Asthmatic kids breathe easier with smoke-free air

For children with asthma, reducing exposure to environmental tobacco smoke greatly decreases their chances of an asthma flare-up, hospital admission or emergency room visit, a study shows.

"We found this to be true when the child's exposure (to second-hand smoke) decreased, even if the decrease did not mean completely eliminating their exposure," Dr. Lynn B. Gerald, of University of Arizona in Tucson told Reuters Health. "Any reduction in environmental tobacco smoke exposure seems to greatly benefit these children."

Gerald's team documented the association between changes in environmental tobacco smoke exposure and childhood asthma-related illness in 290 asthmatic children enrolled in a clinical trial of supervised asthma therapy. The average age of the children was 11 years and 80 percent had moderate persistent asthma.

At the start of the study, 28 percent of caregivers reported that the child was exposed to second-hand smoke in the home and 19 percent reported exposure to smoke outside the home only. At a follow-up interview, 74 percent of caregivers reported no change in the child's exposure to second-hand smoke, 17 percent reported less exposure, and 9 percent reported increased exposure.

According to a report in the medical journal Chest, children who had any decrease in exposure to second-hand smoke over the course of 1 year had fewer episodes of poor asthma control, made fewer respiratory-related trips to the emergency room and were less apt to be hospitalized than children who had the same or increased exposure to second-hand smoke.

"We were not surprised by the findings but we were surprised by the magnitude of the benefit that decreasing smoke exposure appeared to have," Gerald said. She added that doctors can use this information as another "teaching point" for caregivers and parents of children with asthma.

Given that the majority of second-hand smoke exposure in the home is due to parents smoking, "the most effective environmental tobacco smoke reduction strategy may be to provide smoking cessation interventions to parents and possibly other household members," Gerald and her colleagues conclude.

Source: Reuters Health, 17 April 2009
Link: http://tinyurl.com/db2u32

Good kids get fags as reward

Children as young as nine are becoming hooked on cigarettes - given to them by their parents as a reward. More and more youngsters are being sent to stop-smoking specialists to help them quit. Shocked nurses in the North West of England say some children are given the cigarettes by their parents as a reward for good behaviour. And in one instance a nine-year-old boy was found to become angry in primary school class because he had not had his nicotine fix.

Now pupils determined to kick the habit are making brightly-coloured replacement nicotine inhalers fashionable in the playground. Health visitors attended schools in Blackburn, Hyndburn and the Ribble Valley, Lancs, to assess the problem. Ann Eastwood, young persons’ stop smoking co-ordinator for NHS East Lancashire, said: “The youngest we have coming to us are usually 11 or 12, but there was a case with a boy in Blackburn whose teacher called the service because he was so addicted that he was becoming twitchy and aggressive in lessons just because he hadn’t had a cigarette.

“In a lot of cases parents don’t know and children don’t want them to, but in some instances, parents not only know but actually give them cigarettes as a reward for good behaviour.” She added: “That is really shocking, but if the children are coming to us, it gives us a way in to help all the family.” Advisers are unable to give one-to-one sessions to those younger than 12 unless their parents are involved. The nine-year-old boy, who did not want his parents to know he was smoking, was given advice through a class discussion.

Stop-smoking co-ordinator Christine Donnelly said: “It is sad that children this young are smoking, but it is incredibly frustrating when parents are encouraging it." East Lancashire has some of the highest smoking rates in the UK, with 90 per cent of smokers lighting up before they were 25. The children are encouraged to make a smoking diary to identify the times and situations when they smoke, helping them to cut down. Heavy smokers are given inhalators as nicotine patches are too dangerous for children to use. Mrs Eastwood added: “We get two or three children all wanting to quit together and getting matching coloured inhalators.”

Source: The Sun, 20 April 2009
Link: http://tinyurl.com/cau59r

Progress in the fight to tackle tobacco smuggling

The Government has taken another significant step in the fight against tobacco smuggling as Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, Angela Eagle today signed anti-smuggling agreements with two international tobacco manufacturers.

The agreements with Philip Morris International and Japan Tobacco International - complement the legislation that the Government introduced in 2006, requiring all tobacco manufacturers to help prevent smuggling through careful control of their supply chains.

The Exchequer Secretary/Angela Eagle, said: "These agreements are an important new element in the fight against tobacco smuggling. In the last decade we have halved the size of the illicit cigarette market in the UK and by signing these agreements, we are demonstrating that we are determined to continue working with tobacco manufacturers to tackle smuggling."

Since the UK's first Tackling Tobacco Smuggling strategy was published in 2000, HM Revenue & Customs and the UK Border Agency have:

* reduced the proportion of illicit cigarettes from 21% in 2000 to 13%;
* seized more than 14 billion cigarettes and more than 1000 tonnes of hand rolling tobacco in the UK and abroad;
* broken up 370 criminal gangs involved in large-scale smuggling;
* prosecuted more than 2,000 people and issued more than £35m worth of confiscation orders.

Source: Wired-Gov.net, 20 April 2009
Link: http://tinyurl.com/c4hhgr

US: Nevada relaxing smoking ban rules

Moving against the trend in the rest of the US, Nevada may be loosing its smoking ban despite voters deciding the ban should be put into place a few years ago. This could make the state the first in the US to ease restrictions previously put into place to reduce cigarette use in public. 

Only last Friday the Nevada Senate approved a bill to allow smoking in taverns or saloons that serve food in the state only if under 21s weren’t allowed into the premises. The retraction was put into place after owners said that they had lost as much as a quarter of their business as a direct result. Their profits were also diminished by smokers who enjoyed playing video poker slot machines moving to casinos to gamble where the ban was not put into place.

Geno Hill, the Nevada Tavern Owners Association President said, “Our members' gaming revenues are off 20 to 30 percent since the ban, and that’s before the recession.”

Other cities including Champaign and Urbana, Illinois, and Friendship Height, Maryland have all repealed smoking bans. The City Council in Atlantic City also voted to add a smoking ban in casinos, however it was suspended after a year when businesses had reported a 10 to 20 percent drop in business. New Jersey Legislature is now considering banning smoking in casinos as part of state law. However supporters of the ban believe that the business lost immediately after smoking bans are put into place is only temporary as people will become used to the prohibitions over time.

Source: GamblingOnlineMagazine.com, 20 April 2009
Link: http://tinyurl.com/cyu882