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ASH Daily News for 22 December 2006

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ASH Daily News
 
22 December 2006
  
HEADLINES
 
Hospitals going smokefree in the New Year
 
Scots less likely to go on a second date with a smoker
 
More than 100 pubs and restaurants in Wales have gone smokefree early
 
Smoking by American teens has stopped declining
 
Merry Christmas
 
FULL TEXT
 
Hospitals going smokefree in the New Year
 
Smoking outside York hospital will be banned from the New Year.  Notices have gone up at the hospital advising patients and staff that its grounds will be a no-smoking zone from January 1.
 
Smoking was banned inside the hospital building in 2001, but the new move extends the restriction to the entire site.
 
Nursing director Mike Proctor said staff would be enforcing the policy, but they should not put themselves into potentially difficult situations if patients were being aggressive.
 
Mr Proctor said: “What we're trying to do is introduce a smokefree environment for the whole population. We haven't had smoking in the building since 2001 and it's not caused that many problems.
 
“The country is generally moving to a culture where nonsmoking is the norm - what we're doing is reflecting the generally cultural move into that. We're moving in the direction of travel, not against it.”
 
“We deal with the outcomes of long-term smoking this hospital every day, heart disease, lung cancer - it would be almost perverse for a hospital to allowing smoking on its premises when it causes such damage to patients' health.”
 
Source: The Press, York, 21 December 2006
Link to article: http://tinyurl.com/yhccn3
 
 
Hospitals in Sheffield are also gearing up for a New Year smoking ban.
 
The smoking ban comes into force on New Year's Day and will affect the Northern General, Hallamshire, Jessop Wing, Charles Clifford and Weston Park hospitals.
 
Signs are being posted to alert people to the new rules and cards are being handed out to point people in the direction of free NHS stop smoking services.
 
Patients who are booked in for operations will be warned in advance about the new policy.
 
Richard Parker, chief nurse at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said that patients and visitors had complained about having to walk through clouds of smoke to get through hospital entrances.
 
Source: Sheffield Today 21 December 2006
Link to article: http://tinyurl.com/ye3by6
 
 
Scots less likely to go on a second date with a smoker
 
A study has found that more than half of all Scots would think twice about going on a second date with a smoker.
 
And almost a quarter of those who smoke claimed they would quit the habit if they thought it would improve their chances with someone they fancy.
 
Anti-smoking campaigners said the results were proof of a growing shift in attitude since the smoking ban came into force earlier this year.
 
Source: IC West Lothian  21 December
Link to article: http://tinyurl.com/yn7mpm
 
 
More than 100 pubs and restaurants in Wales have gone smokefree early
 
More than 100 pubs and restaurants in North Wales have gone smokefree already.
 
Dozens of bars and scores of eateries have made the move months before the Assembly’s ban on smoking starts on April 2 2007.
 
Lleucu Cooke from the Welsh government said: “We know of at least 100 pubs and restaurants in North Wales alone which have brought in a smoking ban already –and there are probably a lot more than that.”
 
She also revealed that there are at least 1,000 businesses, including pubs, restaurants, factories and B&Bs which have now adopted the policy across Wales.
 
Brione Webley, landlady of T Coch Inn in Morfa Nefyn, implemented a smoking ban after being branded a heavy smoker by her doctor – even though she has never smoked a cigarette in her life.
 
Mrs Webley, 54, said: “It’s not only a cleaner and healthier environment but it protects the health of my staff and customers.”
 
Publican Linda Richards, of the Prince of Wales in Criccieth, said: “There used to be so much smoke around the pub when you walked in, it burned your eyes.
 
“We decided to go completely smokefree this year – especially as I knew the ban was coming into force next year anyway. At first, everyone said it wouldn’t work. But after two weeks, the pub was back to its usual self.”
 
Health Minister Dr Brian Gibbons AM welcomed early ‘banners’. He said: “The decisions made by an increasing number of businesses to go smokefree in advance of the ban should be celebrated. We hope many other businesses in Wales will be encouraged to follow suit over Christmas and the New Year.”
 
Source: Daily Post IC NorthWales 21 December 2006
Link to article: http://tinyurl.com/ydtgbu
 
Website: www.smokingbanwales  
 
 
Smoking by American teens has stopped declining
 
Daily smoking by teenagers in the US in the eighth and 10th grades has stopped declining, though it remains at an all-time low.
 
(Note: 8th Grade = 13-14 years old, 10th Grade = 15-16 years old, 12th Grade = 17-18 years old).
 
Following a decade of substantial decreases daily smoking among young people in their early and middle teens has stopped declining, according to the latest Monitoring the Futures (MTF) survey report.
 
MTF, which is now in its 32nd year, measures smoking, drinking, and illicit drug use amongst US secondary school students. It surveys about 50,000 eighth, tenth, and twelfth graders in over 400 secondary schools every year.
 
The study had previously reported a large and continuing decline in cigarette smoking since they reached a recent peak in the mid-1990s; current daily smoking has fallen by half among 12th graders, and by more than half among those in 8th and 10th grades.
However, this year no further decline in daily smoking was observed at 8th or 10th grade. Further declines did occur at 12th grade; daily smoking fell a bit further from 13.6 percent in 2005 to 12.2 percent in 2006 (a not quite statistically significant drop).
 
The investigators note that even occasional smoking in senior year is important, because many of the light to moderate smokers transition into regular smoking in the years after high school.
 
“Many fewer of today’s students have ever even tried smoking than was true a decade ago, when recent peak levels in lifetime prevalence were attained,” said University of Michigan researcher Lloyd Johnston, the principal investigator of the study. While 49 percent of the 8th graders in 1996 had tried cigarettes, “only” 25 percent of the 8th graders in 2006 indicated having done so in this survey.
 
The most widely endorsed of these attitudinal statements about smoking by the teenagers is “I prefer to date people who don’t smoke.” Around 80% of all 8th and 10th graders agree with this statement, while 77% of 12th graders endorsed it.
 
“Wanting to be attractive to the opposite sex should be a major motivation to avoid smoking for nearly all teens today,” Johnston said. “Clearly the social stigma attached to smoking has grown, and is now very high, even within their peer group.”
 
Source: Healthfinder 21 December 2006
Link to article: http://www.healthfinder.gov/news/newsstory.asp?docID=600366
Press release available: http://monitoringthefuture.org/press.html
 
 
Merry Christmas
 
Please note this is the last ASH Daily News for 2006. It will recommence on 2nd Jan 2007. We wish everyone a very safe and happy Christmas and New Year.
 
The ASH Daily News team.
 
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