HEADLINES

• NHS Warrington issues cigarette warning
• Canada: New tobacco products labelling regulations proposed
• Letter: Point of Sale display ban
• New research finds that smoking during radiation treatments reduces chance of overall survival
• Study: Cigarette smoke increases mucus in lungs
• Scotland: Police to confiscate cigarettes from young smokers in North Ayshire

• NHS Warrington issues cigarette warning

  Illicit imports of cigarettes which are flooding the region's streets mean Ukranian phrases are the only messages some Warrington youngsters are likely to see on cigarette packets.
  
  Trading standards officers said brands like Jin Ling, which is manufactured exclusively to be smuggled, and hand rolled tobacco are now what they most often find in raids on houses, pubs or shops.
  
  But they lack the shocking graphic warnings that smoking causes – lung and mouth cancer and a raft of other horrific diseases that have helped motivate many smokers to quit and young people from starting.

  Source: thisischeshire, 18 February 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/gqFVgt

• Canada: New tobacco products labelling regulations proposed

  Health Canada has issued draft regulations for a new set of health warnings for cigarette packages, including 16 pictorial warnings.

  The new warnings will contain important features that are critical to an effective warning system, including larger warnings, which will increase in size from 50 per cent to 75 per cent of the principal display area of the tobacco package.

  The draft warnings also include some very strong, emotionally impactful messages, pictures and testimonials by real victims of the tobacco industry, as well as a toll-free national smoking cessation telephone number.

  The pictorials warnings can be viewed at:

  http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hc-ps/consult/_2011/label-etiquet/messages-eng.php

  The draft regulations can be viewed at:

  http://canadagazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p1/2011/2011-02-19/html/index-eng.html

  Source: Newswire, 18 February 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/dJniCc

• Letter: Point of Sale display ban

  Professor Alex Markham, Professor John Britton, Professor Gerard Hastings and Professor Robert West write in Saturday's Guardian that it's vital we do everything we can to put tobacco out of sight including removing point-of-sale tobacco displays without further delay.

  Click on the link below to view the full letter.

  Source: The Guardian, 19 February 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/hGo8MW

• New research finds that smoking during radiation treatments reduces chance of overall survival

  According to a study in the February issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics, smokers who continue to smoke while undergoing radiation treatments for head and neck cancer fare significantly worse than those who quit smoking before therapy.

  The researchers found that 55 percent of patients who had quit smoking prior to treatment were still alive five years later, compared with 23 percent of those who continued to smoke. The poorer outcomes for persistent smokers were reported for both patients who had surgery prior to radiation therapy and patients who had radiation alone.

  Source: Medical News Today, 17 February 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/etihle

• Study: Cigarette smoke increases mucus in lungs

  According to a report in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, cigarette smoke suppresses a protein whose normal function is to prevent an overpopulation of mucus-producing cells in the lungs.

  Over-secretion of mucus is a characteristic of chronic bronchitis, which affects many cigarette smokers and is associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

  Yohannes Tesfaigzi, PhD, of the Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute in Albuquerque, N.M., said in a statement, “These finding could lay the foundation to investigate therapies that reduce the numbers of mucus-producing cells. This method may reduce excess secretion of mucus and the airway blockages in patients with chronic bronchitis."

  Source: Medpage Today, 20 February 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/hEJJRO

• Scotland: Police to confiscate cigarettes from young smokers in North Ayshire

  Children who are caught smoking will have their cigarettes confiscated for the first time.

  North Ayrshire Council trading standards boss Andy Moynihan said: "We're working with police to have cigarettes confiscated from children found smoking.

  "Health officials will provide help and support for the children. We're the first local authority in Scotland to tackle the problem head on. Our aim isn't to give kids a hard time. We believe our proactive response will protect their long-term health."

  Source: Daily Record, 20 February 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/hppqAZ