HEADLINES

• Shock findings in Scotland's first smoking in cars study
• South Yorkshire: Jail terms for cigarette smugglers
• France amends anti-smoking law to save its heritage
• Group praises U.S. strides in tobacco control
• Indonesia Lawyers get fired up by smoking ban
• Hong Kong: Smoker sentenced for obstructing tobacco control inspector

• Shock findings in Scotland's first smoking in cars study

  Smoking in a car exposes a child passenger to dangerous levels of poisonous particles … and even opening a window doesn't protect them.

  These are the stark findings of a study commissioned by leading NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) health experts, in collaboration with researchers from the University of Aberdeen.

  The study involved a child sized doll child being fitted in a car seat with the very latest smoke monitoring equipment attached at the doll’s mouth so that precise measurements could be taken. The particles of tobacco poison were so high that they compared with the levels you would expect after being exposed to secondhand smoke in a busy smoke filled pub before the smoking ban.

  The study also proved that the common misconception of opening the window while you smoke in the car doesn’t actually help. Opening the window will only reduce harmful air levels slightly and crucially it still doesn’t bring it down to a safe level.

  NHSGGC is giving away 15,000 car stickers bearing the slogan "Our car is smokefree" in an attempt to get the message across that smoking in cars is dangerous not only for people who smoke and their adult passengers but most importantly for children who have no choice but to be in these cars.

  Source: Physorg - 20 January 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/eKR9xg

• South Yorkshire: Jail terms for cigarette smugglers

  Four South Yorkshire crooks have been jailed for their part in a smuggling ring which helped the Italian Mafia flood Britain with black market cigarettes - while another escaped immediate custody.

  The four teamed up with a notorious family to sneak contraband tobacco past customs inside consignments of vegetables, dog food and orange juice.

  Prosecutors estimate the 11-strong gang ripped off the taxpayer by up to £10 million by evading duty on the cheap imports from Eastern Europe.

  Sentences vary from 12 months imprisonment suspended for two years with 150 hours' unpaid work to 3 years imprisonment.

  Source: The Star - 20 January 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/dRljkj

• France amends anti-smoking law to save its heritage

  Citing "cultural heritage" concerns, French lawmakers have approved new exceptions to a Draconian anti-smoking law.

  Fear of breaking the so-called Evin law, which bans the "direct or indirect" promotion of tobacco products, had in recent years led authorities to remove images of cigarettes from publicly displayed pictures of famous French figures.

  A public outcry gradually mounted as the philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, the iconic comic character Jacques Tati and Charles de Gualle's culture minister Andre Malraux appeared in posters without their trademark cigarettes. A cigarette was even removed from the cover of former President Jacques Chirac's memoirs.

  Lawmakers said they wanted to counteract the extensive way the country's anti-smoking law had been interpreted.

  Source: Global Post - 20 January 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/huqgcd

• Group praises U.S. strides in tobacco control

  U.S. leaders took meaningful steps to reduce smoking over the past year, increasing treatment options and giving the U.S. Food and Drug Administration new power to regulate tobacco, a major health group said on Thursday.

  States, on the other hand, "failed miserably" at protecting citizens from the burden of tobacco use, according to the American Lung Association, which issued its annual report card on U.S. tobacco control efforts.

  Download a pdf of the report The State of Tobacco Control 2010.

  Source: Reuters - 20 January 2011
  Link: http://reut.rs/e7fPsg

• Indonesia Lawyers get fired up by smoking ban

  A group of lawyers has mounted a bid to challenge the city’s new antismoking decree, saying it violated human rights.

  Habiburokhman, a lawyer for the group, which calls itself the People’s Rights Advocacy Team (TAHR), said on Thursday that the decree was “very discriminatory against smokers.”

  The gubernatorial decree, issued in October last year, reinforces a 2005 bylaw on air pollution control, which in turn was issued to enforce an earlier decree specifying certain public areas as smoke-free zones.

  The new decree bans smoking in all public buildings, whereas the previous decree allowed smoking in designated rooms.  

  The protest group last week filed a judicial review with the Supreme Court challenging the latest decree.

  Source: The Jakarta Globe - 21 January 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/f5uDS3

• Hong Kong: Smoker sentenced for obstructing tobacco control inspector

  A male smoker was today (January 20) sentenced to four weeks imprisonment, suspended for two years, for obstructing a Tobacco Control Inspector (TCI), and fined $2,000 for failing to give name, address and contact telephone number and proof of identity upon request.

  The 55-year-old smoker refused to supply his name, address and contact telephone number and produce proof of identity to the TCI for inspection and issuance of Fixed Penalty Notice.

  The man was subsequently arrested and charged.

  Source: 7th Space - 20 January 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/eOqkq9