No More Tobacco

Spain Studies Women And Cigarettes…  Medical News Today - A study carried out at the Department of Anthropology of the University of Granada has examined, both at a quantitative and a qualitative level, the reasons for the increase in the use of cigarettes among women experienced in Spanish society during the last 50 years. One of the main conclusions of this study is that the use of cigarettes has become very important for women in order to face up to stress and anxiety, control appetite and body weight, and facilitate interaction in social relations. In that sense, they are used as a tool to get closer to men and to get in touch with them in sexual and amorous interactions. It has also been proved that women use tobacco as a sexual metaphor. Apart from this, the use of cigarettes is symbolic of power and strength when facing unbalanced situations between sexes and male dominance.

This research was conducted by María Luisa Jiménez Rodrigo, who is currently working at the University of Seville, and was led by lecturer Juan Francisco Gamella Mora. A qualitative fieldwork had to be performed in order to carry out this study. This fieldwork was performed by in-depth individual interviews, organization of discussion groups, structured interviews, participant observation, and analysis of the tobacco advertising. This study reveals that the use of cigarettes has attained new and specific meanings in women’s daily life. Therefore, smoking has a series of relative advantages for women, organized into several dimensions: emotional, corporal, social, symbolic and as an expression of power and strength. view source

House Debates Raising Cigarette Tax… Originally reported by tobacco.org. Out of Topeka, KS lawmakers on Thursday started a very heated debate over a proposed increase in the state cigarette tax.

After a hearing in the House Tax Committee, Chairman Kenny Wilk, R-Lansing, said the measure faces strong opposition.

“We’re spending a lot of money for health care, and we’re being asked to look at another revenue source. At what point can we say, ‘More money is not the solution?’ ” Wilk asked.

But health care advocates say a 50-cent per-pack tax increase would provide needed revenue to offset the health costs of smoking and reduce smoking, especially among young people.

This would lead one to see the win-win side of such a proposal. All states would benifit from similar tax increases. How can you go wrong? More money for the state to do better for the people, and introduce yet another great reason behind quitting tobacco. Finacial reasons are a large factor in the ultimate decision to quit. Lawmakers driving up the tobacco taxes, good for the state, good for the people. view source article

Some Campuses Decide Tobacco Company Money Is ‘Tainted’…The New York Times reported on February 4 that officials at the University of Texas business school in Austin became uneasy when they realized that a reliable donor to student activities — the parent company of the tobacco maker Philip Morris — wanted a more prominent role in sponsoring events, and more interaction with students. So the school decided two months ago to draw a line, and refuse all tobacco money for student groups, as well as for faculty research. “What it came down to for us was the ethical dimension,” said George W. Gau, dean of the Texas school, the McCombs School of Business. “The leadership of the school felt that in some sense it was tainted money, that it is money gotten from a product that is significantly harming people.” A move that if nothing else, gains our respect. view article

Smoking Death Toll…studies show that in the 20th century approximately 90 million people died from a tobacco related death. This number is outrageous, but it is estimated to get worse. The World Health Organization warned in a new report on Thursday that the “tobacco epidemic” is growing and could claim 1 billion lives by the end of the century unless governments dramatically step up efforts to curb smoking.  Increased taxes and smoking bans world-wide could reduce this number.

Smoking Stats… from our friends at heartpoint.com – 25% of Americans smoke, and 70% of them would like to quit. 30% of them try to quit in any given year. About 2.5% succeed in a given year (this is all comers, whether they try and get help at all or not). Eventually, 50% of all smokers quit.

The percentage of smokers fell quite a bit with initial public education attempts in the 70′s and 80′s. In 1965, 52% of men and 34% of women were smokers. By 1991, these percentages were 28% for men and 24% for women. The numbers are not falling as quickly now.

Smoking costs are estimated at $50 billion dollars per year. To cover these costs, the taxes on a pack of cigarettes should be about $4.

3000 teenagers start smoking every day. The medical costs of smoking are $50 billion dollars each year. If you add the lost productivity, the costs rise to $97 billion dollars per year.

Quitting smoking now greatly reduces your risk of dying.

Magazine Ads For Smokeless Tobacco Reach Many Adolescents… Medical News Today in an article said that young people who read some of the most popular magazines on newsstands see a great deal of advertising from smokeless tobacco companies, according to a new study.

Advertising can make smokeless tobacco attractive to young people, and lead study author Margaret Morrison says little attention has been paid to how this exposure can potentially affect them.

Health experts say smokeless tobacco is highly addictive and can cause cancers of the mouth and throat and loss of teeth. Despite these risks, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey reported that 8 percent of high school students had used smokeless tobacco in the last 30 days, with a rate of 14 percent among males. view source

Smokers Don’t Sleep As Well As Non Smokers…Medical News Today reported that a new study by researchers in the US has found that cigarette smokers don’t sleep as well as non smokers: they are four times more likely to report feeling unrested after a night’s sleep than non smokers.

The study is published in the February printed issue of the journal Chest and is the work of Dr Naresh M Punjabi, who is Associate Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology based at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, and colleagues.

The researchers also found that smokers spent more time in light sleep and less time in deep sleep compared to non smokers. The biggest differences occurred in the early stages of sleep, they said. Speculating on their findings, the researchers suggested nicotine withdrawal as the most likely cause.  view source

Yet another reason to quit smoking. Not only will you live to sleep for years, but you will sleep better too.

UK Quitting Smoking With Stop Smoking Service…A quitting assistamce service in the UK called NHS Stop Smoking Services helped nearly 165,000 smokers to quit smoking in the summer of 2007 , as showed in a report by The Information Centre for health and social care (The IC) on January 29.  view report

Half the 327,800 who used the service successfully quit between April and September 2007, a period which coincided with the introduction of the smoking ban in most public places in England on July 1.  Again, reaffirming the essential benefit from a no smoking ban. An excellent step foward for the UK, and kudos to NHS for their commitment and assistance, for they may have helped saved hundreds of thousand of lives. Keep up the great work NHS Stop Smoking Service!  view article source

Geneva, Switzerland,  February 4,2008.  In the first global initiative of its kind, the International Union Against Cancer (UICC) and members around the world lead an initiative to promote smoke-free environments for children. “I love my smoke-free childhood” launched on World Cancer Day, February 4, with these messages for parents:

- Avoid smoking at home or in a car
- Caution children to stay away from secondhand smoke and places that allow smoking
- Teach children there is no safe level of secondhand smoke
- Do not smoke while pregnant or near someone who is pregnant
- Use a smoke-free daycare center
- If you are a smoker, ask your doctor what you can do to stop
- Become a role model for your child – do not smoke

In addition, UICC is publishing a 40-page expert report, “Protecting our children against secondhand smoke”. “I love my smoke-free childhood” is the first focus within the World Cancer Campaign, a five-year cancer-prevention effort launched on World Cancer Day 2007. The Campaign offers parents simple steps to share with children to prevent cancer later in life. (http://www.worldcancercampaign.org) 

An outrageous statistic: 700 million children – almost half of the world’s children – breathe polluted air from tobacco smoke. People who smoke in confined spaces like the home or the car subject others to a dangerous mix of toxins including nicotine, carbon monoxide, and cyanide, even when the windows are open. Second-hand smoke exposes children to chronic health risks like

- Cancer Risks – numerous
- Increases a baby’s risk of dying suddenly from unexplained cause
- Contributes to low birth weight in newborns and harms lung development
- Causes bronchitis and pneumonia in young adults
- Increases the risk of ear infections, asthma, coughing and wheezing among school-aged children

These health threats underscore the need for parents to protect the children from secondhand smoke. 

 Please do not release the toxic fumes of cigarettes around innocent children, or adults.

An increasing number of countries have passed anti-smoking legislation, banning smoking in all enclosed public places without exception. Ireland was the first country to do so in 2004, followed by the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Uruguay, Bermuda, Bhutan and Iran. Puerto Rico and several U.S. states and cities have also enacted smoking bans.

view source 

New Study Shows Tobacco Control Programs Cut Adult Smoking Rates… Medical News Today reported that greater investments in state tobacco control programs are independently and significantly associated with larger and more rapid declines in adult smoking prevalence, according to a study by researchers at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and RTI International, an independent nonprofit research institute based in Research Triangle Park, N.C. Researchers were able to quantify the link between comprehensive tobacco control programs and a decrease in adult smoking – observing a decline in prevalence from 29.5 percent in 1985 to 18.6 percent in 2003.

The study, “The Impact of Tobacco Control Programs on Adult Smoking,” is the first of its kind to use multi-state survey data on smoking to examine the association between cumulative state tobacco control program spending and changes in adult smoking prevalence. Combining educational, clinical, regulatory, economic, and social strategies, these comprehensive programs encompass coordinated efforts to establish smoke-free policies and social norms, to promote and assist tobacco users to quit, and to prevent initiation of tobacco use.  view full article