http://www.tobacco.org/newsfeed/category/tobacco_control.rss Latest top tobacco news headlines en-us http://search.eurekalert.org/e3/cs.html?url=http%3A//www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-06/uow-ebt062509.php&charset=iso-8859-1&qt=tobacco&col=ev3rel&n=1&la=en http://tobacco.org/news/286741.html ????The pair published "Stealing a March in the 21st Century: Accelerating Progress in the 100-Year War Against Tobacco Addiction in the United States" in the July issue of the American Journal of Public Health. Michael Fiore and Timothy Baker, director and associate director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention (UW-CTRI), respectively, chart milestones in beating tobacco addiction and map a battle plan to eradicate tobacco use in the next few decades. The researchers analyzed data from the 1960s, when the first systemic tracking of smoking rates began, until the present.????"Numerous observers have claimed over time that tobacco use has plateaued and progress against its use has stalled," the authors write. "However, the remarkable decline in rates of tobacco use since the 1960s belies this claim and underscores the remarkable success of tobacco control efforts to date."????Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show adults smoking between 1965 and 2007 dropped by an average of one half of one percentage point per year, from 42 percent to the current rate of about 20 percent rate. While this rate of decline hasn't occurred each year, the overall decrease has been quite steady.????The two researchers urge a nationwide effort designed to accelerate the rate of decline over the next 50 years EurekAlert mh1@ctri.medicine.wisc.edu (University of Wisconsin-Madison) Thu, 25 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT http://www.sourcejuice.com/1187675/2009/07/03/User-officials-meet-pumping-bare-smoke-naked-naked-supervision/ http://tobacco.org/news/286738.html ??Some officials are now meeting with the display of cigarettes, "the new attention." June 29, netizen "sister peaches" online posting on the peninsula, "officials have become smarter, and now all available on the meeting smoke naked", with photos showing city officials held a meeting table with a plate placed the number of for access to cigarettes. Without the luxury packaging, a few cigarettes a neatly placed in the plate, even if the camera angle was no longer the close, still do not see what is the licensing of these smoke?? SourceJuice China Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:00:00 GMT http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Entertainment/Smoking-ban-on-cartoon-characters-too/articleshow/4734068.cms http://tobacco.org/news/286729.html ??If you thought it was only a certain former Indian minister who zealously wanted to put an end to smoking on screen, you’re wrong.????For a health group in the UK is trying to one up the ex-minister. Yes, it is planning to certify cartoons that have smoking scenes as 18+!????And, people are equally flabbergasted by the move like many across the world. “It’s quite funny to hear this because the cartoon Popeye single-handedly made spinach a craze in the US, and created awareness about healthy eating among youngsters. If you mention the word Popeye to any kid, I’m pretty sure a pipe will not figure even in the top five terms that they associate with the cartoon,” says software professional Nirmal Venkatranghan.????VJ Pooja, who is a self-confessed Popeye fan, says, “As a fan of Popeye, I can safely say that he doesn’t exactly smoke, in the truest sense of the word.” . . . ????????Agrees a volunteer from an NGO that preaches against smoking, “These are actions being taken by a few over-zealous individuals who are misguided in their efforts to restrict smoking.” He also offers a constructive alternative, “Instead, governments across the world should use these cartoons constructively to preach about the evil effects of smoking to children.” Now, here is someone talking reason. But will the folks who matter listen? The Times of India UK Sat, 04 Jul 2009 04:00:00 GMT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155945.php http://tobacco.org/news/286725.html ??The University of Illinois at Chicago is leading a $2.9 million National Cancer Institute project to increase demand for evidence-based, Internet-based smoking cessation treatment among young adults.????"Even though many young adults think about quitting and actually want to stop smoking, they tend not to use what we know works - evidence-based approaches to quitting," said psychology professor Robin Mermelstein, director of UIC's Institute for Health Research and Policy and principal investigator of the five-year study.????Young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 have the highest rates of smoking compared to any other age group, but they have among the lowest rates of quitting, according to Mermelstein.????A multidisciplinary team of investigators from UIC, the University of Iowa and the American Legacy Foundation will work with GDS&M Idea City advertising agency to develop interactive, Internet-based ads and evaluate what messages motivate young smokers to use the evidence-based stop smoking program www.BecomeAnEx.org. . . .??????The four-part study will develop Internet-based ads, evaluate if the ads are reaching young adults and driving them to Internet-based cessation programs, determine if the approaches are effective, and find out if those who used the Internet-based program were successful in stopping smoking.???? Medical News TODAY Wed, 01 Jul 2009 04:00:00 GMT http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=63542 http://tobacco.org/news/286687.html ??A complete ban on tobacco in the military is needed but would likely take about 20 years, according to a new Institute of Medicine study commissioned by the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs.????The ban is possible if the DOD begins to "close the pipeline of new tobacco users entering the military" and slowly cuts off supplies of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, the Committee on Smoking Cessation in Military and Veteran Populations found in its study, which was released Friday.????The DOD and VA asked the institute for recommendations on how to deal with smoking among servicemembers.????The study gives a bleak account of the health and financial toll tobacco takes on the military, which has nearly twice the smoking rate of the civilian population.????More than 30 percent of servicemembers smoke or use tobacco, though smokeless tobacco use is less certain. Those people are more likely to drop out of basic training, have poor vision, leave the service within the first year, get sick and miss work, according to the study findings.????The 15-member committee of doctors and health care professionals said the best way to reduce the problem is to eliminate it through a phased-in tobacco ban across the services. . . .??????The NIH researchers said many in the DOD have avoided pressuring smokers deployed to war zones to enter smoking cessation programs, and they had trouble finding DOD documentation on whether those smoking cessation programs were helping people quit.????“This does not inspire confidence that the programs are meeting the needs of military personnel and it prevents contributions from outside personnel on how the programs might be improved,” researchers wrote.????The cessation programs should be improved and even deployed servicemembers must be encouraged to quit tobacco by commanders, the committee recommended.?? Stars & Stripes trittent@pstripes.osd.mil (Travis J. Tritten , Stars and Stripes Online edition) Wed, 01 Jul 2009 04:00:00 GMT http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/30/AR2009063004365.html http://tobacco.org/news/286684.html ??Most Annapolis insiders know Vinnie DeMarco as an indefatigable advocate for universal health care, beloved by progressive Democrats and dismissed by conservatives. As executive director of the nonprofit Maryland Citizens Health Initiative, he's a familiar face to reporters: a friendly nudge, always looking for publicity for his causes.????Now comes a book by Michael Pertschuk, a consumer advocate and a former chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, that immortalizes DeMarco and his story as a template for successful grass-roots organizing.????"The DeMarco Factor: Transforming Public Will Into Political Power," scheduled to be published in the spring by Vanderbilt University Press, chronicles DeMarco's successful campaigns against the National Rifle Association, the tobacco lobby, Wal-Mart and the health-care industry.????Pertschuk explains how DeMarco, a former leader of the Maryland Young Democrats, has, since the 1980s, organized broad coalitions of health policy advocates, unions, churches and faith communities and even some business interests to help defeat the state's gun and tobacco lobbies with tougher gun control laws and higher cigarette taxes. The Washington Post Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:00:00 GMT http://www.theage.com.au/national/renewed-push-to-ban-cigarette-branding-on-packs-20090701-d57x.html http://tobacco.org/news/286673.html ??PRESSURE is mounting for brand labels to be removed from cigarette packets - a move that the tobacco industry bluffed a previous Labor government out of pursuing, according to anti-tobacco campaigners.????The Public Health Association, the Cancer Council and Heart Foundation yesterday swung behind Family First Senator Steve Fielding's move to introduce legislation banning brand labels on cigarette packs. "There is no case for allowing any glossy brand promotion for a product that is lethal and addictive," Senator Fielding said.????The national preventative health taskforce in its report handed to the Government this week is expected to call for the branding ban - which the tobacco industry has fiercely resisted in the past. The Age Australia Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:00:00 GMT http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/090624/3924221en_uspublic.html?.v=1 http://tobacco.org/news/286672.html Have you recently quit smoking and want to let everyone know about your achievement, or do you need an extra incentive to give up the cigarettes for good? Then why not enter the European Smoke Free Awards 2009?????Held for the first time in 2008, the awards are a chance to win a share of 7,000 Euros in holiday vouchers, with the Quitter of the Year scooping 5,000 holiday Euros and the runner up winning 2,000 holiday Euros.????A range of countries across Europe are participating in the awards, with each country putting forward one finalist who will win a trip to the awards ceremony in Barcelona in February 2010. You can also nominate a healthcare professional who has helped smokers quit and a public figure who has made an impact on smoking policy. PR Newswire Europe Wed, 24 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2009/07/02/cigarette_companies_kicked_out_of_tobacco_meeting/ http://tobacco.org/news/286667.html A U.N.-backed meeting on tobacco smuggling has barred cigarette companies from attending for fear they will try to influence delegates, participants said Thursday.????More than 130 countries agreed late Wednesday to expel the tobacco industry from the rest of the weeklong meeting of parties to the 2005 Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which the U.S. has signed but yet to ratify.????Governments are considering a range of measures to crack down on contraband cigarettes, including a ban on Internet sale of tobacco products and a crackdown on smuggling through duty free zones.????"We (the governments) decided not to permit the tobacco industry to enter the meeting because they could interfere in the negotiations," said Justino Regalado Pineda, the head of Mexico's National Office for Tobacco Control.????"We have to protect people from their commercial interest to poison the population." . . .??????"This action sends a clear message from customs, health and law enforcement officials that it's not business as usual for the tobacco companies," the group's international policy director Kathy Mulvey said.?? Boston Globe Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:00:00 GMT http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayReleaseContent.aspx?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/06-30-2009/0005052779&EDATE= http://tobacco.org/news/286665.html ??Wisconsin leaders have taken a positive step to protect the state's kids and taxpayers from the devastating toll of tobacco by increasing the state cigarette tax by 75 cents. However, it is deeply disappointing that despite this increase in tobacco-related revenue, state leaders approved a budget that cuts funding by more than half for critical tobacco prevention and cessation programs. This devastating cut will reduce the number of people who quit as a result of the cigarette tax increase and undermine successful programs already in place to protect kids and help smokers quit.????The budget cut will reduce the amount Wisconsin spends a year on tobacco prevention and cessation programs to just $6.85 million a year. This is barely one-tenth of the $64.3 million that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that Wisconsin spend each year on such programs. It is also just a fraction of the hundreds of millions of dollars the state collects each year from tobacco taxes and the 1998 state tobacco settlement.????It is penny-wise and pound-foolish to shortchange tobacco prevention programs. PR Newswire photodesk@prnewswire.com ( SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids ) Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/jul/02/archive-smoking-health-effects http://tobacco.org/news/286659.html ??Mr M. Lipton (Lab.) asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in the House of Commons yesterday what action he would take to co-ordinate the work of Government departments in publicising the danger of lung cancer caused by smoking.????Mr Lipton: Is it not cowardly or at least half-hearted for the Government to leave the whole of this important task to local councils? Aren't you well qualified to conduct a nation-wide campaign?????Dr Hill: The statutory responsibility of health education rests on local authorities and they can and will engage in health education on this subject.????Stopping smoking [leader]????What are the heavy smokers among us to do now? "Stop smoking," is the simple answer, but it is unlikely that a public pronouncement will have a dramatic effect on habits ingrained over several years. So it is natural to look to the Government for help. In many ways the Government has already done a good deal. The public endorsement given last week to the proposition that smoking can cause lung cancer should have some effect.????The Government's only fault has been that of procrastination. . . .??These are only some of the pitfalls in the way of direct action by the Government. It is all very well calling it "cowardly and half-hearted". But what steps do the critics propose? The Guardian lifeandstyle.editor@guardianunlimited.co.uk ( | Life and style | The Guardian) UK Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:00:00 GMT http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jul/02/eu-smoking-legislation-ban http://tobacco.org/news/286656.html ??Maybe there's still hope for journalism when the News of the World manages to squeeze in a story or two unrelated to Michael Jackson. "European zealots", the paper told us on Sunday, are demanding a ban on smoking outside pubs and offices. The ever-reliable Godfrey Bloom, newly re-elected MEP for Ukip, was rolled out to fulminate against this latest affront to his nation's sovereignty. "It's beyond the nanny state," he said. "It's the bully state. Do they want to close down the English pub?" . . .????the sad fact is that EU officials have not been sufficiently tough in standing up to the tobacco industry representatives that have been strenuously lobbying against an EU-wide smoking ban. The lobbyists have resorted to a sophisticated and sometimes duplicitous campaign in trying to advance their threadbare case that smoking isn't really that harmful. Top-level officials have been quite literally bought by the tobacco industry. Pavel Telicka, the former EU commissioner for health, now works for British American Tobacco, setting up appointments for the firm with his old colleagues in officialdom. Others have been charmed into submission; one former commissioner told me he was convinced that Philip Morris represented the progressive side of the industry. It never dawned on him that the firm had sunk gargantuan sums into making him believe just that by, for example, setting up a medical institute bearing its name.????No national administration would allow paedophiles a say in setting child welfare policies. So why should the views of Big Tobacco on issues of health be taken seriously? And no, I don't think this analogy is too extreme. According to the World Health Organisation, half of the children on this planet have to breathe air polluted by smoke.????This week's move towards creating a "smoke-free environment" across the EU by 2012 is superficially positive, but in reality quite a timid move. The commission's ban will not be legally binding but will rely on the goodwill of national governments to put it into effect. . . .????At the cost of five million lives each year, smoking is the top cause of preventable death in the world. The industry that seeks to profit from this misery is beneath contempt – it's about time our policy-makers started treating it that way.?? The Guardian userhelp@guardian.co.uk (| David Cronin | Comment is free ) Europe Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:00:00 GMT http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/2009/07/01/public-backs-removal-of-ciggie-machines-in-pubs-92746-24041755/ http://tobacco.org/news/286643.html A majority of adults believe cigarette vending machines in pubs should be abolished, a survey said today.????A poll by YouGov for Cancer Research UK found that 75 per cent of respondents were in favour of getting rid of the machines and 70 per cent want tobacco products out of sight in shops.?? Coventry Evening Telegraph UK Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:00:00 GMT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=152778 http://tobacco.org/news/286634.html ??The Department of Health is rolling out a new systems-based approach to improve stop smoking interventions in primary care. This new approach has increased referrals to local NHS Stop Smoking services by up to 49% in pilot areas.????People who are referred to local NHS Stop Smoking Services are up to four times more likely to quit.????The new approach was developed to ensure stop smoking interventions by healthcare professionals are routine and systematic, providing a tailored and consistent approach to patient referral. It will be rolled out to practices over the next few months by trained local NHS Stop Smoking Service advisers who will support its implementation in local primary care settings.????The approach recognises smoking as a key clinical issue requiring treatment or referral to a specialist, joining standard issues such as hypertension or high cholesterol. Medical News TODAY UK Sun, 07 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/01/AR2009070103028.html http://tobacco.org/news/286606.html And the FDA is seeking to fill up to 600 positions, including inspectors and contract officers to staff the new Center for Tobacco Products.????About one-fifth, or about 120,000, of the positions would be in the region, experts said.?? The Washington Post Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:00:00 GMT