The radiation dose from radium and polonium found naturally in tobacco leaves can be a thousand times more than that from the caesium-137 soaked up by the leaves from the Chernobyl nuclear accident area, a Greek researcher has said.

Constantin Papastefanou from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece measured radioactivity in tobacco leaves from across the country and calculated the average radiation dose that would be received by people smoking 30 cigarettes a day.

He found that the dose from natural radionuclides was 251 microsieverts a year, compared with 0.199 from Chernobyl fallout in the leaves.

Sources: Tobacco.org and Medindia Health Network (in)
Date: 2007-06-05
URL:
http://www.medindia.net/news/Tobaccos-Radiation-is-Very-Much-Higher-Than-from-Leaves-at-Chernobyl-21691-1.htm ID: 247859

Concern about suicidal thoughts cited by agency advisers

Source: HealthDay [HealthScout]
Date: 2007-06-13
Author: Steven Reinberg HealthDay Reporter, editors@healthday.com
URL: http://healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=605536
ID: 248196

The weight-loss drug rimonabant should not be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration because of continuing concerns about increased risks for suicidal thoughts among some users, an advisory panel concluded Wednesday.

The unanimous 14-0 vote followed another unanimous vote by the panel that drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis had failed to prove the safety of its drug, the Associated Press reported.

"There is a reasonable suspicion we better learn some more and watch this affair more closely before we launch into massive use of this drug," said panelist Dr. Jules Hirsch, of The Rockfeller University. . . .

Rimonabant has been touted by Sanofi-Aventis as a wonder drug that aids in weight loss and also helps people stop smoking, but the drug has been linked to increased risk of suicidal thoughts among some people who take it. . . .

Last year, the FDA decided not to approve rimonabant as an aid to stop smoking.
Source: Tobacco News, www.tobacco.org

As many as 70% of people think smoking at the wheel should be banned in all vehicles and 60% wrongly believe the July 1 smoking ban - which affects company and workplace vehicles - applies to private cars, the eBayMotors.co.uk survey found.

Also, 48% of drivers would refuse to travel in a car with a smoker and 54% reckon smoking at the wheel is as dangerous as using a mobile phone while driving.

The survey, of 1,277 adults, also showed that 30% admitted to having driven carelessly when lighting and stubbing out cigarettes.

Of those questioned, about half refuse to buy a car from a smoker because of the smell, while 55% of those who would consider a purchase from a smoker would expect a discount.

Emma Parfitt of eBayMotors.co.uk said: Let's face it, no one wants to drive around in an ashtray estate. Not only do drivers who smoke at the wheel risk causing accidents on the road but they also stand to lose hundreds off the resale price of their cars.

While there are various ways that drivers can 'mask' the smell of smoke, it's up to savvy buyers to inspect a car thoroughly and don't be afraid to ask the seller whether they are a smoker.

Source: Channel 4, 31 May 2007
Link to article: http://tinyurl.com/26w8wz

According to a recent survey more than a third of employers are planning to cut cigarette breaks when the smoking ban comes into force in England next month.

A survey of over 250 firms revealed that 36% planned to axe smoking breaks when the ban becomes law. But trade union officials warned it could spark unrest and encourage staff to break the law.

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: Lots of smokers see the ban as an opportunity to quit or cut down, but hardened nicotine addicts might not find giving up so easy. If employers decide to crack down on fag breaks, the danger is that some hardened smokers may try to find ways of flouting the ban.

If going outside to smoke isn't an option, they may be tempted to smoke in secret on company premises. Employers should take a sensible approach to the ban. Bosses should be thinking about ways of helping their staff stop smoking.

The report, by employment law advisors Consult GEE, says there is little the nation's 12 million estimated smokers can do if their employers end cigarette breaks as they are not protected by law.

Stuart Chamberlain of Consult GEE said: Although there has never been a contractual right to smoke at work, companies seem keen to eradicate smoking among staff, and the ban is giving them the impetus to do just that. Employees will struggle to fight any bans on their smoking breaks because they are not entitled to them.

Source: ASH daily news (www.ash.org.uk) and The Mail 18 June 2007
Link to article: http://tinyurl.com/285mol

The age of people quitting smoking in New Zealand is dropping, according to new Quit Group research.

The study, published today in The New Zealand Medical Journal, looked at trends in the types of smokers calling the Quitline, a national free-phone smoking cessation service.

Researchers Judy Li and Michele Grigg found that between 2001 and 2005 there was a 67 percent increase in the proportion of callers under 25 years of age. Ms Grigg says they found callers have become younger over the five-year period and there was a noticeable increase in people aged 15 -19 years calling the Quitline.

This finding backs up recently released research showing most young smokers regret taking up the habit

Source: Tobacco.org and Scoop (nz)
Date: 2007-06-14
Author: Press Release: The Quit Group
URL: http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/GE0706/S00046.htm
ID: 248437

The impending smoking ban is likely to have as big an impact on debt and personal finances as it has on the nation's health, according to new reports.

ASH has found that a third of smokers in the 18 to 24 age category will quit on or before July 1st. As many as four million smokers will quit in all, driven by the smoking ban in public places.

Research by Alliance & Leicester Savings suggests that a 20-a-day smoker could save 1,909 a year by giving up. Investing this money sensibly could push the total even higher, allowing individuals to pay off outstanding debts.

Huge savings can also be made by those who only smoke socially, the report points out. Quitting a 20-a-week habit would lead to an annual saving of 280, which could again be used to settle credit card debts or other arrears.

Ross Dalzell, manager for Savings at Alliance & Leicester, said: Quitting smoking isn't an easy thing to do, but the benefits speak for themselves. The English population spends billions of pounds on cigarettes each year - money which could be going towards that new kitchen you've dreamed of, a two-week holiday in the sun, or simply kept as a nest-egg for the future.

Source: ASH daily news (www.ash.org.uk) and Money Highstreet 18 June 2007
Link to article: http://tinyurl.com/2pymh7

Walesà smoking ban has seen a massive increase in the number of smokers seeking help to give up.

In the weeks leading to Walesà ban on April 2, calls to the All-Wales Smoking Cessation Service surged by 30%.

Tanya Buchanan, of anti-smoking group ASH Wales, said the results match those in Scotland, where more smokers attempted to quit in the run up to the introduction of its March 2006 ban.

She said, ÃOne in every 25 smokers has quit in Scotland since the ban came in there.Ã

Chris Lines, spokesman for the National Public Health Service for Wales, which runs the smoking helpline, said, ÃBroadly speaking before the ban was introduced the numbers of people coming to us increased by around 30%.

Since the ban came into force weÃve seen an increase as well, but more in the region of around 10%. But summer is usually a quietish period.Ã

Source: ASH daily news and IcWales, 20 June 2007
Article link: http://tinyurl.com/2eoxcm

New research suggests that playing with candy cigarettes may favourably set the minds of some children towards becoming future cigarette smokers. The study, reported in the July issue of Preventive Medicine, shows that in a nationally representative sample of 25,887 US adults, the percentages who had never consumed candy cigarettes were 12% in current and former smokers vs. 22% in never smokers, and the corresponding percentages of adults who had regularly (often or very often) consumed candy cigarettes were 22% in current and former smokers versus 14% in never smokers.

ÃCandy and gum look-alike products allow children to respond to tobacco marketing and advertising long before they are old enough to smoke a cigarette,Ã comments Dr. Klein, the corresponding author. ÃThe continued existence of these products helps promote smoking as a culturally or socially acceptable activity.Ã While countries including the UK, Australia, and Canada currently restrict candy cigarette sales, US federal and all but one state legislative efforts at banning candy cigarettes have been unsuccessful (the one exception was later repealed).Ã

Source: ASH daily news and EurekaNet, 20 June 2007
Article link: http://tinyurl.com/3yomma

Cost-effectiveness analysis of a European primary-care physician training in smoking cessation counseling.
BACKGROUND: Physician training in smoking cessation counseling has been shown to be effective as a means to increase quit success. We assessed the cost-effectiveness ratio of a smoking cessation counseling training programme. Its effectiveness was previously demonstrated in a cluster randomized, control trial performed in two Swiss university outpatients clinics, in which residents were randomized to receive training in smoking interventions or a control educational intervention.
DESIGN AND METHODS: We used a Markov simulation model for effectiveness analysis. This model incorporates the intervention efficacy, the natural quit rate, and the lifetime probability of relapse after 1-year abstinence. We used previously published results in addition to hospital service and outpatient clinic cost data. The time horizon was 1 year, and we opted for a third-party payer perspective.
RESULTS: The incremental cost of the intervention amounted to US$2.58 per consultation by a smoker, translating into a cost per life-year saved of US$25.4 for men and 35.2 for women. One-way sensitivity analyses yielded a range of US$4.0-107.1 in men and US$9.7-148.6 in women. Variations in the quit rate of the control intervention, the length of training effectiveness, and the discount rate yielded moderately large effects on the outcome. Variations in the natural cessation rate, the lifetime probability of relapse, the cost of physician training, the counseling time, the cost per hour of physician time, and the cost of the booklets had little effect on the cost-effectiveness ratio.
CONCLUSIONS: Training residents in smoking cessation counseling is a very cost-effective intervention and may be more efficient than currently accepted tobacco control interventions.

Eur J Cardiovasc Prev Rehabil. 2007 Jun;14(3):451-455.
Cost-effectiveness analysis of a European primary-care physician training in smoking cessation counseling.
Pinget C, Martin E, Wasserfallen JB, Humair JP, Cornuz J.
aHealth Technology Assessment Unit bInstitute of Social and Preventive Medicine cDepartment of Ambulatory Care, Lausanne University Hospital dInstitute of Health Economics and Management, Lausanne University eDepartment of Community Medicine, Geneva University Hospital, Switzerland.

The federal agency which is responsible for ensuring that food and drugs do not harm people may soon be required to make cigarettes safer, a consumer product which kills more than 400,000 people a year and accounts for nearly one in five deaths in the United States.

The legislation would give the Food and Drug Administration the same authority over cigarettes and other tobacco products which the regulatory agency already has over countless other consumer products. It's not something the agency necessarily wants, according to past comments by FDA commissioner Dr. Andrew Von Eschenbach.

The bill will allow the FDA to regulate the levels of tar, nicotine and other harmful components of tobacco products. Cigarette smoke alone contains 4,000 chemicals, more than 40 of which are known to cause cancer.

Dr David Burns of the University of California, San Diego, scientific editor of several surgeon-general reports on tobacco said: Are we going to cut cancer in half with FDA control? No. Can we do with cigarettes things that are important in regulating a product to minimise its toxicity? Yes, I think we can.''

According to the legislation, new products would need FDA approval before they could be sold. The bill also would authorise the FDA to set national standards for tobacco products to control how they are made, as well as force the disclosure of their ingredients, including compounds and additives, and in what quantities. Supporters claim that this should help expose and limit the ways cigarettes are engineered to the detriment of the public's health.

This bill does not try to predict what a cigarette will look like once FDA begins to take action. Instead, it says to scientists at the FDA, You have the power to require changes in tobacco products in whatever ways you believe, based on the science, that will reduce the harmfulness of the products or the addictiveness of the products, said Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

No one among those for or against the Senate bill, mirrored by matching legislation in the House, believes it could result in a safe cigarette. There is consensus that there is no such thing.

It would still be a deadly product. They are not going to make it a safe product by taking out particular smoke constituents. The problem is the public is going to perceive the product is safe because the FDA has assumed jurisdiction, said Dr. Michael Siegel, a Boston University School of Public Health professor.

Advocates say the bill would, at a minimum, give the FDA the authority to go where the scientific evidence takes it and only then make decisions based on the science. There is a broad range of actions that the FDA potentially could take, some of which we understand now and some we can only see dimly, Burns said. To say that there is nothing we can do is nihilistic in thinking and inconsistent with science.''

The bill also would keep tobacco companies from tinkering with their products in ways that would make them any more dangerous, supporters add.

The tobacco industry would not be allowed to manipulate the ingredients like increase nicotine or decrease nicotine or whatever they do without disclosing it, said M. Cass Wheeler, chief executive officer of the American Heart Association. The bill would put the burden of proof on the industry to demonstrate to the FDA that what they're doing would not be more harmful.

One problem from a scientific standpoint is the product changes so often but the health effects are long-term. The cigarettes people smoke today are not the cigarettes of 10 years ago, Ashley said. It's hard to link a change in the products to a particular health end point because there is nothing you can get your hands around.

Philip Morris USA, maker of Marlboro, the nation's top-selling cigarette brand, supports the bill. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and others oppose the legislation, saying its restrictions on advertising would help cement Philip Morris' No. 1 market position. Sources: ASH daily news (www.ash.org.uk) and The Guardian, 16 July 2007
Article Link: http://tinyurl.com/2e439q

On-trade drinks sales in Wales increased for the first two months of the smoking ban, with soft drinks, wine and cider performing the best.

That is according to data from wholesaler Matthew Clark, which compares like-for-like sales in April and May and shows that soft drinks were up 19%, while wine sales increased by 3%.

Matthew Clark's On-trade Insight (OTIS) data also shows that year-on-year cider sales are up 79% for May, reflecting the overall growth in this drinks category.

The findings support reports from pub operators that sales have held up in the initial stages of the Welsh smoking ban, which began on 2 April.
Source: ASH daily news and On-trade Insight, 21 June 2007
Article Link: http://tinyurl.com/2rfnof

Petter Lundborg. Tobacco Control 2007;16:114-118
Objective: To examine the effect of smoking on sick leave.

Methods: Nationally representative data on 14 272 workers aged 1665 years from the 198891 waves of the Swedish Survey of Living Conditions were used for the analyses. The data are linked to register-based data, on the annual number of absences due to sickness, from the National Board of Social Insurance. As outcome variable, the annual number of days of sick leave was used. This outcome was analysed as a function of smoking status and an extensive number of control variables, including occupational risk factors, work characteristics and health status.

Results: Smoking was found to increase the annual number of days of absence by 10.7 compared with never smoking. Controlling for risk factors at work, and thereby accounting for some of the selection of smokers into riskier jobs, reduced the effect to 9.7 days, corresponding to 38% of all annual absences due to sickness. Moreover, controlling for health status further reduced the effect of smoking to 7.7 days. The effect of smoking on sick leave was similar for men and women.

Conclusions: Smoking showed a large positive effect on the annual number of sick leaves. Hence, the results suggest that the gains to preventing and/or reducing smoking, in terms of reduced production losses, may be large. However, since the large effect of smoking persists when controlling for a range of health factors and occupational factors, the results also suggest that much of the higher number of absences among smokers may be explained by factors other than reduced health. The estimates should be viewed as upper bounds of the effect of smoking on sick leave, since smoking is potentially an endogenous variable.

A study from the New York City Health Department shows that smoking in the city has declined by nearly 20 percent since 2002. The drop is the steepest in the nation since 1965.

The decline is being attributed to cigarette taxes, public smoking bans and a graphic anti-smoking advertising campaign featuring a former smoker who developed throat cancer at age 39.

Sarah Perl, assistant commissioner at the New York City Health Department's Bureau of Tobacco Control, talks with Madeleine Brand.

Sources: www.tobacco.org and National Public Radio (NPR)
Date: 2007-06-22
Author: Leroy Sievers
URL: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11277619&ft=1&f=1003

Healthy Life Centers puts the power to quit smoking in the minds of the people through a free, referral service that directs them to certified hypnosis programs in their local vicinity.
National statistics reveal that there are approximately 51,000,000 Americans who smoke, daily. Out of that group, 35,000,000 want to quit.
Reasons to quit range from: better health to a fatter bank account. A recent study performed by Duke University health economists calculated that the real cost of a pack of cigarettes was not the $3 or so that most stores charge, but more like $40 per pack due to medical expenses, cleaning bills, excise taxes and more. . . .

When smokers log onto: http://IwantoQuitSmoking.com, they simply type in their zip code and print out a free referral to one of any 20,000 smoking-cessation affiliated clinics in the country.

Source: PR Newswire
Date: 2007-06-21
Author: SOURCE Healthy Life Centers
URL:
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/06-21-2007/0004613415&EDATE=

Pubs and restaurants, those well-proven stumbling blocks for the quitting smoker, will stock nicotine gums and patches after the smoking ban comes into force on July 1, The Times has learnt.
Leading firms are taking advantage of changes in the regulation of nicotine replacement products by targeting areas where smokers are most likely to suffer cravings. The first nicotine gum machines, the postsmoking ban equivalent of the dingy fixtures found in the corner of watering holes across the country, will arrive in venues next month.
An estimated four million smokers will try to stop smoking on July 1, and, according to trials, they are up to 75 per cent more likely to succeed if they use patches, gums and inhalers.
Source: www.tobacco.org and Times Of London (uk)
Date: 2007-06-22
Author: Marcus Leroux, 997-2004
URL:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article1969233.ece