US: Anti-smoking money goes unspent on prevention

Ten years ago, the tobacco industry began paying Illinois and other states billions of dollars in a lawsuit settlement, with the money intended for anti-smoking programs. But, now, an anti-smoking group says the states' promises have gone up in smoke.

On the 10th anniversary of the $246 billion settlement, the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids has done an analysis of where the money's been going. The group's Danny McGoldrick says only 9 states are funding tobacco prevention programs at even half the recommended federal level.

Illinois, he says, is near the bottom of the list. It ranks 43rd, spending just $9.5 million dollars of its $900 million share of the settlement on smoking prevention programs this year. The Campaign calls it a decade of broken promises as states used their tobacco industry money on everything but anti-smoking programs.

Source: WBBM News Radio, 17 November 2008
Link: http://tiny.cc/sOLFR

Smoking causes bladder cancer

The American Urological Association (AUA) has given smokers another good reason to quit: smoking causes bladder cancer. Only about 33 percent of people know that smoking is a leading risk factor for the disease, according to a new study published in The Journal of Urology, the official journal of the AUA. The American Cancer Society estimates that smokers are twice as likely to get bladder cancer as nonsmokers. 

Bladder cancer is the fourth most common type of cancer in men and eighth most common in women. About 53,000 men and women are diagnosed with bladder cancer each year and about 14,000 die annually of the disease. In recent decades, there has been a steady increase in the incidence of bladder cancer. Along with smokers, people who work with dyes, metal, paints, leather, textiles and organic chemicals may be at a 20 to 25 percent higher risk. People who have chronic bladder infections may also be at higher risk.

There are several symptoms of bladder cancer, but painless blood in the urine (hematuria) is the most common. Because blood in the urine can be an indication of other conditions, it is important to seek medical attention. Other symptoms of bladder cancer may include frequent urination and pain upon urination (dysuria). Bladder cancer can be treated by removing the tumors, administering intravesical chemotherapy and immunotherapy, or cystectomy (complete removal of the bladder). Bladder cancer is most treatable when caught early. The AUA urges patients to talk with their doctors about their risk factors and doctors to not ignore any symptoms they may have. The AUA also joins other organizations in urging smokers to kick the habit.

“A smoker’s bladder is continuously exposed to carcinogenic substances which, over time, can affect the bladder lining and potentially lead to cancer,” said Tomas Griebling, MD, associate professor of urology, vice chair of urology and assistant scientist in the Center on Aging at the University of Kansas School of Medicine in Kansas City. “If the threat of lung cancer isn’t serious enough to inspire a patient to quit smoking, perhaps the thought of losing your bladder to cancer will be.”

Source: Newswise Medical News, 17 November 2008
Link: http://tiny.cc/3HXR0

TalkSport fires Gaunt for 'Nazi' remark

Jon Gaunt, the reactionary shock jock and columnist for The Sun, has been dismissed from his job at the commercial radio station TalkSport.

The firing follows an internal investigation by the network into an on-air exchange in which Gaunt described a local councillor as a "Nazi" for supporting a smoking ban on foster parents. The dismissal follows TalkSport's axing of James Whale earlier this year, after he breached broadcasting standards on political neutrality by urging listeners in London to vote for Boris Johnson in the run up to the city's mayoral election.

The decision to sack Gaunt was overseen by one of his oldest friends Moz Dee, TalkSport's programme director and the man who gave him his break in broadcasting.

The presenter was suspended on 7 November after an argument with a Redbridge councillor, Michael Stark, over council plans to prevent smokers from fostering children. In an article on the same issue in his Sun column the same day, Gaunt made references to "health and safety Nazis" and a "master race philosophy".

TalkSport listeners complained in significant numbers about the exchange, which came two days before Remembrance Sunday.

Dee and his senior colleagues took the view that the latest outburst was indefensible and staff were told yesterday morning that Gaunt would not be returning to work.

Source: The Independent, 19 November 2008
Link: http://tiny.cc/ShwaV

Actor Keifer Sutherland: Prison helps to quit smoking

Kiefer Sutherland has been encouraged to quit smoking after going without cigarettes while in jail.

The 24 actor served his prison term nicotine free after he was handed a 48-day sentence last December for driving under the influence of alcohol.

"I was very glad to know that I could quit. And one day soon I will," Sutherland told Men's Vogue.

Source: Digital Spy, 18 November 2008
Link: http://tiny.cc/vgKN6

Smoking campaigners call for tough new targets on tobacco smuggling

Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) have called on the Chancellor to use the Pre-Budget report to set far more ambitious targets for tackling the illegal market in tobacco products in the UK. 

Deborah Arnott, Director of the health campaigning charity ASH, said “A good deal of progress has been made in tackling tobacco smuggling but much more still needs to be done. We hope that the new Government strategy will include challenging new targets, more resources to help achieve those targets, and a commitment to sign the EU anti-smuggling agreements.”

Currently tobacco smuggling is costing the UK economy around £2.4 billion a year in lost revenue. Tobacco smuggling also undermines health policy and exacerbates health inequalities: Recent research commissioned by ASH found that 1 in 4 poorer people buy illicit tobacco compared to 1 in 8 of the most affluent. ASH is calling for a target of a reducing the proportion of illegal tobacco sold from the current 13%, to 8% of total market share by 2010 and to 3% by 2015.

ASH is also calling for an effective tackle tobacco smuggling enforcement strategy inland as well as at the border. To be successful this requires the involvement of the Border agency, HM Revenue & Customs, the police and Serious Organised Crime Agency, local government (Trading Standards officers) and the Department of Health. At regional and local level, greater collaboration is needed between the NHS, local government, the police and UK Border Agency. This can be achieved via local strategic partnerships and crime and disorder reduction partnerships.

The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) supports these proposals. ACS Public Affairs Director Shane Brennan said: “The tobacco black market is one of the biggest risks to health in deprived communities; tackling it has to be the centrepiece of the Government’s tobacco control strategy. We support ASH’s proposals, the targets have to be ambitious and the action taken to make a difference in the communities has to be innovative, based on a multi-agency approach and properly supported with investment.

Source: acs.org.uk, 18 November 2008
Link: http://tiny.cc/0Am55

BBC presenter should not have apologised for anti-smoking remark

Opinion piece by Guardian reporter, Roy Greenslade:

I see that the smokers' lobby group Forest is boasting about winning an apology from BBC Radio Northampton presenter Bob Walmsley because he compared smokers to alcoholics. I don't believe there was any need for the host of the station's consumer affairs programme to apologise.

Last week, in the course of interviewing Forest spokesman Neil Rafferty about a London council's decision to ban smokers from fostering, Walmsley compared placing a child with foster parents who smoke to placing a child with alcoholics. He also suggested that smokers were unfit parents.

It is debatable whether, as Walmsley said in his on-air apology, that he was guilty of making an "unfair comparison". But note what Rafferty said in his post-apology reaction.

After claiming that Walmsley crossed the line with his "ill-informed and offensive" views, he added: "Too many BBC local radio presenters are breaching the corporation's editorial rules on impartiality, particularly when it comes to the controversial issues surrounding tobacco. They are using licence payers' money to further the anti-smoking agenda and that is not acceptable."

Not acceptable? Not impartial? Cigarettes are sold with a grisly warning about causing death. The government has banned smoking in public buildings. The medical evidence about smoking is irrefutable.

Smoking is addictive. Unlike drinking alcohol, even in moderation it can cause problems for both smokers and for those who inhale the smoke. So Walmsley was quite right and should not have been forced to back down.

Source: The Guardian, 17 November 2008
Link: http://tiny.cc/I8ZhZ