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ASH Daily News

8 November 2005

[View html version: http://www.globalink.org/nbuk]

HEADLINES

Smoking bill - a backwards step

Economics will take precedence over food

Movies are a reason why kids start smoking

Smoking costs more than just your health


FULL TEXT

Smoking bill - a backwards step


Editorial by the Morning Advertiser

It is nigh on impossible for pubs to be prepared for smoking bans by summer 2007 as the government has not yet made it clear its definitions of food and enclosed space as well as other regulations within the bill.

That the government continues to persist with the food/non-food split dreamt up before the election really does show they're having a laugh. And pandering to clubs just rubs salt into the wounds.

At the end of the day, if up to 15,000 pubs decide to dump food, Government will be responsible for engineering one of the most backward steps any civilised society has taken in the past 100 years. A return to smoke-filled back-street boozers is not the way forward the pub trade wanted. Yet who can blame a licensee taking that step when he relies on smokers, and member in the neighbouring pubs are puffing like billy-oh.

Morning Advertiser 3/11/05



Economics will take precedence over food


Letter to the Editor published in the Morning Advertiser and Licensees' reactions to the proposed smoking legislation


"Economics dictate that I shall have to close my kitchen if this legislation is implemented. Community pubs play a great role in the commemorating of local events such as christenings, marriage and funerals. If I choose to allow smoking then I will not be able to provide food for such event, so there will be a loss of service to the community.

We are encouraged to provide food at major festivals such as New Year's Eve to offset the possibility of drunkenness, again the provision of this service will be lost.

This legislation has been put together by bureaucrats who don't know how pubs operate in the community and the resulting botched handling of the issue by the Cabinet proves this. At least under the current system, and if there was a total ban, there is a level playing field. This half-hearted attempt to please everyone will prove to please no one. Far from being the best of both worlds, this is the worst of all possible worlds."
Andrew Burdon, Red Lion Inn, Stone, Staffordshire.


"It would have been better if they had banned it across the board, but it doesn't seem like they have spoken to anyone on the ground. Policing the situation is going to be very difficult. How are bar staff going to keep an eye on everyone?"
Carol Holden, Spring Inn, Rochdale


"There's two private members' clubs around here and it's disgusting that it's not a level playing field. We're looking at becoming a private members' club just so we can abide by those rules and then we won't be affected. It would have been fairer to impose an out and out ban."
Peter Robertson, Devonshire Arms, Brighton.

Morning Advertiser 3/11/05



Movies are a reason why kids start smoking: US study finds


Adolescents who watch films in which actors smoke are almost three times more likely to start smoking themselves. New research shows that smoking in movies is a primary risk factor in determining whether young people will start smoking.

Research by Dartmouth Medical School and Norris Cotton Cancer Center appears in the November 7 issue of the journal, Pediatrics. It concludes that limiting exposure of young adolescents to movie smoking could have important public health implications.

"Because movie exposure to smoking is so pervasive, its impact on this age group (10-14) outweighs whether peers or parents smoke or whether the child is involved other activities, like sports" said Dr James Sargent, Professor of pediatrics.

In the study, 6,522 US adolescents aged 10-14 were surveyed and asked to pick films they had seen from a list of 50. Researchers found that adolescents with the highest exposure to movie smoking were 2.6 times more likely to take up smoking compared to those with the lowest exposure.

"It means that no child is immune to the influence of smoking in movies" said Dr Sargent. The team also hopes that, in light of their research, the movie industry will be persuaded to voluntarily reduce depictions of smoking and cigarette brands. They suggest that the movie industry could incorporate smoking into the movie rating system to make parents aware of the risks a movie with smoking poses to the adolescent viewer, and include an antismoking preview on all DVD movies that depict smoking.

Eurekalert 7/11/05 http://www.headliner.nl/headliner.php?c=us&id=31771&abbr=eurekalert

Full article available Pediatrics 5/11/05 http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/116/5/1183




Smoking costs more than just your health


A smoker who smokes 25 cigarettes a day runs up a bill of £35 a week, costing £1, 820 yearly. Apart from the cost of buying cigarettes, smoking has other implications for your finances.

The cost of life assurance policies is heavily affected by smoking because payments are decided by how long you are likely to live. Costs jump sharply for smokers and rise with age as health ailments become more likely. A male smoker would pay £9.30 per month to assure a sum of £100,000 over 20 years, but that rises to £39.32 per month at age 45. There is only one way smokers can cut life assurance premium - give up.

Kevin Carr, online financial adviser says that "you are only considered a non-smoker once you have given up for 12 months. You can then re-apply as a non-smoker and the premiums are roughly 50% less."

London Metro 7/11/05 http://www.metro.co.uk/metro/home/live/index.html?in_page_id=10


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Sarah Ward
Information Manager
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