HEADLINES

• London: Class bias claim in Coram's Fields smoking row
• Coventry: Shisha cafes face crackdown over harmful pipe use
• Staffordshire: £300k tobacco ring is busted
• Australia unveils ugly cigarette packets in fight against smoking
• New Zealand likely to introduce plain tobacco packets
• More smoke water pipes – family habits significant

• London: Class bias claim in Coram's Fields smoking row

  A historic park reserved exclusively for children has become embroiled in a row over social class after a plea for a smoking ban was rejected.

  King’s Cross resident Daniel Zylbersztajn has been waging a campaign against visitors lighting up at Coram’s Fields, which contains a farm, paddling pool, playground and café.

  His appeal for a ban on cigarettes was rejected at a Coram’s Fields board meeting in February.

  The Holborn park’s executive director Oct­avia Holland has warned that turning the area into a no-smoking zone might deter some people from bringing their children there.

  In an email to Mr Zylbersztajn last month, Ms Holland said: “As you are aware Coram’s Fields serves some of the most disadvantaged people in the area and making it a non-smoking zone could mean their children, many of whom don’t have gardens, would not come to the park and therefore miss out.”

  Mr Zylbersztajn, who regularly takes his daughter to Coram’s Fields, accused Ms Holland of being “classist and unfair”.

  He said: “What they [the board] are saying is people shouldn’t smoke but poor people can smoke as they are too stupid to know better. I don’t think that is the case.”

  This week, Ms Holland claimed her words had been misinterpreted. 

  Source: Camden New Journal - 07 April 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/envcmr

• Coventry: Shisha cafes face crackdown over harmful pipe use

  Shisha cafes in Coventry are to be targeted in a crackdown against smoking the water-based pipe – which is said to have the same effect as “sniffing a car exhaust.”

  Paul Hooper, tobacco policy manager, at Warwickshire Primary Care Trust (PCT), said the carbon monoxide levels in Shisha pipes were so high, it was the same as smoking up to 100 cigarettes in just one sitting.

  Mr Hooper said: “In 2007, when the smoke-free law came in, you would have thought the use of Shisha pipes would have decreased – in fact, they have increased dramatically.

  He added there was a further risk of users contracting tuberculosis, or herpes from a contaminated pipe.

  Source: Coventry Telegraph, 06 April 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/hQ2Nv0

• Staffordshire: £300k tobacco ring is busted

  Police who raided five Burton properties seized more than 106,000 packets of cigarettes and 213 kilos of rolling tobacco worth in excess of £300,000 in a joint operation to crackdown on black market goods.

  A 23-year-old man was arrested for possession with intent to supply.

  Two raids were then carried out on other properties in Anglesey where some illegally imported cigarettes were found.

  Investigations made at the scene then led officers to raid two further addresses nearby where a large haul of smuggled tobacco was seized.

  Source: Burton Mail - 07 April 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/hs3F1W

• Australia unveils ugly cigarette packets in fight against smoking

  As part of the toughest antismoking legislation in the world, which is expected to go before parliament later this year, all packets would be the same colour – an ugly olive green – and will come plastered with graphic health warnings including pictures of diseased eyes, rotting teeth and young children in hospital.

  The product's name would appear on the front of the pack in a standard font size and style.

  The move is intended to reduce the smoking rate in Australia to 10 per cent in less than 10 years but has been strongly opposed by the tobacco lobby, which has vowed to mount a legal challenge against the proposed laws.

  If the legislation is passed Australia will become the first country to ban tobacco branding.

  Further coverage: 

  - Australian government announces proposals to force tobacco companies to use plain green packaging for cigarettes, Daily Mail (includes pictures of the proposed packaging)

  - Australia strips 'glamour' from cigarette packs, London Evening Standard

  - Australia's cigarette war over shocking pack rules, The Independent

  - Tobacco giants oppose plain packaging, Business Spectator

  - Tobacco industry has much to fear, Sydney Morning Herald (includes phone interview with a representative of the Alliance of Australian Retailers)

  - David Prosser: When will big tobacco decide to give up?, The Independent

  - Plain Packs Will Stop Kids Smoking, Australia, Medical News Today

  Source: Daily Telegraph - 07 April 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/gg5LQ9

• New Zealand likely to introduce plain tobacco packets

  New Zealand is likely to follow Australia's lead on requiring tobacco to be sold in plain packaging, Associate Health Minister Tariana Turia says.

  Australian health minister Nicola Roxon has drafted legislation requiring tobacco companies to print their brand name in a specific font.

  If the legislation is passed, cigarette packs would have to be sold in an ugly olive green because research showed this was the least attractive colour for smokers, Ms Roxon has said.

  Source: NZ Herald - 07 April 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/fjqHiI

• More smoke water pipes – family habits significant

  The number of people smoking water pipes is rising dramatically throughout the world. A large proportion of new users are young, and many believe – contrary to facts – that water pipe smoking is less dangerous than cigarettes. Research into why people start smoking water pipes is under way at Uppsala University.

  Use of water pipes (also called “hookah” and “narghile”) is on the rise, according to a number of studies conducted in Europe and North America. Anti-smoking campaigns typically focus on cigarettes and even, to some extent, snuff but rarely provide information about the negative effects associated with hookah use.  

  One study conducted in Michigan determined that 26 per cent of the 800 participating subjects engaged in hookah use. Researchers found that the likelihood that a person engaged in hookah use was more than eight times higher if the father in the household smoked a hookah, seven times higher if the mother did so and 20 per cent higher if a sibling did so. More generally, men and young people constituted risk groups in connection with hookah use.

  Source: Alpha Galileo - 07 April 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/hPY3gL