Devolution chaos mars efforts against smoking

It is feared that many of the objectives which have been met under the tobacco control legislation in the country may be undone because federal and provincial government authorities lack clarity regarding their roles following the half-baked devolution of the health sector under the 18th constitutional amendment, it emerged on Thursday.

The “Prohibition of Smoking and Protection of Non-smokers Health Ordinance 2002″ places restrictions on advertising pertaining to tobacco products, prohibits sale to minors, restricts smoking in places of public use, envisages raising awareness of the hazards of tobacco use, and calls for effective warnings on tobacco products as well as increase in taxation on tobacco products.

Dr Javaid A Khan, who is also chairman of the National Alliance for Tobacco Control, said on Thursday that despite the passage of a significant time since the devolution of the health sector, various initiatives pertaining to control of tobacco sale and use had lost momentum. Dawn

Talking to after a “Tobacco control and smoking cessation workshop” held as a part of the 10th biennial conference of the Pakistan Chest Society’ at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, he shared some results of a recently conducted study to assess the implementation of anti-tobacco laws and awareness about anti-tobacco laws in Karachi. Prof Khan said that despite legal restrictions smoking was taking place in 58 per cent of restaurants, while 70 per cent of them did not display “No Smoking” signs and only 33 per cent were found to have designated smoking areas.

The study, conducted jointly by Prof Javaid A Khan and Rizwan Khan of the Dow University of Health Sciences, also revealed that although there was no smoking in 71 per cent of the surveyed offices, only 33 per cent had designated smoking areas.The researchers also visited 240 outlets and found 92 per cent selling cigarettes to minors. Students and teachers were found smoking at 77 per cent of the tertiary level educational institutions. Of 37 different brands, anti-smoking pictorial warning on the packs was present on only 38 per cent.

According to him, if current trends persist the number of tobacco-related deaths worldwide per year is set to rise to 8.3 million by 2030. About 100,000 people die annually in Pakistan alone from this cause, a number expected to double by 2025, he added.

In his presentation, Dr Naghman Bashir from Islamabad discussed the method of counseling a smoker to quit smoking. He said that quitting smoking was not difficult for healthcare providers, but difficult for smokers. However, doctors should try to help smokers find a personal reason to quit and not just rely on reiterating the unhealthy effects of smoking.

Dr Mohammad Irfan of AKU spoke about smoking cessation pharmacotherapy and observed that numerous effective medications were available to counter tobacco dependence. He said that nicotine in cigarettes was not itself a carcinogen but an addictive substance, which needed long-term planning to get rid of through education, training, medication and family support.

Tobacco increase 'reasonable': BAT South Africa

"For us [this] is an acknowledgement by government of the significant problem of the illegal trade in cigarettes," spokeswoman Leslie Rance said.

"This is also to blame for approximately R4 billion loss in government revenue due to evasion of taxes on illegal cigarettes."

He said trade in illegal cigarettes remained a major concern in South Africa.

"Around 28% of cigarettes sold in South Africa are illegal."

The retail price of a 20s packet of Peter Stuyvesant, the company's biggest-selling brand, would increase by R1 from Monday.

Revision of tobacco directive postponed

The European Commission plans to present its proposal for revision of the tobacco products directive (2001/37/EC) after the summer of 2012. This delay, confirmed on 23 February by the press service of Health and Consumer Policy Commissioner John Dalli, validates the concerns of Florence Berteletti, director of Partenariat sans fumée (Smokefree Partnership).

Last July, she apprehended such a delay, noting that the “Council and the European Parliament – whose current legislature will end in 2014 – will need more than a year to work out an agreement on such a complicated issue” (see Europolitics 4242). Revision of the directive, initially announced for the end of 2011 and then postponed to early 2012, aims to enhance public awareness of the dangers of smoking, to dissuade people from starting to smoke and to encourage smokers to quit.

Tobacco compliance failed by 9 DeKalb businesses

Nine DeKalb businesses failed tobacco compliance checks performed Wednesday by the DeKalb Police Department by selling tobacco products to minors.

Police did compliance checks of 28 businesses to see which ones were in compliance with minimum-age laws. It was the second round of three compliance checks on all DeKalb tobacco retailers, according to a news release from DeKalb Police.

Using funds from a grant awarded by the Illinois Liquor Control Commission’s “Kids Can’t Buy Em Here” Tobacco Enforcement Program, DeKalb Police have educated tobacco retailers about minimum-age tobacco laws, according to the news release. Police spoke with retailers, who were also given an information kit.

The nine businesses that failed compliance checks include Hot Spot; 7-Eleven on Crego Road; Super Pantry on North First Street; Road Ranger on South Fourth Street; Casey’s General Store; DeKalb Amoco on West Lincoln Highway; DeKalb Mobil on East Lincoln Highway; Huskies Tobacco; and 7-Eleven on North Annie Glidden Road.

Llaws against smoking in cars

Health campaigners in Wales are trying to persuade people not to smoke in cars when there are children on board. If that doesn't work, the Welsh government will bring in the law.

In general, I prefer persuasion to regulation. We have too many laws, rather than too few. Where the protection of children is concerned, however, I am on the side of this law.

I used to be a member of the board of FOREST, the Freedom Organisation for the Right to Enjoy Smoking Tobacco. I have spoken on radio and television against ASH, Action on Smoking and Health. I don't like health fascism. I rebel against people trying to force me to do things for my own good.

I believe that people should have the right to smoke and that they have the right to pay, out of their own pockets, for the medical consequences. I do not believe that they have the right to expect others to pay for their care.

As a libertarian, I would like to see government much less involved in health and education. I want individuals to be much more responsible, where possible, for themselves and for their families in these important areas of life.

In those circumstances, cigarette smokers, heavy drinkers and recreational drug users might think more than twice if they have to pay for the damage they cause to themselves and to others (if they can count that far when they are under the influence of their various drugs).

But I acknowledge, as maybe the Welsh legislators do not, that the law is a very blunt instrument. How widely should it be applied?

I have climbed along Crib Goch in Snowdonia in the winter. I was one of the first pot-holers in the Breckon Beacons. I have sung English songs in pubs in rural Cardiganshire. I have played rugby. These are all highly risky pursuits. Am I to be prevented from following these personal idiosyncrasies?

But, if I were to have young children strapped to my back, the situation would be different. They would have no say in the risks I was taking with their lives as well as mine.

In a confined space, such as in a car, children have no choice over the smoke-polluted air that they breathe. That is wrong. But how on earth can it be policed? And what would be the next law that health fascists would demand for our own good and to protect the sacred cow of the profligate NHS budget?

I fear governments far more than I fear any health risk. I shall fight to protect children and people who have no capacity to care for themselves. But that's as far as I am prepared to go along the road to George Orwell's 'Wigan pier', let alone towards the totalitarian nightmare of his '1984'.

Health Department Offers Smoking Cessation Classes

It’s the second month of the year and it’s an important one for keeping your New Year’s resolutions. For many people their goal is to quit smoking. To help, the Health Department is offering tobacco cessation classes that are free to the public.

There is no other way of saying it; smoking is bad for your health. New information on its effects are revealed on a regular basis. Just recently, a study was released that showed that smoking may lead to a mental decline in men. This latest information only adds to the mountain of medical evidence that says smoking is not only bad for you; it can shorten your life as well.

“Evidence shows that smoking can cause harm to every single organ in the body,” said Traci Lambson, Health Education Specialist for the Health Department. “Commonly, you hear of lung cancer, heart disease, oral cancer, but those are some of the long term consequences. There are some short term consequences as far as the costs, shortness of breath, bad breath yellow teeth, and yellow fingernails.”

Smoking is an issue of public health and on top of that, it’s very addicting. Because of this, the Health Department is working with smokers by offering a series of classes to help them quit.

“The advantages of going through a program is if a person couples any type of community class or individual tobacco cessation consultation with nicotine replacement therapy, they are going to double their chances of succeeding to quit,” said Lambson.

Nearly 90 percent of lung cancer deaths are attributed to smoking. Women who smoke have a greater chance of pregnancy problems or having a baby die from sudden infant death syndrome. However, if you can find a way to quit, you will reduce the risk and the benefit is even greater the earlier quit.

Another reason why you might want to consider quitting with the help of the Health Department is that they can help you find some free products, like patches and gum that can make it much easier on you. You can find tips to help you quit at this link.

Social Media Is More Addictive Than Smoking

You may be craving a cigarette break or after work drink, but the allure of Facebook and Twitter is even harder to ignore. A new study shows that texting and social media are more difficult to resist than having another beer or mid-day smoke.
To examine our inability to resist our constant cravings, researchers from the University of Chicago outfitted 205 subjects with Blackberrys. For seven days, the researchers messaged the volunteers to ask them about their urges within the past 30 minutes—what kind of desire they experienced, how strong it was and whether they were they able to resist.

The results provided a snapshot of what many of us feel each day. Fighting the urge to log into Facebook or send another tweet is often a losing battle. “Resisting the desire to work was likewise prone to fail,” Wilhelm Hofmann, the lead researcher told the Guardian. “In contrast, people were relatively successful at resisting sports inclinations, sexual urges and spending impulses, which seems surprising given the salience in modern culture of disastrous failures to control sexual impulses and urges to spend money.”

The addictive nature of social media may be the result of its “high availability,” say the researchers. In addition, with addictive substances such as alcohol and tobacco, there’s a clear message about the negative impacts on your health and wallet. That’s not as apparent with Facebook or Twitter.
The researchers also found that “as a day wears on, willpower becomes lower and self-control efforts are more likely to fail.”

So if you want to stop posting about the latest episode of CSI when you should be sleeping, you might need to lock up your phone and computer.

Debates On for In-car Anti-smoking Laws

As per recent reports, it has been revealed that Wales Health campaigners are laboring over persuading the massed for avoiding smoking when in cars, especially while there are kids on board. If it fails to work out, then there are possibilities that the Welsh Government will have to come up with some sort of anti-smoking laws for in-car travelers.

In this regard, a Cumbria-wide crusade was instigated earlier during July 2011, which was reportedly inspired by reports reaped from a survey of more than 713 smokers as well as non-smokers from all over the region. During the course of the survey conducted to find out the public view on account of smoking ban, it was revealed that the concept of the ban got a fairly overwhelming shore up for the participants of the survey.

In excess of 73% of particulates included in the survey claimed that they are in favor of the concept that Cumbria must come up with some sort of strategy for safeguarding adults less than 18 years of age from the negative and life-threatening consequences of smoking while in cars.

On the other hand, in excess of 92% of the people expressed their consent on the point that kids have a right for not being forced into exposed with secondhand smoke while they are in enclosed spaces, such as those in the likes of malls, colleges and cars, of course.

While expressing his opinion regarding the entire issue, along with explaining what all pros and cons lie behind the application of laws against smoking in cars, a member of the Cumbria Tobacco Alliance and NHS Cumbria’s public health specialist, Su Sear, claimed, “We ask that parents and adults just don’t smoke in their cars at all. Even if a child isn’t present every time they drive, tobacco smoke can linger on furniture and clothes and can still cause harm”.