ASH Daily News for 02 October 2008

Smokers’ children get addicted to nicotine

A new study has concluded that nicotine addiction can be triggered in children by passive smoking.  

Symptoms such as depressive moods, anxiety and difficulty concentrating were also associated with an increased exposure to smoke in the car and home, according to the Canadian research.

'We found five per cent of children who were merely exposed to second hand smoke showed signs of nicotine dependence,' said researcher Mathieu Belanger.

'This overturns the conventional understanding that a person who does not smoke cannot develop a cigarette withdrawal. More studies are needed, but there's a lesson for parents.' 

About 1,500 children, aged ten to twelve, participated in the study in Quebec.

The next step will focus on following the children to see whether they pick up smoking faster than others, he said.

Pressure group Action on Smoking and Health said the research was 'startling', but made sense.

A spokesman said, "'No reasonable parent wants their children to suffer unnecessarily, so this report just shows that the challenge is to find ways to help parents who smoke to protect their kids."

'The best way to do that is not to allow smoking in the places you share with your family, especially the home and the car.'

A 2006 study by Cancer Research UK found that children who had tried a single cigarette by the age of 11 but then stayed nicotine-free for three years were still twice as likely to take up smoking in their mid-teens.

Source: The Metro, 01 October 2008
Link: http://tinyurl.com/4n8y7e

Newsround: Why aren't cigarettes banned?

Helplines, health warnings, and now gory pictures on packets of cigarettes. 

Politicians and health experts are always banging on about how bad smoking is for your health.

The government's doing lots of things to try and encourage people to quit smoking, and to stop people picking up the horrible habit.

It's now illegal to smoke inside public places in the UK, and the age you can buy cigarettes has been raised from 16 to 18.

But even campaigners say it would be really hard to ban them completely, because smoking's been around for so long.

In the past, people didn't know about the health risks, so loads of people used to smoke.

It's hoped graphic pictures will put people off.

Movie stars were even paid large amounts of  money to help make smoking seem glamorous.

Deborah Arnott, from the charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), said: "If smoking was invented today, it would be banned immediately without any trouble, but the fact of the matter is that smoking has been around for hundreds of years."

"One in five adults smoke and there's no way you can ban something that's so popular." 

Source: BBC Newsround, 01 October 2008
Link: http://tinyurl.com/3kddgo

Swiss high court strikes down Geneva smoking ban

Smokers in Geneva were given a reprieve on Tuesday after the top Swiss court struck down a ban on smoking in public places, in force since July 1, saying the local government had overstepped its powers.

The ban was approved by nearly 80 percent of Geneva voters last February.

But the Federal Tribunal has ruled that the local government had no legal basis to impose the ban, having failed to wait for the cantonal parliament to adopt a formal law after the referendum.

Geneva's government said in a statement that, "The Federal Court's decision will have the effect of delaying for several months the application of a decision which Genevans have clearly taken."

Smokers in public buildings, bars or restaurants risked a fine of up to 1,000 Swiss francs ($908), while owners of establishments risked a fine of up to 10,000 francs for violating the ban.

Voters in eight of Switzerland's 26 cantons have approved bans on smoking in public places although not all have come into force yet. Both Zurich and Basel voted at the weekend in favour of more restrictive smoking regulations.

Source: Reuters News, 30 September 2008
Link: http://tinyurl.com/4urj54

New York: Survey finds that fewer teens smoked cigarettes in 2007

A report on smoking in New York will say the number of high school students smoking cigarettes has declined more than 2 percent since 2005.

The state Department of Health reported in 2005 that about 16.2 percent of high school students statewide smoked cigarettes. In 2007, that dropped to less than 13.8 percent, compared to 20 percent nationwide, according to excerpts from the health department's new report.

Karmen Hanson, a policy analyst for the National Conference of State Legislatures said, "New York's youth are using tobacco at a lower rate than youth in most other states, and is currently ranked fifth lowest in youth who use tobacco. New York's tobacco cessation and prevention programs are apparently working to reduce both youth and adult tobacco use rates."

Russ Sciandra, the director of the Center for a Tobacco Free New York, attributes the improvement to the state's various programs and advertisements to discourage tobacco use.

"I talk to people all over the country and everybody says New York has the best tobacco prevention program in the country," Sciandra said. "A lot of public health people (from other states) look at New York as a model, but it's the legislators who have to make it happen."

The report also found that 60 percent of New Yorkers had tried to quit at least once in the past year. That's compared to 54.1 percent of New Yorkers in 2006, and 39.7 percent nationwide.

New Yorkers were also more likely to say they would attempt to quit smoking in the next 30 days — with 37.6 percent of New Yorkers answering they would give it a try, compared to 21.5 percent in the U.S. as a whole. The quitting data was collected in surveys between January and December 2007 involving 7,769 people. The margin of error was plus or minus 1.4 percent.

Jeff Willett, director of the state Tobacco Control Program, said the $85 million dedicated to anti-tobacco initiatives has gone to advertising, community and school outreach, nicotine replacement therapies and a hot line to support quitting.

"While the news is encouraging and we've made incredible progress there's still work to be done," Willett said.

Advocates are calling for the state to maintain anti-tobacco funding levels.

Source: Newsday, 30 September 2008
Link: http://tinyurl.com/3wufw9

India: Smoking in public banned 

A ban on smoking tobacco in public has come into force in India. 

Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss says he aims to cut the number of smokers and to protect passive smokers from the harmful effects of tobacco.

India has more than 120 million smokers and observers say the ban will need to be strictly enforced. Those flouting it face fines of 200 rupees ($4.50).

Tobacco smoking in India kills 900,000 people a year, a figure expected to rise to a million by 2010.

India's health ministry says hundreds of thousands of people who have never smoked die each year by inhaling smoke from other people's cigarettes and bidis (small hand-rolled cigarettes common in India).

"From 2 October India is going to go smokefree in all public places," Mr Ramadoss said.

"The aim is to discourage the smokers, to make them quit or reduce smoking. Also all non-smoking employees have a right to a 100% smokefree atmosphere."

People will still be able to smoke inside their homes, and in open areas.

The health minister says he has written to all state governments asking them to ensure the ban is observed.

To raise public awareness about the ban, the health ministry is running a publicity campaign in newspapers and on television and radio and billboards.

A new website is also being launched to provide information about the ban.

Source: BBC News, 02 October 2008
Link: http://tinyurl.com/3q2nfk