hixson, D-Whitewater, Rep. Chuck Benedict, D-Beloit, and Sen. Judy Robson, D-Beloit, are co-sponsoring a bill moving through the legislature that would restore some of the funding to tobacco-related programs like the statewide Quit Line.

"At a time when both the state and federal cigarette taxes have increased substantially, more smokers are wanting to quit and it is very difficult to do it on their own," Robson said. "They need a plan and they need support. The type of phone counseling and medications offered by the Quit Line have shown great success in helping people quit. Unfortunately, funding has been cut for these important services."

Robson said all options need to be considered to restore some of the funding cuts, and said that Assembly Bill 381 was a starting point. It has been referred to the Joint Finance Committee.

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• Smoking Keeps Its Grip on Urban Poor  

A full 42 percent of people in Milwaukee's poorest neighborhoods smoke -- more than twice the national U.S. average -- sacrificing $9 on a pack of cigarettes even while most of the households reported earning less than $15,000 a year.

Even more troubling is the fact that a large number of these low-income smokers hold beliefs that make them less likely to quit, according to ongoing research from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Over the past 40 years or so, the overall smoking rate in the United States has decreased to about 20 percent, but those gains have taken place largely among people with resources, namely money and education, said Bruce Christiansen, an associate scientist with the University of Wisconsin Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention in Madison, who is one of the researchers on what's known as the "ZIP Code" project.

"With public health, we got 80 percent of the people who were going to quit smoking to quit smoking. That's great, but the next 20 percent is going to be tough," added Dr. Jay Brooks, chairman of hematology/oncology at Ochsner Health System in New Orleans. "Smoking tends to be a disease of poverty and lack of education. Thirty years ago, 50 percent of the population smoked and now we're down to roughly 25 percent. What we have left is a very select group of people."

That select group includes people with mental health issues, which, according to the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration (SAMHSA), smoke 44 percent of all cigarettes.

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[W]e got 80 percent of the people who were going to quit smoking to quit smoking. That's great, but the next 20 percent is going to be tough. Smoking tends to be a disease of poverty and lack of education. Thirty years ago, 50 percent of the population smoked and now we're down to roughly 25 percent. What we have left is a very select group of people.
Dr. Jay Brooks, chairman of hematology/oncology at Ochsner Health System in New Orleans.

Study of smoking among the poor reveals striking findings 

In some of Milwaukee's poorest neighborhoods, nearly half of all adults are addicted to cigarettes, despite the fact that prices are nearing $9 a pack while many household incomes are below $15,000.

A Wisconsin research project has revealed some surprising misconceptions that may reinforce tobacco's hold on the poor.

Dr. Bruce Christiansen of the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention (CTRI) set out to discover attitudes about smoking among a group of low-income people in Milwaukee, Wisconsin's largest city.

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VIDEO: Saving Lives with Fire Safe Cigarettes  

Can cigarettes be safe? A new design in the cigarette itself may be able to answer that question. on October first, Wisconsin became the latest state to require retailers to sell "fire safe cigarettes."

You can tell if the pack contains fire safe cigarettes by the markings on the box. FSC stands for fire safe cigarettes. They are designed to snuff themselves out if left unattended. Smokers like Rick Schwantes likes the idea. "I've fallen asleep a couple of times with a lit cigarette, but I woke up in time. I've been lucky, yeah. So you think it's a good idea? Yes I do."

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VIDEO: Fire-safe Cigarettes will be Required in Wisconsin 

After Wisconsin stores sell all their regular cigarettes, the new law requires they only restock their shelves with fire-safe cigarettes. The cigarettes go out when the smoker sets them down for more than a minute.

The only cigarettes you'll find on Mileage Gas Station's shelves are fire-safe cigarettes.

William Olson has been smoking since 16 years old, and he's not happy about the new law.

"I don't like them. You sit there, you light them up, and if you're doing something and you turn around and they're out," said Olson.

The Fire Department says that's the point since more than 20% of fires start because of unattended smoking materials.

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• Wisconsin is next-to-last state to require fire-safe cigarettes  

Wisconsin has become the next-to-last state to require so-called fire-safe cigarettes.

Gov. Jim Doyle signed the bill a year-and-a-half ago and the law took effect on Oct. 1. . . .

Sen. Judy Robson, D-Beloit, tried for five years to require fire-safe cigarettes, soon after New York became the first state to mandate it.

Now, every state but Wyoming has similar laws on the books although some won’t actually take effect until next year or 2011.

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Fire-safe cigarettes in stores  

In a nutshell, the new cigarettes don't burn as well as the old ones - which is good, if you want to prevent accidental fires, bad if you have to keep flicking your Bic.

Since Oct. 1, when Wisconsin became the 49th state with a fire-safe law, distributors have been required to purvey only the new variety of smokes.

They're not fire-proof, supporters of the law acknowledge, but they are less likely to continue burning when left unattended.

According to the state Department of Commerce, manufacturers typically wrap fire-safe cigarettes with two or three bands of less porous paper that act as "speed bumps."

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• Taxes drive tobacco users to Illinois border 

While Ahmad, Mussina and the other Wisconsin merchants suffer financially, the tax increases have significantly boosted the revenue of a cash-strapped state, and probably are deterring a lot of smoking.

The retailers say price increases won't stop smokers, but researchers say otherwise, and the potential savings in health care costs are enormous.

On average, according to University of Illinois at Chicago economist Frank J. Chaloupka, every 10% increase in cigarette prices reduces demand by about 4%.

That would suggest that reduced overall smoking accounts for a significant portion - perhaps more than half - of the decrease in cigarette sales following Wisconsin's tax increases.

There's no data yet on the effects of the most recent increase, which took effect Sept. 1. But tax collections before and after the $10-a-carton boost on Jan. 1, 2008, show a dramatic impact.

From fiscal 2007 to fiscal 2009, revenue to the state nearly doubled, to $551 million. But cigarette sales fell by 19% - from 38.5 million cartons in fiscal 2007 to 31.1 million in fiscal 2009.

That's more than a billion fewer cigarettes sold here, and Chaloupka believes most weren't replaced with smokes bought elsewhere.

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