http://www.tobacco.org/newsfeed/category/tobacco_control.rss Latest top tobacco news headlines en-us http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/22/opinion/22sun4.html http://tobacco.org/news/293120.html There are no records kept on how fast loopholes can be uncovered in new federal law, but the roll-your-own tobacco industry is making a breathtaking run for this year's shabby laurels. No sooner had President Obama signed the new children's health insurance law last spring than the industry pried open a lucrative escape from the 20-fold tax increase levied on roll-your-own cigarettes to help support the program. . . . Obviously the new law is in urgent need of a no- nonsense amendment to bring roll-your-own under proper federal controls and full taxation. The companies plead they merely found a way to save their industry from taxes so prohibitive as to force them to close. That's not a bad idea, given the public health findings about lethal smoking. But the companies' gambit -- the pretense of marketing pipe tobacco -- is an outright deception. Retailers are winking as they peddle pipe tobacco along with cigarette papers. This is not what President Obama and Congress had in mind in acting to bolster the health of young people. What's the record for shutting a loophole? New York Times Sun, 22 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://thegovmonitor.com/world_news/britain/man-u-football-rival-fans-in-uk-give-smoking-the-red-card-16038.html http://tobacco.org/news/293119.html Chelsea fans may be currently celebrating being top of the Premier League, but there is room for improvement off the pitch as they struggle to kick the habit and give smoking the red card. Today, as the latest standings in the Smokefree United League are announced, it's revealed that only 77 Blues fans have signed for Smokefree United to quit smoking - leaving them trailing behind their Man U rivals who top the table with 274, more than treble the number of Chelsea fans pledging to quit. Smokefree United is a virtual club of quitters that provides coaching and support to help football fans and players to stop smoking, www.nhs.uk/smokefreeunited. Launched in October by the NHS and supported by the Premier League and football legends Ian Wright, Gianfranco Zola, John Barnes and Andy Townsend, more than 1,500 fans have already signed up. In addition to quitting advice and entry into competitions to win money can't buy prizes, footballers and fans that sign up boost their team's position in the Smokefree United League. Other winners in the Smokefree United League are Liverpool, who despite lagging six places behind Chelsea in the Premier League, have raced ahead in the quitting stakes and come in second with 182 quitters. Arsenal are in third with 138 fans followed by Tottenham and Chelsea who with 84 and 77 fans respectively are battling it out for the fourth spot. The Gov Monitor UK Sun, 22 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/publications/news/news-now/health-of-the-public/20091119smoke-stats.html http://tobacco.org/news/293116.html The United States likely will fall well short of the Healthy People 2010 objective of reducing to less than 12 percent the prevalence of cigarette smoking among adults. According to a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, or MMWR, article released Nov. 13, the proportion of U.S. adults who were cigarette smokers declined from 24.1 percent in 1998 to 19.8 percent in 2007. However, the figure increased to 20.6 percent in 2008. The CDC said in the MMWR article that none of the states are funding tobacco control programs at levels the agency has recommended. CDC officials said funding at recommended levels is needed to continue and improve tobacco control programs, especially to reach populations that have disproportionately high rates of smoking. . . . The AAFP's tobacco cessation program, Ask and Act, encourages members to ask their patients about tobacco use and to then act to help them quit. Through the Ask and Act program, AAFP members have access to a variety of resources to help patients quit using tobacco, American Family Physician ann@aafp.org Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://news10now.com/cny-news-1013-content/top_stories/488270/suny-cortland-says-no-thanks-to-big-tobacco?ap=1&MP4 http://tobacco.org/news/293104.html Studies show 18 to 25-year olds have the highest rate of tobacco use at 18 percent nationwide, and it's the only group whose numbers are not going down. SUNY Cortland has partnered with the Onondaga County Health department to address the issue, and educators told Tamara Lindstrom that means saying no thanks to big tobacco. . . . Concerns like these are driving SUNY Cortland to take a closer look at smoking policies. "Our buildings are tobacco-free. Our entire campus is not tobacco free. So we want to look at the outdoors because secondhand smoke certainly is a concern," said health educator Catherine Smith. That's just one of the initiatives included in the Colleges for Change program. The program aims to reduce smoking among students through education and tougher tobacco policies. About 14 percent of SUNY Cortland students smoke, lower than the national average. But educators want to see that number go down. News 10 Now Sat, 21 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.chillicothegazette.com/article/20091121/NEWS01/911210316/1002/rss01 http://tobacco.org/news/293100.html Confronted with a public smoking ban, higher sin taxes and more anti-smoking efforts, fewer Ohioans are lighting up. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports 20.2 percent of Ohioans smoked in 2008, a 7.5 percent decline from 2001, when Ohio ranked fourth in the country for smokers. The CDC data goes back to 1998, when the smoking rate was 26.2. Ohio now has the 17th-highest rate of smokers, according to the study. The CDC reports 21.5 percent of men in Ohio smoked and 19 percent of women. But there are fears those numbers could rise again. In 2008, the state cut funding for the Ohio Tobacco Prevention Foundation, which funded community anti-smoking initiatives after the state received its share of a settlement with tobacco companies. The foundation began in 2000 with a $40 million budget. Chillicothe Gazette jalaimo@nncogannett.com (JESSICA ALAIMO CentralOhio.com ) Sat, 21 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/edinburgh/-Edinburgh-University-students-stub.5846149.jp http://tobacco.org/news/293097.html STUDENTS at Edinburgh University have voted to keep cigarettes on sale on campus. A motion was put before the annual general meeting of Edinburgh University Students Association which would have stopped EUSA shops from selling cigarettes and remove all cigarette machines on campus. The motion, put forward by a fourth year medical student, argued that EUSA should not profit from, promote or help facilitate smoking. It would also have required the students association to promote services which provide support and advice to students who wished to give up smoking. More than 700 students turned out for the AGM – the largest number for several years – filling the university's George Square lecture theatre and forcing organisers to set up a video link to another venue. The Scotsman UK-Scotland Sat, 21 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=633256 http://tobacco.org/news/293089.html The less you smoke, the more birthdays you'll have, says the American Cancer Society as it encourages smokers to quit on Thursday, the day of the 34th Great American Smokeout. Research shows that smokers who quit at age 35 gain an average of eight years of life expectancy, and those who quit at 55 gain about five years. Even long-time smokers who quit at age 65 gain three years. Smokers who quit before age 50 cut their risk of death within the next 15 years in half compared to people who continue to smoke. In addition, a former smoker's lung cancer risk 10 years after quitting smoking is about half that of someone who still smokes, the society said. There are immediate health benefits, too. Heart rate and blood pressure decrease 20 minutes after people have their last cigarette. HealthDay [HealthScout] Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/article/20091120/NEWS01/911200304/1002/RSS01 http://tobacco.org/news/293070.html Confronted with a public smoking ban, higher sin taxes and more anti-smoking efforts, fewer Ohioans are lighting up. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports 20.2 percent of Ohioans smoked in 2008, a 7.5 percent decline from 2001, when Ohio ranked fourth in the country for smokers. The CDC data goes back to 1998, when the smoking rate was 26.2. Ohio now has the 17th-highest rate of smokers, according to the study. The CDC reports that 21.5 percent of men in Ohio smoked and 19 percent of women. But some fear those numbers could rise again. In 2008, the state cut funding for the Ohio Tobacco Prevention Foundation, which funded community anti-smoking initiatives after the state received its share of a settlement with tobacco companies. The foundation began in 2000 with a $40 million budget. Zanesville Recorder jalaimo@nncogannett.com (JESSICA ALAIMO CentralOhio.com) Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/Script/DisplayPressRelease.php3?Display=1181 http://tobacco.org/news/293013.html Massachusetts today announced extraordinary results from its aggressive efforts to help Medicaid beneficiaries quit smoking by providing easy access to coverage for smoking cessation medication and counseling. Massachusetts reported that smoking rates among beneficiaries in its MassHealth program plunged by 26 percent in the first two and a half years after the state began providing coverage of smoking cessation in July 2006. Costly medical procedures among those who utilized the cessation benefit also fell dramatically. Among benefit users, there were 38 percent fewer hospitalizations for heart attacks and 17 percent fewer emergency-room visits for asthma symptoms in the first year after using the benefit. There were 17 percent fewer claims for maternal birth complications since the benefit was implemented, state health officials reported. Massachusetts is leading the way in demonstrating that health insurance coverage for smoking cessation quickly improves health and saves lives, and no doubt reduces health care costs as well. Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids Wed, 18 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.sfbaytimes.com/index.php?sec=article&article_id=11877 http://tobacco.org/news/292993.html “BUTT OUT! Ending Tobacco Industry Exploitation of the LGBT Community” will mark the Gay American Smokeout by staging a public spectacle to draw attention to the impact of Big Tobacco on the LGBT community, on Nov. 19 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Harvey Milk Plaza. BUTT OUT!, a local LGBT advocacy group that works against the tobacco companies, and dozens of local concerned citizens dressed in black and wearing skull makeup to represent those who have died from tobacco, will chase out of the Castro the tobacco company’s proxy, the Grim Reaper, standing close to 10-feet tall while wielding a three-foot cigarette. State Senator Mark Leno, who has pledged to refuse campaign donations from tobacco companies, will be speaking at the event. San Francisco Bay Times Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.fwdailynews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5799:Survey-finds-many-smokers-make-last-minute-plans-to-quit&catid=61:times-online2&Itemid=6 http://tobacco.org/news/292991.html Although a majority of smokers want to quit smoking, many delay making a plan to quit until the last minute, according to a recent American Cancer Society online survey of people who say they want to. Twenty-two percent of smokers surveyed planned to quit within 24 hours, while 30 percent said they planned to quit within a week or two. The American Cancer Society stresses the importance of planning ahead to quit smoking as research shows that preparing for quitting by allowing enough time to get nicotine replacement therapy, and planning how to deal with cravings and tempting situations, greatly increases the likelihood of succeeding. The Society encourages smokers to use the annual occasion of the Great American Smokeout® on November 19 as a date to make a plan to quit, or to plan in advance and quit smoking that day. The survey, conducted via the Great American Smokeout Web site (www.cancer.org/GreatAmericans) also found that 76 percent of smokers surveyed did not know that they could receive free help FW Daily News Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20091119/LIFESTYLE/911190303/-1/rss01 http://tobacco.org/news/292975.html Tobacco-Free Living of Louisiana is teaming up with local musicians and businesses in downtown Alexandria to throw a block party as part of the Great American Smoke Out 2009 to help clear the air about secondhand smoke. Region VI Tobacco Prevention and Cancer Control Coalition, Rapides Parish Healthy Initiatives Coalition and Louisiana Youth Prevention Services will partner to host "Live on Air" 6-10 p.m. Thursday on Desoto Street between Third and Fourth streets in downtown Alexandria to raise awareness -- and to have some fun while they're at it. Tipitina's Music Co-op has partnered with the event to provide music by local artists -- including DC Sills, Dick Larry & Mick, Bombs Away, Gutta Boy Muzik and Dynamic Jake -- that will cover a wide range of musical tastes. Alexandria Town Talk ddinsmore@thetowntalk.com (David Dinsmore) Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.stjoenews.net/news/2009/nov/19/city-wants-grant-battle-smoking/ http://tobacco.org/news/292971.html The American Cancer Society asks smokers to give up the habit for one day today as part of the Great American Smokeout. A $2 million federal grant could help St. Joseph fight an anti-smoking battle of its own with longer lasting results. The City Council gave the City of St. Joseph Health Department the green light Monday to apply for the Communities Putting Prevention to Work grant — part of the American Reinvestment & Recovery Act of 2009. If the funding is approved, the health department will work with Heartland Health, the Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services, Buchanan County, the St. Joseph School District, Missouri Western State University, the St. Joseph Youth Alliance and the University of Missouri to implement an anti-smoking marketing campaign, smoking cessation services and other programs. City Health Director Debra Bradley provided statistics showing the severity of St. Joseph’s smoking problem among young people. According to a study from the health department and Heartland Health, 56 percent of local youths age 18 to 24 smoke, while roughly one in four adults are smokers. Council member Mike Bozarth was the most vocal opponent of Monday’s resolution. As a smoker and opponent of expanded government regulations, Mr. Bozarth said he didn’t want the council to take part in a program that could restrict citizens’ personal choices. St. Joseph News-Press clintonthomas@npgco.com (Clinton Thomas) Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/story/866558.html http://tobacco.org/news/292947.html There seem to be two Dr. Alan Blums. One is a tweedy academic — the family medicine professor and director of the Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society at the University of Alabama who has devoted his dead-serious career to the prevention of tobacco-induced illnesses. The other is the self-described “Bart Simpson of the anti-smoking movement” — the alter ago who donned a fake pharmacist’s lab coat Wednesday to help set up “Your Cancer and Drug Store,” an exhibition on tobacco advertising that opens today in the Buffalo Museum of Science. . . . The approach reflects a lesson learned in 1977 when Blum, then a Miami hospital intern and nascent anti-smoking crusader, lost a contentious radio talk show debate with a tobacco industry spokesman while the host, Larry King, blew smoke in Blum’s face. Ever since, “I’ve tried to bring some humor and satire to a depressing issue that many people take very seriously,” Blum said. The strategy has included “house calls” to tobacco festivals and “anything else we could do to ridicule the brand names.” Satirical references abound in “Your Cancer and Drug Store,” which was gleaned from a trove of tobacco advertising and promotional materials that Blum started collecting 15 years ago and now fills 2,500 boxes in his Alabama center. He started by buying items distributed by cigarette companies that a Connecticut store owner had accumulated over two decades. “He must’ve thought it had collectible value, but it cost more to ship it [to Alabama] than I paid for it,” Blum said. From the outset his goal was to mount an exhibition that underscored the everyday irony of seeing tobacco products on the shelves of pharmacies that dispense drugs prescribed to combat cancer, heart disease, hypertension and other diseases linked to smoking. “I wanted to do an over-the-top, walk-through exhibit,” he said, citing the role that drugstores have played in keeping America smoking. “I’m not going after individual pharmacies as much as the chains that own them.” . . . By touring “Your Cancer and Drug Store,” he said, “you are looking at origins of cancer just as much as you would by looking through a microscope.” Buffalo News tbuckham@buffnews.com (Tom Buckham News Staff Reporter) Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/massachusetts-model-tobacco-cessation-benefit-spurs-unprecedented-drop-in-smoking-rates-heart-attacks-asthma-and-birth-complications-70401442.html http://tobacco.org/news/292940.html A "model" tobacco cessation benefit offered to Massachusetts' Medicaid participants has produced an astounding 26% drop in smoking rates in only two and a half years, and has already been linked to decreases in heart attacks, hospitalizations for asthma and COPD, and a significant decrease in birth complications. Researchers from the Massachusetts Tobacco Cessation and Prevention Program (MTCP) found that up to 38% fewer MassHealth cessation benefit users were hospitalized for heart attacks in the first year after using the benefit, and that 18% fewer benefit users visited the emergency room for asthma symptoms in the first year after using the benefit. Researchers also found that there were 12% fewer claims for adverse maternal birth complications since the benefit was implemented. The Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services said more than 75,000 people -- a full 40% of MassHealth members who smoke -- have used the benefit to try to quit smoking. Cost savings are being studied, and all indications suggest they will be significant. "It is clear from these latest findings that the Commonwealth's efforts to help people quit smoking is a sound investment," Executive Office of Health and Human Services Secretary JudyAnn Bigby said. . . . "As the nation debates the future of its health care system, the national significance of this research cannot be understated," said Robert J. Gould, PhD, President and CEO of Partnership for Prevention, a national organization that advances policies and practices to prevent disease and improve the health of all Americans. "These findings demonstrate that prudent investments in preventive health today will have a dramatic and positive effect on our health care system tomorrow." PR Newswire Wed, 18 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT