ASH Daily News for 15/12/2005
HEADLINES
ASH, 102 Clifton Street, LONDON, EC2A 4HW.
Tel 020 7739 5902 Fax 020 7613 0531
ASH Daily News
15 December 2005
[View html version: http://www.globalink.org/nbuk]
HEADLINES
ONS records slight fall in prevalence in 2004/5
Prime Minister responds to PMQ on free vote over smoking ban
RJ Reynolds withdraws binge drinking promotion
Israeli tribunal finds secondhand smoking illness a 'work accident'
FULL TEXT
ONS records slight fall in prevalence in 2004/5
In 2004/05, 25 per cent of adults aged 16 or over in Great Britain smoked cigarettes, indicating a slight fall in the prevalence of smoking among both men and women since the late 1990s.
The proportion of adults who smoked cigarettes fell substantially in the 1970s and the early 1980s - from 45 per cent in 1974 to 35 per cent in 1982. After 1982 it declined gradually until the early 1990s, levelling out during the 1990s. It then fell smoothly from 28 per cent in 1998/99 to 25 per cent in 2004/05.
In July 2004 the Government set a new target to reduce the overall proportion of cigarette smokers in England from 28 per cent in 1996 to 21 per cent or fewer by 2010 - with a reduction from 32 to 26 per cent or fewer among manual occupation groups. In England in 2004/5, 30 per cent of those in manual occupational groups were cigarette smokers, compared with 33 per cent in 1998. Together with the fall in overall prevalence, this indicates some progress towards targets.
While men are still more likely than women to smoke cigarettes, the gap has narrowed. In 1974, 51 per cent of men and 41 per cent of women in Great Britain smoked. In 2004/05, 26 per cent of men and 23 per cent of women were cigarette smokers.
Cigarette smoking continues to be more common among adults aged 20 to 34 than among other age groups. In 2004/5, 32 per cent of adults aged 20 to 24 and 31 per cent of adults aged 25 to 34 were smokers compared with 14 per cent of those aged 60 and over.
As well as being slightly more likely than women to be cigarette smokers, men are also heavier smokers, on average. In 2004/05, men smokers smoked an average of 15 cigarettes a day, compared with 13 a day among women smokers.
Source: ONS, 15 December 2005
Article link: http://tinyurl.com/awsgn
Prime Minister responds to PMQ on free vote over smoking ban
"Q6. Mr. John Grogan (Selby) (Lab): Will the Prime Minister consider, as a well-deserved Christmas present to Labour Back Benchers, giving us a free vote on smoking, particularly as much of the pub and hospitality industry now supports a complete ban?
[37185] The Prime Minister: I take it from the fact that my hon. Friend says that it is well deserved that he is going to be fully supportive of the Government in all the Divisions to come in the next few months. I said what I said on smoking last week, and we will continue, obviously, to talk to people about it, but I would point out that, on any basis, the vast bulk of smoking in public places is going to be banned under this legislation. I am aware that a debate continues as to whether we should go even further, and I shall listen to that debate with interest."
Source: Hansard, 14 December 2005
RJ Reynolds withdraws 'heavy-drinking' promotion
A US cigarette promotion for the Camel brand that used coasters encouraging heavy drinking has been discontinued after three states appealed to the tobacco company to stop it.
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. said in a letter Wednesday that it would stop a promotion where over-21 customers were sent coasters on their birthdays. The coasters included drink recipes and phrases such as "Layer It On, Go 'Til Daybreak."
The attorneys general of California, Maryland and New York filed a complaint with the company last month, calling the coaster promotion irresponsible.
R.J. Reynolds, a subsidiary of Reynolds American Inc., is America's second-largest tobacco company.
"This promotion constituted irresponsible corporate conduct and took a cavalier attitude toward the public health dangers posed by irresponsible drinking," said Tom Dresslar, spokesman for California Attorney General Bill Lockyer.
RJR's letter said no more promotional coasters would be sent.
The Distilled Spirits Council, which had complained about the campaign, said in a statement Wednesday, "This promotion was just plain wrong. Including our company brands without authorization was outrageous."
Source: WCAX,Community Dispatch, 14 December 2005
Article links: http://tinyurl.com/9fbaw: http://tinyurl.com/b34l6
Israeli tribunal finds secondhand smoking illness a 'work accident'
A worker whose medical condition worsened due to "passive smoking" (namely exposure to the smoke of other peoples' cigarettes) shall be classed as a victim of a work accident, the Tel Aviv Labor Tribunal ruled Monday.
Arie Cramer, 60, represented by attorney Alon Luria, has fulfilled an administrative task at the Transport Ministry since 1970. In 1997 he was moved to a new building. His new office was across from a lobby, occupied by a secretary who smoked heavily. The window and door of his office opened into the lobby and the smoke from her cigarettes entered his office.
That year the plaintiff came down with the flu. He returned to work but couldn't get better, because the smoke bothered him. The secretary rejected his pleas that she stop smoking in the workplace. She continued to smoke and none of her superiors ordered her to stop.
Cramer even contacted an occupational specialist at the Maccabi health services, and a doctor at the Health Ministry, who ruled that smoking at a workplace is illegal and that the smoke could harm him. After that a special room was designated as a smoking zone. But that room, which was used by many workers, also opened into the same lobby. Also, when he left his office, he found workers smoking throughout the workplace, which was saturated with smoke.
After being exposed to heavy smoke for a year and a half, Cramer petitioned to be recognized as a victim of a work accident. He claimed his condition, a chronic throat inflammation, had been exacerbated by his exposure to his colleagues' smoke.
The National Insurance Institute denied the correlation between his condition and the workplace, claiming it was based on his existing medical condition. It also said the influence of the workplace on development of his disease had been of far lesser importance than other factors.
But Cramer came to court armed with an expert opinion that his exposure to heavy smoking had caused him micro-traumas, which created his disease. Cramer had had sensitivity in his brachial tubes, but exposure to the cigarettes was responsible for worsening his condition, the expert ruled.
The expert calculated that 50 percent of the deterioration of his condition was due to the workplace, both to cigarettes and to smog in the industrial zone where his office was located.
The court reminded the courtroom that a work accident can happen by cause, or by exacerbation. Cramer proved to the court's satisfaction that his condition had been worsened by prolonged exposure to cigarette smoke, and therefore, the court ruled, his condition could be defined as a work accident.
Source: Jerusalem Post, 15 December 2005
Article link: http://tinyurl.com/7dl4w
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Michael Fredman
Web Manager
ASH
102 Clifton St
EC2A 4HW
020 7739 5902
Tel 020 7739 5902 Fax 020 7613 0531
ASH Daily News
15 December 2005
[View html version: http://www.globalink.org/nbuk]
HEADLINES
ONS records slight fall in prevalence in 2004/5
Prime Minister responds to PMQ on free vote over smoking ban
RJ Reynolds withdraws binge drinking promotion
Israeli tribunal finds secondhand smoking illness a 'work accident'
FULL TEXT
ONS records slight fall in prevalence in 2004/5
In 2004/05, 25 per cent of adults aged 16 or over in Great Britain smoked cigarettes, indicating a slight fall in the prevalence of smoking among both men and women since the late 1990s.
The proportion of adults who smoked cigarettes fell substantially in the 1970s and the early 1980s - from 45 per cent in 1974 to 35 per cent in 1982. After 1982 it declined gradually until the early 1990s, levelling out during the 1990s. It then fell smoothly from 28 per cent in 1998/99 to 25 per cent in 2004/05.
In July 2004 the Government set a new target to reduce the overall proportion of cigarette smokers in England from 28 per cent in 1996 to 21 per cent or fewer by 2010 - with a reduction from 32 to 26 per cent or fewer among manual occupation groups. In England in 2004/5, 30 per cent of those in manual occupational groups were cigarette smokers, compared with 33 per cent in 1998. Together with the fall in overall prevalence, this indicates some progress towards targets.
While men are still more likely than women to smoke cigarettes, the gap has narrowed. In 1974, 51 per cent of men and 41 per cent of women in Great Britain smoked. In 2004/05, 26 per cent of men and 23 per cent of women were cigarette smokers.
Cigarette smoking continues to be more common among adults aged 20 to 34 than among other age groups. In 2004/5, 32 per cent of adults aged 20 to 24 and 31 per cent of adults aged 25 to 34 were smokers compared with 14 per cent of those aged 60 and over.
As well as being slightly more likely than women to be cigarette smokers, men are also heavier smokers, on average. In 2004/05, men smokers smoked an average of 15 cigarettes a day, compared with 13 a day among women smokers.
Source: ONS, 15 December 2005
Article link: http://tinyurl.com/awsgn
Prime Minister responds to PMQ on free vote over smoking ban
"Q6. Mr. John Grogan (Selby) (Lab): Will the Prime Minister consider, as a well-deserved Christmas present to Labour Back Benchers, giving us a free vote on smoking, particularly as much of the pub and hospitality industry now supports a complete ban?
[37185] The Prime Minister: I take it from the fact that my hon. Friend says that it is well deserved that he is going to be fully supportive of the Government in all the Divisions to come in the next few months. I said what I said on smoking last week, and we will continue, obviously, to talk to people about it, but I would point out that, on any basis, the vast bulk of smoking in public places is going to be banned under this legislation. I am aware that a debate continues as to whether we should go even further, and I shall listen to that debate with interest."
Source: Hansard, 14 December 2005
RJ Reynolds withdraws 'heavy-drinking' promotion
A US cigarette promotion for the Camel brand that used coasters encouraging heavy drinking has been discontinued after three states appealed to the tobacco company to stop it.
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. said in a letter Wednesday that it would stop a promotion where over-21 customers were sent coasters on their birthdays. The coasters included drink recipes and phrases such as "Layer It On, Go 'Til Daybreak."
The attorneys general of California, Maryland and New York filed a complaint with the company last month, calling the coaster promotion irresponsible.
R.J. Reynolds, a subsidiary of Reynolds American Inc., is America's second-largest tobacco company.
"This promotion constituted irresponsible corporate conduct and took a cavalier attitude toward the public health dangers posed by irresponsible drinking," said Tom Dresslar, spokesman for California Attorney General Bill Lockyer.
RJR's letter said no more promotional coasters would be sent.
The Distilled Spirits Council, which had complained about the campaign, said in a statement Wednesday, "This promotion was just plain wrong. Including our company brands without authorization was outrageous."
Source: WCAX,Community Dispatch, 14 December 2005
Article links: http://tinyurl.com/9fbaw: http://tinyurl.com/b34l6
Israeli tribunal finds secondhand smoking illness a 'work accident'
A worker whose medical condition worsened due to "passive smoking" (namely exposure to the smoke of other peoples' cigarettes) shall be classed as a victim of a work accident, the Tel Aviv Labor Tribunal ruled Monday.
Arie Cramer, 60, represented by attorney Alon Luria, has fulfilled an administrative task at the Transport Ministry since 1970. In 1997 he was moved to a new building. His new office was across from a lobby, occupied by a secretary who smoked heavily. The window and door of his office opened into the lobby and the smoke from her cigarettes entered his office.
That year the plaintiff came down with the flu. He returned to work but couldn't get better, because the smoke bothered him. The secretary rejected his pleas that she stop smoking in the workplace. She continued to smoke and none of her superiors ordered her to stop.
Cramer even contacted an occupational specialist at the Maccabi health services, and a doctor at the Health Ministry, who ruled that smoking at a workplace is illegal and that the smoke could harm him. After that a special room was designated as a smoking zone. But that room, which was used by many workers, also opened into the same lobby. Also, when he left his office, he found workers smoking throughout the workplace, which was saturated with smoke.
After being exposed to heavy smoke for a year and a half, Cramer petitioned to be recognized as a victim of a work accident. He claimed his condition, a chronic throat inflammation, had been exacerbated by his exposure to his colleagues' smoke.
The National Insurance Institute denied the correlation between his condition and the workplace, claiming it was based on his existing medical condition. It also said the influence of the workplace on development of his disease had been of far lesser importance than other factors.
But Cramer came to court armed with an expert opinion that his exposure to heavy smoking had caused him micro-traumas, which created his disease. Cramer had had sensitivity in his brachial tubes, but exposure to the cigarettes was responsible for worsening his condition, the expert ruled.
The expert calculated that 50 percent of the deterioration of his condition was due to the workplace, both to cigarettes and to smog in the industrial zone where his office was located.
The court reminded the courtroom that a work accident can happen by cause, or by exacerbation. Cramer proved to the court's satisfaction that his condition had been worsened by prolonged exposure to cigarette smoke, and therefore, the court ruled, his condition could be defined as a work accident.
Source: Jerusalem Post, 15 December 2005
Article link: http://tinyurl.com/7dl4w
---------------------------------
Unsubscribe:
Public subscribers: http://www.ash.org.uk/?unsubscribe
Globalink members: http://member.globalink.org
----------------------------------
Michael Fredman
Web Manager
ASH
102 Clifton St
EC2A 4HW
020 7739 5902
