Ireland: Parents urged to quit smoking

A child living in a household where either parent smokes is between two and two-and-a-half times more likely to smoke, according to new research. The study, published by the HSE (Health Service Executive) as part of a campaign to get people to quit, also shows that more than half of parents who smoke continue to do so at home.

Dr Fenton Howell, director of public health with the HSE, said while a smoking ban was introduced five years ago to protect people from second-hand smoke in their workplaces, parents were not recognising that they also needed to protect their children from second-hand smoke in their own homes. “Children have much less developed lungs and are more susceptible to passive smoke,” he said.

There were a number of key messages from the research, he said. One was that while many factors influenced whether young people smoked, parental behaviour was quite a “significant” one. If they quit, he said, not alone would it be the single most important thing they could do to improve their health but they would also be protecting their children.

The research was carried out among 1,000 adults by Behaviour Attitudes for the HSE. It found that of the 48 per cent of current or past smokers in Ireland, 78 per cent grew up in a house where a parent smoked. Depressingly, though, 28 per cent said they were not likely to give up smoking even though their habit could encourage or influence their children to smoke.

Tobacco causes nearly 7,000 deaths a year in Ireland and a 20-a-day habit costs about €3,000 a year. A new website was also launched yesterday: www.giveupsmoking.ie which provides information about quitting.

Source: The Irish Times, 19 May 2009
Link: http://tiny.cc/fCbBc

Youngsters to fight tobacco deaths

Young people across Rochdale, Manchester, are set to join the battle to prevent tobacco deaths with the launch of an Anti-Tobacco Youth Forum.  It is the brainchild of the Roy Castle Lung Foundation, which aims to defeat lung cancer nationally, and is backed locally by Rochdale Council and NHS Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale.

The council’s tobacco-free expert, Lisa Barker said: “Half of all regular smokers in Britain are killed by their habit and one-fifth of our young people are already regular smokers by the time they are 15. The aim of the Anti-Tobacco Youth Forum is to get young people directly involved in campaigns to stop young people picking up the habit and help them kick it when they do.”

The forum is one of the first to be set up in the North West, joining the likes of Liverpool, Salford and Widnes who already have successful groups. Run by young people for young people, the forum is looking for enthusiastic and committed 12-16 year olds and 17-20 year olds to take the campaign forward. To find out more about the Anti-Tobacco Youth Campaign and get involved locally, visit www.roycastle.org/atyc.

Source: Rochdale Online, 19 May 2009
Link: http://tiny.cc/794ZY

Ireland: Tobacco advertising banned in shops from July

Retailers will have to ensure tobacco products are kept out of sight in shops from July 1, under strict new Department of Health guidelines. The guidelines also warn that not even a hint of any tobacco advertising can be visible in the shops. In addition, customers must be shown just one packet of cigarettes at a time.

In the introduction to the guidelines, the department said research showed that tobacco advertising was a key factor in a young person starting and continuing to smoke. "The location of prominent tobacco displays in retail outlets in itself plays a role in promoting tobacco consumption. This placement of tobacco in close proximity to everyday consumer goods such as newspapers and sweets, helps tobacco to be seen as another benign consumer product."

The guidelines warn that:

• No internal or external tobacco displays are allowed, including advertising signage.
• All tobacco must be placed in a closed container.
• There can be no evidence of promotional lighting, clocks, change mats, mouse pads, till covers, pens or danglers which relate to tobacco.
• The container can only be accessible by the retailer or retail staff.
• Self-service vending machines are prohibited, except in registered clubs and licensed premises.
• Cigarette vending machines cannot display tobacco product trademarks, emblems, marketing images or logos unless they are out of view of the customer.

All retailers that sell tobacco have to be registered with the Office of Tobacco Control before July. The only sign the premises will be permitted to display is one authorised by the watchdog which reads: "Tobacco products are on sale here to persons 18 and over." Breaches of the legislation will see the retailer being brought before the courts and faced with a ban from selling cigarettes for a specified period of time.

Source: The Irish Independent, 20 May 2009
Link: http://tiny.cc/BOlpr

US: Class-action lawsuit over tobacco ads proceeds

Consumers have the right to sue as a group over advertising they believe misled them into buying products, a divided California state Supreme Court ruled Monday in reinstating a massive suit against the tobacco industry.

The 4-3 decision rejected business arguments that, if accepted, would have virtually prohibited class-action suits for false advertising by requiring proof that every plaintiff - millions of them, in some cases - had seen an allegedly deceptive ad and relied on it to make a purchase. The court majority said that evidence is required only for the single plaintiff or small group that represents the entire class.

"This gives the consumers rights to protect themselves from fraudulent advertising," said Mark Robinson, a lawyer for the smokers who sued tobacco companies in 1997. The ruling could make California "the class-action capital of the country," retorted William Stern, a lawyer for business organisations and a co-author of Proposition 64, a 2004 ballot measure at the heart of the case.

The suit accused the companies of waging a long advertising campaign that concealed cigarettes' addictive and harmful effects. Unlike individual suits over illnesses allegedly caused by tobacco company deception, the current suit seeks reimbursement of money spent by every Californian who bought cigarettes during the period covered by the case: June 10, 1993, to April 23, 2001.

The case was titled In re Tobacco II Cases, S146345.

Source: San Francisco Chronicle, 19 May 2009
Link: http://tiny.cc/xFdOd

Pub closes 'research smoking room'

A pub in Yorkshire has been forced to close the "smoking research centre" that it opened to get around the smoking ban. Smoking has been forbidden in enclosed public spaces since July 2007, but the Cutting Edge in Worsbrough used a legal loophole to try to avoid prosecution. Licensee Kerry Fenton labelled the tap room as a research centre and gave smokers questionnaires about their habit to take advantage of an exemption for "designated rooms in a research or testing facility".

However, Barnsley Council officials have said that the pub is "clearly not a research or test facility" and the Cutting Edge's owners Punch Taverns confirmed that they did "not endorse this activity". A spokeswoman confirmed: "Punch has requested that our licensee at the Cutting Edge cease activity and we believe this has now been adhered to. We have not been heavy handed in this matter but were concerned about the legality of this activity and a breach to the terms of our premises licence."

Source: The China Daily, 20 May 2009
Link: http://tiny.cc/YrhbO