Russia Weakens Anti-Smoking Law Before Key Second Reading

Russia weakened a proposed law aimed at cracking down on smoking in the world’s second-largest tobacco market before a key vote on the legislation tomorrow.

While the bill keeps a ban on smoking in public places, it drops restrictions on cigarette sales and the right to set minimum cigarette prices, said Dmitry Yanin, head of anti- tobacco lobbying group, the International Conference of Consumer Societies. “This is a major victory for the tobacco lobby,” he told reporters in Moscow today. “The tobacco companies have managed to hang onto their second-biggest market after China.”
An aide to Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets, Alexei Levchenko, said the changes to the legislation were necessary to reach agreement with lawmakers, though he insisted that health goals of reducing smoking will still be met.
Philip Morris International Inc., British American Tobacco Plc, Japan Tobacco Inc. and Imperial Tobacco Group Plc, which control 93 percent of the $19.5-billion Russian market, had opposed the curbs on cigarette consumption, which were supported by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and approved on the first reading on Dec. 14. Lawmakers will vote on the bill in the decisive second of three required readings tomorrow.
Russia’s government had proposed measures that would outlaw all tobacco advertising and sponsorship as well as kiosk sales immediately, with bans on trade in small retail outlets and smoking in public places taking effect Jan. 1, 2015, reports Bloomberg BusinessWeek.

Tobacco and the Stars

The same question can be asked about tobacco. When performing outside the United States, many American artists routinely perform at concerts sponsored by tobacco companies in the few countries where this practice is still allowed.

On Jan. 8, in fact, the American band Weezer played a concert in Indonesia that was sponsored by a cigarette company, reports The New York Times. By playing under the banner of tobacco, Weezer is telling its fans that cigarettes are cool, sexy and fun.

With top performers pushing tobacco to children, and few laws to regulate tobacco, it’s not surprising that Indonesia has the highest smoking rate for males in the world. Artists like Weezer shouldn’t be helping tobacco companies exploit the country’s weak laws on marketing to children.

Tobacco quitters have chance to star in TV ads

Those in Davis County  who are ready to quit using tobacco products and would like to share their story with others in the state now have the chance through a Utah Department of Health program, “Be A Quitter.”
Anyone thinking about quitting in 2013 can tell his or her story in 250 words or less for a chance to star in commercials. Candidates will be chosen through January. Participants should submit their responses by mid-January, said Janae Duncan, of the state health department’s Tobacco Prevention and Control Board.
Winners will receive a stipend plus a tablet device to help them document their quitting process by detailing struggles and successes through social media and video updates, according to a health department press release.
The campaign will cast eight to 10 participants from across the state who represent a range of ages and types of tobacco use.
Participants should be 18 years and older. They will be asked to upload their own videos and social media  posts to keep viewers updated on their progress.
The “cast” of the realty TV campaign will agree to give details of the effects, both good and bad, that quitting has had on them, their families, co-workers and friends.
“Quitting for good is a hard thing to do and there are hurdles like relapsing and needing to start over. Sometimes it’s necessary to find alternatives to help kick the habit, said Amy Oliver, UDOH TPCP marketing manager. “We want this campaign to show tobacco users that they’re not alone in the quitting process and to encourage them to never give up.”

Breaking the law to quit smoking

West Vancouver resident Gary Adelson tried everything — gum, patches, willpower, acupuncture, even hypnosis — to get off cigarettes because he could feel the physical toll smoking was taking on his body. A two-pack-a-day smoker for almost four decades, the 58-year-old made about a dozen attempts to quit in as many years, but the addiction was just too powerful, according to The Vancouver Sun.
 
Adelson was a couple of days into his latest quit attempt in 2010 and surfing the Internet when he stumbled across electronic cigarettes, devices that were supposed to deliver the nicotine without the smoke. He found someone in Vancouver on Craigslist who sold them and met him in an alley, where he exchanged cash for a plastic bag containing the device along with a nicotine-infused liquid.

Reynolds wants changes to warning label on smokeless tobacco products

Winston-Salem-based R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. wants the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to make changes to one of the warning labels on smokeless products, the Winston-Salem Journal reports.

The change would say that while smokeless tobacco is not safe, it "presents substantially lower risks to health than cigarettes.” The warnings currently say smokeless tobacco "is not a safe alternative to cigarettes.”

Smokeless tobacco products include moist snuff, snus, dissolvable products and e-cigarettes.

The FDA will hold a hearing Monday on how the agency should monitor and regulate smoking cessation and nicotine-replacement therapy products, according to The Business Journals.

Less Harmful Constituents When Heating Tobacco at Lower Temperatures?

Many of the harmful constituents found in the smoke from a conventional cigarette result from the burning of tobacco. Lowering the temperature at which the "smoke" is generated means that nicotine and some aroma compounds are still released, but the user may no longer be exposed to some of the combustion products that are generated by the burning of tobacco and which may contribute to the risk of smoking-related diseases. By measuring the air flow through a tobacco matrix that is heated in a new type of smoking product it may be possible to determine which constituents are released, at which time and at which location.

The research of David Lopez Penha of the University of Twente is an important first step in understanding the physics of smoking.

Lopez Penha has investigated flows in porous media, derived from cast leaf tobacco biomass. He has developed a model that predicts the flow of hot air through this highly complex porous medium. For this purpose the 3-D pore geometry was reconstructed using microCT-scans (micro-Computed Tomography). For the first time, his work provides some insight into the way that air flows through the small pores inside the tobacco plugs: this could open up a new way of determining which substances may be released and at what concentrations, during the flow of air through heated tobacco matrices, according to Science Daily.

Bar owners protest state smoking ban

State bar owners have been raising opposition to the statewide smoking ban in bars and restaurants, claiming to legislators and courts that the ban is ruining their business.

While restaurants have come to appreciate the ban’s unforeseen effect of increasing sales, the president of the N.C. Bar, Pub & Tavern Association recently wrote a letter to the N.C. General Assembly urging legislators to exclude profit-making bars from the ban.

Sales at Gate City Billiards Club, a private club in Greensboro, have decreased 25 percent since the 2010 ban , said Don Liebes, the club’s owner and president of the association.

“We’re different from restaurants,” he said, adding that 75 percent of his customers smoke. “The ban put us at a competitive disadvantage.”

Because of the ban, the club has lost $30,000 since January, Liebes said. On an average Friday night, the club now serves 30 fewer customers — about a 15 percent decrease.

“We’re not making any money,” he said. “It’s only a matter of time before we go under.”

Bar and restaurant owners in the state were initially concerned that the ban would be an excessive regulation, said Brad Hurley, co-owner of the 42nd Street Oyster Bar & Seafood Grill in Raleigh and chairman-elect of the N.C. Restaurant and Lodging Association.

But some restaurant owners now say the ban has boosted sales. In a letter sent Oct. 5 by the restaurant association to the legislature, one restaurant owner reportedly observed a 25 to 30 percent growth in sales since 2009, reports The Daily Tar Heel.

Advocates to push for local tobacco control again

Tobacco users, how about giving up tobacco? And lawmakers, how about giving up tobacco money? And giving cities in Oklahoma the option of crafting their own tobacco-control measures?

Tobacco use is arguably Oklahoma's biggest health problem, and a main reason the state regularly ranks poorly on measures of health and well-being.

It's the state's No. 1 cause of preventable death, responsible for the deaths of about 6,000 Oklahomans a year. At current usage rates, an estimated 87,000 Oklahoma young people will ultimately die premature deaths as a result of tobacco use.

The state has made strides in recent years in protecting non-users from the proven hazards of secondhand smoke. That's to our credit. But until the stranglehold that the tobacco industry has over our Legislature is broken, don't look for much more progress. 

 According to the website, 84 of the 97 representatives in office as of Oct. 1 have accepted a total of $80,550 in campaign contributions from tobacco lobbyists since 2006. Also since 2006, 45 of them have accepted a total of $29,750 from tobacco PACs. And 86 have accepted a total of $25,304 in meals and other gifts from tobacco lobbyists.

Nine representatives have accepted more than $3,000, and only one of them voted for tobacco-control legislation last year.

Over in the Senate, 41 of 48 senators have accepted a total of $74,750 in campaign funds from tobacco lobbyists since 2006. Twenty-two have accepted a total of $19,750 from PACs, and 42 have accepted a total of $12,615 in meals and other gifts.

Eleven senators have accepted a total of $3,000 or more.

Canada's tobacco warnings

Canada's world ranking for cigarette package warnings rose to fourth in 2012 from 15th in 2010 after new Canadian warnings covering 75 per cent of cigarette packages were implemented, an international report finds.

Australia, which received the top ranking, has the largest warnings, covering 82.5 per cent of the package front and back of packages (75 per cent front, 90 per cent back), the group said. Australia also prohibits tobacco company colours, logo and design elements on the branded part of the package.

The other top-ranked countries for warning sizes in the report were:

- Uruguay tied for second with Sri Lanka at 80 per cent (80 per cent of front, 80 per cent of back),

- Brunei tied with Canada for fourth at 75 per cent (75 per cent of front, 75 per cent back).

Heavy Smoking on the Rise Among Teens

The smoking rate among men dropped from 51.6 percent in 2005 to 48.3 percent in 2010, but more than one in every 10 teenagers still smokes, according to the Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

The rate among middle and high school students who smoked more than once over the 30 days prior to the annual KCDC survey has remained steady at around 12 percent since 2007. The figure was even higher among boys at 17 percent last year.

What is more worrisome is increasing number of smoking teenagers. The rate of those who smoked every day for 30 days prior to the survey rose more than 1.5 times from 3.9 percent in 2005 to 6.1 percent last year. Last year some 2.8 percent said they smoke more than 10 cigarettes a day.

Some experts blame the social environment where many adults can be seen smoking in the street and cigarettes come in garish packets.

According to last year's survey, 39.6 percent of teenagers said they saw family members or guests in their home smoke over the last week, informs The Chosunilbo.

"Adolescents tend to imitate adults or celebrities," claimed Lee Hae-kook of Catholic University College of Medicine. "If they smoke in adolescence, when the brain develops, teenagers can get seriously addicted to nicotine and also easily fall victim to other addictions like alcohol or gambling."

There’s an app for cigarette advertising

Every since tobacco advertising was first forced off our television screens in the 1970s, the tobacco industry has been at pains to splash its logos and brands just about anywhere it can.

Public health officials and governments have never been able to keep up with determined and inspired cigarette advertising executives.

It’s not surprising then that tobacco product promotions have wormed their way on to our mobile phones through app stores. With Smartphone sales and mobile Internet use skyrocketing globally, it just makes good business sense to take advantage of this highly unregulated medium.

Devotees of the most popular cigarette brand in the world, Marlboro, for example, can pay just 99 cents to decorate their phones with the infamous red chevron, reports The Conversation.

While it could be completely feasible that the Marlboro global brand owner, Philip Morris International, is not at all connected with this app, they do not appear to have taken any steps to prevent app developers from abusing their trademark. Given how forcibly Philip Morris defended its trademark rights in the Australian High court over plain packaging this seems strangely inconsistent.

Tobacco industry defenders will undoubtedly contest that any move to regulate content on app stores is tantamount to gagging the most vulnerable citizens who dare to defy the powerful nanny state. When the simple truth is, tobacco advertising laws must be adapted to keep up with new media.

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Tobacco Legislation Overreaches

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Legislation proposed by the Downtown Ithaca Alliance would regulate and limit the number of stores that can sell tobacco products and paraphernalia in Ithaca. Its intent is to reduce tobacco use, specifically by youth. A guest commentary in the Ithaca Times by Tobacco Free Tompkins speaks to many of the important reasons to work towards this goal.

Tobacco is a serious public health problem that needs to be more aggressively addressed, and as a progressive city we should be leading the way on innovative health-based approaches. However, the DIA’s proposal is overreaching in scope, and, as the young people who this legislation is meant to protect, we are seriously concerned about the effects it could have on public health.

Tobacco industry can afford sin-tax: officials

Senior government officials said today that the tobacco industry can afford the government's preferred version of the sin-tax reform bill. Secretary Ramon Carandang of the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office (PCDSPO) sent the message when he was responding to the concerns raised by Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Corp. (PMFTC) on the sin-tax measure.

"That's a common argument brought up in almost every country where sin taxes are about to be increased. But the evidence will show that after a period of adjustment tobacco company incomes recover," Carandang said, trying to downplay the concerns that the measure would lead to massive unemployment in the tobacco industry and encourage smuggling.

"The industry can afford it. Plus the greater good that the revenues can do for public health make it hard to argue against it, " Carandang added. In an interview with state-run Radyo ng Bayan today, Deputy Palace Spokesperson Abigail Valte reiterated the government 's assurance that the sin-tax measure would not lead to massive unemployment in the tobacco industry, since part of its revenues would be used to fund safety nets for affected farmers.

"On the job losses, we have a safety net. Part of the revenue that will be collected will go into a safety net for tobacco farmers precisely because there are concerns that some of them might be displaced," Valte added.

UCLA Will Go Tobacco-Free on Earth Day 2013

UCLA Chancellor Gene Block announced today that the campus will go tobacco-free on Earth Day (April 22) 2013. Shepherded by UCLA's Tobacco-Free Steering Committee, the breath of fresh air will ban the use of any and all tobacco products, including electronic cigarettes and oral tobacco, on the Westwood campus as well as other sites owned or leased by the university.

UCLA Health Sciences has been a step ahead of the rest of the (cigarette) buttheads, having implemented a smoke-free policy last November. University of California President Mark Yudof has asked all UC campuses to follow suit by January 2014.

Minnesota candidate guilty of marijuana sales still in race

A mayoral candidate in Winona County admits his conviction for selling marijuana could "throw a few complications" into his campaign. Stephen Conlin says he's committed to his campaign for mayor of St. Charles.

Conlin will be eligible to vote for himself on Tuesday because he hasn't been sentenced. But, should he defeat incumbent Bill Spitzer, he would not be able to hold office because of his felony conviction. He's scheduled for sentencing in December.

Minnesota Secretary of State spokesman Pat Turgeon tells the Winona Daily News that if Conlin is elected, it would be up to the city to decide how to fill the vacancy. Conlin was convicted last week of selling and possessing marijuana. The charges are the result of a 2010 raid on his home and downtown barbershop.

Four smoking marijuana when officers arrived with warrant

An Evansville man, a woman he was living with and her two daughters were arrested Tuesday on various drug charges. Jamie Bullington, 46, Tracy Crow, 25, Brittany Steele, 23, and Lawrence McDonald, 43 were arrested after police reported finding marijuana and prescription pills in their home in the 2600 block of Culverson Avenue. At 5:15 p.m. on Tuesday, investigators with the Evansville Police Department Narcotics Joint Task Force unit searched the residence at 2601 Culverson Ave.

The pills investigators reported finding included Valium and Xanax that none of the four people had a prescription for, officials said. All of the suspects were reported to have been smoking marijuana when detectives arrived. Officials said that Bullington is the mother of Steele and Crow. McDonald is charged with one count of maintaining a common nuisance, a class D felony, and possession of marijuana with a prior conviction.

Bullington is charged with two counts of possession schedule IV, a class D felony, one count of maintaining a common nuisance, a class D felony, and possession of marijuana, a class A misdemeanor. Crow and Steele are both charged with one count of maintaining a common nuisance, a class D felony, and possession of marijuana, a class A misdemeanor.

Clemson’s tobacco ban

The world would be a better place if no one smoked or chewed tobacco. And Clemson University officials are acting sensibly, we think, in trying to discourage tobacco use on campus. Nonetheless, smoking remains a legal indulgence, and students over 18 who choose to smoke should have a place where they legally can do so. Clemson announced this month that it plans to ban all tobacco products both indoors and outdoors on campus within two years. Clemson officials said they are bringing together students, professors and administrators to write a tobacco-free policy and put the plans in place by 2014.

Clemson wouldn’t be the only tobacco-free campus in the state but it would be by far the largest. Charleston Southern University, Lander University and the University of South Carolina Upstate have campus-wide smoking tobacco bans, as do an estimated 600 colleges and universities across the nation. Surveys indicate that about 12 percent of Clemson students smoke on campus. About the same number of employees are likely smokers, too. Smoking already is banned in all Clemson buildings.

The tobacco ban, however, would extend to all areas of the campus, including sports facilities and areas where students and alumni gather to tailgate before games. Alumni and visitors would be subject to the ban as well. Again, we understand that preventing young people from taking up the tobacco habit or convincing them to quit is a worthy goal. And Clemson officials said programs would be instituted to aid students in quitting, which is a good idea. We have enthusiastically supported efforts to make public buildings in Rock Hill and other areas of York County smoke-free, including outdoor sports venues.

But we also have recognized an individual’s right to light up in his or her car, home, other personal property and, essentially, areas in which other people are not affected by the second-hand smoke. Hundreds of colleges and universities apparently have successfully banned tobacco use. Perhaps students at Clemson could find places to smoke off campus easily enough if tobacco is banned on campus. But we wouldn’t find it unreasonable to establish at least one designated smoking area on campus to allow students to smoke or chew tobacco if they choose. An absolute prohibition looks like an invitation to find ways to break the rules.

A spokesman at the University of Arkansas, which has a tobacco ban, said the rule “probably is abided by about as much as the no-drinking policy is abided by.” Which probably means not always. Clemson needs to institute rules with which students and employees will voluntarily comply. And university officials need to take into account the probability that some will smoke or chew tobacco despite the ban. Until the U.S. decides to make tobacco a controlled substance whose use is entirely regulated by the government, allowing its use while also working to protect people from being unwillingly subjected to second-hand smoke will be a balancing act. We need to find ways to prevent young people from becoming addicted to tobacco but outright prohibition rarely works 100 percent of the time.

Cost of tobacco could be set to rise

A study presented by the Health Ministry on Wednesday suggested that a rise in tobacco prices could contribute toward reducing the number of smokers in Greece –- where a lackluster anti-smoking campaign has failed to yield the expected results –- while sources suggest that the ministry is also exploring the idea of levying a special tobacco tax to benefit the country’s biggest healthcare provider.

The ministry’s general secretary for public health, Christina Papanikolaou, also announced the re-establishment of a national anti-smoking committee to be headed by Panagiotis Behrakis, a Harvard University professor and lung specialist. Behrakis presented the study, which was compiled by a group of economists specializing in the health sector. It suggests that a price hike in tobacco products by 2 euros would increase the state’s revenues from tobacco taxes by 1.2 billion euros and would also lead to a reduction in Greece’s adult smokers by some 380,000 people.

Papanikolaou meanwhile cited a recent study which found that 71 percent of Greeks would agree to a rise in tobacco prices if this were to benefit the public healthcare system. The official went on to propose that a special tax could also be introduced on tobacco products which would go toward the National Organization for Healthcare Provision (EOPYY) and other social security funds.

Kathimerini understands that the Health Ministry is also pondering measures to restrict the numbers of outlets where tobacco products are sold as well as to increase inspections at outlets to ensure that cigarettes and other tobacco products are not sold to minors.

Sweet deception? Fruit flavored tobacco

There is a growing campaign called Sweet Deception by anti-tobacco critics. "The tobacco industry has billions of dollars to spend on advertising and, so what they are doing is taking pretty colors and making it look like it's not dangerous," says Jennifer Emmons of the Florida Department of Health. Emmons is referring to grape, cherry and strawberry flavored smokeless tobacco and cigarillos. She says a major part of her job right now is educating parents about these products she says will confuse and attract children.

"Bottom line is that the tobacco companies think it will make kids think that it is safe because it is purple, because it is grape. They are trying to say that it won't hurt you," says Emmons. Justin Gilyard, an 11th grader at Fernandina Beach High school says even though these products are not supposed to be sold to those under 18 his peers can still get them. "You know you have a younger brother or older friend go into the store and you give them the money and they'll bring it out to you," he says.

Justin goes on to say that it's pretty common for kids his age to use these products; that's why he joined a group called SWAT (students working against tobacco.) One of the largest makers of these flavored tobacco products is right here in Jacksonville, Swisher International. We talked to Joe Augustus, Senior VP of External Affairs for Swisher. He says they are adamantly opposed to youth using these products.

He says they even have a program called "We Card" which educates convenience store owners about how to keep these products out of the hands of those under the age of 18. In 2009, the federal government banned the fruit flavoring of cigarettes. But, the FDA now allows these flavors in smokeless tobacco.