Tobacco.org

"It's About a Billion Lives" Symposium Celebrates Tobacco Research and Education at UCSF  

Join us on Friday, February 3, 2012, 8:00 AM – 12:30 PM in Cole Hall for our annual symposium. This event is open to the entire campus community and the public. The presentations are designed for a broad audience. There will be a free light breakfast before the presentations, which start at 8:30.

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It’s About a Billion Lives Celebrating Tobacco Research and Education at UCSF - UCSF Calendar 

AUDIO: 2012 "It's About a Billion Lives" symposium available as a podcast 

Our first effort to webcast the symposium garnered a lot of positive feedback. We have turned it into a podcast, which you can watch it by clicking here.

The podcast has in index showing the presentation slides, so you can skip to specific talks if you don't want to watch the whole thing.

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Health officials fret as hookah grows in popularity  

As more hookah lounges open, health officials said they are worried users do not fully understand the risks associated with the pastime.

Cafe Hookah, which is set to open in College Park, Md., this month, will be the second hookah bar in the city. The cafe's owner, 29-year-old Abid Khan, said he chose to open the establishment because the "niche was available."

"I think that it will be unique in the sense that - aside from making money - it's run by young people that actually care about the students," he said.

Hookah tobacco contains many of the same harmful chemicals found in cigarettes and can cause similar long-term health effects, such as mouth cancer, lung cancer and cancer of the trachea, Shell said.

"Hookahs are flavored and put in a nice setting when you are sitting and relaxing ... But that kind of socially attractive setting is really the vehicle for delivering a really potent dose of tobacco and carbon monoxide and other chemicals, too," Shell said.

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LETTER: YOUR VIEW: Secondhand smoke forces writer to live as a recluse 

I would like to commend and thank Birmingham City Councilman Johnathan Austin for his stand on smoking. He is speaking for those who cannot speak for themselves -- children, the elderly, the debilitated.

To the writer of a Jan. 27 letter ("Smoking: No need to ban on private property," Your Views), I disagree with the statement that 75 percent of people don't smoke. For five years, I have not been able to go to my grandson's athletic events because of smokers.

I have never smoked, but I have severe asthma and pulmonary disease. My dad was a chain smoker. Cigarette smoke brings on asthma attacks. . . .

The writer says there's no proof secondhand smoke is harmful. Smokers, get your heads out of the sand and quit living in denial. You are killing your children, your family members and friends.

I am forced to be a recluse because of smokers. I am angry and bitter.

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• Bobbie DeRamus recalls helping to pass first indoor smoking ban 

Bobbie DeRamus doesn't remember things as well as she did. She's been diagnosed as being in the early stage of Alzheimer's disease, a neurological disorder devastating to short-term memory. So she thinks about the distant past. One memory that keeps coming back is when she spoke up for a ban on indoor smoking.

DeRamus, 86, of Roseburg suffered severely from the secondhand cigarette smoke she inhaled at work in the 1970s and '80s. She testified several times in front of a state Senate committee when legislators were considering what became the Oregon Indoor Clean Air Act.

The ban on indoor smoking in public buildings except in designated areas went into effect in 1983, the same year DeRamus left her job as a bookkeeper for Children's Services Division in Roseburg due to the damage secondhand smoke had done to her body.

The ban provoked strong feelings. In a Gallup poll in 1983, 55 percent of smokers agreed they should refrain from smoking around nonsmokers. But 39 percent disagreed, and about 30 percent did not believe that secondhand smoke was hazardous to nonsmokers.

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Campaign Promotes a Smoke-Free UC 

UC President Mark G. Yudof announced that the UC system will launch an official campaign to make all 10 UC campuses smoke-free by 2014.

Yudof formally announced the decision to prohibit smoking in a letter addressing all UC chancellors last month. In October, a subcommittee of the UC Occupational Wellness Forum proposed banning cigarettes as well as all other tobacco-related goods such as smokeless e-cigarettes and other nicotine products. In addition, all advertising for tobacco will be prohibited on all university-owned and leased facilities.

Currently, five UC medical centers and 586 other college campuses nationwide are smoke-free.

In the letter announcing his decision, Yudof said smoke-free campuses would prevent nonsmoking students from suffering the harmful effects of secondhand smoke, ultimately benefiting all students.

“As a national leader in health care and environmental practices, the University of California is ready to demonstrate leadership in reducing tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke by creating a smoke-free environment on all of our campuses,” Yudof said in the letter.

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Aurora group targeting underage smoking wants to license some tobacco sales 

A group determined to prevent minors from using tobacco is asking the city to issue licenses to sell tobacco products other than cigarettes.

Tobacco-Free Aurora has in recent weeks urged City Council members to adopt a licensing policy.

State statutes place financial penalties on communities that license cigarette sales, allowing the state to withhold funds collected from tobacco taxes. But other tobacco products are free to be licensed without penalty.

By licensing the noncigarette products, including chewing tobacco and cigars, cities may better track who is selling those items and can enforce laws, similar to the way communities regulate alcohol sales to minors.

For example, cities could have the power to suspend or revoke a license if a retailer sells tobacco to minors.

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EDITORIAL: Smoking ban debate might benefit from a compromise 

The Evansville City Council has before it a long-sought amendment to its public smoking ban; it would add a prohibition against smoking at bars, restaurants and Casino Aztar inside the city. . . .

If there is a compromise to be had, it might be to allow smoking on the casino's gambling floors only. Shaw has said Aztar took smoking off a gambling floor, but that it underperformed by 50 percent.

Look, if a council majority is opposed to any toughening of the ordinance, this issue will die for another year, and that would be unfortunate. But if a compromise might sway some members, then that approach might be worth the gamble.

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Measure seeks to curb “roll your own” cigarette movement  

On Tuesday, the House Committee on Business & Financial Services officially approved legislation that would formally declare retail shops as manufacturers of cigarettes and also make them pay the same taxes as are levied on pre-packed cigarettes. The measure now heads to the House Ways & Means Committee. A similar measure is being considered in the Senate.

Brown, who traveled to Olympia to testify against the measure, says that by declaring his little store a cigarette manufacturer he would have to undergo the same U.S. Food & Drug Administration standards as the large tobacco companies.

“I don’t mind charging more in taxes but the manufacture aspect, that’s going to put us out of business,” Brown said.

And on Thursday, despite never receiving a public hearing, the Senate Committee on Labor, Commerce & Consumer Protection referred legislation that would out-right ban the use of the large “roll your own” cigarette machines to the Senate Ways & Means Committee.

Brown said he’s just amazed at the open hostility he’s seeing to destroy his business. . . .

“I’m not convinced that we need this bill,” said Blake, D-Aberdeen. “I think the business owners have made the case that they’re just selling tobacco and the tubes and letting customers combine them. And I’m not convinced that any change is needed. But, I have to say, there is bi-partisan support to push this through this session.”

Rep. Steve Kirby, who chairs the House Business Committee, is the prime sponsor of the legislation.

“Many of you will recall a couple of years back when we put that last dollar a pack on cigarettes, I stood on floor of the House opposed to that,” said Kirby, D-Tacoma. “I warned that people would find a way not to pay it. Here we are. Here we are. And we’ve got a problem now and we’ve got to weigh the revenue we’re losing by raising taxes against this entrepeneur spirit that many of us respect.”

TK Bentler, with the Washington Association of Neighborhood Stores, testified that the state is losing $26.2 million in revenue a year by allowing the roll-your-own cigarette stores to remain open and not pay the same taxes.

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Plastic Surgeon Cautions Against Smoking Before Surgery - 

Concerned about studies that indicate a link between smoking and complications during and after breast augmentation, Boston, MA area plastic surgeon Dr. Michael Tantillo is urging women to kick their cigarette habits prior to surgical procedures. He's so concerned, in fact, that he's using Facebook to spread the word about the connection between smoking and surgical complications.

"Despite so many studies showing the risks of smoking, it's still a widespread habit," Dr. Tantillo says. "Many people do not even know about the potential affect it can have on surgery. To help spread the word on the risks of smoking when it comes to surgical procedures, I decided to use my Facebook Page (http://www.facebook.com/MichaelTantilloMD?v=wall) to call attention to an ABC News report on the correlation between cigarettes and surgical complications.

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Plainfield students wins $500 for anti-smoking video  

A club of 20 Plainfield Central School students earned $500 for their school by winning the Northeast Communities Against Substance Abuse video project.

The school's health and wellness club created a five-minute anti-smoking video to beat out three other entries from the organization's 21-town area.

Bob Brex, executive director of the organization, also known as NECASA, presented the students with a $500 check Thursday at a club meeting. Club adviser Pamela Bartok, the school's health teacher, said the money will be used for the life skills and drug education curriculum for the entire school. . . .

A team of doctors, played by students, listed the health dangers of smoking while pretending to examine Aaron.

They listed dangerous chemicals found in cigarettes, as well as the side effects of smoking, such as tar buildup in the lungs and yellowing of the teeth and fingers.

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Police: child with lighter burned apartment house  

Police say a child playing with a lighter and cigarettes is to blame for a fire that left six people homeless in Fort Edward in Washington County.

No injuries were reported in the apartment house fire Saturday morning.

Washington County Sheriff's Investigator Tony LeClaire tells the Glens Falls Post-Star (http://bit.ly/zYeGB9 ) that a child in one of the apartments got up before his parents and was playing with a lighter when he ignited curtains.

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Jeff Reinartz: Little to miss 10 years after last cigarette  

I can remember 10 years ago today almost as if it were last week. It was Feb. 3, 2002, and my wife and I were at our friends' house to watch Super Bowl XXXVI.

The most memorable thing about that night, other than the fantastic game won by the New England Patriots over the heavily favored St. Louis Rams, was that I must have smoked about two packs of cigarettes in preparation for what I had planned for the next day.

The next day, 10 years ago tomorrow, my wife and I, as we had planned a month or more in advance, began our life without cigarettes, and I can honestly say it's the best decision we've ever made. . . .

This concludes my own horn tooting. Tomorrow my wife and I are going to watch our son toot his horn, his trumpet, in the Ellis Middle School jazz band.

We plan on being around to watch his kids do the same thing someday. Jeff Reinartz grew up in Austin and has lived here most of his life. His column appears weekly.

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Savannah university to enforce smoke-free campus 

SAVANNAH, Ga. -- A Georgia university plans to ban smoking on its Savannah campus later this year.

Administrators at Armstrong Atlantic State University says smoking, chewing tobacco and all other tobacco use will be prohibited on it property both outdoors and indoors once the fall semester starts next August. The school will be the 16th college in Georgia to completely snuff out smoking.

Armstrong Atlantic's president, Linda Bleicken, says the change will "support the health and well-being" of the university's 7,500 students as well as faculty and staff.

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