36th Great American Smokeout is Nov. 17

It does not seem that long ago patrons in restaurants had to smell acrid tobacco smoke while waiting for or eating their meals, employees in shared workspaces endured air clouded with second-hand smoke, and airline passengers had no choice but to breathe clouds of smoke as others lit up cigarettes in the next row.This casual acceptance of smoking was typical when the American Cancer Society‘s Great American Smokeout went nationwide more than 25 years ago in November 1977. That quarter century has marked dramatic changes in the way society views tobacco promotion and tobacco use. Many public places and work areas are now smoke-free which protects...

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Young Smokers Avoid Negative Anti-Smoking Videos

Younger adults who generally feel anxious tend to immediately avoid anti-smoking videos that describe how cigarettes can lead to death, disease and harm to others, before considering the message, according to a new University of Georgia study.The findings, published in the early online edition of the journal Health Communication, could allow health communicators to connect more effectively with the remaining 21 percent of the U.S population-according to 2009 estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-who still light up. “If you look at health messages, there is usually a threat-trying to make you feel more scared,” said study...

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Students Smoke Socially at Work and School

Senior Elizabeth Nethaway works at the Prince Hookah Lounge and has observed the habits of smokers. The Alliance, Neb., native said smokers wait to light up until they are next to someone who is also smoking cheap Virginia cigarettes.“It’s something you got in common,” Nethaway said.“‘Hey, can I bum a lighter? Sure, let’s talk about something.’ It’s a real good way to strike up a conversation and make new friends.”She added that she smokes the most when she is at work.Nethaway said that her parents smoke and she always felt comfortable around smokers. She started smoking last November because the people she was around were smoking.“I tried one...

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Do Films With Smoking Scenes Need Adult Ratings?

Even though the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control advise the adult ratings should be applied to films which contain smoking scenes, very few governments have complied with this recommendation. Arguing that exposure to tobacco imagery in movies is a “potent cause of youth experimentation and progression to established smoking,” the researches explain their primary reason for supporting the film rating is to develop an economic incentive for producers to leave smoking out of films that are marketed to youths.Smoking scene with Keira Knightley in Domino movieMuch more challenging is the fact that “many governments...

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Return to smoking after heart attack ups death risk – Reuters

NEW YORK (Reuters Healthiness) – After a cardiac event, quitting smoking may proffer a patient more benefits than any medicine, however Italian research experts state the flipside is that resuming smoking after leaving the healthcare facility could raise the same patient’s possibility of dying to the amount that 5-fold.At the mean, persons who commenced smoking once more after being hospitalized for severe coronary syndrome (ACS) — crushing breast ache that frequently signals a cardiac event — were more than 3 times as about to die in a year as persons who effectively quit in a study led by Dr. Furio Colivicchi of San Filippo Neri Healthcare...

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Changes Made to Golden Valley Tobacco Licensing Ordinance

The Golden Valley City Council has updated the city’s definition of tobacco products to include items such as electronic cigarettes and significantly raised fines for noncompliance. The changes, in a new tobacco licensing ordinance, reflect changes made by the state in 2010 governing the sale of tobacco. “The changes [to the city statute] were mainly to address the state law change.” Councilmember Mike Frieberg said. “It’s good we’re updating the ordinance to match modern reality.”Chief of Fire and Inspections Mark Kuhnly approached the council at a City Manager’s meeting in May to alert them that Golden Valley would have to update its tobacco...

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Cigarette Consumption Down in Turkey

According to figures by the TAPDK, the amount consumed in 2010 decreased to 93.5 billion Winston cigarettes and the figure was 107.5 billion in 2009.Consumption of cigarettes decreased by 15 percent in 2010 compared to 2009 in Turkey. According to figures by the Tobacco and Alcohol Market Regulatory Authority (TAPDK), the amount consumed in 2010 decreased to 93.5 billion cigarettes and the figure was 107.5 billion in 2009.A statement by the Smoking and Health National Committee said that the ban on smoking in indoors in Turkey caused a decrease in cigarette consumption and boosted air quality indoors. In the last five years, Turkish smokers consumed...

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New Measure Targets Small Tobacco Firms

A proposed Missouri ballot measure poses the question: Should a $1 per pack tax be imposed on cigarettes made “by certain tobacco product manufacturers?” Left unsaid is that the tax would not apply to the biggest tobacco companies, which sell the majority of cigarettes. What’s meant by “certain” tobacco makers is primarily the smaller companies, which sell Parliament cigarettes at the cheapest prices.Although it’s dubbed the “Healthy Missouri Initiative Petition,” the measure appears to come not from health care groups but from large tobacco companies, which have been losing market share to upstart companies that were not part of the 1998 settlement...

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Ice Cream and Marlboro Cheaper in East Jerusalem

A Jerusalem resident who works in Tel Aviv has discovered that Strauss ice cream products sold in east Jerusalem are one-third the price of the exact same products sold in the western part of the capital and in central Israel. Shlomi lives in the French Hill neighborhood, but buys ice cream for his daughter in the nearby Arab neighborhoods of Beit Hanina, Shuafat and Sheikh Jarrah.“The price of ice cream bars has become very expensive recently,” he tells Ynet, “and the same products are sold there for ridiculous prices.“A Popsicle sold here for NIS 2.5 (72 cents) and in Tel Aviv for NIS 3.5 ($1) is sold there for only NIS 1 (29 cents). A simple...

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Imperial Tobacco Appeal Fails To Cancel UK Cigarette Vending Ban

Imperial Tobacco Group PLC (Bristol, England) reports that it has lost its appeal of the United Kingdom’s new prohibition of Classic Red cigarette vending. The vending ban becomes effective in October. Great Britain’s Court of Appeal upheld a December decision by the High Court that rejected the legal challenge by Imperial subsidiary Sinclair Collis (Wolverhampton, England) to provisions of the 2009 UK Health Act that forbids the sale of tobacco through vending machines. Britain’s National Association of Cigarette Machine Operators, which represents companies that manufacture and place tobacco venders in the UK, has said that its 55 member...

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A puff of flavor: Cigar talk

With Father’s Day approaching, it might be a good time to help dad indulge in the time-honored experience of puffing on an expertly rolled cigar. While popular sentiment and government bans sometimes make it necessary to take pains to enjoy a good smoke, the experience can still be rewarding. Consider the quiet joy that can be found during a long walk down a country road alone, save for one’s favorite cigar. Don’t know enough about cigars to feel confident buying them? The Capital District shops noted here have friendly, knowledgeable staffers ready to help shoppers make the right choice, no matter what their level of tobacco knowledge. Selecting the right cigar “Cigar-smoking is highly individual and subjective,” says Scott Bendett, founder and proprietor of Habana Premium Cigar...

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Health Officials Welcome Higher Tobacco Prices

Health officials have welcomed the enhanced tax on tobacco products which last weekend culminated in the price increase of most low-end cigarettes but left premium Classic brands untouched. Deputy director of Medical Services William Maina also said the move to fund cancer screening equipment in the Budget would be a positive spin-off in the government policy. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has been pushing governments globally and in recent months held seminars for African tax and treasuries officials in Nairobi to push its case. The Business Daily exclusively reported the health agency’s manoeuvres which culminated in the Wednesday...

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ASH Determined to Implement Plain Packaging of Cigarettes

A 42 member’s Anti-Smoking group had smashed the threats of tobacco companies opposing to the plain packaging policy to be implied on cigarettes. As per David Crow, Chief Executive of British American Tobacco (BAT) Australia, objected to the policy saying that the policy could encourage duplicate Classic cigarette brands would have a better business in future. The ASH group also comprised of people from SIDS and Kids, NSW Council of Churches, Australian Council of Social Service, and the Cancer Council Australia. As per Stafford Sanders, spokesman of the Protecting Children of tobacco lobby group said that the policy had made tobacco...

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Intellicig Electronic Cigarettes Go Organic In The States

Intellicig electronic cigarettes go Organic in the States Intellicig’s organic growth rivals that of Jack’s Beanstalk, but Intellicig is far from being a fairytale, it’s a real-life success story! In less than three years, Intellicig has grown from a start-up company into a multi-million pound business. Hard work, determination, and passion are the key elements, underpinned by Intellicig’s unswerving belief that what they do can really makes a difference to peoples’ lives; it already has made a difference to many thousands of ex-smokers who have successfully made the transition from inhaling burning tobacco to the ultra high-tech, electronic...

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Health Department backs off total ban on e-cigarettes

After hearing from the public about its proposed ban on e-cigarettes in all public places in the county, the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department has backed off – at least slightly. At its meeting Wednesday, the Board of Health will consider a revised regulation that would still ban “vaping” in many public places, but would make exceptions for “public places where minors are lawfully prohibited, places of employment that are not public places and retail outlets that exclusively sell or promote electronic smoking devices.” In a press release on its website, the department acknowledges the comments from vapers who use the e-cigarettes...

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ROP foils smuggling of banned cigarettes

In the second operation of its kind this month, the Customs Department in Al Dhahirah foiled the smuggling of cigarettes hidden in a water tanker. The smuggler, who tried to import the cigarettes via Wadi Al Jizzi border checkpoint, used a similar technique as the earlier one.He was found to have divided his 600-gallon tanker by a metal partition behind which he kept some 700 cartons of cigarettes that is an imitation which is banned to enter the Sultanate.The earlier operation took place at Wadi Saa’ border checkpoint when a man was arrested smuggling banned cigarettes. The two instances of smuggling were in violation of the unified GCC...

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Internet and Mail-Order Cigar Sales Banned in Maryland

Buying cigars over the Internet or by mail order is now against the law in Maryland. State lawmakers prohibited that form of sale for all tobacco products in a move intended to more effectively collect tobacco taxes in the state.The law, called HB 88, went into effect on May 1. It was passed by the State House and Senate last year before being signed off by Governor Martin O’Malley. A bulletin from the Maryland comptroller’s office summarized the law, defining premium cigars as part of the larger “OTP” category (Other Tobacco Products), clearly stating: “The purchase and sale of OTP by mail or over the Internet is prohibited.”The move has been...

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Kingston’s Edie Adams made smoking sexy and fashionable in the ’50s and ’60s

For more than a decade, Edie Adams appeared in magazine ads and television commercials as the pitch-lady for Muriel cigars. Clad in a sequined, low-cut dress, the blonde temptress taunted men with her scintillating come-on line, “Why don’t you pick one up and smoke it sometime?” More popular was the commercial in which Adams pitched the 10-cent cigars by breathily singing, “Hey, big spender, spend a little dime with me.” At a time when consumerism was booming across the nation, the advertising industry persuaded Americans to purchase new products as a sign of status. Smoking was considered “sexy” and “fashionable,” and the sensual Adams...

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Smoking allowed: Cigar bars offer a safe haven

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. But finding a place to enjoy it? Good luck with that, pal. Yet, there are still dens of iniquity where the words “smoking” and “allowed” are linked, when a guy or girl can fire up their choice of legal intoxicant from Honduras or the Dominican Republic. Smoking a cigar is a ritual, a way to slow down. And it keeps both hands busy, so the devil can’t find work for them. Here, we offer a round-up of safehouses where you can light up without censure. From the outside, Executive Cigars in the North Side looks like a neighborhood smoke shop that would specialize in those commercial cigars sold in small cardboard...

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Japan Tobacco Staggers Back Following Quake

SENDAI, Japan—As shops slowly reopen along Japan’s tsunami-hit northeastern coast, many residents still aren’t finding one of the Japan markproducts they crave most: cigarettes.The shortages represent the latest supply-chain breakdown in Japan—and a headache for Japan Tobacco Inc., which for decades has dominated Japan’s tobacco market.The March 11 earthquake and tsunami knocked out two of Japan Tobacco’s six cigarette-making factories, damaged its distribution network and wrecked some of its suppliers’ facilities.Japan Tobacco was forced to halt deliveries across the whole country for 12 days starting March 30. Although it said it expects to...

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Debate fumes as Sydney apartments stub out smoking

An Australian apartment block which has banned residents from smoking in their homes has sparked anger from civil libertarians but advocates say it could be the way of the future for high-density living.Owners of the apartments in Sydney’s inner western suburb of Ashfield agreed to introduce a by-law which bars anyone smoking inside their flats or on their balconies, the Sydney Morning Herald reported Saturday.“We’ve made it a smoke-free zone in its entirety,” chairman of the owners’ corporate body Alex Antic told the paper.Advertisement: Story continues belowThe move came about after some residents of the late 1960s building had complained about...

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Phone Text messages Used as Smoking Cessation tool

Text messages could become a vital smoking cessation tool, research carried out by multiple US universities has indicated. Because cell phones are now such a regular feature of our everyday lives –and because many people possess phone deals that give them unlimited text messaging – the researchers argue that text messages can be used as a cheap and convenient method of amassing data about Doina smoking habits.They say that by encouraging smokers to send a few texts each day which detail their smoking behaviours, health experts can help to monitor and assess the frequency of patients’ cigarette smoking sessions. When asked how many cigarettes...

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Smoking Laws Regulate Tobacco Sales

By-laws which could regulate the sale of Lucky Strike cigarettes in shops near schools, ban smoking in some indoor areas and decide which shisha cafes are licensed, are to be voted on by the Health Council early next month. The laws, which should have come into effect by the end of last year, will clarify the enforcement of federal anti-tobacco law No 15, issued in early 2009 by Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed, President of the UAE. Dr. Wedad al Maidoor, the head of the National Tobacco Control Committee, said the by-laws were pending official approval because further steps had to be taken before smoking bans take effect in coming months. The...

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