Stop Smoking Resources Available from ECD

According to statistics released by the NHS in 2009, nearly 21% of all UK adults are tobacco smokers. While that’s certainly a significant drop from 39% just 20 years earlier, it is still far too high. Electronic Cigarette Direct is intimately aware of this fact, being founded by individuals who are former smokers themselves. With awareness of their social responsibility incorporated within their business model, the owners of Electronic Cigarette Direct include a collection of stop smoking resources on their website.

Those same NHS statistics show that in 2009, the average adult smoker consumed more than 13 cigarettes per day. This partially accounts for why it is so difficult for many people to stop smoking. Any activity done 13 times per day is habit forming on its own; add nicotine to the equation and the habit becomes that much more pronounced. But, it is also well-known to be a habit that can be kicked.

Visitors to Electronic Cigarette Direct’s website will find several sections of helpful resources by following the appropriate link at the top of the company’s website found at http://www.electroniccigarettedirect.co.uk/. Resources include tips to help smokers get through difficult periods of craving, alternatives to smoking tobacco, and suggestions in how to find an escape from the overpowering habit of tobacco smoking.

This vitally important subject matter is addressed for both the smokers benefit and the benefit of those around him. For smokers, they must live within the confines of the comprehensive smoking ban that has been place in the UK since 2007. It is a ban that forces them outside to have a cigarette, or keeps them home altogether.

In terms of non-smokers around them, it’s important that they be allowed to breathe clean air no matter where they are, without having to worry about second hand smoke. In offering resources to help smokers turn away from tobacco, Electronic Cigarette Direct is promoting the good health of everyone involved.

Consumers who decide to make the switch to electronic cigarettes will have access to the VAPESTICK line of products through the electronic Cigarette Direct website. The company’s owners have personally tested electronic cigarettes from VAPESTICK and believe they offer the best products on the market. You’re encouraged to visit their website, check out their stop smoking resources, and even browse through the products if you’re so inclined.

New Albany alderman proposes smoking ban in at least some indoor public spaces

New Albany officials are considering whether to follow some 40 other communities in the state by banning smoking in at least some indoor spaces open to the public.

"I had several constituents that have been talking about how offensive (smoke) would be in restaurants," said Alderman Johnny Anderson, who made the proposal earlier this month.

Anderson said he thinks a smoking ordinance will be largely supported among both the public in New Albany and his colleagues on the board.

Tupelo, Starkville, Mantachie, Oxford and Pontotoc are among Northeast Mississippi cities and towns that already have such bans.

The draft proposal will be broad, city attorney Regan Russell said. "The board members can narrow it down."

Medical marijuana expo idea quickly burns out

What would have been the first medical marijuana expo in the Yakima Valley was shut down early Saturday over a misstep in filing an event permit with the county.

The event's organizer said a Yakima County sheriff's deputy arrived at the planned site on Robinson Road on the outskirts of this quiet rural community early Saturday and told him that his paperwork hadn't been approved by the county fire marshal because there hadn't been a scheduled on-site inspection.

"We thought we did everything by the book," organizer William Smith said. "No one told us before today that we needed an on-site inspection."

Smith said he had invited a number of medical marijuana vendors from west of the Cascades who he then had to hastily call and inform of the cancellation.

He said the deputy told him he could have people over to the house, which belongs to family members, as long as they kept the gathering modest and out of sight.

The Yakima County Sheriff's Office may have been doing a favor to Smith and the 20 to 30 medical marijuana patients and a handful of providers who did trickle onto the property throughout the afternoon. Sheriff Ken Irwin said his office had notified the local office of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration of the event and that "we'd support any action they cared to take at the event."

"State law is such a mess right now that we would defer to the federal government," Irwin said.

State law permits medical marijuana use, but access remains an issue. A yearlong attempt to clarify the state's medical marijuana laws collapsed last May, leaving state dispensaries without legal recognition. Yakima Valley cities and towns are now grappling with a new state law that took effect in July that allows up to 10 qualifying patients to grow 45 plants in a collective garden.

The legislation allows cities to license, zone and impose other requirements on the gardens. A number of cities, including Yakima and Sunnyside, have imposed temporary moratorium on such gardens. Naches is moving toward an outright ban. Federal law, meanwhile, leaves no legal room for marijuana.

Saturday's gathering mirrored a neighborhood barbecue with new and old friends sharing laughs over soda pop and freshly fried corndogs in the backyard, with some smoking from glass pipes. There were also lollipops, brownies and cookies, but with a kick of THC.

"Some people can't smoke and these do help them sleep and relax," Tony Wells, who along with his girlfriend in Union Gap sells marijuana products to those with the proper medical paperwork.

If the sweets didn't provide relief from the attendee's ailments -- which were reported as varying from chronic pain to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder -- they could reach into any of the large mason jars of sticky marijuana buds covered in tiny crystals of THC.

While some of skeptical, there was no question the medical marijuana patients at the gathering are convinced these products give them a shot at a healthier life.

Walla Walla resident Don McKeta, 50, said he still suffers chronic pain from a violent car crash in his 20s as well as back and joint pain from more than 20 years as a long-haul truck driver. McKeta said prescription painkillers had side effects that made his skin break out and made his mouth numb, but marijuana gives him relief without the uncomfortable side effects.

"I believe it has its drawbacks, but it's healthier than other things I could be taking for it," McKeta said.

Yakima Valley resident Jodi Gonzalez, 34, said she smokes marijuana for hip pain from an accident two years ago and has since gone through multiple surgeries to try to correct. She said she developed an addiction to her pain medication and had to go through rehabilitation.

Gonzalez said marijuana isn't a cure-all, that she still feels pain when she's high, but says it lets her function at a better level than more addictive prescription medications.

"This is safer," said Gonzalez after smoking from a hookah.

Smith, the organizer, said he would continue to seek a permit from the county to hold a large event showcasing medical marijuana to raise awareness of its benefits. Whether or not he ever gets one remains in question.

"I don't think it's an appropriate function," Irwin said. "It violates federal law."

Court upholds city's smoking ban

A Greene County court has upheld the city of Springfield's smoking ban, but the court challenges are likely not over.

Jean Doublin, owner of Ruthie's Bar on Commercial Street, filed the lawsuit in June seeking to stop the ban. The lawsuit claimed the Springfield ordinance violates state law and therefore is invalid.

The suit cites Missouri law, which allows taverns to make nonsmoking areas unavailable indoors as long as signage is posted outside the bar that says "Nonsmoking Areas are Unavailable."

Those signs appear on every door at Ruthie's.

Doublin said she was disappointed, but not surprised by Judge Jason Brown's ruling upholding the ordinance. Doublin said she's lost close to 75 percent of her business since the ban went into effect. She also said she hasn't seen some of the proponents of the ban patronize her tavern.

"Not one quarter," she said.

Advocates said Brown's ruling adds to a growing set of legal precedents that allow cities to enforce a smoking ban in the name of public health.

"I think it's a continued victory for public health, which is what we view this ordinance to be," said Stephen Hall, communications director for the American Heart Association in Springfield.

Hall is also the volunteer chairman for the One Air Alliance, a group supporting the ban.

The ban, approved by voters by a 53 percent to 47 percent margin in April, generally prohibits smoking inside any place where people work or where the public has access, as well as outdoors in playgrounds and other areas. It went into effect June 11.

Brown wrote in his ruling in the case, issued Wednesday evening, that he doesn't entirely side with the city's argument in support of having the authority to ban smoking, but he said he feels bound by a previous decision in the Western District Appeals Court on a similar ban.

"Unlike those of the Springfield city council, (the court's decision) is not one of public policy, nor is it a commentary upon the pros or cons of restrictions on smoking in public places," Brown wrote.

New chapter in Frankfort tobacco store burglary drama

The drama over a recent tobacco shop burglary continues as the owner has gone from victim to arrestee to victim again, police said.

A Will County deputy reported a man went to Joe’s Tobacco on Oct. 3 to demand an apology from owner Michael A. Menias, who allegedly threatened his brother with an air gun over the break-in.

At 2:48 a.m. Sept. 28, the front door of the store at 7705 W. St. Francis Road was smashed in and a carton of Pall Mall cigarettes and three glass pipes were taken from a cabinet. The cash register was left untouched.

Later that day, a customer told Menias that a 20-year-old who was also a regular customer was involved.

The 20-year-old saw Menias had written about the burglary on his Facebook page and visited the store around 9:30 p.m. to find out what had happened, according to reports.

Surveillance video allegedly shows Menias and his father ordering the young man to sit down and admit he’d broken in. When he denied it, Menias threatened him with an air pistol that resembles a real handgun, the video reportedly shows.

The 20-year-old who Menias suspected called his mother, who convinced Menias he’d been at home when the store was burglarized. When the young man was allowed to leave, his mother called police and Menias was arrested for aggravated assault.

But around 5:30 p.m. Oct. 3, Kyle D. Johnson, 23, reportedly came in and “demanded an apology” from Menias “for what you did to my brother.”

Police said Menias told Johnson he had been arrested for the incident and the court system should handle it.

Menias said Johnson refused to leave and threatened to hurt him.

During questioning, Johnson acknowledged going to seek an apology and refusing to leave, but denied making any threats, police said.

Johnson, of 7811 W. Laurel Drive, was arrested on a charge of criminal trespassing and released on bond.

Self-discipline helps stop smoking

Self-discipline is the best way to quit cigarette smoking. I have been smoking for quite a long time until I completely stopped last 2003 due to health problem,” said City Mayor Japal “Jojo” Guiani Jr. in a press conference after the recent launching of “Smoking-Free City.”

The project is jointly sponsored by the city government and the City Health Services.

He said it is really difficult to quit the habit of cigarette smoking especially if you are in it for so long, but if one considers the ill-effects of cigarette smoking and try hard to stop the habit, it is not hopeless to do so.

What is so important about the campaign against cigarette smoking, he added, is that the smokers themselves do not only destroy their health but those people around them maybe affected when they inhale the smoke of cigarettes.

The city government and the Department of Health (DoH) had been conducting series of information and education campaign pertaining to the ill-effects of cigarette smoking not only in some barangays (villages) but in several forum held in the past.

In his remarks during the opening of the activity, Guaini said the local government unit (LGU) of the City of Cotabato is extending full support to the said campaign.

City health services chief Dr. MarloNiñal said the campaign against smoking will be tried initially on food and hotel establishments.

The city health office will also regulate the selling of cigarettes in places, like in front of schools, malls, and other public areas.

“If one cannot stop cigarette smoking then that’s his choice but I am appealing to cigarette smokers to smoke in areas that no other person will be affected,” Guiani said.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that tobacco is the second major cause of death in the world.

It is currently responsible for the death of one in ten adults worldwide (about five million deaths each year).

WHO officers said that if current smoking patterns continue, it will cause some 10 million deaths each year by 2020.

Half the people that smoke today – that is about 650 million people – will eventually be killed by tobacco.

Each day in the WHO Western Pacific Region, 3,000 people die from tobacco use.

The WHO added that tobacco is the fourth most common risk factor for disease worldwide.

It said the economic costs of tobacco use are equally devastating.

In addition to the high public health costs of treating tobacco-caused diseases, tobacco kills people at the height of their productivity – depriving families of breadwinners and nations of a healthy workforce.

The WHO also said that tobacco users are also less productive while they are alive due to increased sickness.

A 1994 report estimated that the use of tobacco resulted in an annual global net loss of $200 billion – a third of this loss being in developing countries.

The WHO cited that experience has shown that there are many cost-effective tobacco control measures that can be used in various settings and that can have a significant impact on tobacco consumption.

The most cost-effective strategies are population-wide public policies, like bans on direct and indirect tobacco advertising, tobacco tax and price increases, smoke-free environments in all public and workplaces, and large clear graphic health messages on tobacco packaging.

All these measures are discussed in the provisions of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

UW researcher gets big grant to continue global tobacco-control project

A University of Waterloo researcher received a $7.4-million grant, the largest of its kind awarded by a national funding body, to continue studying the effectiveness of tobacco-control policies around the world.

Project leader Geoffrey Fong, a psychology and health studies professor, said the rigorous international research is essential to combating the scourge of smoking — the leading cause of preventable death globally.

“Tobacco overwhelms any other single source of death and disease in the world,” Fong said.

One billion people are expected to die of smoking-related disease this century.

The new five-year grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research will expand the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Project created by Fong and colleagues in 2002.

Over the years its global scope grew from the first four countries to 20 now and 23 with the new funding. Those countries include more than half the world’s population and more than 70 per cent of the world’s smokers.

Tobacco use is going down in Canada, but still four million Canadians smoke. The problem is far worse in other countries, particularly low- and middle-income countries were smoking rates are very high, Fong said.

In China, 300 million people smoke and half of all adult men. Considering about half of smokers will die of smoking-related disease, a quarter of all men in China could succumb to the ill effects of tobacco.

“The magnitude of that is extraordinary and not easily understood,” Fong said.

Smoking causes 2.5 times more deaths worldwide than HIV/AIDS.

But unlike any other cause of illness, smoking is actively promoted by tobacco businesses and healthy policies opposed. The industry’s history of providing misinformation is why strong research is needed to counter those arguments, Fong said.

“You have something arguing against everything public health officials want to do,” Fong said.

The international project evaluates the impact of tobacco-control policies in the world’s first health treaty ratified by 174 countries, which include enhanced warning labels, bans and restrictions on advertising and promotion and increased taxation and smoke-free laws.

Many of these initiatives are already part of Canadian culture, but resisted by the tobacco industry in other countries. Where the tobacco industry is strong, Fong said, policies are weak.

The tobacco industry is state-owned in China, where research shows policies are ineffective. Warning labels, for example, are not graphic, text warnings small and general, and information on the back of packages appears in English. As well the country raised taxes to comply with the treaty, but the actual cost of cigarettes didn’t rise.

Fong said research calls public attention to these issues and shows the need for better policies. His testimony in the House of Commons last year with Canadian data showing cigarette package labelling effectiveness was declining influenced the government’s decision to introduce regulations for larger graphic warnings.

Fong said the global study allows researchers to compare countries and how policies work depending on the particular situation.

For example, some European countries did far better than others when smoke-free policies for restaurants and bars were enacted. Ireland, the United Kingdom and France did extensive public education along and worked with the businesses, leading to a huge drop in smoking in bars from about 95 per cent to five per cent in under a year.

Netherlands and Germany, on the other hand, made only a small dent in smoking in bars because little more was done than notify businesses of the new legislation.

The project is expanding to include three African countries — Kenya, Nigeria and Zambia — where smoking rates are low. But, Fong said, as countries experience economic growth, smoking rates typically rise when cigarettes become more affordable.

Researchers are wondering whether it’s possible to do a sort of early inoculation against tobacco use in these African countries before more people pick up smoking.

The project includes more than 100 tobacco-control experts and researchers and more than 1,000 support staff to run the intensive studies that follow individuals across countries over time to get a real picture of how policies are working.

“Research at the global level is much needed in this area,” Fong said.

Tobacco registration renewals approaching

Licensed tobacco dealers in the Cayman Islands have until Tuesday, 1 November, to renew their registration to sell the product in 2012.

Annual renewal fees are $500 for a retailer; $750 for a cigar bar and $5,000 for a wholesale distributor or importer.

Applications submitted after 1 November will draw late fees. If no application is received by 31 January, a dealer will forfeit its licence for 12 months before submitting a new application.

“Everyone dealing with tobacco must register annually and display the Certificate of Registration,” said Dr. Kiran Kumar, Medical Officer of Health.

The documents needed for renewal of registration include a renewal application form; a current Trade and Business License Certificate; and, if there were any changes in dealership since the last registration, such as contact information, location, ownership or trade of products, an application for registration as a tobacco dealer.

Applications submitted after 1 November, but before 31 December will bring a penalty of an extra 50 per cent of the registration cost. Applications submitted between 1 and 31 January will draw a late fee of 100 per cent the registration cost.

Last year, the Cayman Islands government registered 138 tobacco dealers.

“Business owners have been very accommodating of the changes and we hope to see this trend continue,” said Mark Scotland, Minister of Health. “If anyone has any doubts about the legislation, or if anyone is still selling tobacco products without a registration certificate, please contact the Public Health Department to avoid prosecution.”

New tobacco ordinance further limits youth access

to limit youths' access to tobacco in Oakdale are increasing due to requirements of the Tobacco Modernization and Compliance Act passed last year by the Minnesota Legislature.

The city council unanimously approved an amendment to its ordinance that regulates businesses with tobacco licenses last week.

Changes to the ordinance include prohibiting indoor smoking at any business with a tobacco license, including for the purpose of sampling products.

In the past the city has found it difficult to enforce if people at the businesses were sampling products or just smoking indoors, so the ordinance prohibits both practices, said Oakdale police officer Karen Haines.

There are 18 businesses that have licenses to sell tobacco in Oakdale, with three that only sell tobacco and tobacco-related products, Haines said. The others are liquor stores, gas stations, pharmacies and grocery stores, she said.

The three stores, which collect at least 90 percent of their revenue from the sale of tobacco and tobacco products, are required to display a visible sign prohibiting anyone under 18 from shopping there, according to the amended ordinance.

The ordinance also prohibits self-service by customers to access any products without the assistance of an employee. But, Haines said, the businesses with at least 90 percent of their revenue from tobacco and tobacco-product sales are an exception to that rule, as long as minors are not allowed in the business.

Haines said most of the businesses with a tobacco license already comply with the ordinance changes, and received a copy before the council vote last Tuesday. .

The police department will have inspections of the businesses to ensure compliance and notified each license holder of the process, Haines said.

"I don't think it is going to affect any usual course of business for these license holders," she said.

Overall, she added, the state law changes are beneficial in Oakdale.

"It is a benefit to the community and does assist with the concerns that the community may have as far as youth access so the city does have that interest in complying with the state law," Haines said.

National Study Will Track Tobacco Use in U.S.

Findings will guide FDA in creating programs, policies to eliminate smoking
A large, national study on how new government regulations affect smoking and other tobacco use and people's understanding about the risks was announced Thursday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
Researchers will follow more than 40,000 people, aged 12 and older, who use cigarettes and other tobacco products or are at risk.

Tobacco prevention efforts paying off

No one is declaring victory in the battle to keep tobacco products out of the hands of teenagers.

But the trend is unmistakably clear: Young people are smoking less and efforts to limit their access to cigarettes are making headway.

The latest indication that strides are being made in the fight against teen smoking is a recent report from re:TH!NK, the Lakeshore Tobacco Prevention Network.

The multi-jurisdictional coalition comprised of Winnebago, Door, Kewaunee, Manitowoc and Sheboygan counties, said the level of non-compliance by tobacco retailers during an investigation from January to July of 2011 was 8.1 percent. That compared to a non-compliance rate of 9.6 percent during the same months in 2010.

Tobacco retailers in Winnebago County were overwhelmingly compliant with the law that forbids the sale of tobacco products to minors. Out of 67 attempts by underage teens to buy tobacco, there were only two sales — a non-compliance rate of 3 percent. The 2010 non-compliance rate was 4.8 percent.

"We want to make sure teenagers can't purchase tobacco by themselves," said Emily Dieringer, coordinator of re:TH!NK. "It feels like our efforts are helping."

As part of the compliance process, two youths between the ages of 15 and 17 and an adult investigator made stops at various tobacco retailers. The minors attempted to purchase cigarettes or cigars. If they were asked for identification, they provided their driver's license to clerks. On the few occasions in which they made a purchase, a police officer was summoned and a citation was issued to the seller.

Dieringer said the tobacco prevention network has stressed to retailers the importance of keeping tobacco from minors, and the outlets have been making positive strides. She said the non-compliance rate was as high as 25 percent years ago.

"Now, it's 3 percent," Dieringer said. "That's great.

"We can't control what parents do, but this is something we can definitely make a difference on."

The report on tobacco sales compliance comes on the heels of an August 2010 Wisconsin Youth Tobacco Survey showing that smoking rates dropped by 15 percent among high school students and 9 percent among middle school students since 2008.

Uzbekistan to limit alcohol and tobacco consumption from April

Uzbek President signed the law on "Restriction of distribution and consumption of alcohol and tobacco products".

The legislative chamber of Oliy Majlis adopted the law in June 2011. The Senate approved it in August. The law will come into force from April 2012.

According to the law, alcoholic beverages include products with ethyl alcohol of more than 1.5 percent, while tobacco refers to all products of tobacco and tobacco substitutes.

The new law defines the main directions of state policy and state guarantees in limiting the proliferation and use of alcohol and tobacco products, the powers of the Cabinet of Ministers, the Ministry of Health and public bodies.

The law defines the concepts of alcohol and tobacco dependence, as well as preventing the negative impact of using alcohol and tobacco products.

It includes a set of social, legal, medical, and other measures aimed at preventing and reducing threats to public health, especially among young people.

T he state regulates the production and sale, as well as bans imports of alcohol and tobacco products containing substances harmful for human life and health exceeding the permissible limits set by the Health Ministry.

Moreover, the s tate provides health care to people affected by alcohol and tobacco in accordance with legislative requirements.