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ASH Daily news for 14 January 2011

HEADLINES

  • Scotland: Edinburgh shops the butt of cigarette swap scam

    Trading Standards officers are investigating mystery cases of cigarette packets being sold full of scrap paper instead of tobacco.

    It is understood retailers contacted the council after customers brought back packets of cigarettes which had turned out to be full of magazine cuttings wrapped in napkins.

    Tobacco bosses said retailers may have been duped by an elaborate con trick known as "switching", which sees genuine boxes swapped with fakes.

    Source: The Scotsman - 13 January 2011
    Link: http://bit.ly/e3X6nk

  • 'Thirdhand smoke' may be bigger health hazard than previously believed

    Scientists are reporting that so-called "thirdhand smoke" - the invisible remains of cigarette smoke that deposits on carpeting, clothing, furniture and other surfaces - may be even more of a health hazard than previously believed. The study, published in ACS' journal, Environmental Science & Technology, extends the known health risks of tobacco among people who do not smoke but encounter the smoke exhaled by smokers or released by smoldering cigarette butts.

    The scientists studied interactions between nicotine and indoor air on a variety of different materials, including cellulose (a component of wood furniture), cotton, and paper to simulate typical indoor surfaces. They found that nicotine interacts with ozone, in indoor air, to form potentially toxic pollutants on these surfaces.

    Source: BrightSurf - 13 January 2011
    Link: http://bit.ly/dJzkAe

  • EU: Pack branding 'silent salesman' of tobacco industry

    Cigarette packet branding is the tobacco industry's "silent salesman" helping hook children and young people, a group of industry experts have warned.

    Speaking on Wednesday at a discussion of several studies on the impact of introducing plain cigarette packaging, marketing expert Crawford Moodie said there was a definite link between smokers and tobacco branding.

    Moodie, of the institute of social marketing at Stirling university in Scotland, conducted an online survey, which found that almost one in three young people admitted to choosing a certain brand of cigarettes because they were attracted by the pack's appearance.

    It was also found that even the colour of the pack could mislead people with up to a third of young people associating pack colour with the strength of the cigarettes inside.

    Karine Gallopel-Morvan, a lecturer at Rennes university in France, found that a plain pack design with health warnings would deter almost all non smokers from taking up smoking and would reduce the desire amongst smokers to take a cigarette from the pack.

    Further analysis at the event, organised by the association of European cancer leagues and the Belgian foundation against cancer, came from Guido Van Hal who carried out a study on 15- to 19-year-olds in Antwerp.

    The research showed that the appearance of the cigarette package was one of the main motives for buying them.

    A professor at Antwerp university, Van Hal said plain packaging had the biggest impact on non regular smokers.

    He said that in a group of non regular smokers, "plain packages were seen as a reason not to buy cigarettes, as they were perceived as something of a lesser quality".

    The European commission has just completed a public consultation on whether the 2001 tobacco products directive should be revised.

    There have been growing calls from the anti-smoking sector to introduce plain packaging as part of that revision.

    Source: The Parliament - 13 January 2011
    Link: http://bit.ly/ibrFM1

  • Sweden: Shop a smoking neighbour and pocket 560 euros

    Reporting neighbours who light up on the sly can be lucrative in Sweden, where a landlords' association said it would offer a hefty reward for reporting people who violate a strict smoking ban in a residential building.

    The initiative concerns a building in Sundsvall where residents in all 121 apartments are required to adhere to a strict smoking ban, applying to "in the apartments, on the balconies or anywhere,"

    Anyone found to be smoking in the building will be evicted. 

    Source: Yahoo!/AFP - 13 January 2011
    Link: http://yhoo.it/ejCI2V

  • Australia: 2010, The best year for tobacco control

    Mike Daube, Professor of Health Policy, Curtin University, President of the Australian Council on Smoking and Health, and former director of ASH (UK) looks back at a successful year for tobacco control in Australia.

    [...] During 2010 we have had a 25% increase in tobacco excise duty; a major boost to funding for public education; establishment of a National Preventive Health Agency with substantial funding and a mandate to work on tobacco; funding to States and Territories for chronic disease prevention - with specified targets for reductions in smoking; a new, well-funded Tackling Indigenous Smoking Initiative, led by former Aboriginal Social Justice Commissioner Tom Calma; extra funding for smoking cessation supports; and from February nicotine replacement therapy will be available through the PBS to concession card holders.

    Source: ABC - 12 January 2011
    Link: http://bit.ly/hnaV5H

  • Spanish bars flout the ban

    On New Year's Day, Spain finally relinquished its status as one of Europe's last refuges for the smoker. A 2006 law had banned smoking in the workplace and required the creation of non-smoking sections in larger restaurants and bars, but because of ample loopholes and lax enforcement, it was largely ineffective. In fact, in the first three years of the law's existence, smoking among Spaniards actually increased 6.7%. But this new law bans smoking in all enclosed public spaces and even some open-air ones, it also prescribes fines for infractions, from $40 for individuals to as much as $13,000 for establishments that flout the law.

    However since the law went into effect, a small but growing number of bars and restaurants have joined in open rebellion against it, blatantly encouraging smoking and collecting signatures to have the law appealed.

    By Jan. 4, Spain's Federation of Consumers in Action had received more than 1,000 complaints from patrons about bars and restaurants that weren't complying with the ban. And even those that do fulfil the letter of the law may find a way around its spirit in the form of a good outdoor heater.

    Source: TIME - 11 January 2011
    Link: http://bit.ly/gK4qlg

  • Andrew Lansley on Radio 4 next week

    Health Minister Andrew Lansley will take part in PM, BBC Radio 4's drive-time news programme each weekday evening  next week. He will present elements of the NHS White Paper.

    Friday's programme will include a Q&A session.

    Source: BBC
    Link: http://bbc.in/fbUa3z