One in five Plymouth children smoke by age of 16

One in five Plymouth children regularly smoke by the age of 16, according to a survey of the city's young people.

The figures have been released to back a national drive to slash the country's smoking rates in half – from 21 to 10 per cent by 2020.

The Government published its strategy 'A Smokefree Future' this month.

According to the latest NHS figures, about 27 per cent of adults in Plymouth smoke, although the proportion is much higher in more deprived areas, such as Devonport at 42 per cent.

A survey of 2,000 young people across the city has found that about 20 per cent were regularly lighting up by the age of 16.

Children defined 'regularly' as meaning on a daily basis.

Twenty five per cent of those questioned, between the ages of 10 and 16, said they had tried a cigarette.

The report was conducted by city community organisation Routeways.

Jane Bullard, Plymouth NHS Stop Smoking Service tobacco control lead, said: "The tobacco industry needs to recruit 100,000 new smokers every year to replace those who die or quit. Young people can very rapidly develop an addiction and this can last a lifetime.

"Preventing this uptake in young people will have long-lasting implications for both health and economic well being as we know the vast majority of smokers take up smoking before the age of 18."

Plymouth Smokefree Alliance, made up of the city council, NHS and other bodies, is officially relaunching in March to help reduce smoking rates in the city.

Ms Bullard said it is backing the Government's ne w strategy, which includes key aims:

Stopping young people being recruited as smokers by cracking down on cheap illicit cigarettes.

Every smoker being able to get help from the NHS to suit them if they want to give up – new types of support being made available at times and in places that suit smokers.

Stopping the sale of tobacco from vending machines – a significant source of tobacco for young people.

Protecting everyone, especially children, from the harms of second-hand smoke by promoting smokefree homes and cars, and reviewing smokefree law.

Ms Bullard said working closely with schools and parents is also key to stopping the increase in young people smoking.

She said the city's Stop Smoking Service is working with Plymouth City Council to pilot more innovative ways of quitting.

Research is underway to identify how smokers want to access the support available, for example in a city centre shop or on the telephone.

Ms Bullard added that smoking in pregnancy remains a major concern, although last year rates were brought down from about 20 per cent to 16.9 per cent due to two specialist pregnancy stop smoking advisors.

The Plymouth Smokefree Alliance is holding a relaunch event on March 4 and will discuss the impact of the Government strategy in the city.

Source: This is Plymouth - 15 February 2010
Link: http://bit.ly/90c5Vi

Scotland: Tobacco stolen at cash and carry

Thieves have made off with a "large quantity" of tobacco from a cash and carry in the south of Scotland.

The incident took place at the Bookers premises on Netherdale Industrial Estate in Galashiels on Friday.

Lothian and Borders Police said they were particularly keen to hear of any suspicious activity in the area at about 2000 GMT.

A spokesman said it was believed a vehicle would have been used by whoever carried out the raid.

Source: BBC News - 15 February 2010
Link: http://bit.ly/c4jz3B

Cigars, pipes no 'healthy' alternative to cigarettes

People who think they're protecting their lungs by smoking pipes or cigars instead of cigarettes are kidding themselves, a new study shows.

"Inhalation of tobacco smoke by any means is deleterious," said Dr. R. Graham Barr, assistant professor of medicine and epidemiology at Columbia University Medical Center and lead author of a report in the Feb. 16 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine.

The cancer-causing danger of any kind of smoking has been well-publicized by the American Cancer Society and the U.S. National Cancer Institute, among others. But some smokers believe cigars or pipes can lessen respiratory danger because they think the smoke isn't inhaled, Barr said.

To test that notion, he and his colleagues looked at the effects of cigar or pipe smoking in more than 3,500 adults ages 48 to 90 who were participants in a study of heart disease. Of these, nine of every 100 said they had smoked a pipe at some time and 11 of every 100 said they had smoked cigars.

To determine whether smoke was inhaled, the researchers measured blood levels of cotinine, a byproduct of metabolized nicotine.

Among pipe or cigar users, they found cotinine levels lower than those produced by cigarette smoking but nevertheless significant.

"For pipe smoking, it was 20 percent compared to cigarette smoking, and for cigars it was 10 percent," Barr said. "Less, but still quite considerable."

The effect of smoking on breathing ability was measured by spirometry, a lung function test in which people blow into a tube to determine the maximum amount of air they can move in one second.

Pipe or cigar smokers had more than twice the incidence of airway obstruction than nonsmokers, and the degree of obstruction increased with the amount of smoking, the researchers found.

The study was done because there has been a noticeable shift away from cigarettes to pipes and cigars, partly because of health warnings, partly because of heavy taxes on cigarettes, Barr said.

"There haven't been good data in the United States from a large study showing that first, people who smoke cigars and pipes inhale the smoke and second, that on a long-term basis they have damage to their lungs," he said.

The study results show clearly that cigar and pipe smokers are exposed to toxins and run the risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a progressive destruction of airways than can be crippling. Emphysema and chronic obstructive bronchitis are the two major forms of COPD, which is a leading cause of death among U.S. adults.

"Physicians should consider pipe and cigar smoking a risk factor for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and counsel their patients to quit," Barr said.

"There is a public perception that this is a safer habit," said Dr. Neil Schachter, professor of medicine and community medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City. Tobacco companies have promoted that perception, he said.

"Cigarette companies realize there is a decreasing demand for cigarettes and have tried to push tobacco products in different ways," Schachter said. "They have been able to promote this image that smoking cigars and pipes is safer than smoking cigarettes. This article goes a long way toward showing this is not true."

Smokers don't often pursue medical advice about smoking, he said. "It is something patients don't go to doctors to ask about," Schachter said."'What should I smoke'? The answer is, 'Nothing'."

Source: Healthfinder - 15 February 2010
Link: http://bit.ly/ddHuM5

Yorkshire: More than 37,000 request Quit Kit support

A free Quit Kit that gives smokers the right tools to successfully stop smoking has helped more than 37,000 people across Yorkshire on the Humber to plot a smokefree future.

Launched by the NHS on Boxing Day, the kits contain calming audio downloads, a stress toy and a tool to help smokers work out how much money they are saving by quitting.

Almost 38,000 smokers have requested kits from across the region so far – an average of more than 750 requests every day.

And with the vast majority of those requests expected to result in at least one quit attempt, hopes are high that thousands will go smokefree as a result.

“The uptake of Quit Kits across Yorkshire and the Humber is hugely encouraging,” said Regional Tobacco Policy Manager Patricia Hodgson. “Research shows that people are ordering kits because they genuinely want to stop smoking, and the fact they are taking initiative and showing an interest in what the kit has to offer bodes extremely well.

“We hope the demand continues, and that we can transform those initial requests for help into successful quits in the weeks and months ahead.

The contents of the Quit Kit contains are scientifically proven to help reduce cravings or have been developed in response to smokers’ needs.

Source: COI - 15 February 2010
Link: http://bit.ly/b3DvvH