HEADLINES

• Consumers opposed to plain packaging
• Reading woman bought children cigarettes and alcohol
• Pub landlady fined for 'handwritten' no smoking signs
• Youth smoking at its lowest level yet
• Mother claims controversial stop-smoking drug Champix gave her epilepsy
• Casual smoking rises among U.S. students: study

• Consumers opposed to plain packaging

  The Grocer reports that adult consumers are largely against the introduction of plain standardised tobacco packaging, according to the results of the European Commission's public consultation on the upcoming revision of the Tobacco Products Directive has revealed.

  The public consultation generated an unprecedented 85,000 responses, more than 82,000 of which came from individual citizens the majority of whom said that smokers were already facing "too much regulation to use a product they were legally entitled to consume".

  Concerns were also expressed about the impact of plain packaging on the illicit trade.

  Source: The Grocer - 05 August 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/rchPb8

• Reading woman bought children cigarettes and alcohol

  A woman has been fined for buying cigarettes and alcohol for children aged 13 to 15 in a Reading suburb (Berkshire).

  The 29-year-old was spotted buying the goods in Whitley before handing them to the group of children in a bag.

  She was given an £80 penalty notice order.

  Source: BBC News - 03 August 2011
  Link: http://bbc.in/rgyipd

• Pub landlady fined for 'handwritten' no smoking signs

  Dawn Lemm's pub the Judge and Jury was found to have violated regulations which stipulate that no smoking signs need to be rectangular, while their shortest side must span a minimum length of 6.3 inches.

  Her handwritten posters also did not feature a "graphic representation of a burning cigarette enclosed in a red circle with a red bar which crosses the cigarette symbol", which is necessary for the signs.

  Ms Lemm confessed to failing to ensure the display of proper signs and therefore had to pay a £150 fine and £120 in costs. In addition, she was handed a £15 victims' surcharge.

  Source: Safety Signs Supplies - 04 August 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/nAUnlK

• Youth smoking at its lowest level yet

  A government-sponsored survey has shown that smoking among young people has fallen to an all-time low.

  The annual NHS survey on smoking, drinking and drug use among young people in England in 2010 revealed that the number of young people who smoke has continued to decline in the past year, with 27% of pupils aged between 11 and 15 admitting to have tried smoking at least once, compared with 29% in 2009 and 44% in 2001.

  Heightened attempts by retailers to clamp down on underage sales and support of No ID No Sale and CitizenCard campaigns have also led to a sustained fall in attempted purchases from shops over previous years.

  In 2010 7% of pupils said they had attempted to buy cigarettes from shops, down from 10% in 2008 and 17% in 2004

  It was revealed that 10% of all pupils had asked someone to buy them cigarettes from a shop in the past year, and that most of these proxy purchases were successful.  

  The full results of the survey can be found on the NHS site, here.

  Source: The Grocer - 03 August 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/oeSZ2M

• Mother claims controversial stop-smoking drug Champix gave her epilepsy

  A mother-of-two has been diagnosed with epilepsy after taking a controversial wonder drug to help her quit smoking.

  Former paint shop boss Samantha Dearnaley, 36, began a 12-week course of Champix prescribed by her doctor to help her kick her five-a-day habit.

  But 10 weeks into the course she had a convulsion and tests showed that she had developed epilepsy. She found she struggled with her memory after each episode.

  Since then she has been sectioned, house-bound, and has had to give up her business whilst being cared for at home by her partner.

  Samantha started her 12 week course of Champix in January 2008 and had her first seizure the following March - just ten weeks into the treatment.

  She admits that she continued to take the Champix despite a doctor's advice to come off them and she was then diagnosed with epilepsy.

  Sir Kent Woods, Chief Executive Officer of Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said: 'It is important to note that the reporting of a suspected reaction does not necessarily mean that the drug in question caused the reported event; these may be coincidental occurrences.

  'In the majority of reported cases the patient had a medical history significant for psychiatric problems and/or concurrent stressful/traumatic events.

  'Based on the currently available data the benefits associated with stopping smoking due to Champix is considered to outweigh the known risks in the vast majority of people who use it.'

  Source: Daily Mail - 04 August 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/n6iQJz

• Casual smoking rises among U.S. students: study

  U.S. high school students are unlikely to be heavy smokers, but casual and occasional smoking is on the rise, according to a new study that warns even light smoking poses health risks.

  Researchers found that occasional smoking among teens rose from 67.2 percent in 1991 to 79.4 percent in 2009, while heavy smoking fell from 18 percent to 7.8 percent.

  The study, which is published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, defined heavy smokers as people who smoke 11 or more cigarettes a day. Moderate smoking was defined as between 6 and 10 cigarettes a day, while light smoking was from one and five cigarettes a day.

  Between 14,000 and 16,000 students a year participated in the study by answering a national survey about their smoking and health habits.

  Bucking the overall trend, the percentage of Hispanic high school students who are heavy smokers rose from 3.1 percent to 6.4 percent, which Pechachek said could be a byproduct of Hispanic families assimilating to American culture.

  Source: Reuters - 04 August 2011
  Link: http://reut.rs/nvQBaf