Norfolk smokers face ban on fostering children

Norfolk could become the second place in England to ban people who smoke from fostering children. The controversial idea is likely to be discussed in March - a few months after Redbridge Council in London sparked a storm by becoming the first to introduce a blanket ban. It comes at a time when Norfolk is struggling to recruit enough foster carers to look after a consistently high number of children in care, many of whom are in need of a stable home.

Rosalie Monbiot, Norfolk County Council's cabinet member for children's services, said: “We have to accept it's a free country and people can choose to smoke. But some of these children may not have the best of health to begin with. To add to that the problem of people smoking around them is not the best way to care for these children. We have some super foster carers, but the preference surely must be, with children who have not been properly cared for, not to have the additional problem of passive smoking.”

She added: “We have a draft policy on it, but there's never been a push to make it formal policy. I'm very anti-smoking and nobody has ever been allowed to smoke in my house. I'm particularly concerned about when foster children are young and smoke can do so much more damage to them. I would prefer nobody to smoke and I can't bear parents pushing pushchairs and smoking over their children.”

Mrs Monbiot said the council's review panels were being reconstituted to spend more time drafting policy. She said a potential ban of foster parents who smoke was a “good policy to start with” for the children's services review panel when it was re-formed in March. But she admitted it was “not terribly easy” to recruit foster carers and said: “To put another barrier in the way is a difficult issue to weigh up.”

It is estimated that smoking and second-hand smoke cause around nine out of 10 cases of lung cancer. Clive Slater, NHS Norfolk tobacco control manager, said: “Children who are around second-hand smoke are at serious risk of developing symptoms of smoking themselves; these include pneumonia, bronchitis, headaches and ear infections. In addition to these symptoms, second-hand smoke has also been linked to the development and worsening of asthma in children. Being around second-hand smoke during childhood may also increase the chance of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and cancer as adults.”

Source: EDP24, 04 December 2008
Link: http://tiny.cc/QuSA2

Firm rewards staff who quit smoking – and cancer charity

Smokers at a Yorkshire firm have picked up a bonus of more than £1,000 each after successfully kicking their habits in a venture that has also benefited cancer researchers. Nine staff at vehicle-tracking firm Masternaut Three X, of Aberford, near Leeds, smoked their last cigarette six months ago and have been tested each week to make sure they have not lit up again. The firm promised to give them £2,500 bonuses for quitting by Christmas – they would get half and the remainder would be donated to Cancer Research UK.

Managing director Martin Port said he launched the Cash For Quitters to get long-term smokers to give up. Smokers spent time on cigarette breaks at work and brought the smell back into its premises while he had also met cancer sufferers and did not want his staff to face the same fate. "We just felt it was a worthwhile cause and were keen to help prevent people having cancer in the future and make their life better," he said. "A lot of time has been inves-ted by the firm and by individuals who went through a lot of pain but now they have seen the rewards for themselves."

David Leeming, 33, of Morley, Leeds, said he had smoked 10-a-day for 15 years. The first fortnight had been the worst period but only one person had dropped out. "The cash has definitely helped and the fact that other people are doing it together," he said. Lauren Watson, 26, of Cawood, near Selby, said the scheme was "a fantastic idea". She had smoked 20-a-day for a decade.

NHS staff had helped them with tips on giving up while weekly testing of carbon monoxide levels had created a competition to see who could get the lowest readings. She had spent £960 she had saved on cigarettes on a holiday and a coffee table and planned to spend her bonus on another holiday. Professor Chris Twelves, deputy director of Cancer Research UK's clinical centre at St James's Hospital, Leeds, said the company and quitters deserved congratulations.

Source: Yorkshire Post, 04 December 2008
Link: http://tiny.cc/wCAxj

One month of ... Electronic cigarettes

Guardian commentary by Paul Arendt:

Somewhere in my geekiest science fiction dreams, there is a future world where the cigarette is a harmless device, designed by sentient supercomputers to deliver vitamins, plump up your eyelashes and fight the seven signs of ageing. So it's not surprising that I reacted to the invention of an "electronic cigarette" with utter glee.

The e-cig gives the smoker a hit of nicotine and the sensation of smoking without the tar and the witch's brew of carcinogens that makes up regular fag smoke. The filter contains an atomiser and a cartridge of nicotine, suspended in liquid. When you take a drag, the atomiser converts this into a vapour that looks like smoke, but isn't.

When my e-fag works, it is effective. There is even a delightful orange LED that lights up when I take a drag. But half the time it doesn't work properly. The cartridges, which are supposed to be equivalent to 12 fags, run out at alarming speed. Am I sucking too hard? Am I taking in far more nicotine (technically a poison, and a vasoconstrictor to boot) than I did as a regular smoker? It is impossible to say.

Most e-cigarette vendors are careful not to market them as a quitting aid, an attitude echoed by the World Health Organisation, which has aired concerns about them not having been subject to regulation and peer-reviewed clinical trials. They are promoted as an "alternative" for smokers, which are unlikely to be more dangerous than cigarettes.

The rechargeable battery becomes so temperamental that I have to charge it two or three times a day. I don't feel like I've quit; I just work harder for my fix. And it has a sickly sweet taste.

I get tired of explaining to people that I'm not breaking the law. I feel silly sucking on a metal and plastic tube, like a middle-aged baby. I cadge a real fag from a friend at my weekly poker game, and the slide back to phlegmy normality begins. But something has changed. The cigarette on my lips feels stupid, bizarre. Perhaps that is the e-cig's hidden strength: it makes you realise what a ludicrous business smoking actually is.

Source: The Guardian, 02 December 2008
Link: http://tiny.cc/Rmq13

‘Family’ trap for underage cig sales

Licensees are being caught out by new-style entrapment tactics employed by trading standards officers to target underage tobacco sales. Officers are taking young children into pubs, posing as families, and encouraging them to buy cigarettes from vending machines. Federation of Licensed Victuallers Associations (FLVA) chief executive Tony Payne said several cases had been uncovered in Yorkshire, with a number of licensees being caught out.

Payne criticised the methods being adopted by trading standards and said using children to buy cigarettes in a “family environment” was a worrying trend. “Any licensee seeing children enter a pub accompanied by adults would reasonably assume they were under the responsible control of parents. If children appear to be members of a bona fide family you would not expect the parents to encourage them to buy cigarettes. I find these sorts of tactics worrying and I am warning licensees to be on their guard,” he said.

Payne is urging hosts to ensure that cigarette vending machines are clearly visible from the bar to allow maximum supervision. The FLVA chief cited one case in North Yorkshire where children got cigarettes from a machine in the back room of a pub within minutes of entering the premises accompanied by adults who turned out to be trading standards officers. He revealed that the licensee in question now faced possible prosecution for underage selling.

A Trading Standards Institute spokesman expressed surprise at the claims, saying test purchases are carried out under guidance from local government co-ordinator Lacors.

Source: The Morning Advertiser, 03 December 2008
Link: http://tiny.cc/BqNiR

Smuggler with £300,000 cigarette haul tries to outrun police in a horse and cart

There's drug mules... and then there's drug mules. A Romanian smuggler appeared to be taking the term literally with this getaway vehicle.
Janos Jakab was nabbed trying to outrun border police with £300,000 loaded on to this horse and cart.

Police challenged Jakab as he crossed Romania's northern border with the Ukraine carrying nearly 100,000 packets of cigarettes and tobacco. After what was described as 'a short chase', police overtook Jakab, arresting him and confiscating the cart. A spokesman for the local border police said: 'In general smugglers are becoming more and more sophisticated in their methods of getting contraband across borders. But this case proved the exception to the rule. We have a fleet of high-powered vehicles that can chase down the fastest cars,' he added. 'Outrunning our officers was never a possibility - even if he had a thoroughbred racehorse strapped to his cart.'

Source: The Daily Mail, 04 December 2008
Link: http://tiny.cc/QRXS8