ASH Daily News for 20 December 2006
HEADLINES
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ASH Daily News
20 December 2006
HEADLINES
Smoking regulations presented to Parliament
‘Selective evidence’ used to cloud secondhand smoke danger, letter
Canadian study of tobacco in native ceremonies
Philip Morris faces legal action over pack warnings in Philippines
FULL TEXT
Smoking regulations presented to Parliament
Part of the regulations regarding the UK’s smoking ban, which will apply to all enclosed public places and workplaces from next year, have been laid before Parliament.
The Smokefree (Premises and Enforcement) Regulations 2006 explain what constitutes an enclosed and substantially enclosed premise for the purposes of the Regulations:
Premises will be considered enclosed if they have a ceiling or roof and, except for doors, windows and passageways, they are wholly enclosed either permanently or temporarily.
Premises will be considered substantially enclosed if they have a ceiling or roof and less than half of their perimeter consists of openings in the walls, other than windows, doors or openings that can be shut. Paragraph (4) defines “roof” for the purposes of the Regulation to include any fixed or moveable structure that is capable of covering all or part of the premises.
The Regulations also detail what is to be considered an enforcement authority for the purposes of the Regulations, and what powers these will have. However, the Regulations do not detail the penalties to be faced for non-compliance - these are not expected until the New Year.
Source: Morning Advertiser, Workplace Law Network, 19 December 2006
Article link: http://tinyurl.com/v8l9v
Regulations link: (PDF)
Related link: http://www.smokefreeengland.co.uk
Article link: http://tinyurl.com/v8l9v
Regulations link: (PDF)
Related link: http://www.smokefreeengland.co.uk
‘Selective evidence’ used to cloud secondhand smoke issue, letter
The following letter appears in today’s Derbyshire Evening Telegraph in response to a previous letter refuting the dangers of secondhand smoke:
‘I refer to the letter on passive smoking (Evening Telegraph, December 11). This appears, in my view, to be a case of selectively quoting evidence to support a claim.
It has been conclusively proven that smoking causes lung cancer and increases the risk of developing cancer of the mouth, larynx, oesophagus, liver, pancreas, stomach, kidney, bladder and cervix.
Half of all smokers die of cancer or other smoking-related diseases and a quarter of smokers die in middle age, between 35 and 69.
Smoking can cause heart disease, stroke, bronchitis and emphysema. If smoking did not exist, lung cancer would be rare.
However, it is currently the most common cancer in the UK and has one of the lowest survival rates. In 2002, there were over 30,000 new cases.
I think this justifies the tax on tobacco to pay for the extra healthcare costs of a smoker.
As far as passive smoking is concerned, several studies have shown that breathing in other people's smoke causes cancer in non-smokers.
Secondhand smoke contains several carcinogens and many of these chemicals are present in higher concentrations than in the smoke inhaled by smokers themselves.
Studies have consistently found that non-smoking spouses of people who smoke at home have a 20-30 per cent increase in lung cancer risk.
And non-smokers exposed to secondhand smoke at work have a 12-19 per cent increase in lung cancer risk.
One study estimates that passive smoking may kill at least 11,000 people every year in the UK. This includes at least 54 people who work in the hospitality industry.
Secondhand smoke also causes other health problems in non-smokers, including asthma and heart disease. One study shows that even 30 minutes of exposure to second-hand smoke can reduce blood flow in a non-smoker's heart.
At least 17,000 children under the age of five are admitted to hospital because of the effects of passive smoking, and exposure to passive smoking during pregnancy is an independent risk factor for low birth weight.’
Phil Mayor,
Education and training co-ordinator,
Nottingham Cancer Centre.
Education and training co-ordinator,
Nottingham Cancer Centre.
Source: Evening Telegraph (Derby), 19 December 2006
Article link: http://tinyurl.com/y7jcm7
Article link: http://tinyurl.com/y7jcm7
Canadian study of tobacco in native ceremonies
Canadian researchers are looking at the use of tobacco in First Nations religious ceremonies in the hope it will lead to a strategy to cut down smoking among Aboriginal youth.
A $990,000 grant has been given for the five-year research project that aims to reduce the 60% of First Nations youth abusing tobacco, said Sheila Hardy, director of Academic Native Affairs at Laurentian University.
Researching the traditional use of tobacco in First Nations religious ceremonies will be an integral part of the project, said Ms. Hardy, who is part of the research team
"We are looking at how we can work that tradition in to promote tobacco use in a good way."
Advocating the use of tobacco for spiritual purposes will help to decrease the number of youth who abuse tobacco, Ms. Hardy said.
Sonia Isaac-Mann, senior researcher for the Assembly of First Nations, who will be overseeing the project, added. "It gives them a basis on respecting tobacco and tobacco is sacred and it's not meant to be used in the way it's being used now. To have a respect for it and understand it will actually be a deterrent."
Developing cessation programs specifically for aboriginal youth will be another focus of the research project, Ms. Hardy said.
"First Nations youth have a rate of smoking that is twice that of the general population of Canada," Ms. Hardy said.
"The misuse of tobacco is what's problematic and that's what we want to prevent and intervene with."
Ms. Isaac-Mann has identified female aboriginal youth as an area of interest.
"One of the biggest issues is that young women are starting to smoke earlier and that has a major impact on who they are and how they develop as an individual," Ms. Isaac-Mann said.
"I would like to see what the positive impact of preventing a youth from smoking will have on their life."
Dr. Peter Selby, a clinical director at the Centre for Addictions and Mental Health at University of Toronto, is part of the research team and said aboriginal youth need to be the focus of their work.
"From some of the calls I've had, they are talking about kids as young as five or six that are smoking," Dr. Selby said.
"This is one of those Canadian tragic stories. Ours is just one study but there is more to this than what meets the eye."
The project has been announced three months after Prime Minister Stephen Harper axed the First Nations and Inuit Tobacco Control Strategy, which addressed tobacco abuse.
Source: National Post (Canada), 20 December 2006
Article link: http://tinyurl.com/sanbs
Article link: http://tinyurl.com/sanbs
Philip Morris faces legal action over pack warnings in Philippines
An advertising executive, who almost lost his leg to a smoking-related disease, filed a criminal case on Tuesday against multinational tobacco giant Philip Morris Manufacturing Inc. for its alleged failure to place health warnings on the front display panel of their recently released products.
In filing the case, Del Rosario cited the recently conceptualized Christmas edition of Philip Morris made available in the local market starting last month. He said this lacked health warnings that are supposed to occupy 30 percent of the front panel of the product.
“Instead of the health warnings on the front panel, the firm put a frosted green wrapper emblazoned with the word, ‘Its Freezing,’”
The health warning was printed on the side panel of the product.
“I just want them [referring to the tobacco giant] to follow the law and to let other people know of the health hazards associated with smoking so that they will avoid what I had gone through,” said del Rosario in an interview.
A smoker since 1978, the complainant said he didn’t know then that smoking could lead to Buerger’s disease, which often leads to limb loss due to constricted blood circulation.
Del Rosario said he stopped smoking only in 1993 when he started feeling pain in his body which doctors later diagnosed as Buerger’s disease, characterized by the clogging of the arteries of the legs. It is linked to smoking.
Del Rosario said he had to undergo an operation to save his leg.
Last October a group of doctors from several hospitals in Metro Manila filed a case against the same company for the same violations on its original packages, claiming that the company has no reason not to comply with a law passed three years ago.
Source: Manila Times, 20 December 2006
Article link: http://tinyurl.com/va62j
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