HEADLINES

• ASH blames adspend freeze for failures to quit smoking
• Passive smoking for pets
• Ireland: Smokers spending some €1,500 per year on cigarettes
• Use of e-cigarettes not allowed on U.S. flights
• USA; Las Vegas hotel no longer charging $20/night to get a non-smoking room

• ASH blames adspend freeze for failures to quit smoking

  New Department of Health figures are the first to reveal the impact of the Coalition's decision to freeze adspend as part of the £6 billion of cuts it announced last May.

  Between January and March last year, the Government spent £861,000 on its anti-smoking campaign and 124,792 people successfully quit the habit with the help of the NHS.

  When the budget dropped to just £26,000 between April and June, the number who gave up fell to 85,749. There was a further drop in the next three months to 76,504, when no ads appeared - 38 per cent down on the first three months of the year.

  There was a similar reduction of 34 per cent in the number of smokers who set a date for kicking the habit over the same period.

  Martin Dockrell, the Director of Policy and Research at Action on Smoking and Health, said: "It has been a false economy. Mass-media campaigns are very cost- effective in terms of life years gained. They quickly reduce the pressure on the NHS."

  Source: Brand Republic - 17 February 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/hoCGAT

• Passive smoking for pets

  Vet Alex Gough this week told the ­Veterinary Times that passive ­smoking is not just a problem for humans. He wrote: “Current evidence ­suggests that there is a significant increased risk to our animals’ health involved with living with a smoker.”

  His review of research showed that passive smoking can give pets diseases from bronchitis to cancer. For cats illnesses linked to environmental tobacco smoke include asthma and cancer of the lymph nodes and mouth.

  Dogs living with smokers have a “significantly higher” risk of ­bronchitis and are more vulnerable to nasal cancer, especially long-nosed breeds such as greyhounds and lurchers.

  Source: Scottish Daily Express - 18 February 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/dY7dZb

• Ireland: Smokers spending some €1,500 per year on cigarettes

  New research from Aviva Health Insurance reveals that a fifth of Mayo people who filled out the Aviva online health check are smokers, with a higher proportion of females (21 per cent) than males (19 per cent) smoking. The research also revealed that Mayo smokers consume an average of 11 cigarettes every day, costing the smoker approximately €132 each month and €1,584 per year, despite the continuing bite of the recession.

  Overall, County Longford has the highest number of smokers in the country, with 30 per cent of respondents reporting that they smoke, while County Monaghan reported the lowest number of smokers for the second year in a row with only 16 per cent.

  Women in Ireland are smoking double the amount of cigarettes compared to men.

  Source: Mayo Advertiser - 18 February 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/faMj7T

• Use of e-cigarettes not allowed on U.S. flights

  The U.S. Department of Transportation says the use of smokeless electronic cigarettes on airplanes is prohibited and plans to issue an official ban this spring, according to a letter from Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

  In the letter to Sen. Frank Lautenberg, LaHood said the department has been informing airlines and the public that it interprets smoking regulations to include e-cigarettes. Lautenberg, who wrote the 1987 law that banned smoking on airplanes, had asked transportation officials to clarify the rule.
   

  Source: USA Today - 11 February 2011
  Link: http://usat.ly/i9o2PS

• USA; Las Vegas hotel no longer charging $20/night to get a non-smoking room

  The MGM Grand Las Vegas had recently begun charging $20 per night to guarantee non-smoking rooms to guests. That didn't go over well with the general public and now the resort says that it has rescinded the policy.

  The hotel statement says: "We have reversed a short-lived policy of charging a small fee so MGM Grand Las Vegas guests could guarantee a non-smoking room reservation.

  This was a case where what seemed a positive idea as a customer service inventory management practice, could be perceived as something else entirely. We regret having implemented this policy before recognizing the inappropriate message it might have sent to some of our customers.

  [...]

  Some have accused our Company of encouraging unhealthy behavior through this policy. That was not our intent. We regret if this policy sent the wrong message to anyone. MGM Resorts International encourages healthy living practices for its guests and employees."

  [Click on the link below for the full statement from MGM Grand.]

  Source: The Consumerist - 18 February 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/i79UrV