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ASH Daily news for 27 August 2010

HEADLINES

  • Traders hit out at display ban

    Traders believe new laws banning the display of cigarettes in shops will see more people turn to black- market tobacco.

    A survey by the Tobacco Retailers Alliance (TRA) found two-thirds of shopkeepers in the East Midlands said they feared the proposed measures would cause a rise in tobacco smuggling.

    It comes after it emerged the coalition Government was considering a review of legislation passed by its Labour predecessor in 2009 that would require traders to hide tobacco products out of sight.

    Newsagent Ken Patel, who runs Wyvern Stores, in Rushey Mead, and is a spokesman for the Tobacco Retailers' Alliance, said: "There is a huge black market in tobacco in this country, and that really affects tobacco sales in small shops like mine.

    "Putting tobacco under the counter will make smokers feel like they're doing something illegal when they buy tobacco from a shop. If they think that, they might as well get it from a smuggler who sells it at half the price I can."

    He said if smokers turned to the black market there was no way of regulating who would buy the tobacco, leading to a rise in under-age smokers.

    Under the new legislation, cigarettes, cigars, pipe and roll-your-own tobacco products must be hidden from view in large shops from October, 2011, and small shops from October, 2013.

    Sunil Patel who runs Norwich Road Food Stores, on the Stadium Estate, in Leicester, said: "The ban will not achieve anything except a rise in the number of people buying smuggled cigarettes and criminals do not care what age the people they sell to are."

    Deepak Tanna, who owns six shops in Leicestershire, said: "As it stands the black market is already flourishing in the pubs and on the street corner, and this will do nothing to stop it. I can't see any reason why it will help cut under-age smoking either.

    "It has not worked in Ireland, Iceland or Canada where they have a similar ban."

    Health and anti-smoking groups that support the ban say it will cut down on promotion of cigarettes to children and smokers who want to quit.

    They are angry with the Government's proposed U-turn.

    Martin Dockrell, director of policy and research at the anti-smoking group Action on Smoking and Health, said: "For the Government, with its apparent commitment to public health, to start off by caving in to tobacco industry lobbying by putting the interests of tobacco retailers ahead of the interests of our children's health would be a scandal."

    A spokesman for the Department for Health said the Government was "developing options around the display of tobacco in shops".

    He said it was looking to strike a balance between "public health priorities" and "unnecessary burdens on business".

    HM Revenue and Customs estimate that 12 per cent of cigarettes sold in the UK are illicit, and that 48 per cent of hand-rolling tobacco is illicit.

    It is thought the black market in cigarettes and tobacco cost the Government £2.1 billion a year in lost taxes.

    Source: This is Leicestershire - 26 August 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/cveqjD

  • Hundreds of smokers in Leicestershire are fined for dropping cigarette ends

    Hundreds of smokers have been fined for dropping cigarette ends.

    Councils said the majority of on-the-spot fines for littering were handed out to people discarding cigarettes.

    In Leicester, smokers have been fined about £40,000 in the past two years, accounting for nearly 90 per cent of litter fines.

    Harborough District Council has imposed fines totalling £1,875 on smokers in the past year.

    On one day this month it said its officers handed out seven £75 fines.

    Harborough council enforcement spokesman, Councillor Colin Golding, said: "It is our intention to reduce the incidence of this type of litter and make the district as clean and pleasant as possible.

    "We intend to use our enforcement powers to deal robustly with offenders by means of utilising the fixed-penalty system to prevent environmental crime."

    Leicester City Council has a team of city wardens who give out £80 fixed-penalty notices (FPN) to those they see littering.

    A spokesman said: "We would estimate about 80 per cent to 90 per cent of our littering tickets are for cigarettes.

    "The total number of FPNs issued for littering since the City Warden service started in 2008 is 576."

    In Charnwood, smokers have been fined more than £5,000 in the past 18 months.

    Since April, the council has issued 18 £80 fines for dropping litter, of which 11 were for dropping cigarette ends.

    In the previous year, 56 fines were for dropping cigarette ends, including 14 for throwing cigarette ends from vehicles. A spokesman said: "Cigarette ends account for 78 per cent of all litter."

    Melton council is about to give powers to its traffic wardens to fine smokers who drop butts.

    However, Simon Clark, director of pro-smoking lobby Forest, said smokers were beginning to feel as if they were being targeted.

    He said: "We would like to work with local authorities so they can site bins for the disposal of butts."

    Harborough district councillor Pete Callis has been smoking for 51 years.

    He said: "I don't think smokers should be targeted. It seems those who drop chewing gum, which is notoriously difficult to clean up, and fast food wrappers do not appear to get fined as much.

    "I think those forms of rubbish are more offensive."

    Source: This is Leicestershire - 26 August 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/bH6rGa

  • West Midlands: Health service urges Muslims to give up habit in holy month

    Muslims in Pheasey are being urged to use Ramadan as an opportunity to give up smoking.

    NHS Walsall Community Health is hoping that the Muslim holy month of fasting, with a focus on self-discipline and abstinence, can act as an extra incentive for people to quit the habit for the rest of their lives.

    Officials say cigarettes are a particularly serious issue for people with Asian backgrounds who suffer high rates of heart disease and respiratory conditions related to smoking.

    Alternatives such as chewable tobacco and smoking a shisha pipe also carry health risks.

    Alan Jarvis, head of adult lifestyle services at Walsall Community Health, said: "Ramadan is a great opportunity for Muslims to use their willpower to kick the smoking and tobacco habit once and for all."

    And the health organisation says giving up smoking is the single most important thing a person can do to improve their health.

    Mr Jarvis added: "We offer a range of ways to help and support people who want to quit.

    "All you have to do is get in touch."

    This year, Ramadan ends on September 9.

    Source: This is Tamworth - 26 August 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/c8OGdW

  • Ottawa: Hazardous levels of second-hand smoke measured on restaurant and bar patios

     

    The measurement of tobacco smoke on bar and restaurant patios in Ottawa, taken on Friday, August 20, 2010 and on Monday, August 23, 2010, has revealed hazardous levels of small particulate matter when tobacco smoke was present.

    Dr. Ryan David Kennedy, a researcher at the University of Waterloo, measured tobacco smoke on patios in the ByWard Market, along Elgin Street and Bank Street, and in Hintonburg.

    "Our testing revealed that when tobacco smoke was present on outdoor patios, the levels of fine particulate matter were five to twenty times higher than measured background levels, with occasional peaks even greater than twenty times above background levels," said Dr. Kennedy.

    "Background levels were less than 10 micrograms per cubic metre. Some of the peak readings recorded were in excess of 700 micrograms per cubic metre. On one patio, the average readings were about 80 micrograms per cubic metre during an eight minute period of continuous smoking at an adjacent table. That's equivalent to levels recorded during the Kelowna, B.C. forest fires," explained Dr. Kennedy.

    Dr. Kennedy measured tobacco smoke with a Sidepak measuring device. This device measures concentrations of very small particles, less than 2.5 microns in diameter. Most tobacco smoke particles are in this range.

    These fine tobacco smoke particles are inhaled deep into the lungs. Many of the chemicals in fine tobacco smoke particulate are known cancer-causing agents. There is no safe level of exposure to second-hand smoke. Tobacco smoke poses a serious health risk to hospitality workers, children, seniors, and individuals with heart disease, lung disease, cancer and other chronic diseases.

    "Wherever measurement was done, the results were consistent. Whenever tobacco smoke was present, we measured elevated, hazardous levels of fine particulate matter," added Dr. Kennedy. "In one location, high levels of particulate matter were recorded in the smoking section of a patio. When measurements were taken in the so-called "non-smoking section" of the same patio, located adjacent to and downwind from the smoking section, even higher readings were recorded," concluded Dr. Kennedy.

    "Dr. Kennedy's research shows that everyone should be very concerned about the high levels of second-hand smoke that can occur on restaurant and bar patios in Ottawa," said Suzanne Friedlaender, President of the Ottawa Council on Smoking and Health.

    The City of Ottawa now lags far behind a growing list of Canadian cities that prohibit smoking on patios, including Kingston, Saskatoon, Victoria and Vancouver, in addition to all of Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Alberta and the Yukon.

    "The citizens of Ottawa deserve the same level of protection from tobacco smoke on patios," concluded Ms. Friedlaender. "We urge Ottawa residents to express themselves in an online survey at www.smokefreeottawa.com."

    The Ottawa Council on Smoking and Health is a volunteer citizens group concerned about the continuing public health problem of exposure to second-hand smoke.  

    Source: Market Wire - 25 August 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/b1gUhg

  • Smokers and smart phones: real-time data and new treatment options

    Researchers at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center are using real-time smart phone data from struggling-to-quit smokers to better understand the quitting process — and develop improved and individualized treatment options. The team, led by Dr. David Wetter, recently completed a study of more than 400 smokers. Their current effort focuses on Spanish-speakers.

    I spoke with Dr. Wetter last week about what the research shows — and about how it could be used to ease the quitting process for smokers.

    Talk about the smart phone data you collect from people trying to quit smoking.

    We use smart phones to collect data during critical events that happen when people try to quit. For example, when they have a craving to smoke or when they actually smoke a cigarette, we’ll collect data. [We'll find out]: Who else is in the environment with them? What else is going on? Are cigarettes available? Are they drinking? Are they eating? Are they at work, at home, in the car? The smart phone will also beep at random times throughout the day and evening to collect the same kinds of information. We can compare that information across different situations. For example, when someone is craving we may find that they’re in situation characterized by negative emotions, like anxiety and stress, much more so than when you beep them at random times.

    Why is getting the data via smart phone integral to this research?

    There’s a voluminous amount of data showing that people can’t recall situations accurately. We all have these inherent biases in our recall. With the smart phones, we don’t have to ask them to remember anything. We just ask [them to] tell us what’s going on right now. A lot of our recall is a reconstruction rather than plucking out truths from memory. If you ask them to recall what was going on when they had a craving, they’ll very likely report being stressed. Most of us think that precipitates craving. When you compare those with real time, that is often not the case. The smart phones are integral for insuring we have accurate data. We use [the data] to develop their treatments and optimize them for each specific person.

    What trends are appearing in your research?

    The volatility of their emotions and the intensity of their craving is predictive of relapse. People who are having really strong cravings, and then not much, and then really strong cravings again will struggle to stay abstinent. We see the same thing when we look at negative emotions. People who are bouncing around [from really stressed to not stressed], this volatility really predicts relapse. Riding the roller coaster is tough. We wouldn’t have been able to [learn] that without using smart phones in real time, in the real world. We get a good picture of what their daily experience looks like.

    You mentioned that many people assume a moment of stress comes right before a craving. Did you find truth in assumption?

    Negative emotions are strongly related to cravings, just not as much as people believe they are. There is a wide variety of other things that precipitate craving as well: having alcohol, habitual situations such as a cigarette after a meal, a coffee break. People have this really strong belief about stress and negative emotions.

    How will the data you’ve collected help you develop specific treatment options for patients?

    We will ask them, when they’re right in the middle of a craving, “What would work for you right now? What would help you get through this situation without smoking?” We can provide a menu of coping strategies to help them get through that situation. They tell us which ones would work for them. The next time they’re in a similar situation, we can suggest they use those strategies. You’re really individualizing people’s treatment.

    When the smart phone collects data [and] sees a lot of volatility, for example, it could fire off an application that makes suggestions on how to deal with craving. It could fire off a text message to a quit line and they could have a counselor call [the patient]. Or the smart phone could directly connect them to the quit line. We could make suggestions on increasing their pharmacotherapy: “We recommend that you chew some nicotine gum or use the nicotine nasal spray.”

    It sounds like an evidence-based medical smart phone app.

    We want to have some app you can download on your iPhone or Android that gives you the boost you need to help you quit smoking.

    How could smart phone monitoring be used to study other health issues?

    We know a lot about individuals trying to initiate a physical activity program. A lot of them are able to stick with it for awhile, but very quickly everything drops off. We don’t really know what specifically, other than people’s ideas and recall, causes them to drop off. We think you can use the smart phones to understand what makes some people successful and some not. They’re using it for diet now, too. You can provide people with guidance on what a serving size should look like. The technique is being used for a wide variety of risk behaviors.

    Source: Smart Planet - 26 August 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/a0u7rR