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ASH Daily News for 26 March 2008

Tobacco-firm parent, Vector, funded cancer study

A major tobacco company funded a study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, that said that 80% of lung-cancer deaths could be prevented with widespread use of computerized-tomography, or CT, scans, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.

The study, by Claudia Henschke of Weill Cornell Medical College, was funded by a charity, the Times reported. That charity, in turn, was funded largely by $ 3.6 million of grants from Vector Group, parent of the cigarette maker Liggett Group, the Times reported.

Vector, which had disclosed in 2000 that it planned to help fund Henschke's research, told the Times that it had no influence over the research. And Henschke and her collaborator on the study told the paper that Weill Cornell was not trying to conceal the funding and that the public-health community was fully aware of it.

Source: Market Watch, 26 March 2008
Link: http://tiny.cc/LwBhE

USA: Maine House votes ban on smoking in cars with child passengers

A bill to outlaw smoking in cars in which children under 16 are present won an initial vote of approval Tuesday in the Maine House of Representatives after supporters defended it as a children's health measure that would save money. The bill, which faces further House and Senate voting, advanced on a 92-46 tally. It would authorize 50 dollar fines for violations, but only after the first year. In the meantime, warnings would be issued.

Speaking in support, Rep. Sheryl Briggs said the bill would protect children from the effects of secondhand smoke in enclosed areas that could lead to ear infections and aggravate asthma and other respiratory ailments. "We have an opportunity to also save money" that would otherwise be spent on health care, said the Mexico Democrat.

The bill emerged with a 12-1 vote of support from the Health and Human Services Committee. The dissenter, Rep. Robert Walker, urged against "legislating common sense." "Is the long arm of government once again reaching into people's lives, into people's homes and now in people's cars?" asked the Lincolnville Republican, who is a physician.

Rep. Sean Faircloth, the assistant House Democratic leader, said the bill defends the rights of children who are strapped in the enclosures of cars "and forced to breathe in carcinogens." "As a civil libertarian, I am forced to support this bill," said Faircloth.

Another Bangor Democrat, Rep. Patricia Blanchette, had supported a city ordinance that was the state's first and became a model of a legislative bill she sponsored earlier on. But on Tuesday she called for rejection of the pending measure, saying it had become too watered down in committee. Among the changes Blanchette opposes are lowering the age in the original bill, which applied to those under age 18, to those under 16 instead. She also opposed the change that says violations can only occur if the driver is stopped for another infraction.

Maine's bill is similar to those that have been enacted in other cities, counties and states and are under consideration or enacted in Canadian provinces. As of Tuesday, it will be against the law in Nova Scotia to smoke in a vehicle while children under 18 are present. The fine will be $ 394.50.

Source: The Associated Press, 26 March 2008
Link: http://tiny.cc/vZTQ9

Publicans face prosecution over smoking ban

Four charges of breaching anti-smoking legislation have been dropped against a husband and wife who become the first publicans in Norfolk to be prosecuted under the new laws.

Martin and Karen Turver, licensees of the Dog and Partridge at East Wretham, challenged the introduction of a nationwide smoking ban last year, describing it as a blatant infringement of civil liberties. They entered pleas through their solicitor at Thetford Magistrates' Court to 15 counts of breaching the law on three occasions last year.

Yesterday, at a hearing before Swaffham magistrates, Lloyd Gibson, for Breckland Council, said it had decided to drop three counts of failing to prevent smoking last August 4 against Turver and one against his wife for refusing to stub out in a smoke-free place. The couple had pleaded not guilty.

But the pair will face prosecution for another 11 counts to which they had pleaded guilty. Landlord Turver, 49, admitted failing to prevent smoking on the premises once on July 25 and twice on August 31, lighting up in the smoke-free place and obstructing an authorised Breckland officer on the same day. Karen Turver, 43, admitted six counts of failing to prevent smoking on July 25 and on August 4 and 31.

The couple, who have run the pub for more than 18 months, were not present yesterday and the case was adjourned to May 9, when it will be heard by magistrates at King's Lynn.

Meanwhile, Ian Ohlson, who lives at the Dog and Partridge, is also accused of smoking in a smoke-free place on August 31. He is to appear at the Swaffham court on April 8.

Under the legislation that came into force on July 1 last year, landlords can face a fine of up to £2,500 for failing to stop smoking in enclosed public spaces and individuals can receive a £50 fixed-penalty notice.

Source: EDP 24, 26 March 08
Link: http://tiny.cc/t7yNC

Canada: Number of kids trying smoking halved

Canadian youth appear to be understanding the anti-smoking message, according to a Health Canada report released Wednesday that found more young people are getting turned off smoking than a decade earlier.

The Youth Smoking Survey indicated that in 2004-05, 21 per cent of children in Grades 5 to 9 had at some time tried any type of tobacco product -a 50 per cent drop from the first time the survey was conducted in 1994. Students in those grades are considered to be most at risk for trying tobacco products said the study, which surveyed 29,000 students across the country.

Another finding is that the average age when a young person smoked an entire cigarette for the first time has continued to rise. In 2004-05 it was 11.8 years old, up from 11.2 years old in 1994. On average, males reported being six months younger than females when they smoked their first cigarette.

Anti-smoking advocates welcomed the survey's results and said federal and provincial governments, as well as health organizations, have implemented effective strategies to reduce smoking among youth. Bans on smoking in public places, restrictions on tobacco sales and marketing and higher cigarette prices have all had an impact, said Les Hagen, executive director of the Edmonton-based group Action on Smoking and Health. ''Youth have less disposable income, they are more price sensitive,'' Hagen said of why higher cigarette prices are a deterrent.

Cynthia Callard, executive director of Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada agreed and applauded governments that have imposed smoking bans. ''When you can't smoke in bars or in shopping centres or on school grounds then the kind of modelling that goes along with smoking 'being cool' is diminished,'' she said. ''There's less opportunity to reinforce that 'who the cool kids are and what they're doing.'''

While she is encouraged to see a decrease in the number of youth who are lighting up, Callard said it's not good enough. ''Tobacco is to North America what AIDS is to southern Africa,'' Callard said. ''It's a tragedy that's become normalized. People actually think it's a good thing when youth smoking is 20 per cent instead of thinking that this is a collective shame.''

Hagen and Callard urged governments to stay the course in their tobacco-control strategies and challenged them to take greater aim at tobacco companies. ''There's no question that they continue to aggressively target young people and we need to continue to be vigilant with this shameful industry,'' Hagen said.

Whether or not they admit it, youth do start smoking because of successful tobacco advertising, according to Hagen. Youth who responded to the survey said their peers start to smoke because ''it's cool'' or because of the behaviour of friends. Weight control was another perceived reason that youth start to smoke, a factor more commonly cited by girls than boys.

The survey measured other attitudes toward smoking and found 88 per cent of youth believe tobacco is addictive and 87 per cent believe second-hand smoke is harmful.

Source: Global National, 26 March 2008
Link: http://tiny.cc/W5pC1

India: 300 tobacco workers taken ill; one dead

More than 300 workers engaged in the harvest of the rain-hit tobacco at different places in the Khammam district were taken ill and hospitalised. While one woman died in a private hospital, four others were in serious condition. They were shifted to MGM hospital in Warangal.

According to reports, some 60 workers who were engaged in the tobacco farms in Garla and Bayyaram mandals complained of giddiness and body pain. As their condition deteriorated by evening, they were shifted to the nearby Government hospital at Mahabobabad in Warangal district. District Medical and Health Officer Y. Babji also rushed to Mahabobabad along with a team of doctors.

Those hospitalised responded well to the treatment provided and were discharged later. Similar cases were reported in other parts of the district, including Aswaraopet, Dammapet and Velerpadu.

Source: The Hindu, 26 March 2008
Link: http://tiny.cc/5T8pB

USA: Former cigarette model speaks out against tobacco

A man who was once the face of Winston cigarettes is now speaking out to teens about the dangers of smoking. The former male model spoke at Carter County schools about his time in the industry and claims teens are the tobacco companies' number one targets. David Goerlitz promoted cigarettes for seven years before deciding to warn teens before it's too late and they become addicted.

According to the American Lung Association, each day 4,000 people under 18 light up their first cigarette and almost 1,000 of them will become regular smokers.

Goerlitz quit smoking and promoting Winston during The Great American Smoke Out in 1988 after his brother was diagnosed with lung cancer. He now travels around the United States, informing teens on the dangers and consequences of tobacco. Goerlitz says, "The tobacco industry doesn't have a very close relationship with integrity or honesty and I like to bring that to the level of awareness proportionate to the havoc that it wreaks in society.'

Goerlitz says his primary targets are middle school students because they are easily manipulated and many teens are already addicted to tobacco by the time they reach high school. He also says that he is the only former cigarette model promoting tobacco awareness. The former Marlboro man, Wayne McClaren, who also spoke out against tobacco, died of lung cancer.

Source: KTEN News, 26 March 2008
Link: http://tiny.cc/H0CLc