Turkish TV fined for showing Tintin captain smoking

Turkey's media watchdog has fined a private television channel over scenes in the Tintin cartoon that show Captain Haddock and other villains smoking.

The Higher Board of Radio and Television (RTUK) said the broadcasting of smoking scenes was against a law on preventing the harms of tobacco and slapped a fine of 50,000 Turkish lira (33,200 dollars, 24,100 euros) on the station TV8, in a ruling posted on its web site.

One board member objected to the fine, arguing that children can distinguish between the fiction and non-fiction and that smoking fitted with the features of villains, the Hurriyet Daily News paper reported Wednesday.

Turkish broadcasters normally blur the images of cigarettes, pipes and smoke to evade fines, but critics say the method is counter-productive as it disrupts the viewer's attention and draws it to the smoking scene.

Last year, the government introduced a law imposing a drastic smoking ban in all public buildings, cafes and restaurants.

In Turkey, the world's 10th largest tobacco consumer, almost one in three adults smoke, with the rate reaching 48 percent among men, according to official statistics.

Source: AFP, 17 February 2010
Link: http://bit.ly/cComNw

Pipe and Cigar smoking strongly associated with decreased lung function and COPD

Pipe and cigar smoke may be more harmful than once thought. While some believe pipes and cigars are healthier than cigarettes, a new study links pipe and cigar smoking to decreased lung function.

Researchers conducted a population-based study to determine whether pipe and cigar smoking was associated with elevated cotinine levels (the end product of tobacco, which can be detected in the urine), decrements in lung function, and increased odds of airflow obstruction. Among 3,528 participants, those who did not smoke cigarettes but did smoke pipes or cigars were more likely to have airflow obstruction than those who had never smoked.

While cotinine levels among current pipe and cigar smokers were lower than among current cigarette smokers, the relative differences in cotinine levels may reflect differences in nicotine absorption but not necessarily exposure to harmful products of tobacco smoke.

"Our study shows that pipe and cigar smoking is associated with decrements in lung function that are consistent with obstructive lung disease," said R. Graham Barr, MD, Dr.PH, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at Columbia Presbyterian and lead author of the study. "These findings, together with increased cotinine levels in current pipe and cigar smokers, suggest that long-term pipe and cigar smoking may damage the lungs and contribute to the development of COPD. Physicians should consider pipe and cigar smoking a risk factor for COPD and counsel their patients to quit."

In a related editorial, Michael B. Steinberg, MD, MPH, of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, stresses the importance of educating the public, and expresses concern for the rising rate of tobacco use in the United States.

"We are now witnessing the concerning trend of increased use of other tobacco products," Dr. Steinberg writes. "As changes in public health policy have made cigarette smoking less socially acceptable, a distinct set of characteristics are associated with cigar and pipe use, such as sophistication, affluence, education, and celebration. These images, largely fostered by the tobacco industry, perpetuate the idea that these products play a suitable role in our society.

Source: Science Daily, 16 February 2010
Link: http://bit.ly/dpa3MD

Australia: Facebook users asked to report on tobacco firms

Researchers have launched a Facebook site calling for people to monitor and report on tobacco companies advertising their products online.

The site called Monitoring Tobacco Advertising, Promotion and Sponsorship 2.0 is a forum for people to report online cigarette advertising and is part of a University of Sydney research project.

Site founder Becky Freeman says tobacco companies are exploiting social media sites.

"The beauty of Facebook is the anonymity and the reach. You can reach thousands and thousands of people for a very low cost," she said.

"If I were in the tobacco industry that's exactly where I'd want to advertise."

Ms Freeman says tobacco companies may also be setting up Facebook groups to help smokers cope with the stigma and social isolation smokers face.

"A lot of smokers now feel quite guilty and regretful about the fact they smoke," she said.

But Ms Freeman says it is hard to prove tobacco companies are responsible for the content.

"So what we need is lots of eyes and ears on the ground. We've launched the Facebook site to try and engage the global community in this monitoring effort", she said.

Australian legislation does not require the tobacco companies to disclose their marketing budget or plans, Ms Freeman says.

"Advertising and promotional sponsorship [of tobacco products] has been banned in Australia for years and of course that doesn't mean the tobacco industry is going to roll over and say OK," she said.

As part of the study, YouTube content is also under scrutiny.

Ms Freeman says home-video style footage of concerts sponsored by tobacco companies could also be advertising campaigns.

"You want that user-generated feel. If it were quite slick and polished we could just point and say 'yep, absolutely the tobacco industry has had a hand in that'," she said.

Ms Freeman's research prompted the Department of Health and Ageing to launch an investigation into tobacco companies' use of social networking sites last October.

Source: ABC News, 18 February 2010
Link: http://bit.ly/afcemk

Ireland: Children selling cigarettes for gangs - claim

Criminal gangs are using young people to sell smuggled tobacco door-to-door in housing estates around the State, an Oireachtas committee has heard.

Benny Gilsenan, a shopkeeper in Dublin’s north inner city, said 12-14 year olds were being used to offload illegal cigarettes by criminals anxious to avoid detection by gardaí.

Mr Gilsenan, a spokesman for Retailers Against Smuggling, told the justice committee the problem was rampant in many parts of Dublin and in markets around the country. Leaflets were also being dropped into homes with a mobile number for ordering deliveries of black-market cigarettes.

Anti-smoking groups told the committee the Government needs to develop a national anti-smuggling strategy to combat an “epidemic” in the importation and sale of illegal cigarettes.

The availability of cheap black-market cigarettes has helped push up smoking rates and is allowing criminal gangs to dictate Irish health policy, representatives of the Irish Heart Foundation, the Irish Cancer Society and Ash Ireland said.

The three organisations jointly called for increased penalties, more resources for detecting contraband and on-the-spot fines to stamp out tobacco smuggling.

About 25 per cent of cigarettes sold here are illegal. This costs the exchequer almost €400 million in lost taxes and duty.

The flood of illegal cigarettes coming into Ireland will have significant health implications for the population and is likely to add to the 7,000 annual deaths already attributed to smoking, they told the justice committee.

About 200 million illegal cigarettes were seized by the Customs Service last year, compared to 135 million in 2008, 74 million in 2007 and 52 million in 2006. In one incident alone, 120 million cigarettes were seized in Greenore Port in Co Louth last October.

Chris Macey, head of advocacy with the Irish Heart Foundation, told the committee that smugglers regarded Ireland as a soft touch. “If their activities are allowed to prevent action to reduce tobacco consumption such as through tax hikes, we are effectively allowing them to dictate our health policy.”

Mr Macey said that between June 2006 and June 2009, fines of €160,000 were imposed on 340 people for tobacco smuggling offences, with nine sent to jail.

The heart foundation said smuggling had nothing to do with high taxes on tobacco and claimed cigarette companies were profiting from the illegal activity.

The Finance Bill, published by the Government earlier this month, allows for tougher punishments for those caught bringing contraband into the country.

Source: Irish Times, 18 February 2010
Link: http://bit.ly/cfErKy