No More Tobacco

Did you know… Each year 31,000 kids are left without fathers thanks to tobacco. A fact recently learned during the super bowl ad of tobaccofreeflorida.com. On their website, they also tell some more interesting facts, like :

• In Florida, smoking kills more people than alcohol, AIDS, car crashes, illegal drugs, murders, and suicides combined
• 692,000 kids in Florida are exposed to secondhand smoke at home
• 28,700 adults in Florida die each year from their own smoking

These figures show the real need for change. Florida could stiffen up their no-smoking laws, as we all should. Help someone quit, it is hard to tell how many people could be saved by it.

NY Department of Health Urges Doctors to Talk to Patients about Smoking… Medical News Today reported that the New York State Department of Health unveiled its “Don’t Be Silent About Smoking” ad campaign, urging health care providers to make quitting a priority for their patients who smoke. The $1.3 million cutting-edge campaign features graphic images of health care providers with their mouths stitched or taped shut to dramatize how doctors can help their patients quit by discussing smoking.

State Health Commissioner Richard F. Daines, M.D., said, “We want to challenge clinicians across the state to take time at every office visit to talk to their patients who smoke.” Studies have found that when health care providers take the time to talk to their patients about smoking and offer assistance with quitting, long-term success can be dramatically increased.

“Doctors spend a lot of time treating smoking-related health problems. If we did a better job at helping our patients who want to quit, we could save thousands of lives and alleviate a great deal of suffering,” Commissioner Daines said. view full article

Study Backs Value of U.S. State Anti-Smoking Plans…Reuters reported on January 30 that U.S. state tobacco control programs are effective at cutting the number of smokers, and states that spend more get the best results, federal health officials said on Tuesday. Declines in adult smoking rates in individual states are directly related to increases in state per-capita investments in tobacco control and smoking cessation programs, according to a study published in the American Journal of Public Health. Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and an independent research institute analyzed data on smoking rates and tobacco control spending in all 50 states from 1995 to 2003. The advocacy group Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids said the states will spend about $717 million in fiscal year 2008 on tobacco control and smoking cessation programs. These programs include advertising on the hazards of smoking, school- and community-based anti-smoking efforts, and steps like creating toll-free telephone lines to help people quit. The study found that the more states spent on programs, the larger the declines they achieved in adult smoking rates, independent of other factors like higher tobacco prices. view full article

Cigarettes In Movies…The New York Times reported on January 28 that last May, the Motion Picture Association of America said that all portrayals of smoking would for the first time be considered alongside sex and violence in assessing the suitability of movies for young viewers. The organization did not guarantee an automatic R rating for films featuring cigarette use, but did say that “pervasive smoking” would lead to a more restrictive rating. How, then, to explain the PG-13 given to Woody Allen’s latest film? The cast of “Cassandra’s Dream” burns through so many cigarettes on screen that some patrons have exited theaters feeling like they just paid $12 to sit in the ashtray of an 18-wheeler. Has Hollywood’s get-tough stance on cigarettes gone up in smoke? view full article