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ASH Daily news for 05 July 2010

HEADLINES

  • Smoking ban celebrates third anniversary

    Three years ago smoking was banned in public places across England and Wales, creating one of the biggest social and cultural changes for many years.

    When Leeds Student Union imposed a trial smoking ban in 2004 – three years before a country-wide ban – they concluded it was a costly mistake.

    They lost so much money over the 13-day period – around £26,000 – that the ban was swiftly curtailed. Under the ban, sales of alcohol dropped by a whopping 30 per cent at Leeds University's five bars and three nightclubs.

    At the time, the union's communication officer Tom Wong said: "We were the only major venue in the city banning smoking – our members just went elsewhere."

    Similar doom-mongering concerns were voiced when Labour announced it was to impose a national smoking ban, some even said it would be the end of the pub trade.

    Three years on, however, most people have come to terms with it and campaign group ASH (Action on Smoking and Health) is in favour of extending the ban further to cover children's play areas, beer gardens, doorways and private cars with children as passengers.

    But what do people think of the ban three years on?

    Martin Dockrell, director of policy and research for ASH believes there is now broad support for extending the ban.

    He said: "According to a YouGov poll for ASH, support for the law has doubled since it was introduced in 2007 and for every four smokers who oppose it, five support it. Overall 81 per cent of adults [smokers and non-smokers] believe the legislation is good for their health."

    The poll of more than 24,000 adults revealed 77 per cent agreed with banning smoking in private cars which carry children, while 67 per cent agreed with banning smoking in the doorways of buildings, the space to which most smokers have now been relegated.

    According to ASH, in the 12 months following the smoking ban, there was a 2.4 per cent drop in the number of heart attacks in England, resulting in 12,000 fewer hospital admissions, a cost saving to the NHS of £8.4m.

    The NHS is spending a lot of money on its Stop Smoking Scheme – some £60m was spent last year. According to the latest NHS figures, from April to December 2009, 492,166 people set a quit date through NHS Stop Smoking Service, an increase of 14 per cent (59,468) on the final figure for same period in 2008.

    Currently, around a fifth of our population are smokers, and the Government wants to cut that to 10 per cent by 2020.

    But back in 2007, the ban was controversial. It was a Lancashire landlord Hamish Howitt, owner of the Happy Scots Bar, Blackpool, who first flouted the ban back in November 2007 and vowed to take it to the Court of Human Rights, a move branded "silly, misguided and pointless" by District Judge Peter Ward, who dealt with his case. He was fined £500 and ordered to pay £2,000 prosecution costs.

    In August 2008 Babyshambles front man Pete Doherty flouted the smoking ban by lighting up repeatedly at the Leeds Festival.

    In January 2009, landlady Susan Wigglesworth, of the Hare and Hounds, Fieldhead Lane, Birstall, was fined £100 and ordered to pay £200 costs after being found guilty of failing to stop customers smoking.

    Leeds City Council brought its first and to date only prosecution under the smoking ban in July 2009 against the Omnibus pub in Belle Isle.
     

    Source: Yorkshire Evening Post, 01 July 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/bjNNxe

  • Life expectancy gap 'is widening'

    The gap between average life expectancy and that of the poorest in England is widening despite efforts to close it, a National Audit Office report says.

    Life expectancy is now 77.9 years for men and 82 years for women but in poor areas it falls to 75.8 and 80.4 years.

    The NAO says this means that from 1995-97 to 2006-08 the life expectancy gap grew by 7% for men and 14% for women.

    It is calling for more investment to help GPs tackle problems like smoking and poor diet in poor communities.

    These include increasing the prescribing of drugs to reduce cholesterol and control blood pressure, and doubling the capacity of services which help people quit smoking.

    ASH comment: Click here for a summary of the tobacco issues in the National Audit Office report.

    Source: BBC News, 02 July 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/a0c7FI

  • Modern Briton 'smoking less'

    The annual Office for National Statistics survey compares life trends today with 40 years ago.

    A separate report shows the gap between average life expectancy and that of the poorest people in England is widening.

    The National Audit Office report said average life expectancy was now 77.9 years for men and 82 years for women, but in poor areas 75.8 and 80.4 years respectively.

    In the Office for National Statistics (ONS) report on the state of the nation, there ws a significant rise in life expectancy.

    At birth in 1970 males were living to 68.7 years and females 75, compared to 77.8 and 81.9 years respectively in 2008.

    Not surprisingly, the numbers of men and women smoking had sharply fallen over the four decades.

    In 1974, just over a quarter of men and 13% of women were considered heavy smokers, compared to just 7% and 5% respectively in 2008.

    Source: BBC News, 02 July 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/9c8qh8

  • 5,500 quit smoking in Stoke-on-Trent after national ban introduced

    More than 5,500 smokers in Stoke-on-Trent have quit the habit since the smoking ban was introduced three years ago.

    They were inspired to give up after legislation barring people from lighting up in pubs, offices and workplaces came into force nationally on July 1, 2007.

    Three years on, Stoke-on-Trent City Council has carried out more than 5,000 smoke-free compliance checks on premises and vehicles.

    It has issued 97 fixed penalty notices for breaches in the legislation and completed one prosecution for the offence of failing to prevent smoking in a smokefree place.

    According to NHS Stoke-on-Trent, support has always been high for the ban, which was introduced to protect people from the effects of passive smoking or secondhand smoke.

    A survey carried out in the Potteries in 2008 showed that 75 per cent of people questioned were in favour of the smoking ban.

    Another 82 per cent agreed that passive smoking was dangerous, and more than 90 per cent of smokers surveyed said they visited pubs just as often as before.

    In addition, nearly one fifth of non-smokers said they had visited pubs more following the ban.

    And since the legislation was introduced, Stoke-on-Trent Stop Smoking Service says it has helped more than 5,500 people to quit. Between April 2009 and March this year alone, 2,278 residents have been helped to kick the habit, well above the service's target of supporting 2,095 smokers a year.

    Michelle Ellis, from the Stop Smoking Service, said: "We saw a huge increase in people coming through the service immediately following July 1, 2007.

    "People have continued to use the service in high numbers and the smokefree law has helped countless smokers to stay quit as they are no longer exposed to the temptations of other people's smoke."

    Nationally, the NHS saved an estimated £8.4 million in emergency hospital care for heart attacks in the first year since the introduction of the legislation, according to the latest figures released by the London Health Observatory (LHO) findings.

    Ex-smoker Bob Crompton, landlord of the Bull's Head, in Burslem, said: "After three years, there are still people who are moaning about the ban and have done nothing to change the environment of their pub.

    "I think the ban is the best thing to happen to the pub trade. We have people coming in now who wouldn't come in before, or who wouldn't stay long."

    "We've got a smoking shelter outside with heat lamps and the pub is healthier and safer."

    "There used to be a hard core of people who would make a big show of putting on their coats to go for a fag, but a lot of them have quit now."

    But Mervyn Edwards of the Potteries Pub Preservation Society, said: "I think the evidence is the ban has had a negative impact on the pub trade.

    "From a non-smokers point of view it was a good thing. But I was one of these people who thought there was an invisible queue of people waiting for the smoking ban before going into pubs, and I don't think that has happened."

    Source: The Sentinel, 05 July 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/bDbe5a

  • Germany bans smoking at Oktoberfest

    Smokers heading to Germany's famous annual beer festival, Oktoberfest, will be forced to light up outside after voters supported a total smoking ban in Bavaria for restaurants, bars, cafes and beer tents.

    Although turnout for the referendum was relatively low, at 37.7%, a full 61% of those voting favoured a complete ban on smoking, according to Bavarian election officials.

    The ban overturning an existing law will take effect on August 1 - with an exception allowing limited smoking at this year's Oktoberfest.

    Source: Press Association, 05 July 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/c3sU0o

  • Egypt: New tax doubles price of tobacco

    Egyptian smokers were hit by price rises of up to 100 per cent as the government increased taxes on tobacco products in an effort to curb smoking.

    A law passed in May, which took effect yesterday, raised the price of cigarettes by as much as 40 per cent, while the tobacco used in Egypt's ubiquitous water pipes, known as shisha, now costs twice as much.

    World Health Organisation figures show the number of smokers has grown more than twice as fast as the population over the past 30 years. Around 40 per cent of men use some form of tobacco.

    Source: Independent, 05 July 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/b6tqSl

  • USA: Women urged to declare their independence from tobacco

    This Fourth of July, the U.S. National Cancer Institute is drawing attention to the public health issue of women and smoking by encouraging American women to take a "Smokefree Pledge" to kick the habit.

    The institute said that women are more aware than ever of the dangers of cigarettes, and three out of four female smokers say they would like to quit.

    Still, about one in five American women smokes, despite the fact that more than half of these women have attempted to quit in the past year.

    Some of the impediments to quitting may be specific to women, the NCI noted. For example, while nicotine addiction is similar for both genders, women are frequently more drawn to cigarettes by other factors such as smell, taste, hand-to-mouth sensation, weight-control aspirations, and mood control.

    Emotional issues -- such as an upsetting event -- also play a greater role in luring women back to the habit, the institute said.

    Also, women are often less inclined to quit than men, and less confident that they can do so. Statistics indicate that women are more likely than men to resume smoking after attempting to quit, according to the institute.

    That said, the NCI pointed out that the health risks associated with smoking can be even greater for women than men.

    For example, women face a bigger risk for smoking -related diseases such as heart attack, stroke, and lung cancer than men. And smoking can compromise a woman's reproductive health, as well as the welfare of children for whom women are often the primary caregiver, the institute said.

    With these concerns in mind, the NCI's campaign is designed to address these gender-specific issues by creating an online community titled "Smokefree Women"

    The site provides a step-by-step outline for quitting smoking. Accredited counselors are offered through an online chat service, alongside a Facebook page, two Facebook apps (QuitBoost and QuitTracker) and a Twitter feed. The site also offers links to information on free national phone counseling and local services available in communities across the country, the institute said.

    Source: Yahoo News, 03 July 2010
    Link: http://yhoo.it/bQAMvt