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ASH Daily news for 17 June 2010

HEADLINES

  • Study: Giving up smoking can help reduce stress levels

    Smokers often say they need a cigarette to calm their nerves but a British study has found that chronic stress levels may go down after a person kicks the habit.

    A study of 469 smokers who tried to quit after being hospitalized for heart disease found that those who stayed away from cigarettes for a year reported a reduction in their perceived stress levels.

    Stress levels were essentially unchanged among heart patients who went back to smoking, according to researchers from Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry.

    The study, reported in the journal Addiction supported the theory that, at least for some people, smoking actually contributes to chronic stress.

    "Smokers often see cigarettes as a tool to manage stress, and ex-smokers sometimes return to smoking in the belief that this will help them cope with a stressful life event," researcher Peter Hajek told Reuters.

    Yet studies have shown that non-smokers tend to report lower stress levels than smokers do.

    The reason for that difference has been unclear, but it could mean that people vulnerable to stress are more likely to take up smoking.

    On the other hand, smoking itself may generate long-term stress, even if people feel it offers them temporary relief from trying situations.

    Hajek's study found that most of the 469 smokers -- 85 percent -- believed at the start of the study that smoking helped them deal with stress to some extent. Half said that the habit "very much" helped them cope.

    But one year later, the study participants were surveyed again at which point 41 percent had not returned to smoking.

    On average, Hajek and his colleagues found the abstainers showed a 20 percent reduction in their reported stress levels, while patients who had gone back to smoking showed little change in their perceived stress. The relationship between abstinence and reduced stress held up when the researchers accounted for factors such as patients' age and education, how heavily they had smoked before quitting, and how high their stress scores were at the start of the study.

    The researchers said the findings support the idea that dependency on cigarettes is itself a chronic source of stress.

    "When dependent smokers cannot smoke, as the period without cigarettes lengthens they tend to feel more and more edgy, irritable and uncomfortable," Hajek said. "A cigarette relieves this stressful state, and this is probably the main reason smokers think that smoking relieves stress."

    Someone who smokes 20 cigarettes per day, for example, essentially goes through 20 bouts of stress each day, as the levels of nicotine in the body decline. Once that person quits -- and gets over the initial period of withdrawal -- he will have 20 fewer periods of stress each day, Hajek said.

    Hajek said these findings suggested that quitting may not only benefit smokers' physical health, but possibly their mental well-being as well.

     

    Source: ABC News, 16 June 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/aFr0Ko

  • 81 per cent support increasing tobacco duty by half

    David Cameron received a boost after a poll revealed emphatic support for his Government’s programme of savage public spending cuts.

    The first study of voters’ attitudes to plans to slash the UK’s crippling £156 billion deficit shows overwhelming support for measures to rip up departmental budgets rather than increase tax revenues.

    Chancellor George Osborne said the public would be consulted on how to find savings of £60 billion from annual expenditure, as part of a ‘once in a generation’ reform of Whitehall balance sheets.

    The BPIX survey for The Mail on Sunday – which comes less than a fortnight before Mr Osborne’s vital first Budget – found majority support for ten cutbacks totalling £36.9 billion. In contrast, just four increases, adding up to £10.5billion, were backed by more than half of those questioned.

    Asked to specify the optimum cut to the annual £660 billion public spending bill, the most popular figure cited by those questioned is an eye-watering £130 billion – more than double the amount planned.

    The most popular suggestion – supported by nine out of ten voters – is for top earners in the public sector to have their wages reduced by 15 per cent, which would save nearly £4 billion a year.

    The most unpopular idea, supported by just 16 per cent, is the suggestion to slice five per cent off the NHS budget to save £5 billion.

    Nearly nine out of ten back a doubling of the duty on betting, to raise an extra £1.4 billion, and 81 per cent support increasing tobacco duty by half to garner £4.4 billion. Hiking duties on alcohol – a more mainstream ‘vice’ – is less popular, with only 57 per cent in favour.

    BPIX pollster Paul Whiteley, from Essex University, said: ‘This shows people are more willing to make sacrifices than everyone suspected.

    'They do favour “sin taxes” like duties on alcohol, tobacco and gambling, but they are also willing to see significant cuts in public spending, with the exception of the NHS.'

    ‘This is not because they don’t think the cuts will affect them personally, but because they think the country needs to make these cuts to get the public finances in order.’

    Source: Daily Mail, 13 June 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/9veE6Z

  • Small shops could close if U.K. display ban proceeds: Report

    A new report by policy research firm Democracy Institute (DI) concludes that under a new U.K. tobacco display ban that requires retailers to hide tobacco products in their stores, small shops will close and illegal tobacco sales will increase, TalkingRetail.com reports.

    According to the DI report, display bans have failed to reduce smoking in all countries that have introduced it, including Canada, Iceland, Ireland, and Thailand. The ban in England is scheduled to take effect in 2011 in larger stores and in 2013 in small stores. However, Britain’s previous government passed it and the National Federation of Retail Newsagents (NFRN) is urging the new coalition government to reconsider the measure.

    "We place great hope in the new government following through on its pre-election promise to revise or revoke the ban. Doing so would firmly demonstrate its credibility on de-regulation and supporting small business," said outgoing NFRN president Suleman Khonat. "Abandoning something proven to be ineffective to focus on credible anti-smoking initiatives would demonstrate a commitment to health over headlines.

    In the two years since Canada introduced a display ban, youth smoking rates have increased two percent, according to data from Health Canada. And in Ireland, smoking rates have increased seven percent in the past three years and are well above the European Union average.

    In the two years since Canada introduced a display ban youth smoking rates have increased by 2% according to data published by Europe Economics and evidence from Health Canada.

    A recent survey reveals that the majority of the U.K. public does not support the display ban and only 15 percent would oppose its repeal.

    ASH comment:

    • The Democracy Institute (DI) is closely linked to the tobacco industry funded Cato institute in the USA and the Director of the Democracy Institute, Patrick Basham also works for the Cato Institute.
       
    • Readingof the Canadian data is highly selective. Canadian legislation has been introduced province by province over the past 8 years. Over that time there has been a downward trend in Canadian youth smoking. In 2008, the last year for which data is available there was no change in smoking rates in 15-19 year olds.  While there was a 2% increase among Year 10 smokers. Click this link: http://bit.ly/9Xvn1e to see the data and commentary from the Canadian Government.
       
    • Reference to Irish data is misleading. Any increase in the Irish smoking prevalence over the last 3 years could not possibly be linked to a Point of Sale ban which came into effect a year ago. Furthermore the report appears to cite adult smoking rates, whereas this is a measure intended to affect youth smoking.
       
    Source: NACS Online, 17 June 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/cmgXG1

  • USA: FDA should use its power to lower nicotine in cigarettes, former chief says

    A year after Congress gave the federal government the authority to regulate tobacco, anti-smoking activists are applauding the initial steps taken by the Food and Drug Administration to control cigarette marketing and advertising. But a prominent public health figure says that the efforts are not enough and that the FDA could achieve dramatic change by using its new power to lower the amount of nicotine in cigarettes.

    David A. Kessler, a former FDA commissioner, said that the agency's efforts to date are laudable but "marginal" compared with what the agency has the legal authority to do -- reduce nicotine levels to the point where a smoker no longer craves cigarettes.

    "If you do this, you can save 200,000 to 300,000 lives a year," Kessler said. "Everything else pales in comparison."

    He made the remarks during a forum marking the anniversary of legislation that put tobacco under federal regulation for the first time.

    The FDA declined to comment on Kessler's proposal, but a spokeswoman said that "one of the goals of the agency is to promote cessation in order to reduce the public health burden of tobacco use."

    In the legislation, Congress gave the FDA significant new powers to restrict the way tobacco can be marketed and advertised, especially toward children. A number of those provisions take effect next week, including a ban on the use of the terms "light," "mild" and "low tar" in cigarette marketing. In addition, tobacco companies will no longer be able to sponsor sporting or cultural events and cannot sell cigarettes in vending machines, except in adult-only establishments.

    The law also directs the FDA to study the role of menthol in cigarettes and whether it should be banned, and it calls for tobacco companies to paste large and graphic health warnings on cigarette packages by 2012, among other changes.

    "It's remarkable what the FDA has been able to accomplish in this first year," said Matthew L. Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, citing several of the new rules.

    Kessler tried unsuccessfully to regulate tobacco in the 1990s when he was leading the FDA. But in 2000, the Supreme Court ruled 5 to 4 that the FDA had exceeded its statutory authority.

    While the new law prevents the FDA from banning cigarettes or reducing nicotine levels to zero, it does permit the agency to lower levels of the drug. The amount of nicotine in a cigarette should drop from about 10 milligrams to less than 1 milligram, Kessler said.

    The idea of reducing nicotine has been debated for some time in public-health circles, with some arguing that it would create a black market for full-strength cigarettes, while others believe it might actually increase smoking as smokers puff away to absorb enough nicotine to feed their addiction.

    William Phelps, a spokesman for the nation's largest tobacco company, Altria, formerly known as Philip Morris, said, "If the agency decides to regulate nicotine levels, we will work with the FDA to share our knowledge and views."

    Nicotine addictions are among the most difficult to end and are on a par with dependence on heroin and cocaine, according to a 1988 report by the surgeon general. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 400,000 deaths each year are related to tobacco use. About 20 percent of the population smokes.

    Reducing the nicotine level would make it unlikely that anyone trying cigarettes for the first time would become addicted, Kessler said. "The real issue is, are we just going to regulate this product, or are we really going to save lives?" he said.

    Some anti-smoking groups applauded Kessler's idea.

    "In the long term, you have to solve the addiction problem in order to solve the tobacco problem," Myers said.

    Source: Washington Post, 17 June 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/9gaF6B

  • USA: Lights out for light cigarettes

    Effective from June 22, 2010, the most popular selling cigarettes - light cigarettes - will be phased out as part of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, which was signed into law on June 22, 2009. This historic day provides an opportunity for the 70 percent of smokers who want to quit to finally end their addiction to these deadly products.

    The terms "light", "low-tar" and "mild" cigarettes- introduced by the tobacco companies as a way to mislead customers into believing the products are less harmful than regular cigarettes - will be prohibited. Although many people believe "light" and "low-tar" cigarettes to be less deadly than regular cigarettes, research has shown this is not the case.

    "Helping Americans quit smoking is a top public health priority for the American Lung Association, and we are commemorating this historic day by encouraging smokers to quit," said Charles D. Connor, President and CEO of the American Lung Association. "The Lung Association is committed to helping you and your loved ones quit with our proven smoking cessation programs and resources."

    Along with the prohibition of "light," "low," and "mild" on all brands of cigarettes, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will enforce other new restrictions and requirements on cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products that take effect as part of the Youth Access and Advertising regulation, including eliminating free samples of cigarettes and federal enforcement of state law that prohibit tobacco sales to minors. Also taking effect on June 22 is a provision that requires larger, stronger warning labels on all smokeless tobacco packages and in all smokeless tobacco product advertisements.
     

    Source: MediLexicon News, 16 June 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/cpIWIy