http://www.tobacco.org/newsfeed/category/tobacco_control.rss Latest top tobacco news headlines en-us http://www.sundaymail.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2008/11/16/unborn-babies-put-at-risk-with-figures-showing-1-in-5-pregnant-mums-smoke-78057-20898399/ http://tobacco.org/news/274659.html ONE in five pregnant women smoke despite the health risks to their unborn child. And of these, only one in 10 have tried to quit with NHS support. Smoking is linked to low birth weight and an increased risk of miscarriage and stillbirth. But government figures for 2007 show that 11,868 women were still smoking - 20.9 per cent of pregnant women - at the time of their first ante-natal booking. Of these, only 1307 - around 11 per cent - tried to quit by taking up NHS support and advice on quitting. Labour MSP George Foulkes said: "The Scottish government needs to do more to warn pregnant women of the dangers of smoking. . . . TVcelebrities such as Kate Garraway and Kerry Katona were seen smoking while pregnant. But in Britain, the practice was linked to about 14,000 low-weight births, 5000 miscarriages and 400 still births last year. NHS boards have tried a number of ways to help expectant women quit. Daily Record and Sunday Mail UK UK-Scotland Sun, 16 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMT http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/11/18/arming_vets_in_fight_against_smoking/ http://tobacco.org/news/274651.html "When you're in combat and waiting and sitting around, if there's a cigarette there, that might ease a little bit of the tension," said Quinlan, now 61, who spent about a year and a half in Vietnam in the late 1960s. "So you puff away, and one leads to another, and here you are, 40 years later, and you're still smoking." Until yesterday, when he became the public face of a state campaign to reduce smoking among military veterans by providing them with nicotine patches, at no cost. To kick off the campaign, Quinlan bared his left arm, and the state's secretary of health and human services, Dr. JudyAnn Bigby, applied a nicotine-replacement patch. By calling a state-run hot line (800-879-8678), veterans and their families can receive a month's worth of patches, which retails for about $100, and a connection to telephone counseling. There are thousands of others like Quinlan in the state, health authorities said. Officials said veterans use tobacco at a rate about 30 percent higher than Massachusetts adults overall. . . . Since the start of the year, the Department of Public Health has been crafting campaigns that aim to cut smoking among groups most prone to use tobacco. But it turned out that it wouldn't be enough to address veterans only. "One thing veterans consistently said was, you can't target us without targeting our families," said the state's public health commissioner, John Auerbach, whose agency will spend $1.5 million this budget year on nicotine patches and counseling Boston Globe stsmith@globe.com (Stephen Smith Globe Staff ) Tue, 18 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMT http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?from=rss_Business%20Report&fArticleId=4716949 http://tobacco.org/news/274647.html The illicit global tobacco trade is on the agenda Monday as more than 150 countries meet in South Africa to discuss an international protocol to eliminate the illegal cross-border market. The six-day meeting falls under the World Health Organisation's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) that sets out measures to fight tobacco use through global cooperation. "This is a global epidemic," Haik Nikogosian, head of the tobacco control secretariat, told AFP. "You don't fight a global epidemic nationally - you fight it globally." As one of the most widely embraced treaties in the United Nations history, the FCTC aims for the illicit trade protocol to be adopted by 2010. The issue is a fiscal concern for governments who lost billions of dollars to the trade and also faced health and policing challenges due to greater use of cheap cigarettes and the involvement of organised crime. . . . Also to be discussed at the conference is a report on alternatives to tobacco growing. Agence France Presse South Africa Mon, 17 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMT http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/1118/p09s01-coop.html http://tobacco.org/news/274644.html To end the tobacco bias in our trade agreements, the Obama administration and Congress should exclude tobacco from GATT and all future US bilateral and regional trade agreements. And when the White House asks Congress to renew its "fast-track" trade authority, if no exemption is included, Congress should make it a condition for new negotiating authority. At the World Trade Organization, a US initiative should put tobacco beyond the reach of GATT rules and enforcement powers. And if the "Doha Round" of world trade talks revives in 2009, we should take similar action there. But trade reform without parallel action on global health won't stem the spread of tobacco-related disease. Nor, welcome as it is will the largess of charities. They are up against an industry with $160 billion in revenues. We need to stop blocking efforts to control global tobacco and become their champion. . . . The US could seek a protocol giving precedence to FCTC obligations in the event of conflict with duties under other treaties, like GATT. We could push more robust language on demand reduction in the treaty, particularly on cigarette taxation, advertising, disclosure of ingredients, and other strategies used successfully. Christian Science Monitor Tue, 18 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMT http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CT_SMOKING_CESSATION_CTOL-?SITE=NHCON http://tobacco.org/news/274643.html Two legislative committees approved a plan Tuesday to spend millions of dollars more on helping people quit smoking and preventing others from taking up the habit. The state's Tobacco and Health Trust Fund proposed spending $6.8 million in 2009. The plan includes $2 million for the state's "Quitline" telephone counseling service so it can resume offering nicotine replacement therapies. They also plan to spend $2 million for a new statewide anti-smoking media campaign and $1.2 million for smoking cessation programs for people with serious mental illness. Their plan also includes $500,000 for a new school-based smoking prevention pilot program for 10 to 20 school districts, and $250,000 for a lung cancer tissue repository and database to identify high risk groups. AP Tue, 18 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMT http://americanlegacy.org/2765.aspx http://tobacco.org/news/274629.html American Marines and sailors are smoking at alarming levels these days. In a recent survey by the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), 64 percent of the 408 Marines and sailors surveyed reported using some form of tobacco. In contrast, about 20 percent of U.S., adults smoke. Historically, tobacco use has been linked to service in the military - some may see it as a stress reliever especially during times of deployment and tours of duty that extend beyond the traditional time frame. To help the millions of smokers who want to quit, the American Legacy Foundation® has partnered with a host of state health agencies and other national organizations an innovative way to help all smokers quit. EX® is an unprecedented new public health campaign that works to change the way smokers feel about the difficult process of quitting and guide them to valuable, free resources to build and activate successful quit attempts. The program provides with tools to: American Legacy Foundation nroberts@americanlegacy.org Wed, 12 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMT http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20081118/NEWS/811170250/1028/OPINION04?Title=SPLC_should_fight_tobacco_industry http://tobacco.org/news/274621.html Over the last few years, I questioned the Southern Poverty Law Center on 'why' they continue to be 'silent' in the growing global fight against big and brutal tobacco. . . . Now, this Montgomery-based nonprofit is attempting to bankrupt the Imperial Klans of America with their Kentucky lawsuit. Why not bankrupt the heartless tobacco industry for all the past and present long-suffering pain and deaths inflicted upon the poor and minorities? 'In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends,' said Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Tuscaloosa News Tue, 18 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMT http://www.pretorianews.co.za/?fSectionId=&fArticleId=nw20081118130706719C768863 http://tobacco.org/news/274619.html If researchers from the American University of Beirut (AUB) have their way, the narghile and all its accessories would have highly visible labels detailing the effects of smoking. This emerged at a conference on the World Health Organisation's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in Durban, thanks to a group of Lebanese researchers. Assistant Research Professor Rima Nakkash, who with colleagues has established a stand in the hall where delegates eat, said that while cigarettes across the world had some form of label warning about the dangers of smoking, the much revered hubbly bubbly and its accessories had none. "It is a fallacy that smoking the narghile is a safer alternative to smoking. It has the same constituents as cigarettes and in some cases it is more dangerous," she said. Nakkash, who works for the AUB's Health Management and Policy Department, said that there were also concerns that the aluminium foil used in the narghile would give off lead. Pretoria News South Africa Tue, 18 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMT http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2008/11/18/smoking_pros_cons_discussed_at.aspx http://tobacco.org/news/274617.html After Queen Elizabeth tried tobacco, it became "all the rage" among the upper class, Albert Donnenberg, professor of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh said. Donnenberg spoke to about 300 students from the Interfraternity (IFC) and Panhellenic (PHC) Councils Monday night, giving a presentation called "Pros and Cons of Tobacco Use." The PHC partnered with Project SmokeLess and University Health Services to host the event. Leah Donnenberg, PHC vice president for programming, said she wanted to hold the program and could not think of anyone more qualified than her dad. "It's a really important topic on this campus because a lot of people socially smoke," Donnenberg (junior-advertising/public relations) said. "There are always programs on the effects of alcohol, but rarely any on the effects of smoking." Albert Donnenberg, after explaining he did not want to be preachy because it is his job to weigh all sides of an issue, began with the pros of tobacco use. He included the spiritual experience, nicotine as the ideal drug and the social aspect of smoking in the pros. Donnenberg also brought up the cons, which included bad breath, stained teeth and a higher likelihood of erectile dysfunction in men, he said. Negative health effects from smoking include lung cancer, lung disease and heart attack, among many others, he added. Penn. State Daily Collegian eks5029@psu.edu (Erin Shields Collegian Staff Writer ) Tue, 18 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMT http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectID=11&articleID=20081118_16_A9_OKLAHO377990 http://tobacco.org/news/274616.html A group of fidgety 10-year-olds stood to the right of Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson on Monday. A cartoon image depicting tobacco mascot Joe Camel was mounted on a canvas to his left. And, just as 10 years ago, Edmondson had the final word over his old nemesis. "These young people live in a world where they never saw Joe Camel being used as advertising," he said. "They live in a world where advertising by the tobacco industry aimed at children was banned. They live in a world where no cartoon characters can be used." Joined also by smoking-cessation advocates, Edmondson was at the state Capitol to mark the 10th anniversary of the master settlement agreement with the nation's largest tobacco manufacturers. The actual anniversary is Nov. 23, which Gov. Brad Henry has proclaimed "A Healthier Oklahoma Day" thanks in part to Edmondson's role in negotiating the agreement. Tulsa World tom.lindley@tulsaworld.com (TOM LINDLEY World Capitol Bureau) Tue, 18 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMT http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/reports/settlements/2009/execsum.pdf http://tobacco.org/news/274611.html Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids Tue, 18 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMT http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/reports/settlements/2009/execsum.pdf http://tobacco.org/news/274610.html Our nation has made significant progress in reducing tobacco use with a comprehensive approach that includes well-funded tobacco prevention and cessation programs, tobacco tax increases and smoke-free workplace laws. Continued progress will not occur, however, unless states step up efforts to implement these proven measures, including using more of their billions of dollars in tobacco revenue to fund tobacco prevention and cessation programs at CDC-recommended levels. It is also imperative that Congress provide much-needed leadership by enacting the legislation granting the FDA authority over tobacco products, significantly increasing the federal cigarette tax and funding a national public education and smoking cessation campaign. If national and state leaders step up the fight against tobacco use, the 1998 state tobacco settlement could yet mark a historic turning point in the battle to reduce tobacco’s terrible toll. If they do not, it will be a tragic missed opportunity for the nation’s health. Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids Tue, 18 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMT http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/reports/settlements/ http://tobacco.org/news/274609.html On November 23, 1998, 46 states settled their lawsuits against the nation’s major tobacco companies to recover tobacco-related health care costs, joining four states -- Mississippi, Texas, Florida and Minnesota -- that had reached earlier, individual settlements. These settlements require the tobacco companies to make annual payments to the states in perpetuity, with total payments estimated at $246 billion over the first 25 years.� The tobacco settlements presented the states with a historic opportunity and unprecedented sums of money to attack the enormous public health problem posed by tobacco use in the United States. Ten years later, this report finds that most states have failed to keep their promise to spend a significant portion of the settlement funds on programs to protect kids from tobacco addiction and help smokers quit. Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids Tue, 18 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMT http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/Script/DisplayPressRelease.php3?Display=1111 http://tobacco.org/news/274608.html Ten years after reaching more than $246 billion in legal settlements against the tobacco industry, the states have failed to keep their promise to spend a significant portion of the money on programs to protect kids from tobacco and help smokers quit, according to a report released today by a coalition of public health organizations. A Decade of Broken Promises: The 1998 State Tobacco Settlement Ten Years Later Executive Summary (PDF) Full Report (PDF) Chart: State Rankings (PDF) Key findings of the report include: * Over the past 10 years, the states have received $203.5 billion in tobacco-generated revenue — $79.2 billion from the tobacco settlement and $124.3 billion from tobacco taxes. But they have spent only 3.2 percent of their tobacco money — $6.5 billion — on tobacco prevention and cessation programs. * This year, no state is funding tobacco prevention programs at the levels recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Only nine states are funding tobacco prevention at even half the CDC-recommended amount, and 27 states are providing less than a quarter of the recommended funding. (Beginning in fiscal 2010, North Dakota will fund its prevention program at the CDC-recommended level as a result of a state ballot initiative approved on November 4.) * The limited restrictions on tobacco marketing imposed by the tobacco settlement have failed to curtail the tobacco industry’s ability to aggressively market its products. . . . The report, titled "A Decade of Broken Promises: The 1998 State Tobacco Settlement Ten Years Later," was released by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Lung Association and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The 10th anniversary of the settlement comes as recent surveys have shown that the nation has made significant progress in reducing smoking in the past decade, but smoking declines have slowed in recent years. From 1997 to 2007, smoking rates declined by 45 percent among high school students and by 20 percent among adults. But 20 percent of high school students and 19.8 percent of adults still smoke, and tobacco use remains the nation’s leading cause of preventable death, killing more than 400,000 people and costing nearly $100 billion in health care expenditures each year. Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids Tue, 18 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMT http://www.postchronicle.com/news/health/article_212187055.shtml http://tobacco.org/news/274607.html U.S. states have not lived up to their commitment to devote a major portion of their huge legal settlement with the tobacco industry a decade ago on anti-smoking efforts, health advocacy groups said on Tuesday. In the 10 years since the landmark deal, the states have received $79.2 billion of the settlement and another $124.3 billion from tobacco taxes, but have spent only about 3 percent of it -- $6.5 billion -- on tobacco prevention and cessation programs, the groups said in a report. The deal, which restricted cigarette advertising practices, requires tobacco companies to make annual payments to the states in perpetuity, with total payments estimated at $246 billion over the first 25 years. The report was issued by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, American Lung Association and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. No state currently is funding tobacco prevention programs at the levels recommended by the U.S. government's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and only nine are funding such efforts at even half the recommended level, according to the report. The Post Chronicle Tue, 18 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMT