ASH Daily News for 30 July 2008

Correction: ASH Daily News 29 July 2008

Pub landlady breaks smoking ban:
Item read that "Around 4,500 pubs in North Devon have been prosecuted since the ban came into affect last July." This statistic was misquoted in the article it was taken from, it should have stated: there are 4,500 premises in North Devon subject to the smoking ban and only one has been prosecuted.

Source: ASH Daily News, 29 July 2008
Link: http://www.ash.org.uk/ash_k7w9wtgc.htm#6022 

Patients stage protest over smoking ban

Patients at the secure hospital in Liverpool where Moors murderer Ian Brady is held have staged a rooftop protest after a smoking ban was introduced. Three patients at the high security Ashworth Hospital climbed on to the roof of a ward in the protest, which lasted most of the night. The Prison Officers Association (POA) said its members had claimed a ward was "smashed up" during the protest but the trust which runs the facility did not release any details about damage.

Brian Caton, general secretary of the POA, said: "I spoke to branch officials today there (at Ashworth) and they said patients had smashed up Blake Ward, I think, which is an admission ward. It was our members who went in to remove those who were not involved in it." A spokesman for Mersey Care NHS Trust, which runs Ashworth, said there was "no risk to the community or individuals". He said: "A rooftop protest by three patients from the admission ward at Ashworth Hospital which began on Monday evening ended peacefully in the early hours of the morning.

"Trained negotiators stayed in constant contact with the three protestors throughout the incident which began at about 7.30pm until the first patient came down at about 2.15am followed by the others two and a half hours later." He added: "It is believed to be related to the smoking ban." Martin Brown, a director at the hospital, said staff had put procedures into action very swiftly and all wards are single storey at the hospital. Merseyside Police said they were called to the protest and sent a negotiator.

Source: Buckingham Advertiser, 30 July 2008
Link: http://tiny.cc/p4QCm

Nottingham team to spearhead UK Tobacco Control research

Researchers at the University of Nottingham are trying to find out which English tobacco control policies most help smokers to give up. Using nearly £200,000 from the Medical Research Council, experts will evaluate data. The research will be carried out in the Division of Epidemiology and Public Health which has been involved in a broad range of tobacco control research.

Sarah Lewis, Professor of Medical Statistics, said: "Developing a comprehensive understanding of whether and how tobacco-related policies work is important in shaping future tobacco control policies. "This research will result in an evidence-based approach to tobacco policy development in which successful and effective policies are maintained and developed, while ineffective ones are dropped."

The Nottingham team will collaborate with Professor Robert West, of University College, London, who devised the Smokers Toolkit to collect information on smoking cessation and attitudes.

Source: thisisnottingham.co.uk, 20 July 2008
Link: http://tiny.cc/k0iS6 

Imperial Tobacco redesigns Golden Virginia and Windsor Blue packs

Imperial Tobacco has redesigned the packaging for two of its brands and introduced a special edition version for Richmond. Golden Virginia roll-you-own tobacco is being rolled out in a metallic pack design, while its economy brand Windsor Blue has been given a more vibrant colour and silver lettering to make it a more premium product.

The Richmond special edition has a "water" theme and is available on Richmond King Size and Richmond King Size Smooth packs. Transport packaging and trade outers remain unchanged despite the redesigns. Imperial Tobacco said the changes would enable the firm to "give adult smokers a premium feel to their chosen brands" as the economic climate changed and the "down-trading dynamic continues".

Source: packagingnews.co.uk, 29 July 2008
Link: http://tiny.cc/wCpBx

Germany: Court partially overturns smoking ban

Germany's high court says smoking bans in two states are unconstitutional. The decision forces most state governments to review their own prohibitions. The Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe on Wednesday ruled on appeals brought by the owners of one-room pubs in the states of Baden Wuerttemberg and Berlin.

Most states currently allow larger establishments to have smoking rooms, but the court ruled that this discriminates against the single-room pubs which can't offer smoking areas. The court says either states have to eliminate smoking entirely in all establishments or change their rules regarding the smaller pubs. It gives state parliaments until the end of next year to come up with new laws.

Source: Santa Barbara News Press, 30 July 2008
Link: http://tiny.cc/O60pb

USA: Tobacco companies using legal loopholes to target kids in outdoor ads

Tobacco companies have failed to keep a promise they made a decade ago to eliminate ads for alcohol and tobacco within 500 feet of schools, playgrounds and churches, say researchers. In 1998, tobacco industry moguls like Philip Morris, R.J. Reynolds, Brown & Williamson, Lorillard and Liggett had agreed to support the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement as a part of anti-smoking efforts, and stop targeting children with glossy ads featuring cartoon characters and removing tobacco billboards and bus bench ads.

However, Rand Corporation researchers have found that kids still remain a part of the industry's advertising strategy. The researchers evaluated compliance by observing outdoor advertisements for one year during 2004 and 2005, in 106 census tracts in pre-Katrina New Orleans, as well as 114 census tracts in Los Angeles County. They found that in Los Angeles, 25 percent of tobacco ads and 37 percent of alcohol ads were located within 500 feet of a school, playground or church.

About 20 percent of tobacco and alcohol ads in Louisiana were within 500 feet, where, 26 percent of tract residents were underage. In Los Angeles County tracts, 28 percent were minors. "You have these small media, posted multiple times in multiple locations," said Molly Scott, lead study author and a Rand Corporation researcher. "These are not huge billboards, so they [tobacco companies] are complying. But in the big sense of things, not so much."

The tobacco ads were also not complying with the terms of their size and frequency. Of 130 alcohol ads observed in Los Angeles, more than half were either extra-large billboards (14 feet by 48 feet) or average size (12 feet by 24 feet). In Louisiana, 61 percent of the alcohol ads were average size (12 feet by 24 feet). Of 81 tobacco billboards observed in Los Angeles, 99 percent were posters, banners or fliers, and 27 percent of those appeared two to four times in the same location.

In Louisiana, 25 percent of 154 tobacco ads were small billboards, while 71 percent were posters, fliers or banners. About 66 percent appeared two to four times in the same location. "Maybe one of the unintended consequences of the MSA [the master settlement agreement] is more local targeting," Scott added.

Stephen Freitas, chief marketing officer for the Outdoor Advertising Association of America said that store-owners could place some small advertisements - without brand name attachments - announcing that cigarettes are on sale. He added that the organization does not specifically consider banners and posters outdoor advertising. As far as the advertising industry's efforts, "We're not aware of members deliberately or aggressively violating the voluntary pledge," said Freitas.

Source: newindpress.com, 30 July 2008
Link: http://tiny.cc/AYB9l