Smoke rebel host bids to be UKIP MP

Smoke ban rebel licensee Nick Hogan is to run as the UK Independence Party (UKIP) candidate for Chorley in the next election. His appointment was announced at a public meeting held by the party at the Swan With Two Necks pub in Chorley.

"I am very pleased to be asked to become the parliamentary candidate," said Hogan. "The EU affects our daily life in every way and I am fed up to the back teeth with the rules coming down from the European Union. We have had enough and must say 'no' to being dictated to." He said the smoking ban was "the final straw".

"At the end of the day we are British and proud to be British and do not want to be run by faceless bureaucrats in Brussels," said Hogan, whose wife Denise is licensee of the Swan with Two Necks. Paul Nuttall, UKIP chairman, who said Hogan would be "an asset to the party and would work hard to help further its aims of withdrawing from the EU".

Hogan is currently continuing his fight against his recent conviction for of failing to prevent people from smoking on his former licensed premises, the Swan Hotel and Barristers in Bolton on four occasions in July last year. A district judge has refused his appeal but "on a point of principal" he is now preparing to take the matter to the Court of Appeal.

UKIP advocates lifting the smoking ban in pubs and giving licensees the right to choice whether to allow smoking in all or part of their premises,

Source: Morning Advertiser, 20 October 2008
Link: http://tiny.cc/daCGs

Tackle smoking in poor areas, says Royal College of Nurses

The Royal College of Nurses (RCN) is calling for more to be done to stop people smoking in deprived communities. Failing to invest more in anti-smoking measures will ensure health inequalities persist, the college says.

RCN leaders add that the NHS currently lacks the resources to address the uptake of smoking in deprived communities. The call for renewed action comes 10 years on from the White Paper Smoking Kills, which paved the way for a ban on tobacco advertising and smoking in public places.

RCN chief executive Dr Peter Carter said: 'The NHS does not have the required support to address the growing concerns of the uptake of smoking in deprived communities and the barriers many face in giving up their addiction. Nurses in the primary care sector already play an influential role in helping people give up smoking. There need to be more resources to provide nurses with the skills and knowledge to deliver expert advice and appropriate treatment.'

Source: HealthcareRepublic.com, 20 October 2008
Link: http://tiny.cc/2H82N

US: General Tobacco to produce low ignition propensity products

General Tobacco has announced that beginning January 2009 all its products will be manufactured with low ignition propensity paper which uses thin bands of less porous paper to slow down the burn of the product.

According to the company, this change is its proactive effort to meet state mandated low ignition propensity (LIP paper) requirements in advance of time limits, and even in advance of state laws.

Source: Datamonitor, 20 October 2008
Link: http://tiny.cc/L8ZrR

The mother who gets her 13-year-old to behave... by giving her cigarettes

Teenager Sam Holt's behaviour would leave most parents in despair - drinking, smoking, taking drugs and having sex.  But the 13-year-old's mother thinks it is 'sweet' rather than shocking. Tracy Holt even rewards her daughter with cigarettes on the rare occasions when she does behave.

Miss Holt, 43, knows Sam drinks but is just relieved that it's not more than a couple of cans of lager a night. And she decided not to get angry about her daughter losing her virginity at 12, instead insisting that Sam uses contraception.  Miss Holt, a jobless single mother with two other adult children, told Closer magazine: 'I don't see the point in punishing her. If I ground her, I'm just punishing myself because I have to put up with her in the house. Instead, I reward her good behaviour by giving her cigarettes. If she's bad, she goes without. She's a little comedian. I let her get away with a lot of cheek. It's sweet.'

Giving out cigarettes as a reward 'works', she insisted. Miss Holt said: 'There are a lot worse things she could be doing. 'We've all got to die sometime. I haven't got cancer from smoking so she'll probably be all right anyway.' The teenager claims being given cigarettes for her 15-a-day habit has helped her behaviour. Sam said: 'If Mum tells me to tidy my room, I ignore her but if she offers me a fag, I do it.'

Miss Holt, who smokes 20 a day, also appears relaxed about her daughter's other pastimes. She said: 'Sam often hangs out with her mates on the streets and they'll drink lager and smoke pot. 'I think she only drinks a couple of cans a night, so I'm lucky she isn't a proper drunk. She smokes a joint every now and then. I don't think she's tried anything harder.'

Sam's record at school would also concern most parents. She has been excluded for bad behaviour more than 40 times. Miss Holt believes her daughter began to go off the rails after her partner left the family home in Gosport, Hampshire, three years ago.  'Sam got suspended for the first time after she climbed on to the school roof,' she said. 'I shouted at her and then explained she shouldn't climb on roofs because she could fall off. I didn't know what else to do.'

Miss Holt blames teachers at Sam's former school for being 'too soft'. She said: 'Now she is at a special school where there are fewer kids in each class. 'Hopefully these teachers will be stricter and she will finally get the discipline that's needed.'

Source: MailOnline, 21 October 2008
Link: http://tiny.cc/YyrkB

Secondhand smoke worse for children

Kids at higher risk, since they breathe in more air by weight than adults, study says.

Children exposed to secondhand smoke often have levels of carbon monoxide in their blood that are similar to those of adult smokers, and frequently higher levels than adults exposed to secondhand smoke, a new study found.

The study, to be presented at the American Society of Anesthesiologists annual meeting that concludes Oct. 22 in Orlando, Fla., said the younger the child, the greater the potential for exposure. "The physiology of children -- especially the youngest -- is different from that of adults," Dr. Branden E. Yee, of the anesthesiology department at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, said in a news release issued by the society. "Children breathe in a greater amount of air per body weight compared to adults."

The study measured levels of carboxyhemoglobin, which is formed when carbon monoxide binds to the blood, in 200 children between the ages of 1 and 12. The exact ramifications of high levels of carboxyhemoglobin are not entirely known, but long-term, low-level exposure includes changes in heart and lung tissue as it hampers delivery of oxygen to body tissue. While household and environmental factors such as stoves, heaters and automobiles are potential sources of carbon monoxide exposure, secondhand cigarette smoke is often the most likely source of elevated carboxyhemoglobin, the researchers said.

Yee said educating parents about the need to change their smoking habits, especially around children, is vital. "Personalized education coupled with the act of physically showing a parent the carboxyhemoglobin measurement in his or her child's blood may provide a graphic and concrete message to that parent," he said.

Source: healthfinder.gov, 20 October 2008
Link: http://tiny.cc/sYIv7

Smell of smoke does not trigger smoking relapse in quitters

People who have recently quit smoking are no more likely to relapse if they find the smell of cigarette smoke pleasant than if they find it unpleasant, study findings show.

"Recent quitters can be reassured that finding the smell of cigarette smoke pleasant is not likely to lead them back to smoking," commented lead researcher Dr Hayden McRobbie, from Auckland University of Technology in Auckland, New Zealand. Writing in the journal Addiction, Dr McRobbie and team say that, in people who have recently quit smoking, relapse can be triggered by many things, including holding a lit cigarette and watching others smoke.

However, they add: “One related area which has received little attention so far in relation to its influence on relapse is the way in which recent quitters respond to the smell of other people’s cigarette smoke.” To investigate, the team studied more than 1000 patients who received smoking cessation treatment at the East London Smokers Clinic in the UK and who stopped smoking for at least a week. The smokers completed a weekly questionnaire that asked them to rate how pleasant they found the smell of other people's cigarettes and the severity of their withdrawal discomfort. In total, 23% of the participants reported that the smell of other people's cigarette smoke during their first week of abstinence was pleasant, and 54% found it tempting.

The researchers discovered that participants who found the smell of cigarette smoke pleasant did not necessarily find it tempting. Furthermore, there was no association between finding the smell of cigarette smoke pleasant and an increased risk of relapse in the following week. Unsurprisingly, finding the smell of cigarette smoking tempting was significantly associated with an increased risk of relapse in the following week, but this association grew weaker with time.

Dr McRobbie and team conclude: “In recent ex-smokers, finding other people's cigarette smoke pleasant or unpleasant had little bearing on future smoking status. Patients who found the smell of other people's smoke tempting were more likely to relapse, although this seems to have reflected a general level of urges to smoke rather than a specific reaction to other people's smoke. They add: “Patients who find other people's smoke tempting can be reassured that this reaction will gradually decrease.”

Free abstract

Source: MedwireNews, 20 October 2008
Link: http://tiny.cc/pYlGS