HEADLINES

• Scotland tobacco display ban to be delayed
• Study: For now, web-based healthcare tools are mostly ineffective
• USA: 'Addiction Incorporated' looks at Big Tobacco's efforts to suppress info on cigarettes
• USA: University of California to ban smoking from all campuses
• Wales: Social media bid to curb smoking

• Scotland tobacco display ban to be delayed

  The Scottish government has been forced to delay its ban on displaying tobacco in big supermarkets because of a legal challenge by Imperial Tobacco.

  The Scottish display ban is one of several measures contained in the Tobacco and Primary Medical Services Act, which also bans cigarette vending machines and introduces £200 fines for those who sell tobacco to under-18s.

  The vending machine ban has also been put on hold, pending legal challenge.

  Links to further coverage:

  Parliament Today:
  
  Following discussions with retailers, the need to notify the European Union of the revised regulations and an ongoing legal challenge by Imperial Tobacco, the Scottish Government has decided to defer the ban's implementation date for large stores of April 2012. A new date will be announced in due course. The previously announced implementation date of 2015 for small stores remains in place.

  Link: [subscription required] - http://bit.ly/yX8Q9e

  Reuters: Scotland delays implementing tobacco display ban - http://reut.rs/wDkqCe
  

  Press Association: Tobacco display ban to be delayed - http://bit.ly/w3QVnN
  

  Scotland on Sunday: Cigarette display ban delayed several years - http://bit.ly/zib6jR

  Source: BBC News, 16 January 2012
  Link: http://bbc.in/wFIISa

• Study: For now, web-based healthcare tools are mostly ineffective

  A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association highlights the difficulties of web-based health management tools that are currently available

  Researchers focused specifically on tools for managing diabetes, but the drawbacks could extend to other tools including quitting smoking. The study concluded that "despite their abundance, few practical web-accessible tools exist," in many cases, the tools suffered from poor design that made them difficult to use.

  The study recommended companies offering such tools work on improving attrition, standardizing quality indicators and making indicators transparent for patients and doctors choosing the best web-based tool.

  Source: ReadWriteWeb, 13 January 2012
  Link: http://rww.to/xoJ0yD

• USA: 'Addiction Incorporated' looks at Big Tobacco's efforts to suppress info on cigarettes

  “Addiction Incorporated,” the new documentary by Charles Evans Jr. shows how the tobacco industry sought to deceive the American public for so many years. The film tells the story of scientist Victor DeNoble’s unexpected discovery of an addictive ingredient in tobacco which led to the first ever federal regulation of the tobacco industry in the 1990s.

  Through secret testing in a hidden laboratory, DeNoble used rats to prove just how powerfully addictive nicotine was long before the public had any idea. He claims that his shocking findings were quashed by the powers-that-be. Not long after his remarkable discoveries he also learned he was out of the job.

  “Addiction Incorporated” premiered in Los Angeles on Friday, January 13.

  Source: Fox News, 13 January 2012
  Link: http://fxn.ws/xh4JQ1

• USA: University of California to ban smoking from all campuses

  In a move to protect non-smokers from secondhand smoke and prevent young people from taking up the habit the University of California is banning cigarettes and all other tobacco products from its campuses over the next two years.

  Students and staff alike will be prohibited from smoking anywhere on a UC campus - including all outdoor spaces.

  Source: San Francisco Chronicle, 13 January 2012
  Link: http://bit.ly/z9uRxc

• Wales: Social media bid to curb smoking

  Anti-smoking group ASH Wales is creating the UK’s first smoking prevention programme using social media.
  
  The project, funded by a grant from the BIG Lottery, will target 13 to 25-year-olds in Wales and create an online community where young people will be able to access the latest news and information about tobacco.
   

  Source: WalesOnline, 16 January 2012
  Link: http://bit.ly/xc2rev