Local artist uses passion to warn others about tobacco use

When you walk into 88-year-old Ahwatukee Foothills resident Albert Ortiz’s home it’s clear to see that he has a passion.
Ortiz graduated from the Music and Art High School in New York City and served in the U.S. Army for three-and-a-half years. In 1947, he studied at the Pratt Art College of Design and Illustration. After graduating, Ortiz took advanced courses in oil painting and worked at advertising agencies and art studios until he retired in 1990 and moved to Arizona.
His home-turned studio is filled with his artwork, most of which has a clear message: Don’t smoke.
Ortiz’s inspiration for his non-smoking artwork came to him back in 1979 when his favorite actor and idol, John Wayne, died from lung cancer. After doing some more research, Ortiz was inspired to paint. He made four 4-foot square paintings of famous people who died from using tobacco. The four paintings feature more than 200 celebrities and world leaders such as Jackie Gleason, Hubert Humphrey, Joe DiMaggio and Wayne.
“People die everyday,” Ortiz said. “Half a million people die each year from smoking-related cancers.”
Another one of Ortiz’s oil paintings showcases Janet Sackman. Sackman modeled in the late 1940s for a cigarette company. She began smoking at the age of 17 at the request of a tobacco executive, and later developed throat cancer. Sackman had to have her larynx removed. Ortiz’s painting depicts Sackman holding up a piece of paper telling her tragic story.
“If you didn’t smoke you were a sissy,” said Ortiz, who took up smoking in 1943 when he was fighting in World War II. Ortiz said the soldiers were provided a free cigarette carton every two weeks. He quit smoking a year later at the request of his young daughter. This caused Ortiz to conduct research, read the Surgeon General’s report and learn more about the dangers of smoking.
To date Ortiz has completed 31 oil paintings in hopes of preventing people from smoking and getting those who smoke to quit. The time it takes him to complete these works depends on both the size and the subject. One painting can take him just a week to finish while others may require more than two months of planning and research.
Ortiz shows his artwork at local high schools so young teenagers will ultimately make the decision not to smoke.
“I want to help people and warn them,” Ortiz said. “People who could live to be 80 are dying at 60.”
In addition to showing his art at local high schools and colleges, Ortiz also works closely with Arizonans Concerned About Smoking (ACAS), a nonprofit organization that aims to educate the public about the hazards of tobacco use. His artwork was recently shown at the American Indian Prevention Coalition in Phoenix.
Ortiz’s paintings, however, are not limited to conveying a non-smoking message. He is currently working on a landscape portrait and is very interested in astronomy. He has 24 paintings that are not related to smoking. In addition to painting, Ortiz enjoys gardening and plays both the piano and the guitar.
Ortiz does not sell any of his non-smoking artwork. The more art that he is able to show, the stronger impression he feels he’s able to have on people.

Milford wants to hear from pharmacies on tobacco proposal

The Board of Health last night asked Health Officer Paul Mazzuchelli to seek feedback from stores hurt by a possible ban on the sale of tobacco products at pharmacies.
“I think before we take business away from any of these people, we should really consider (the effects of the regulation),” Board of Health Chairman Ken Evans said. “You’ve got to give this a lot of thought.”

Earlier this month, the board heard from advocates of the ban who argued it would reduce the number of places youth can get tobacco and remove a product from shelves that undermines a pharmacy’s mission of promoting health.
Twenty-five Massachusetts communities have such a ban in place.
“More and more communities recognize that cigarettes and pharmacies don’t mix,” Mazzuchelli said.
The ban would cover any store — such as a supermarket or drug store — that has a pharmacy inside, Mazzuchelli said.
Those stores have historically followed laws banning the sale of tobacco to minors, while convenience stores and gas stations have been more likely to violate the rule, he said.
“Here we have a group (of stores) that are enforcing the regulations and we kind of turn around and take your business and give it to all the violators,” Evans said.
David Sutton, a spokesman for Altria — the parent company of Philip Morris — said earlier in the day that his company is opposed to a ban.
“Such legislation deprives businesses of the opportunity to sell a legal product, unfairly shifts business away from some retailers to others with no public policy benefit, and imposes an unnecessary inconvenience on adult consumers,” Sutton said in a statement.
Sales bans overlook if stores are selling tobacco responsibly, he said, noting Altria supports regulations that enforce minimum-age requirements for buying tobacco products.
In other business, the Board of Health approved a two-year extension of its solid waste collection contract with Auburn-based Allied Waste Services. The contract now runs through June 30, 2015. The town will now get a portion of the proceeds from recycling paper. Milford already receives part of the revenue from glass, Evans said.
The town also negotiated better limits on yearly calculations of the price of the contract, Mazzuchelli said.

University of Louisiana at Monroe to become a tobacco-free campus

ULM’s faculty senate, staff senate and Student Government Association have voted to support a new tobacco use policy that will go into effect April 2.
The new policy will prohibit tobacco use on the portion of campus west of Bayou DeSiard, which essentially covers the entire academic core of the campus. Any use of tobacco products west of the bayou must be confined to personal vehicles.

Big business pledges to discontinue selling cigarettes in Maasin City

One of the superstores in Maasin City pledges to discontinue selling cigarettes especially when they are located within the 100-meters radius from an elementary school.

“I have talked with Dr. Edward Gaisano, the Maasin Hiper (Gaisano) owner and he agreed to stop selling cigarettes at the superstore," a Maasin City Mayor Maloney Samaco said.

The incessant campaign to prohibit smoking in public places had now reached newly established superstores in the city that are still selling cigarettes to those who live within the 100 meter–radius from schools, he disclosed.

The mayor even requested the Hiper owner to also put down the billboards of cigarettes set up inside the superstore.

“As long as I am still the mayor of Maasin City, I will not issue any business permits allowing any establishment to sell cigarettes particularly those that are located within the prohibited areas,” he further said.

He also gave instructions to the city employees to always wear the anti-smoking pins together with their ID cards in slings as the city government is expecting national evaluators to visit in the city by next week.

Supreme court refuses tobacco firm appeal in smoker case

The U.S. Supreme Court said on Monday it will not hear an appeal by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co in a Florida case in which it was ordered to pay $28.3 million to a woman whose husband died of lung cancer after decades of smoking its cigarettes.

The justices refused an appeal by the Reynolds American Inc unit, which argued that its constitutional due process rights had been violated and that the issue could affect thousands of pending cases in Florida against tobacco companies.

In 2009, a state trial court in Pensacola, Florida, ordered Reynolds to pay more than $3.3 million in compensatory damages and $25 million in punitive damages to Mathilde Martin.

Her husband, Benny Martin, died in 1995 of lung cancer that she blamed on his long-time smoking of Reynolds' Lucky Strike cigarettes.

The jury found that Reynolds was 66 percent responsible for his death and that Martin, who started smoking in the 1940s before cigarette packages had health warnings, was 34 percent responsible.

The lawsuit stemmed from the so-called "Engle progeny" cases filed against tobacco companies by sick Florida smokers or their relatives. A class-action lawsuit filed in 1994 by a pediatrician, the late Dr. Howard Engle, produced a $145 billion judgment against cigarette makers six years later.

The Florida Supreme Court overturned the Engle award in 2006 and ruled that the state's smokers could not sue as a class.

But it allowed them to sue individually and upheld the trial jury's findings that smoking causes disease, that nicotine is addictive, that cigarettes are defective and dangerous, and that tobacco companies concealed the health effects of smoking.

In its appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, R.J. Reynolds argued the state court in the Martin case precluded litigation of issues that had not been necessarily decided during the Engle proceedings, violating its due process rights.

The tobacco companies have been ordered to pay more than $375 million in 60 of the cases arising from the Engle litigation, Reynolds said. Trial dates have been set for 75 more suits for this year.

SKYCIG Stubs Out Edinburgh's Bad Habits on No Smoking Day!

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), 20% of the British population consider themselves a smoker. On 14th March 2012, national No Smoking Day saw 2,000 Scots in Edinburgh; stub out their ordinary cigarettes in favour of electronic SKYCIG disposables! SKYCIG are odourless, tar and tobacco free battery powered cigarettes, designed to provide smokers with inhaled doses of nicotine at a far reduced risk to their health.

SKYCIG held a 'Cigarette Amnesty' at the East End of Princes Street, to encourage addicted smokers to ditch their bad habit once and for all! People from all walks of life, aged between 25 and 65, binned their cigs in exchange for a single SKYCIG disposable - the equivalent of 40 cigarettes. This is a massive saving of almost £15, and could save smokers thousands per year. The Amnesty was scheduled to run from 9am to 6pm, but overwhelming response left SKYCIG short of disposables at 5pm!

Damien Scott, UK Operations Director of SKYCIG said:

'It was amazing how many people were willing to throw away a cig, or in some cases an entire pack, in favour of the healthier disposables. Smokers loved SKYCIG so much we even had to offer discounts on future purchases!"

SKYCIG were voted best e-cig by Smoking.com in 2011. They do not contain the harmful carcinogens or high levels of nicotine found in ordinary cigarettes, and can help on the pathway to quitting.

No Smoking Day remains the UK's foremost public health event. It takes place every year on the second Wednesday in March, and works to support smokers desperate to quit by creating a supportive environment and by highlighting the many sources of help and advice available.

The British Medical Association (BMA) pointed out that smoking kills tens of thousands of people every year around the UK, and that smoking-related illnesses place a major burden on the NHS; the BMA also noted that it wants the UK to be a tobacco-free nation by 2035, and believes smokers can use the momentum from No Smoking Day to help achieve this target.

Are Antismoking Ads Effective?

The federal government is behind a new series of advertisements intended to deter people from smoking or to spur them to quit. Have you seen any antismoking ads? Do you think they are effective? Why do you think people continue to smoke despite knowing the dangers associated with the habit?

As The Times’s Gardiner Harris reports, the government is paying for the first-ever nationwide antismoking ad campaign, according to Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

“We estimate that this campaign will help about 50,000 smokers to quit smoking,” Dr. Frieden said Wednesday in an interview. “And that will translate not only into thousands who will not die from smoking but it will pay for itself in a few years in reduced health costs.”

The advertisements, which will appear on television and in newspapers starting Monday, show former smokers discussing the terrible health consequences of their habits.

In one TV ad, Terrie, 51, of North Carolina, who has a hole in her neck and barely any hair on her head after suffering head and neck cancer, tells the camera, “I want to give you some tips about getting ready in the morning.” She then pops in a set of false teeth, dons a blond wig and inserts a small speaker into the tracheotomy in her neck. She ties on a scarf to hide the device and says, “And now you’re ready for the day.” An announcer says: “You can quit. For free help, call 1-800-QUIT-NOW .”

Studies have shown that such graphic advertisements are effective in persuading smokers to quit, but they have also often led to opposition from smokers, who call them alarming and demeaning, and to efforts by the industry to end financing for the ads.
Students: Tell us what you think about antismoking ad campaigns like this one. Do you think they might persuade teenagers either not to take up smoking or to quit? Do you know anyone who smokes? Why do you think millions of people — including approximately 3.4 million teenagers — continue to smoke even though the health risks are well known?

Zimbabwe: Peace Prevails at Tobacco Auction Floors

THE irritating noise, chaos and congestion that has characterised the tobacco marketing season for the past three years could now be history since the 2012 marketing season has provided a peaceful environment for farmers to conduct their business.

A visit to the tobacco auction floors by The Financial Gazette's Farming revealed that the four auction floors have dealt with the perennial problems that had blighted the tobacco marketing season.

Unauthorised traders that always contributed to the chaos and congestion associated with the auction floors have been permanently removed; there are police posts within the auction floors to deal with all warranted incidences.

All the four operating auction floors, Boka Tobacco Floor, Tobacco Sales Floor, Millennium Tobacco Floors and Premier Tobacco Floors, have constructed clinics which are manned by qualified staff and canteens that provide adequate and hot meals for the farmers.

Most farmers expressed satisfaction at the prices being offered at the floors and the good marketing environment created by the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board and said they wished the prices could continue to firm as the quality of the leaf improves.

However, this has not been the case during the past few seasons where instead of firming, prices have weakened as the season progresses.

A farmer from Hurungwe, Melody Mamire, said the environment had changed drastically and for the good of the farmer.

"Over the years we have had to deal with unscrupulous traders, thieves and prostitutes usurping our husbands and many of us lost money and health along the way. But this year things are different; we are at peace and fair marketing is prevailing."

"There are no traders to influence us and good accommodation has been provided at the floors. We can plan peacefully without incidents such as theft," Mamire said.

Another farmer from Centenary, Spencer Lunga, said farmers did not expect the prevailing situation to change or go out of hand.

"If one sells at 0800 hours, by 1000 hours the cheque will be ready for collection. I brought 10 bales and sold them at an average price of US$4,05However, farmers complained that contractors were paying them extremely low prices compared to auction prices.

"I sold bales at Tobacco Sales Floor at US$4,90 per kg and the same leaf produced from the same barn sold for US$2,00 per kg. This is daylight robbery. Last year, we had to deal with unwanted traders, this year the contractors are taking more than their share. This is not fair pricing by the contractors," Juliet Mugadzi, from Inyathi Mine, lamented.

"As farmers, contractors accuse us of side-marketing but the reason we side market is that contractors are not being fair. They are ripping us off. Farming is a labour intensive business and most of us use family labour. Buyers should offer good prices," Mugadzi said.

Mugadzi, who has been a farmer for six years, had to sell 11 bales to repay her US$1 400 loan although it would have cost her four bales to repay the loan if she had sold her bales through the auction system.

The top quality leaf has been bought for an average price of US$4,71 per kg, medium quality leaf for US$4,22 per kg, and low quality leaf for US$3,31 per kg.

The provision of proper ablution services and boreholes at auction floors have shown that the tobacco auction floors are prepared to deal with cholera or typhoid diseases in cases of outbreak during the 2012 marketing season since the City of Harare has failed to control the typhoid outbreak since October last year.

Kudakwashe Nyangombe, of Karoi, who brought in five bales, was extremely happy with the prices and the peaceful marketing environment at Boka Tobacco Floors.

"I sold my bales for US$4,76 per kg, US$4,21 per kg, US4,75 per kg, US$4,71 per kg and US$3,29 per kg. These are good prices and I expect to return soon with more bales. Although the growing season was a difficult season because some of us had to re-plant because of the late rains but the market prices are fair."

Franicis Marabada, of Centenary, brought in 32 bales which were sold at an average price of US$4,10 per kg and expressed satisfaction that he had received his cheque early and was already preparing to return to Centenary.

"This year we are getting paid early so that there is no time to consort with prostitutes and traders. We buy our groceries in town and all our inputs are available at the one stop shop provided by the auction floors," Marabada said.

Last season, there was chaos at the auction floors when farmers protested against poor prices that had slumped to as low as US$0,50 per kg because buyers had run out of money. The industry had to temporarily suspend tobacco sales as farmers refused to sell their crop at such low prices.

This year, the auction floors have a combined selling capacity of 36 000 bales per day. The floors have enough capacity to sell all auction tobacco in less than 50 selling days provided growers book in advance to void congestion.

Exclusive cigar lounges in Gurgaon catching fancy of city corporates and entrepreneurs

Cigars are no longer just about an affordable luxury, a lifestyle or a pastime but much more than that to many cigar aficionados in the millennium city. A healthy mix of entrepreneurs, corporate, or CXOs including women in Gurgaon are using this unique smoking ritual for business networking and facilitating it for them are the exclusive cigar lounges that have come up in the city in the past one year.

The Cigar Lounge at The Oberoi Gurgaon, Baronial Cigar Lounge at Golfworx in Ambience Mall and the Cyber Green located Tab01 Cigar Lounge are offering the best of cigars paired with the finest malts to corporates and social achievers in the city to relax and talk business at the same time.

"We have 10-15 business meetings every month at our Cigar and Malt lounge from various companies in Gurgaon including Microsoft, IBM and DuPont among others," said Vinay Rathore, manager at Tab01 Kitchen and Lounge, which started its lounge in December 2010. It is a one-of-a-kind destination to have business meetings with complete business solutions in the luxury of leather couch seating and high-speed Wi-Fi connection.

Prashant Gupta, food and beverages manager at Udyog Vihar located The Oberoi, which houses India's first exclusive cigar lounge in a hotel, said they have seen up to 35-40 percent increase in their footfalls since they launched the lounge in April 2011. "We started with an average of eight covers each day, mostly in the evenings. We now have around 15-20. We also have a lot of regular/repeat guests," he said.

"While evenings are busier, we have also seen an increase during the day and early afternoon. Some business meetings have also taken place in the lounge. Evenings are more about social gatherings. Since this is adjoining The Piano Bar, we see people from the bar walk in and try a cigar. A number of guests who appreciate fine cigars have also taken them as gifts and take away for their house parties, barbeque evenings, etc.," he added.

The cigar lounge at The Oberoi, Gurgaon stocks over 30 brands of hand rolled Cubans price starting from from Rs 750 onwards (plus taxes). "Our selection of cigars include: Cohiba Robustos, Cohiba Siglo V, Montecristo Grand Edmundo LTD EDI'2010, Montecristo No 2, Partagas Serie D Especial LTD EDI'2010, Romeo Y Julieta Churchills (T)," informed Mr Gupta.

As per Ameeta Seth, director at Cingari, the first company to import Cuban cigars back in 1998, the market for cigars has grown approximately 35-40 percent in recent years."From 50 customers ten years back,our customer base has increased to 50,000 at present," she said. Talking about the increasing cigar culture in Gurgaon, she said, "There has be a change in the trend in recent years where in a lot of young corporates in their 30s and 40s have started smoking cigars."

Today, about 7.5 million cigars are sold in the country and over the next three years, the figure is expected to scale 10 million. As the market has grown, so has the number of bigger players. On the business logic behind choosing Gurgaon for launching its cigar lounge, Mr Gupta said, "Gurgaon is now the centre of most activities for Delhi and the national capital region. People residing in and visiting Gurgaon are well travelled and appreciate fine things. Dining out and visiting hotel has become more experiential and our guests too want to experiment with new things. This makes Gurgaon the perfect destination for a cigar lounge."

Ban the sale of flavored cigars that target underage smokers

While Maryland pays more than $2 billion annually in tobacco-related health-care costs, the tobacco industry spends upward of $1 million an hour to market its products nationwide. Even though Congress banned flavored cigarettes in 2009, Big Tobacco continues to target youth with flavored cigars sold for as little as 69 cents and packaged to look like candy.

A new surgeon general's report finds that one in five high school males smokes cigars and that cigar use appears to be rising overall. With flavors including strawberry, chocolate chip cookie dough, pink lip gloss, wine and coffee, cigar makers mask the harsh taste of tobacco to entice young people.
The industry's marketing of flavored cigars inside brightly colored packaging coincides with a notable rise in cigar use among the nation's youth. While the state health department reports that only 1.6 percent of adults in Maryland use flavored tobacco products, underage high school youth were six times more likely to smoke such cigars. Among all underage cigar smokers, more than three-quarters use flavored cigars.

Flavored cigars appeal especially to minors in urban communities with large minority populations. Several jurisdictions have banned their sale, including Maine, New York City, and Providence, R.I.

Maryland has an opportunity to join the effort to prohibit the sale of flavored toxins. The state Senate is considering a bill that targets products favored by underage smokers while exempting the premium cigars used by adults.

The recent surgeon general's report aims to make the next generation tobacco-free. Considering that nine out of 10 smokers begin using tobacco by age 18, the General Assembly must act swiftly to combat the growing use of flavored cigars among Maryland's middle- and high-school youth.

Joe Gutberlet, Baltimore

The writer is a student attorney in the Public Health Law Clinic at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law.

More work needed to stop youth tobacco use

More work needs to be done to keep young Americans from using tobacco, including creating smoking bans and increasing taxes on tobacco products, the U.S. Surgeon General’s office said in a report released Thursday.

Almost one in five high school-aged teens smokes, down from earlier decades, but the rate of decline has slowed, the report said.

It says it’s particularly important to stop young people from using tobacco because those who start smoking as teenagers can increase their chances of long-term addiction. They also quickly can experience reduced lung function, impaired lung growth, early heart disease and other health problems like asthma.

More than 80 percent of smokers begin by age 18 and 99 percent of adult smokers in the U.S. start by age 26, according to the 920-page report, which is the first comprehensive look at youth tobacco use from the surgeon general’s office in nearly two decades.

“In order to end this epidemic, we need to focus on where we can prevent it and where we can see the most effect, and that’s with young people,” Surgeon General Regina Benjamin said in an interview with The Associated Press. “We want to make our next generation tobacco-free, and I think we can.”

The report details youth tobacco use, health impacts, and tobacco marketing and prevention efforts in the U.S. Officials hope the information will reinvigorate anti-tobacco efforts and spark public activism in reducing death and disease caused by tobacco use.

The report also recommended anti-smoking campaigns and increased restrictions under the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s authority to regulate tobacco as other ways to prevent adolescents and young adults from using tobacco products.

Benjamin did not point fingers on why youth tobacco use continues in the U.S. Instead, she wants to see how the nation as a whole can best address the issue, she said.

“I don’t want to focus on blame, I want to focus on prevention,” she said. “I want to make sure we’re doing everything that we can to prevent kids from ever starting to smoke or use tobacco products.”

The surgeon general’s office last issued a report on youth tobacco use in 1994, the first wide-ranging report on the topic by federal health officials. The new report is the 31st issued by U.S. surgeons general to warn the public about tobacco’s risks. The first report in 1964 declared tobacco to be deadly.

Since the 1994 report, smoking among high school students has declined from 27.5 percent to 19.5 percent, or about 3 million students, but the rate of decline has slowed in recent years. About 5.2 percent, or 600,000 middle school students also are current smokers. According to the report, every day in the U.S., more than 3,800 people under the age of 18 smoke their first cigarette and more than 1,000 of them become daily smokers. They replace the 1,200 people who die each day in the U.S. from smoking.

The report also examined advertising and promotional activities by tobacco companies, which have been shown to “cause the onset and continuation of smoking adolescents and young adults.”

Tobacco companies have spent increasing amounts of money on marketing efforts to reduce prices, which health officials said in the report could influence access to price-sensitive youth and make cigarettes more affordable.

Nearly $10 billion was spent in 2008 on cigarette marketing by the nation’s five biggest tobacco companies, a 48 percent increase from what was spent in 1998, when some of the companies agreed with state attorneys general to curtail or stop some of their marketing efforts. That 25-year, $206 billion settlement also pays states for smoking-related health care costs and to support tobacco prevention and cessation programs.

“We have come a long way since the days of smoking on airplanes and in college classrooms, but we have a long way to go,” Secretary of Health and Human Resources Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement accompanying the latest report. “The prosperity and health of our nation depend on it.”

$27B tobacco lawsuit headed for Quebec court

Big tobacco has a date today in a Canadian courtroom.

Canada's three largest tobacco companies are set to square off against a group of Quebec smokers with up to $27 billion in damages and penalties at stake.

A Montreal courtroom will hear a class-action lawsuit from smokers who claim they were duped for years by big tobacco companies — as they became addicted to cigarettes and then suffered from serious health problems.

The landmark civil case is considered the biggest in Canadian history.
The case will also mark the first time tobacco companies have gone to trial in a civil suit in Canada.

The defendants are Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd.; Rothmans, Benson & Hedges; and JTI-Macdonald.

On another front, six provinces are teaming up to sue Canadian tobacco firms for health-care costs.

B.C., New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and P.E.I. are retaining a national legal team to help them prosecute Canadian tobacco companies.

Smoking shisa is bad for you warns BHF

Foundation is warning people in the South East of the dangers of shisha on No Smoking Day (today) as new data reveals widespread unawareness of the harm it can cause coupled with a rise in the number of shisha bars across the region.

Shisha smokers inhaling flavoured tobacco through exotic waterpipes have become a common sight in city streets across the UK. But under the romance and heady smells lies a familiar killer the BHF wants the public to be aware of.

Dr Mike Knapton, associate medical director at the BHF, said: “Contrary to popular belief, shisha is not safer than smoking cigarettes. Don’t be duped by the sweet smell and wholesome sounding fruity flavours, if you use shisha you are a smoker and that means you’re putting your health at risk.

“It’s linked to the same serious and life-threatening diseases as cigarettes and there are added risks because you often smoke it for far longer than you would a cigarette and you’re also exposed to toxins from the wood or charcoal used to burn the tobacco. Fortunately No Smoking Day is a great opportunity for anyone who smokes, in whatever form, to try and quit.”

Shisha smoking is linked to the same kinds of diseases as cigarette smoking including heart disease, cancer, respiratory disease and problems during pregnancy.

Yet one in seven (14 per cent) adults in the South East surveyed for the BHF thought there were no health harms from using shisha, and less than half (45 per cent) knew shisha could contain tobacco.

Freedom of Information data from 133 local authorities in major towns and cities across the UK shows 53 per cent have – or have had - a shisha bar since 2007, while more than 40 per cent have seen a rise in the number of shisha bars since the smoking ban came into force. In the South East, 47 per cent have – or have had a shisha bar, and 27 per cent have seen a rise.

This is in stark contrast to the steady decline in cigarette smokers in the UK (4) and has prompted the BHF to urge people to find out the facts about shisha, which is also known as hookah, hubble bubble and narghile, as part of its No Smoking Day campaign.

More than 750,000 people attempt to quit on No Smoking Day each year. But the charity is concerned thousands of quitters may still be putting their health at risk by using shisha, and that the rising number of shisha bars could provide a new gateway for people to start smoking and become addicted to tobacco.

Almost everyone in the South East surveyed for the BHF were unaware that during a typical hour-long shisha session you can inhale the same amount of smoke as from more than 100 tobacco cigarettes. A total of 85 per cent of respondents in the South East thought it was 10 or fewer.

Nationally, the survey results showed shisha is most popular among young people with more than a quarter (27 per cent) of UK 18 to 24 year olds saying they’d used it. Worryingly misconceptions about the dangers of shisha were highest among this group and those aged 25-34 with 15 per cent each believing there were no health harms from shisha at all while 44 per cent of the younger UK adults thought it was less harmful than cigarettes.

By comparison, 17 per cent of overall UK respondents thought shisha was less harmful than cigarettes. In the South East, one in five (20 per cent) adults thought it was less harmful.

The national data showed shisha is no longer a pastime for perceived specific community groups alone, with almost one in ten (8%) people of white ethnicity saying they’d used it.

The survey also showed almost one in ten (9%) former cigarette smokers in the UK have used shisha as well as almost one in ten (8%) non-smokers.

Figures for the South East show one in ten (10 per cent) people use it.

Apponequet High aims to kick the smoking habit

Apponequet Regional High School is trying to reduce the number of students smoking on school grounds, and is contemplating strategies to kick more butts out of school.
The school is also looking to better educate students who are addicted to nicotine, and are not just smoking for social reasons.
Principal Jill Proulx said smoking in school is not a new problem at Apponequet, but the school still has worked hard to curtail the number of smoking incidents.
Proulx said the administration took a proactive approach this year and even looked into developing smaller, airport-style bathrooms for easier detection. However, the school could not come up with the $30,000 needed to develop this type of bathroom.
She told school authorities and parents at a School Committee meeting last week that the school also closed down some bathrooms this year. But that method prompted parent telephone calls to the state Department of Public Health. She said it also prompted students to escape to a stairwell area and smoke there instead.
Proulx said the school has also tried to eliminate down time for smoking and have had meetings with students who are suspended for the infraction. Proulx said the school nurse also administers nicotine patches.
Superintendent John McCarthy said he soon plans on having lunch with a group of student smokers.
McCarthy told school officials last Wednesday that he interviewed a student in an advanced placement biology class about the problem, and that student told McCarthy that smoking is part of the school’s culture.
Marc Christiansen, a student representative to the School Committee, agreed with that assessment.
Christiansen said some students smoke for “social reasons” but are likely not addicted. However, he said there are still a large number of students with an addiction and these students need serious help.
“It is part of some of the culture, not the whole culture. There are social smokers and then there are addicted smokers. Some people ... use smoking as a thing they can have in common with another kid. For them, feeling not part of the school community, this is their attempt to be a part of the community,” Christiansen said.

NJ Lawmaker Pushes Tobacco Tax Hike

New Jersey lawmakers are considering raising the tax on all tobacco products, a move that would add millions to the dollars already flowing into the state’s economy from the steep tax on cigarettes.

New Jersey taxes cigarettes at $2.70 a pack, among the highest in the nation. The revenue – close to $770 million -- goes to paying off a state bond issue, reimbursing hospitals for charity care to the poor and uninsured, and funding the general costs of state government.

But just $1.5 million went to tobacco control programs last year, down from $30 million in 2003. The extra revenue from a tax on all tobacco products would be used to expand efforts to discourage New Jerseyans -- especially teens -- from picking up the smoking habit.

“The state still has some elements of smoking cessation programs in place but they are a shadow of their former selves,” said Sen. Joseph F. Vitale (D-Middlesex). “It is not as though the state isn’t interested and doesn’t care. It does some things but not nearly what it needs to do.”

Hiking the tobacco tax is expected to generate $19 million more in revenues, money that would largely go for anti-smoking media campaigns. The tax could have the added dividend of deterring smoking by making the habit more expensive.

Either way, anti-smoking advocates said it would be a win/win in the battle against lung cancer, New Jersey’s No. 1 cancer killer, with an estimated 4,160 deaths last year, according to the American Cancer Society.

Vitale, chairman of the Senate’s health committee, said he will seek to pass tobacco tax parity legislation in tandem with the 2013 state budget, which must be ratified by the legislature and signed by Gov. Chris Christie before the new fiscal year begins July 1.

Combating smoking is not solely the state’s responsibility, Vitale said. Advocacy groups like the American Cancer Society and the Lung Association “work diligently to try to reach the general public and children to keep the message going. It is about messaging all the time, and New Jersey really has fallen pretty far short in terms of where we used to be.”

Considering how much is collected from every package of cigarettes sold in the state -- $769.2 million in fiscal 2011 -- New Jersey “is not even spending pennies on the dollar when it comes to investing in tobacco control,” said Blair Horner, vice president for advocacy of the Eastern Division of the American Cancer Society. “We’re hoping that gets reversed this year.”

A report released last week by the U.S. Surgeon General's office on the use of tobacco by children and young adults called for increased tobacco taxes to discourage young Americans from picking up the smoking habit.

Nearly one in five high school-aged teens smokes, according to the report. That's lower than earlier decades, but the rate of decline has slowed. “Despite the well-known health risks, youth and adult smoking rates that had been dropping for many years have stalled,” the report said. Among adult smokes, 88 percent started smoking by 18.

The report calls for an end to the "tobacco epidemic" and suggests mass media campaigns, tobacco tax hikes, school programs, and expansion of smoke-free zones to decrease youth tobacco use.

“We have come a long way since the days of smoking on airplanes and in college classrooms, but we have a long way to go,” the report said. “We have the responsibility to act and do something to prevent our youth from smoking.”

Report adds to debate over menthol cigarettes

A Food and Drug Administration scientist has found a lower risk of dying from lung cancer among menthol smokers compared to non-menthol smokers at ages 50 and over.

The scientist, Brian Rostron of the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products, studied data of 6,074 smokers from 1987 to 2006, including 1,417 who smoked only menthol cigarettes.

The lower risk of dying from lung cancer was found in all age groups, in men and women, and with black smokers compared with white smokers.

Tobacco display ban in shops across Warwickshire

TRADING Standards officers in Warwickshire are reminding large stores that tobacco displays will be banned from April 6.

All large shops in England will be affected by the ban.

All other shops will have to ban displays from April 6, 2015.

It is part of plans to keep tobacco out of sight deter youngsters from smoking and help others kick the habit.

Coun Richard Hobbs, Warwickshire County Council’s portfolio holder for community protection said: “Smoking is an addiction that often starts in childhood. Most people who smoke start before they reach the age of 18.

"The ban will put cigarettes out of the sight of children in shops.’’

Garden Pharmacy Extends Electronic Cigarette Range

Retailers all over the country have found themselves with a little extra in the tills after they explored the opportunity of electronic cigarettes. According to representatives at Nicocig Limited, one of the leading retailers of e cigarettes, over the last 3 years companies such as themselves have emerged in the UK offering a highly innovative product at very affordable prices. Those who jumped on to this idea at the beginning have truly reaped the rewards in this recently boom in the industry.
Garden Pharmacy has now extended the range of Nicocig cartridges they hold to include the Menthol range which, similarly to the Tobacco flavoured range, comes in 4 various strengths, High, Medium, Low and even a ‘Zero’ strength.
Harry Ganz from The Garden Pharmacy in Covent Garden, London speaks of his experience with the electronic cigarette:
“We were, like many out there, unsure about these products at the beginning and tried a few different brands before we found one that worked as it should do. Nicocig has been immensely popular with our customers in store and on our website. We saw steady sales for the first couple of years but recently with the media hype and celebrities endorsing the product we are getting requested for Nicocig products more so every day”.
“We are extremely delighted that Garden Pharmacy like many of our other online and independent pharmacies has done so well with Nicocig,” states Birju Pujara, Sales Director at Nicocig.
“It is companies such as Garden Pharmacy and the independent trade that helped pioneer electronic cigarettes and have been a big part of the success it is today. We hope this growth continues and that other companies do as well out of it as Garden Pharmacy have done”.
Nicocig is one of the most trusted brands of electric cigarettes in the UK; established in late 2007, Nicocig is the only electronic cigarette company to offer full nationwide distribution through the pharmaceutical market with many of the largest wholesales in the industry stocking Nicocig exclusively. Nicocig has grown into a multi-million pound company with international distribution networks and continues to grow at a phenomenal rate.

Federal judge blocks anti-smoking images required on tobacco products

A federal mandate requiring tobacco companies to place graphic images on their products warning of the dangers of smoking was tossed out Wednesday by a judge in Washington, with the judge saying the requirements were a violation of free speech.

"Unfortunately, because Congress did not consider the First Amendment implications of this legislation, it did not concern itself with how the regulations could be narrowly tailored to avoid unintentionally compelling commercial speech," said federal Judge Richard Leon in his 19-page ruling.
The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act passed in 2009 would have required nine written warnings such as "Cigarettes are addictive" and "Tobacco smoke causes harm to children." Also included would have been alternating images of a corpse and smoke-infected lungs.

A group of tobacco companies led by R.J. Reynolds and Lorillard had sued, saying the warnings would be cost-prohibitive, and would dominate and damage the packaging and promotion of their particular brands. The legal question was whether the new labeling was purely factual and accurate in nature or was designed to discourage use of the products.

"The graphic images here were neither designed to protect the consumer from confusion or deception, nor to increase consumer awareness of smoking risks" said Leon. "Rather they were crafted to evoke a strong emotional response calculated to provoke the viewer to quit or never start smoking."

Other color images required under the Food and Drug Administration rules would have been: a man smoking through a tracheotomy hole in his throat, smoke wafting from a child being kissed by her mother, a diseased mouth presumably from oral cancer linked to chewing tobacco and a woman weeping uncontrollably.

There was no immediate reaction to the ruling from the FDA, and the Justice Department, which defended the law in court, said it had no comment.

But the president of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network declared the ruling "bad for public health."

"Today's ruling ignores the overwhelming, decades-long need for strong cigarette warning labels and allows Big Tobacco to proceed 'business as usual,' continuing to promote its highly addictive and deadly products," Christopher W. Hansen said in a statement from the Cancer Action Network.

Richard Daynard, a lawyer and critic of smoking who leads the Tobacco Products Liability Project in Boston, rejected Leon's argument.

House votes down tobacco hike

PARLIAMENT yesterday voted down a government bill that would have doubled the consumption tax on rolled tobacco to bring it in line with the tax on manufactured cigarettes.
The bill was rushed through parliament as a matter of urgency, and while initial deliberations indicated it would garner enough votes, a number of deputies had a change of heart just before voting got underway at the plenum yesterday.
According to the Finance Ministry’s calculations, the tax hike would have generated an extra €20 million to state coffers annually.
Thirty MPs belonging to the DISY, DIKO, EDEK and EVROKO parties voted against, while 15 deputies belonging to ruling AKEL abstained.
During debate at the plenum, opponents of the bill banded together against the AKEL government, criticising the timing of the hike which would have coincided with yesterday’s increase on VAT on goods and services from 15 to 17 per cent.
The defeated bill would also have made it mandatory for the maximum retail price to be clearly marked on cigarette packs; selling cigarettes at a higher price would be a criminal offence.
Seizing the opportunity to slam the administration’s “failed” economic policy, which as he said has inevitably led to an onslaught of taxes, DISY no.2 Averof Neophytou suggested that the way to correct the discrepancy in taxes between manufactured and rolled tobacco was not to increase the latter, but rather the other way round.
Neophytou said the problem could be traced to the government’s misguided bid to increase consumption tax on manufactured cigarettes a year ago.

Enforce tobacco ban, cops told

The home ministry has asked police to keep tabs on those smoking and selling tobacco products in public by effectively implementing the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act.
In a circular, home secretary Raghavendra H Auradkar told cops: "Cases booked against violators of the Act and those found smoking and selling tobacco products in public places should be included in monthly crime statistics that go into the data bank of the State Crime Records Bureau."
The circular comes in the wake of an order issued to all state governments by the Union ministry of health and family welfare on December 9, 2011. Police have been told to send a copy of cases booked to the Union ministry.

What the law says
COTPA defines 'public place' as any area to which people have access to and includes auditorium, hospital buildings, railway waiting rooms, amusement centres, restaurants, public offices, court buildings, workplaces, shopping malls, cinema halls, educational institutions, libraries, public conveyances and the like which are visited by people but doesn't include any open space. Under Section 12 of COTPA, police officers not below the rank of sub-inspectors can conduct raids on public places where people are found smoking and initiate proceedings against them.