The Russian government is taking steps to address smoking by banning all tobacco advertising.
Hundreds of thousands of people in Russia die each year from smoking-related illnesses; 60 percent of men and 30 percent of women smoke. Experts say the ban is just the first step in changing the habits of millions.
Cigarettes in Russia are cheap and most restaurants are smoker-friendly and public places usually have a place to smoke.
According to the country's Ministry of Health, it is estimated around half a million people die of smoking-related diseases annually. The Russian government is beginning to take action and has decided to completely ban all tobacco advertising. The government has approved a draft law on joining the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control where the ban must be implemented within five years.
Sergey Polyatykin from the No to Alcoholism and Drug Addiction' Fund says Ads in a way are information in the form of pressure, as they make it easier for a person to start smoking. Banning tobacco ads is just the first step."
It is expected Russia will eventually ban smoking in all public places - a move which companies like Philip Morris have already had to adapt to in Europe and the U.S. Artyom Tchermis, Philip Morris's representative says they continue to operate very successfully in the countries where the tobacco advertising ban has already been ratified.

Sources: ASH daily news (www.ash.org.uk) and Russia Today, 12th January 2008
Link: http://tinyurl.com/2we3mq

Despite the ban on sales to under-18s a quarter of shops in Scotland are selling cigarettes to 16-year-olds.
The new age limit was introduced just over 100 days ago but new figures show that many supermarkets, garages and newsagents are still failing to abide by the rules.
Sixteen year olds accompanied by undercover trading standards officers have made 204 visits to shops in the central belt of Scotland since October. In 51 of those cases, they were able to buy cigarettes. So far, however, only three shop owners have been reported to the procurator fiscal.
The high number of breaches is set to lead to a licensing system under which retailers would be stripped of the right to sell tobacco if they were found to have sold to underage children.
The figures were compiled by the Society of Chief Officers of Trading Standards in Scotland and reflect the total number of test purchases carried out since October.
The ease with which under-18s can buy cigarettes was reflected in a recent report from the anti-smoking pressure group ASH Scotland which showed that 82% of 15-year-olds and 47% of 13-year-olds in Glasgow buy their own cigarettes from a shop.
A spokeswoman for ASH Scotland said: "There needs to be more money put into enforcement of this law. Too many shops are still flouting the law and selling to under-18s. These shops aren't being caught and don't feel under threat."
The figures come as ministers put the finishing touches to a new smoking prevention action plan, adding to the historic smoking ban in 2006.
Among the measures being considered are a crackdown on younger smokers and a plan, backed by the British Medical Association, to remove cigarettes from display and instead sell them from under the counter.
Ministers are also poised to back a private members' bill, being sponsored by SNP MSP Christine Grahame, which would force all shops selling tobacco to apply for a licence. This move is also backed by the BMA.
Sources: ASH daily news (www.ash.org.uk) and The Scotsman, 20 January 2008
Link: http://tinyurl.com/2gzzk9

A new study sheds light on the increased risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and women who smoke while pregnant or are exposed to secondhand smoke.
Researchers at McMaster University have found a mechanism that explains why an infant's ability to respond to oxygen deprivation after birth or a hypoxic episode is dramatically compromised by exposure to nicotine in the womb, even light to moderate amounts.
The research, which was conducted on laboratory rats by lead author, Josef Buttingieg and Dr. Alison Holloway, explains the critical role that catecholamines, a group of hormones released by the adrenal glands, play in a baby's transition to the outside world.
Buttigieg explains that during birth, the baby is exposed to low oxygen, which signals the adrenal glands to release the catecholamines, which contain adrenaline, or the fight or flight hormone.
It is these catecholamines that signal the baby's lungs to reabsorb fluid, to take its first breath, and help the heart to beat more efficiently.
For some months after birth, the adrenal gland still acts as an oxygen sensor, aiding in the baby's arousal and breathing responses during periods of apnea or asphyxia. But the ability to release catecholamines during these moments, a critical event in the adaptation of life outside the womb, is impaired due to nicotine exposure.
Colin Nurse, a professor in the department of Biology said, "At birth, the nervous control of the adrenal gland is not active and so a baby relies on these direct oxygen sensing mechanisms to release catecholamines. But nicotine causes premature loss of these mechanisms, which would normally occur in later development after nervous control is established. Thus, the infant becomes much more vulnerable to SIDS."
The findings are published online in the journal Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) and will appear in the May 2008 print issue.

Source: www.ash.org.uk and Medical News Today, 30 January 2008
Link: http://tinyurl.com/332whz

A University of Rochester scientist discovered that the toxins in cigarette smoke wipe out a gene that plays a vital role in protecting the body from the effects of premature aging. Without this gene we not only lose a bit of youthfulness -- but the lungs are left open to destructive inflammation and diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer.

By identifying the Sirtuin (SIRT1) gene's role in pulmonary disease, scientists also hope to find ways to restore it and jump-start lung healing. They've begun testing the powerful antioxidant resveratrol, which is extracted from red grape skins, to develop a treatment to target SIRT1 and reverse lung damage, or at least enhance the way standard COPD therapies work.

"This novel protein will allow us to program our body's immune-inflammatory system against lung damage and premature aging. The hallmark of this discovery is that we may be able to provide remedies to millions of smokers who would like to quit but cannot kick their addiction, and millions of former smokers who, despite quitting, remain at risk for illness as they age," said Irfan Rahman, Ph.D., associate professor of Environmental Medicine and an investigator in the University of Rochester's Lung Biology and Disease Program.

Source: www.tobacco.org and ScienceDaily Magazine
Date: 2008-01-24
Author: Identifying The Sirtuin (SIRT1) Gene's Role In Pulmonary, editor@sciencedaily.com, 995-2007
URL: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080123150522.htm

Researchers say that smoking rates amongst women in Russia has doubled since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The study, led by Bath University scientists, suggests that aggressive targeting of women by tobacco firms is responsible for the increase.
Researchers monitored 7,000 people over 11 years and found that 7 percent of women smoked in 1992, compared with 15 percent in 2003.
Cigarette manufacturer, British American Tobacco said the increase was due to Russians having more money for cigarettes.
Dr Anna Gilmore, lead researcher, said that tobacco advertising had been virtually non-existent in the Soviet Union.
Companies invested heavily in developing the market and promoted smoking as part of the new western lifestyle.
But once the break-up started, the nationalised smoking industry disintegrated, allowing the big tobacco firms to promote their products.
Dr Gilmore said, "There can be no doubt that the marketing tactics of large tobacco companies like Philip Morris, British American Tobacco directly underpin this massive increase in smoking that spells disaster for health in Russia."
The study also found that the number of men smoking rose from 57 percent in 1992 to 63 percent in 2003.
The study is published in the Tobacco Control journal

Source: ASH daily news (www.ash.org.uk) and Irish Sun, 27 January 2008
Link: http://tinyurl.com/27qrba

Two-thirds of Geneva residents are ready to support a ban on smoking in restaurants, a medical study shows. The results of the survey, undertaken between 1996 and 2006, show a major change in attitude toward tobacco use, with support for a cigarette ban in public places growing each year during the decade. The results, reported in the Tribune de Geneve today, emerge three weeks before voters in the canton will decide whether to approve such a prohibition, which would include restaurants and cafes

The study, conducted by the preventive and social medicine institute on the evolution of tobacco and alcohol use, involved interviews with 1,487 people in 2006, sampled to represent the population. In addition to widely supporting no smoking in restaurants, 54 percent also favored a ban in bars and cafes.

Sources: www.tobacco.org and Tribune de Genève (ch)
Date: 2008-02-04
URL:
http://www.tdg.ch/pages/home/tribune_de_geneve/english_corner/news/news_detail/(contenu)/189721

On Tuesday, February 5, an incendiary device ignited at the front door of the home of Dr. Edythe London, an NIHsupported senior scientist and professor in the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. This terrorist act against a scientist who has dedicated 30 years of her life to medical research is intolerable.

This is the second time in four months that she has been targeted. The first time, an extremist group calling itself the Animal Liberation Front claimed responsibility for flooding Londons home and causing $30,000 worth of damage. Although no one has claimed responsibility for this attack, it is similar to two previous strikes by animal rights activists (in 2006 and 2007) against an ophthalmologist and a research psychologist at UCLA who used Molotov cocktailtype devices, which were lit but did not ignite. These attacks are part of a campaign of unrelenting harassment that has also involved the researchers family members. The FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force is investigating the incidents.

Dr. London has dedicated most of her life to studying how chronic drug abuse affects brain function and behavioral control. Her work is a prime example of NIHs efforts to promote translational research, tightly integrating animal and human studies in order to more rapidly bring new discoveries to the public. Dr. Londons research is part of a broader public health effort to develop effective treatments for people suffering from addictiona disease that devastates individuals, families, communities, and costs society more than half a trillion dollars annually in health and crime-related costs and losses in productivity.

It is important to note that all animals used in federally funded research are protected by laws, regulations, and policies to ensure they are used in the smallest numbers possible with the greatest commitment to their comfort. The knowledge we gain from animal models is used to develop life-saving treatments for many diseases affecting the public health, including addiction. This knowledge ultimately saves lives and improves the quality of life for individuals, their families, and all of society.

Attacks on researchers and scientific institutions threaten the health of the nation. Terrorism against researchers using animals is real and intolerable. The terrorist activity against Dr. London and her family was not discourse, it was not just intimidation--it was life threatening. This was a threat not only to her but to dedicated scientists working to improve serious health problems facing this country. This violence is escalatingand it must stop.

Greater investments in tobacco control programs are independently and significantly associated with larger and more rapid declines in adult smoking prevalence, according to a study by researchers at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and RTI International.
Researchers were able to quantify the link between comprehensive tobacco control programs and a decrease in adult smoking, observing a decline in prevalence from 29.5 percent in 1985 to 18.6 percent in 2003.
The study, The Impact of Tobacco Control Programs on Adult Smoking, is the first of its kind to use multi state survey data on smoking to examine the association between cumulative state tobacco control program spending and changes in adult smoking prevalence. Combining educational, clinical, regulatory, economic, and social strategies, these comprehensive programs encompass coordinated efforts to establish smokefree policies and social norms, to promote and assist tobacco users to quit, and to prevent initiation of tobacco use.

Matthew Farrelly, Ph.D., RTI International and lead author of the study said, "The study showed that sustained, well funded programs become increasingly effective over time.
As states build capacity for tobacco control, they make better and better use of each additional dollar.
The study also found that increases in both tobacco control program expenditures and cigarette prices were effective in reducing smoking prevalence among adults, with tobacco control program expenditures somewhat more effective in reducing smoking prevalence among adults aged 25 or older, while increases in cigarette prices had a stronger effect on 18 to 24 year old smokers.

Terry Pechacek, Ph.D., associate director for science, Office on Smoking and Health, CDC, said, "These results show that if states consistently fund programs at recommended levels, outlined in Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs, they could substantially reduce adult smoking prevalence, and thus reduce smokingrelated morbidity, mortality, and economic costs."

The study, published in the February 2008 issue of the American Journal of Public Health, analysed data from all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Source: www.ash.org.uk and Webwire 31 January 2008
Link: http://tinyurl.com/2gvsvv

An alarming new study by a team of psychiatric scientists in Germany suggests that suicide is "strongly associated" with occasional or regular smoking. The team of experts led by Dr. Thomas Bronisch of the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich stressed that they could not find any direct causative link between smoking and suicide. They said more research is needed.

But Bronisch and his associates Dr Michael Hoefer of Technical University of Dresden and Dr Roselind Lieb of the University of Basel wrote in a report in the Journal of Affective Disorders that there were compelling indications that suicide and smoking are somehow be associated with each other.

"Campaigns for reducing smoking should also point to the elevated risk of suicidality for occasional and regular smokers," the authors wrote.
Their findings are based on data from a study which began in 1995 with some 3,000 test subjects between the ages of 14 and 24 who lived in Munich.

Sources: www.tobacco.org and Earth Times
Date: 2008-02-04
URL: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/182371,suicide-strongly-associated-with-smoking-german-experts-warn.html ID: 259186

Philip Morris, the tobacco giant, has announced plans to launch a snack-size mini-cigarette, perfect for a quick nicotine fix.
The new cigarettes will deliver just as much nicotine as a full-size version, but can be smoked far more quickly.
Marlboro Intense is designed to appeal to smokers who now smoke outside following the smoking ban.
At only 7.2cm long, shorter than a standard 8.5cm cigarette, the new idea has caused anger among anti-smoking campaigners.
Stephen Pound, the MP who gave up smoking after the ban said, "The desperation of the smokers knows no limits; it's only matched by the desperation in Philip Morris trying to corner the market."
The new cigarette will first be tested in Turkey, but with more than 50 countries worldwide now enforcing public smoking bans, the firm believes it is onto a winner.
Sources: www.ash.org.uk and Daily Mail, 04 February 2008
Link: http://tinyurl.com/yqj86f

With less than 200 days left before the "smoke-free Beijing Olympics" open. A Beijing official recently announced that the provisions to ban smoking in public places in Beijing" will go into effect in Beijing office spaces, restaurants, and hotels.

The new smoking ban will affect at least 4 million smokers in Beijing. In China, there are approximately 350 million smokers; and more than 100,000 people die each year from second hand smoke.

Compared with the smoking ban introduced in 1996, this new ban is more stringent and based on solicited public views. The new provisions expand the scope of non-smoking, public areas. The first provision bans smoking inside and outside of gyms, health clubs, social units, and open public places. And for the first time, a smoking ban has been placed inside restaurants, hotels, hostels, training centers, resorts and other public places.

Meanwhile, restaurants and hotels will set up clearly-marked and well-ventilated indoor smoking areas or smoking rooms. At least 70% of rooms will be smoke-free.

Based on the new requirements, smoking will be banned in offices, meeting places, cafeterias, bathrooms, hallways, and elevators in Beijing authorities, organizations, enterprises and institutions.

The government-approved prohibition of smoking in public places is expected to begin after February of this year. The regulations are considered to be an effective support for the "Smoke-free Olympics;" and in the future to become a new starting point for tobacco control legislation in Beijing and China's public places.

Source: ASH News (www.ASH.org.uk) and People's Daily Online, 25th January 2008
Link: http://tinyurl.com/294x5n

Tobacco companies could face stiff penalties if they fail to clamp down on cigarette smuggling under proposed guidelines for a new global treaty to tackle the multi-billion dollar illicit trade in tobacco products.
Illicit trade is estimated to deprive national exchequers of $40bn-$50bn in lost taxes every year.
At the end of a week of negotiations in Geneva, delegates said there was broad agreement to require companies to track and trace tobacco products from manufacture to point of sale and fine them if contraband is seized.
The proposals are modelled on an existing agreement between 26 of the 27 European Union countries (excluding the UK) and two tobacco groups, Philip Morris International and Japan Tobacco International, that has already led to a big decline in cigarette seizures in the EU.

The negotiations, conducted under the auspices of the World Health Organisation, marked the first step towards a legally binding protocol on illicit tobacco trade under the WHO's 152-member Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which took effect in 2005.
Ahead of a second round of negotiations later this year, Ian Walton-Georges of the EU's anti-fraud office, who chaired the negotiations, said he planned to draft a protocol that was practical, effective and strong.

The Framework Convention Alliance, a coalition of some 300 anti-tobacco groups, says the global illicit trade, dominated by organised criminal gangs, may have amounted to nearly 11 per cent of total sales, or 600bn cigarettes, in 2006.

Source: The Financial Times, 16 February 2008
Link: http://tinyurl.com/2k5hwf