Why Menthol Cigarettes Should be Banned?

Menthol cigarettes like Karelia, Kiss, Eva etc now account for more than one-quarter of all cigarettes sold in the U.S. In fact, menthols -- often described as "cooling," "soothing," and "smooth" -- make up a growing share of the shrinking cigarette market. Between 2004 and 2008, the percentage of adult smokers who smoked them increased from 30 percent to 34 percent.

New Proposal to Prohibit the Display of Cigs in Guernsey

Shops in Guernsey face being banned from displaying tobacco and other discount cigarettes like Kiss, Virginia, Marlboro, etc if a proposal from health officials gets the backing of the States.

The Health and Social Services Department also wants stricter rules surrounding tobacco vending machines.

Deputies are being asked to agree to ban the display of tobacco at the point of sale and restrict vending machines to adult-only establishments.

The proposals will go before the States in June.

In 1996, the States became the first government in the British Isles to ban tobacco advertising.

The proposals also include making tobacco vending machines token operated and ensuring all products imported into the island include pictorial warnings.

The A-Team Should Quit Smoking

Liam Neeson wants the stars of The A-Team to wear nicotine patches instead of chain smoking cigars if there is a sequel.

The actor plays John 'Hannibal' Smith in Joe Carnahan's big screen adaptation of the hit 1980s TV show. The film is about a group of US Army Special Forces soldiers who become mercenaries after they escape from jail, where they were sent after they were convicted of a crime they didn't commit.

Liam's character is famous for his love of cigars, which horrified the actor, who quit smoking Marlboro in the 1990s. He tried to use rubber cigars at first, but was chain-smoking again by the second day of filming.

"I stopped smoking 16 years ago, it was a real issue for me," Liam told Australia radio programme The Kyle and Jackie O Show. "Joe insisted I have cigars and because it was Canada, they don't have a trade embargo with Cuba and the props guys got me these amazing Cuban cigars.

"I got them to make rubber ones, because I didn't want to be puffing on a cigar, but Joe, who is a big cigar smoker said, 'No, it looks so false!' I said, "Joe, I'm an addict! I can't smoke this stuff!' Day 2 and I discovered cigars. It was dangerous!"

Liam has now managed to wean himself off tobacco for a second time, and has already decided he will never smoke for a film again. If there is a sequel to The A-Team, he is planning to suggest his character wears nicotine patches instead of smoking.

"If we do a sequel, I think I'll have to insist on no cigars," Liam said. "We'll all have patches on instead."

Higher Levels of Cancer-Causing Chemicals in U.S. Cigarettes

People who smoke certain U.S. cigarette brands are exposed to higher levels of cancer-causing tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs), the major carcinogens and cancer-causing agents in tobacco products, than people who smoke some foreign cigarette brands like Doina,Marengo,Eva etc. This was one of the findings from the first-ever study to compare TSNA exposures among smokers from different countries. CDC researchers compared mouth-level TSNA exposures and urine biomarkers among smokers from the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, and Australia. Results of this study are published in the June issue of Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention.

“We know that cigarettes from around the world vary in their ingredients and the way they are produced,” said Dr. Jim Pirkle, deputy director for science at CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health, Division of Laboratory Sciences. “All of these cigarettes contain harmful levels of carcinogens, but these findings show that amounts of tobacco-specific nitrosamines differ from country to country, and U.S. brands are the highest in the study.”

The types of tobacco in cigarettes vary by manufacturer and location of production. The U.S. cigarette brands studied contained “American blend” tobacco, a specific mixture of tobacco from the U.S. that contains higher TSNA levels. The Australian, Canadian, and U.K. cigarette brands were made from “bright” tobacco, which is lighter in color and flue cured. Changes in curing and blending practices could reduce U.S. smokers’ exposure to one type of cancer-causing compound, however, this would not necessarily result in a safer product.
OLFA North America

Study collaborators enlisted 126 persons from Australia, Canada, the U.K., and the U.S. who smoke cigarettes daily to participate in the study. Cigarettes smoked by study participants represented popular brands in each country.

Scientists measured chemicals in cigarette butts collected by each smoker over a 24-hour period to determine how much of a certain TSNA entered the smokers’ mouths during that period. They also collected urine samples from study participants to find out how much breakdown product from this TSNA appeared in the urine. Comparing the results from these two types of sampling showed a correlation between the amount of one TSNA that enters the mouth and the amount of its breakdown product that appears in the urine. This is the first time this relationship has been documented.

Smoke-Free Parks Issue Revisited

Approval of a no smoking policy in portions of county parks will go to a Legislature vote next month. Legislature Chairman William Ross, C-Wheatfield, will put a resolution on the body’s July 27 agenda, he said Tuesday. Before then, the unabashed backer of smoking discount cigarettes like Marlboro discouragement wants legislators to review a variety of sign mockups and pick the phrases they can live with.

“I’m bringing the resolution back, and we’re going to vote on it,” Ross asserted.

The county was hit up earlier this year, by the Erie-Niagara Tobacco Free Coalition, to erect no-smoking signs in areas of county parks where children are most likely to congregate: pools, beaches, playgrounds, athletic fields and restrooms.

Legislators have vigorously debated the wisdom of OK’ing signs that chastise a legal activity. Phrases such as “Our park is smoke-free, please don’t smoke or litter” and “Young lungs at play: This is a tobacco-free zone,” come perilously close to sounding like law when there isn’t one to enforce, opponents say. A proposed policy declaring child-centered areas of county parks to be tobacco-free was tabled last month.

Daniel Stapleton, county public health director, appealed to legislators Tuesday to read the signs as encouragement, nothing more. He’s not asking for a law against smoking in county parks and doesn’t believe the phrasing of signs shown to legislators so far conveys anything more than a suggestion.

“This isn’t a matter of trying to take people’s rights away. The signs are just some gentle reminders: Hey, kids are here, don’t smoke here,” Stapleton said. “There won’t be signs in the parking lot, or the pavilions, just where children play.”

When asked, adult smokers typically will refrain from lighting up around children, Stapleton said. The point of the signs is to encourage consideration for children, who are more adversely affected by secondhand smoke — and also are less likely to take up the habit if they don’t see adults doing it, he added.

Legislator Phillip “Russ” Rizzo, I-North Tonawanda, likened the signs to police cars: Their mere appearance discourages criminal activity, and the police didn’t have to do anything except drive them.

“I think these signs will deter people from smoking ... in the presence of other people,” he said.

Legislator Renae Kimble, D-Niagara Falls, still isn’t sold on them. Phrases declaring parks or areas of parks are “tobacco-free” and “smoke-free” still sound too much like law to her.

“We may not like the fact that people smoke, but they have a legal right to do so. ... This language needs to be changed; it needs to be toned down,” she said.

The Erie County Legislature recently adopted a sign policy for county parks seeking visitors’ voluntary compliance with no-smoking requests in recreation areas.

Cigarettes Use is Ugly & Deadly for Someone

Governments around the world should try to address the epidemic brought by “ugly” and “deadly” tobacco use, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Monday.

“We must turn back the global tobacco epidemic. On World No Tobacco Day, I urge all governments to address this public health threat. Tobacco use is not stylish or empowering. It is ugly and deadly,” he said in a statement issued on the observance of World No Tobacco Day.

Noting that tobacco marketing has targeted women by associating cigarettes like Lady, Karelia etc and their use with beauty and liberation, Ban urged governments to act accordingly.

“Governments everywhere must take action to protect women from tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, as stipulated in the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control,” he said.

Studies show that some 200 million women worldwide smoke and the number is growing.

The Convention also calls on governments to protect women from second-hand tobacco smoke, especially in countries where women feel powerless to protect themselves and their children.

As World Health Organization data show, of the 600,000 people who die each year from second-hand smoke, nearly two-thirds are women.

Around the world, more than 1.5 million women die each year from tobacco use. Most of these deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. Without concerted action, that number could rise to 2.5 million women by the year 2030.

Citing a recent WHO study showing that the number of girls and boys who smoked was about equal in half the 151 countries surveyed, Ban said: “This finding is even more worrisome since young people who smoke are likely to continue in adulthood.”

Campaign Against Illegal Cigarettes Makes Durham Stop

Every day in this country at least one more convenience store closes its doors for good. Hannah Lee doesn't want hers to be one of them.

"I'm worried," Ms. Lee admitted Friday as she stood behind the counter of her Convenience Plus shop on Thickson Road in Whitby. "We don't know what's going to happen."

Ms. Lee, a convenience store operator for 20 years, has lent her voice to a campaign being undertaken by the Canadian Convenience Stores Association that calls for swift action to blunt the impact of contraband cigarettes on shop owners. The association claims a sharp drop in sales of legitimate smokes is having a negative impact on stores, which depend heavily on tobacco sales.

Ms. Lee said tobacco sales account for more than one-third of her shop's revenues, and that smokers coming in for cigarettes can often be depended upon to buy other items. But rising prices -- it costs more than $10 for a pack of premium smokes like Marlboro or Lucky Strike brands -- are luring more and more smokers to cheap contraband cigarettes.

And shop owners worry that the July 1 imposition of the harmonized sales tax, which will add another eight per cent to the cost of tobacco, will only exacerbate that situation.

That's why the association is calling on the provincial government to cut the taxes it imposes on cigarettes, one of a number of measures being touted as representatives undertake a 25-city blitz aimed at raising awareness about the issues surrounding contraband tobacco.

The group is pushing the provincial and federal governments to address the issue, Ontario Convenience Stores Association chairman Wendy Kadlovski said during a stop May 21 in Whitby. She said an estimated 2,400 convenience stores have gone out of business in the past few years.

"We play by the rules and we pay our taxes and we want to support our communities," Ms. Kadlovski said.

"Our government is losing hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes," to contraband cigarettes, she said.

The association is promoting a number of measures including taxation and stepped-up law enforcement to target smugglers.

The association cites statistics indicating up to half of the cigarettes smoked in Ontario are contraband, and that many of those smokes are winding up in the possession of young smokers; a recent study of butts found outside eight Durham Region high schools indicated one-fifth were contraband, Ms. Kadlovski said.

The availability of bogus smokes to young people troubles Whitby-Oshawa MPP Christine Elliott, the Conservative critic for health and long-term care, who said all levels of government can fight the problem by enforcing existing laws.

"We just shouldn't have contraband cigarettes available, period. They're illegal and we need to crack down on it," she said.