Fire inspectors believe Kauai brushfire started by cigarette

Kauai fire inspectors believe last week’s fire in Kōloa, which originated near Ala Kinoiki and spread to the residential area along Kipuka Street, was most likely started by a Kent cigarette.
The fire destroyed at least two homes, damaged several others and caused the evacuation of nearly 100 residents.

“While there is no reason to believe this fire was intentionally set, we continue to urge the public to never throw cigarettes on the ground or out of a car window,” says Fire Prevention Captain Daryl Date. “And be sure that cigarettes are completely extinguished before disposing.”

“Our agricultural landscape here on Kaua'i can become highly susceptible to wildfires, especially during these dry, hot months,” adds Captain Date.

The fire had burned through roughly 50 acres of brush before it was extinguished, roughly three hours after it began.

Fire inspectors estimate the fire caused upwards of $950,000 in damages.

Cigarette smuggling costs government LE160 million

A recent study showed that the Egyptian government lost about LE160 million during the first half of this year due to cigarette smuggling.

The study, which was conducted by an international Marlboro cigarette company, said that smuggled cigarettes amounted to 2.1 percent of the total cigarette market in Egypt for the first half of 2011, compared to 0.01 percent for the same period the year before.

The study has attributed the increase to new taxes that the government levied on cigarettes after the revolution.

According to the study, 330 million to 660 million cigarettes are smuggled in the world every year. The range constitutes up to 12.6 percent of total consumption, and causes world governments to lose up to US$60 billion annually in unpaid taxes.

A New Type Of Cigarette Venture - RYO Jamaica Pursues Operators For Multi-Store Network

Jamaicans for decades have bought cigarettes by the stick and by the carton at corners shops, from streetside sellers, and a multiplicity of businesses that make money off a habit that is hard to kick.

What has been absent up to now is a dedicated retail channel focused solely on smokers, and selling cigarettes alone. That changed in July when the first U-Roll'em shop was opened in Kingston by a Jamaican couple resident in Florida.

It gets better. Customers get to hand-roll their own sticks - customise their own products - in an extension of the 'grabba' market, which offers the same options but in a more informal way. It's not unusual for some smokers, for example, to season their grabba packets with marijuana.

The two Jamaicans behind the cigarette retail shop venture, Damian and Susan McKenzie, have a more sophisticated operation than the grabba trade, however. The husband and wife team owns 51 per cent and 49 per cent of the business, respectively.

The McKenzies are principals in the Palm Beach, Florida-based Tobacco Central LLC, which has set a target of 29 Caribbean countries to roll out their network of RYO - roll your own - retail outlets stocked with tobacco filling-station machines under a distributorship arrangement with owners of the RYO technology, Ohio-based RYO Filling Station Machine LLC. The American company also supplies the tobacco through a network of international sources.

The McKenzies, who migrated from Jamaica two decades ago, say that they have been pursuing different ventures for 20 years - putting them in a group dubbed 'serial entrepreneurs' - and are also owners of Total Sign Solutions and CNC Inc in Palm Beach.

They set up their first U-Roll'em Jamaica store on July 2 at The Domes Plaza on Hagley Park Road in Kingston, operated by their local subsidiary RYO Jamaica Limited. The tobacco is supplied by RYO from international sources.

Bulgarian PM Vows to Eradicate Cigarette Smuggling

PM Borisov vowed to tackle the illegal trade during a visit to the Varna West Port in the Black Sea capital.

The PM's visit, which saw him accompanied by Vanyo Tanov, head of the country's customs agency, coincided with news that nine million contraband cigarettes had been confiscated on the same day at the same port.

The cigarettes, from the Palermo and Ibiza brands, were located by Varna Customs agents on a ship that was travelling under an Antigua and Barbuda flag from Poti in Georgia to Varna via Burgas.

The PM pointed out that his cabinet has achieved much greater results than previous governments in the fight against cigarette contraband, as evidenced by the fact that they have seized large quantities such contraband.

According to Borisov, customs agents are now trying to use scanners and other technical equipment in an attempt to limit the human factor, because in a resort city like Varna smuggled cigarettes are easy to sell for huge profits that could be used to bribe customs agents.

"The issue here is to find out who kept quiet about the smuggling and why; fire them and make them face legal charges," the PM warned, adding that he and Tanov were using "small tricks" to monitor cigarette contraband and were working in partnership with the EU, where the focus is precisely on such contraband.

"Losses from contraband Cosmos cigarettes in Germany and the UK amount to BGN 5 billion. I hope that by the end of the day one of the largest EU anti-smuggling operations will come to conclusion," Borisov stated.

Graphic images on cigarette packs reduce demand

Cigarette packs depicting grotesque photos of cancer received lower bids than packs featuring current US text warning label, researchers found.

Graphic images and slogans on cigarette packages will significantly reduce smoker demand, a new study suggests.

Current US policy requires tobacco companies to cover 50 percent of one side of a cigarette pack with a text warning, but the US Food and Drug Administration recently unveiled nine new cigarette warning labels. The labels, to be unveiled in September 2012, include images of lung and mouth cancer.

A sample of 404 adult smokers from the US participated in an experimental auction on cigarette packs with four different kinds of warning labels. All packs featured the same message: Smoking causes mouth cancer. However, the displayed message on each pack differed from the text, placement and imagery.

"We found that the label with just the front text warning had little effect on consumers," says study co-author Matthew Rousu, professor of economics at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, Pa. "However, demand was significantly lower for packs with grotesque images, with the lowest demand associated with the plain, unbranded pack."

The bids for cigarette packs that had a grotesque photo and no brand imagery received bids that were 17 percent lower than the bids for the package with the current US warning label.

"Results from our study suggest that the new health warnings with graphic pictures will reduce demand for cigarettes," says Rousu. He adds that regulators should consider health warnings with graphic images, but also plain packaging policies for tobacco products.

“Colour and brand imagery can support false beliefs about reduced risks of some brands,” Rousu says. Though the study can’t address how the new labels will affect non-smokers, Rousu said one would assume those considering smoking will not start because they are turned off by the images.

A tobacco patch that gives back

Times have changed in the Slipup community over the past decades.
The two stores are now closed up and the agricultural base has moved away from tobacco to corn, soybeans or cattle.
Despite the changes, the heart of the community beats on through the works of its residents and churches.
Situated at the junction of U.S. 62 and Kentucky 596, Slipup has two churches working together to meet the needs of the community and the parishes.
Shannon United Methodist Church and Bethel United Methodist Church have roots in the county dating back to 1790 (Shannon) and 1893 (Bethel Cemetery).
Now commonly referred to as Shannon-Bethel United Methodist Church, Rev. Jim Finch serves as minister for both under the same charter.
Since 1987, the Shannon-Bethel Men's Brotherhood has found a way through agriculture to raise money for maintenance of the two churches, support families or individuals in need and to contribute to charitable organizations.
Comprised of approximately 12 men, members Dick Clary, Gerald Poe, Cliff Campbell, Ralph Cooper and Scott Clary explained Thursday the purpose of the men's group and how an acre of burley tobacco has been able to help those in need.
Originally on an acre of land owned by Buddy Cropper and adjacent to the Shannon church, the annual yield has varied in pounds and price. In 2010, the yield was about 2,000 pounds, bringing $1.50 per pound, but the crop suffered due to drought and the group is hoping this year's crop fairs better.
"It looks pretty good now," said Dick Clary.
This year, the tobacco was planted on the farm of Jeff Shields just across the road from Dick's home on Kentucky 596. With a contract with Phillip Morris to process the tobacco, the men are hoping for a better year.
When the idea started all the men in the brotherhood worked in the tobacco patch, setting, cutting, stripping and hanging the tobacco, but the men laughingly admit they've gotten older and no longer do the hard labor, but instead have it contracted out.
Donations are made to the Kentucky Methodist Home in Versailles, Salvation Army, Ida Spence fund in northern Kentucky for children, a monthly contribution to the Mason County Food Pantry, and flowers for Mother's Day at the churches.
Maintenance projects have included new air conditioning, septic systems and right now, a new roof is going on at Shannon.
But as much as the money is used for charities and church projects, it also goes back into the community.
Cliff Campbell noted that for the last 13-14 years, more than $1,000 per year has been given to those in need, for example when their home has burned down or some other trouble has struck. He also said about 10 years ago the brotherhood gave $12,000 to neighbors needing a helping hand in just one year.
"Generally, if there's a need in the community (we help)," said Dick.
Asked about what they would do if and when the time comes the tobacco crop can't sustain the charitable fund, there was no ready answer, but a few ideas were thrown out. One being the success of the annual chili supper that takes place the Saturday after Thanksgiving and has "gone over real good" the last few years, raising $4,000. Going back to raising and selling calves was another suggestion.
"I don't know what the future holds," said Dick Clary, going on to say they would find a way to sustain the fund.
And with young families joining both congregations, the future looks promising for their work to continue.
Being modest and matter-of-fact about their commitment to church and community, the men share more than their work at church. They've grown up together in Slipup, raised families together, pulled teenage stunts like drag-racing down a winding country road, farmed together and overall, are great friends. A visit with the men of the brotherhood is filled with funny stories about jam cakes sold at cake auctions, good-natured jokes, comfortable comradery and lots of laughter.
And although the stores in town are no longer open so people can hang out on a Friday and Saturday night, Cliff put it best when he said "this has been a great community."

Tribunal douses tobacco FOI bid

Tobacco giant Philip Morris has lost a legal bid to see Government policy documents about plain packaging for cigarettes.
The company appealed to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal after a Freedom of Information request for the Government's legal advice about the policy was knocked back.

But this week tribunal deputy president Stephanie Forgie ruled that granting the tobacco company access to the documents under Freedom of Information laws was not in the public interest.

Ms Forgie said the documents were subject to legal privilege because the advice was prepared by government lawyers.

Philip Morris has been fighting to access documents the Government has relied on to support its policy since last June.

They include emails and legal advice from the Department of Health and Ageing, the Prime Minister's office and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

They also include images of plain packing prepared by the Cancer Council, potential logos and a brief on tobacco.

But Ms Forgie ruled that these, too, were covered by legal privilege because they were prepared by in-house lawyers acting for the Government.

''In trying to ascertain the public interest, a distinction must be drawn between the public interest and a matter of interest to the public,'' Ms Forgie wrote in her finding.

''As I have found that the DFAT advice and AGS [Australian Government Solicitor] advice are subject to legal professional privilege, I am satisfied that their disclosure under the FOI Act would be contrary to the public interest ... The public interest is that in the administration of justice that comes from the encouragement of full and frank disclosure by clients to their lawyers.''

Philip Morris made a bid for the documents under Freedom of Information laws in June last year.

In November a senior adviser identified 32 documents held by the Prime Minister's office that related to the request. Of those, 10 were released to Philip Morris in full and 22 were released in part. The office refused to allow access to the others, arguing the documents were either irrelevant to the request or were protected by legal privilege.

Dispatches from Cuba: Mountains, valleys, tobacco farms

Free Press travel writer Ellen Creager is with the first American tourists on a new "people-to-people" cultural tour that started Thursday. Except for a brief window 2000-2003, it is the first time in 50 years the average American can travel to Cuba.

VINALES, Cuba – It is nice to be out of the city, into the rural countryside.

We are staying about 3 hours west of Havana in this district of green mountains and fertile valleys, tobacco farms, orchids and waterfalls.

Previous Dispatches: Little to buy for American tourists in Havana | 81-year-old crooner highlights Castro tribute concert | Cuban culture, politics on the schedule for this tour | Americans get rare glimpse of island nation | Pre-1959 American cars common in Cuba | A paladar in Vinales

But here, politics seems far away. That is somewhat of a relief after the last few intense days.

This area is instead about nature in all its lush forms. Trees grow. Rain falls. People farm. Life passes.

Last night, we had an appointment at 8:30 p.m. to meet with members of the local branch of the Committee for the Defense of the Revolution in Vinales.

We thought it would be a lecture.

Massachusetts stamping out anti-tobacco funding

State leaders have gutted funding for anti-tobacco initiatives more than 90 percent in the last 10 years, leading to fewer spot checks of retail stores for cigarette sales to minors, cuts to programs that help smokers quit and diminished prevention campaigns.
In fiscal 2001, state programs to combat smoking were flush with cigarette tax revenue and funding from a 1998 multi-state settlement with the tobacco industry, with a budget of $50.5 million, according to the Mass. Budget and Policy Center.
Today, funding for anti-tobacco initiatives has plunged to $4.1 million, with the new state budget dealing the programs another cut of $335,000 from fiscal 2011.
Anti-smoking advocates say the cuts make little long-term financial sense given the toll that tobacco takes on state health care costs.
“Every dollar we spend on prevention is a few dollars saved on the treatment side,” said Tom Carbone, president of the Massachusetts Health Officers Association, which represents local health departments.
Some tobacco opponents support legislation sponsored by state Rep. Jonathan Hecht, D-Watertown, and Sen. Harriet Chandler, D-Worcester, that would guarantee a portion of state tobacco revenue be set aside for smoking cessation and prevention programs.
“Less than one half of 1 percent really gets spent on doing something about tobacco,” said Steve Shestakofsky, executive director of Framingham-based Tobacco Free Mass. “That, I think, really needs to be changed.”
State health officials said they have made progress lowering Massachusetts’ smoking rate since beginning anti-smoking programs in the early 1990s and have maintained their core initiatives.
But they acknowledged recent cuts have forced them to eliminate or scale back efforts they believe to be beneficial.
“I think we’re losing an opportunity,” said Lois Keithly, director of the state Department of Public Health’s tobacco control program.
Despite the cuts, Keithly said her staff has worked to preserve “key infrastructure,” including the smokers’ helpline, youth programs and working with health care professionals to ensure they identify tobacco users and refer them for help.
Federal sources have helped fill some gaps, largely helping to maintain the helpline, Keithly said, though some of that was temporary stimulus money.
State data suggests Massachusetts has had success in reducing tobacco use:
Julia Hurley, a DPH spokeswoman, said the statewide smoking rate dropped from 23.5 percent in 1992, the year before state anti-tobacco programs began, to 14.1 percent in 2010.
Cigarette use among high school students also dipped from a high of 35.7 percent in 1994 to 16 percent in 2009, according to a statewide Youth Risk Behavior Survey.
Anti-smoking advocates called the cuts counterproductive. In a report last year, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids said Massachusetts ranked 37th in the U.S. in its spending on anti-tobacco programs – just 5 percent of the funding level recommended by the Centers for Disease Control.
“Obviously the state is facing serious financial challenges and health care costs are a big part of those,” said Katie King, director of health promotion and public policy for the American Lung Association of New England.
“But tobacco is still the leading cause of death and disability in the state, and 10 percent of health care costs are tied to tobacco use,” she said.
Pending legislation would set aside at least 3 percent of state tobacco revenues for anti-smoking programs but the legislation has not advanced since a committee hearing in May.
Keithly hopes to see some funding restored as the state recovers from the recession.

Should Marijuana Be Regulated Like Alcohol Or Tobacco

The marijuana legalization debate has gained a whole new momentum ever since the economy took a dip. Cities, counties, and states are cash strapped, and see their budgets dwindled with every revenue report. This has obviously been horrible for the job market, but it has been a big factor in converting citizen’s and politician’s opinions towards marijuana legalization. I remember when it was just consumers and sympathizers that were calling for legalization. Now, even some staunch conservatives are looking into the idea. They don’t consume marijuana at all, but are all about taxing the S out of it. I hope it doesn’t result in marijuana being taxed to death before it gets off the ground, but hopefully we can win that battle after we win legalization.

A question that has been popping up on TWB lately is whether or not marijuana should be regulated like the tobacco industry, or the alcohol industry. I just posted an article this week about regulating marijuana like wine, which is a revolutionary idea, but I am still waiting to see how much traction it gets. Don’t get me wrong, I love the idea, but I’m just not sure about the logistics of the campaign strategy. More will obviously be known as 2012 approaches. But for the sake of this article, we will look at the alcohol industry, and the tobacco industry.

When most people think about marijuana legalization, they picture the regulations being like that of the tobacco industry. After all, you smoke both tobacco and marijuana, right? Just as someone goes to the local corner market to get a pack of cigs, they would be able to get a pack of Camel greens or Marlboro danks. I have long pointed out the difficulties of such a business model. For starters, marijuana is not like the tobacco plant. Tobacco can grow from the Carolinas to the Caribbean and for the most part, the quality will only variate slightly. A tobacco farmer would argue that there is distinct differences, but let’s get serious, it’s not nearly on the same level as marijuana cultivation.

Cultivating and selling marijuana on the same scale as tobacco is nearly impossible, unless it was grown entirely indoors by a large company, which is unrealistic. All of the football stadiums in the country couldn’t house the amount of marijuana plants that the market would require if it were legal and sold by a big tobacco company. It would have to be cultivated outside, year round, on a very large scale if it were done by just a handful of large companies. This is also unrealistic. Marijuana can vary from room to room inside of a house, let alone outdoors.

Outdoor marijuana plants that grow in the State of Jefferson (Southern Oregon, Northern California) are going to be starkly different than plants that are grown in Pennsylvania. For that matter, even outdoor grow ops in the State of Jefferson are not all created equal. It would be too hard, if not impossible, to market so many kinds of marijuana the same way as cigarettes. Right now you go into a store and there are just a handful of types of cigarettes. There are different brands, but the type of actual cigarette you can buy is fairly limited. Compare that with a dispensary, that has in some cases hundreds of strains. That’s a big reason why corporate America hasn’t harnessed the cannabis market; it’s just too hard to get a consistency that it would take to launch the industry on a huge scale.

And with all of that being said, would we really want those blood sucking bastards in charge of the marijuana industry? Look at what they have done to society with their research and development already. Can you imagine what they would do to marijuana to make it super addictive? It wouldn’t even be marijuana anymore; the product would be some Frankenstein herb that is meant to take your dollars instead of providing comfort, recreation, and relief. Marijuana is a cottage industry, and I really hope it stays that way forever. I love going to different areas and seeing what their stuff is like. If it was just bland budget weed sold across the nation, it would really make me sad.

I picture some slick talking tobacco executives sitting down with members of Congress. The executives explain that they can grow marijuana on an enormous scale, that it would all be under the close watch of the government, and that they can provide tax dollars out the wazoo. They give the politicians large sums of money in exchange for marijuana becoming legal. On the surface, marijuana consumers are stoked because the marijuana plant is finally free. They don’t care how it happened, they just know that they have been waiting for this for a long time. It will only be after they see what big tobacco has done to the beloved marijuana plant that they realize the whole thing was f’d since jump street.

The alcohol industry is a better representation of what I think marijuana regulations will look like after legalization. There will still be large companies trying to corner the industry, much like Budweiser and Coors do today. However, there will also be a large cottage community producing marijuana, like the micro brew industry. Large companies will produce massive quantities of low grade product, much like Coors and Budweiser do with their beer. But, people that actually like flavor and quality will go for the cottage industry products, much like people go for a micro brew. Instead of making regulations to cater to the top companies, regulations will be more flexible to accommodate the small businesses. There will be more wiggle room for entrepreneurs to enter into the market as a result, and consumers will benefit from the buffet of deliciousness that will result.

Tobacco firm moves raise efficiency to improve efficiency

Morogoro. Alliance One Tobacco (T) Ltd, is implementing three projects that seek to improve its processing operations that include processing capacity through a new cigarettes processing line to improve the capacity from the current 35,000 tonnes to 60,000.

Other projects include the introduction of computerised system of loading and receiving of tobacco aimed at reducing handling time and green leaf storage at the factory and introduction of stacking racks.

A statement issued over the weekend by the company when announcing the appointment of a new managing director, Mr Mark Mason, who replaces Mr Graham Kayes, who has been appointed regional director for Alliance One Africa.

Expounding, Mr Mason said the value of the new investments this year is $10 million, bringing the total value of the company to approximately $50 million. He said other projects include installation of optical sorters which remove non tobbaco related materials, conversion of boiler from oil usage to natural gas and installation of AC variable speed drives in motors to reduce power consumption.

He noted that the future for the Tanzanian tobacco industry is strong as long as it remains competitive and continue to improve the welfare of the farmers.

“We appreciate the support the government was giving the industry and believe that we have a major role to play in poverty alleviation whilst remaining focused on health, education and environmental issues,” he said.

However, he said that they have been facing various challenges which include global oversupply situation resulting from increased worldwide production, reduced consumption due to global economic recession, smoking restrictions and bans, increased taxation on tobacco products and tobacco products regulation.

He named the other challenge as reduction in production by 20 per cent due to power problems which causes a loss of $4,000 every hour. He said due to power shortage they are forced to work four days a week instead of six.

Marijuana found at Alexandria airport

The Rapides Parish sheriff says two suitcases of marijuana were seized from a south Florida man after his plane made a fuel stop at Alexandria International Airport.
Sheriff Chuck Wagner said Wednesday that 37-year-old Raimondi Salvatore Rosario, of Port St. Lucie, Fla., was booked with possession with intent to distribute after deputies discovered the drug.
Thursday's Town Talk ( http://bit.ly/qOfNB9) reported that Homeland Security investigators told deputies that Rosario had filed a suspicious flight plan out of Nevada.
Wagner says Rosario refused to let deputies search the plane. But he says their narcotics dog "Sam," found the drugs immediately.
Wagner said Rosario was freed on bond Tuesday, the day he was arrested.

Murdoch's ties to Big Tobacco

Rupert Murdoch's phone-hacking problems have been all over the news in recent days, but it wasn't too long ago his media properties were providing a supportive environment for Big Tobacco that went largely unreported.
Murdoch's connection to Philip Morris Co. was revealed through secret industry documents made public as a result of the landmark 1998 U.S. tobacco industry settlement.
The 1981 publication of a Japanese study suggesting that non-smoking wives of smoking husbands were more likely than wives of non-smokers to get lung cancer shocked the industry. Big Tobacco realized that second-hand smoke would be the greatest threat it had encountered, more potentially damaging than earlier studies linking smoking with lung cancer, heart disease and other illnesses.
When the victim is the smoker, the industry was able to argue-successfully-that harm caused by smoking was regrettable, but is, after all, a result of personal choice. The individual knows the risks when she smokes. If a person gets cancer even though he doesn't smoke, but is simply in the presence of smokers, then that is a different matter. Smoking leaps from individual choice to major public policy issue. The industry "calculated bans in work places, aircraft, restaurants and other venues would result in a dramatic plunge in the number of cigarettes smoked," the South China Morning Post reported after an investigation of industry tactics in Southeast Asia. "People would have less time to puff. And that would lead to billions of dollars in lost revenue."
To stave off this catastrophe, the industry used every available channel of persuasion and propaganda to cast doubt on the link between second-hand smoke and disease. The channels included supportive media like Murdoch's News Corp.
A 1985 draft speech for Philip Morris's CEO for a marketing meeting noted that the media company was already onside. "We plan to build similar relationships to those we now have with Murdoch's News Limited with other newspaper proprietors," the memo said. "Murdoch's papers rarely publish anti-smoking articles these days."
A second document for the same meeting created two days later asked the question: "how can we change the public's view towards smoking?"

Cigarette Smoking Results in an Increased Risk of Developing Atrial Fibrillation

Results from a large, United States based cohort study show that current smokers double their risk of developing atrial fibrillation (AF) compared to people who have never smoked, after more than 13 years of follow-up. The study, published in the August edition of HeartRhythm, the official journal of the Heart Rhythm Society, indicates a trend towards significantly lower risk of developing AF for those who quit smoking cigarettes versus those who continue to smoke. View the full study.

According to the Heart Rhythm Society, AF is a very common heart rhythm disorder with more than 2 million people in the United States diagnosed with AF and about 160,000 new cases identified each year. While several risk factors have been identified for AF, including obesity, hypertension and diabetes, the association between smoking and AF is less clear.

Between 1987 and 1989, the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study enrolled a population-based cohort of over 15,000 black and white participants aged 45-64 years. All participants were questioned at baseline about the number of cigarettes smoked per day, smoking status (current, former or never) and age at smoking initiation or cessation.

Study analysis conducted by Alanna Chamberlain, PhD, and co-authors, reports 876 incident AF events during an average 13-year follow-up period. The risk of AF was found to be 1.32 times greater among former smokers and twofold higher in current smokers than in never smokers. In addition, compared to never smokers, former heavy smokers had an 89% increased risk of developing AF, while current heavy smokers had a 131% increased risk, indicating that quitting smoking lowers the risk of developing AF. Specifically, there was a 12% lower risk of AF among individuals who quit smoking versus individuals who continued smoking.

"AF is a serious health issue that decreases quality of life and significantly increases the risk of stroke," stated co-author Alanna M. Chamberlain, PhD, MPH, Department of Health Sciences Research at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. "It is my hope that our study findings will shed more light on the impact that smoking has on cardiovascular diseases, and help individuals realize they can play a role in preventing the development of atrial fibrillation."

These results support previous findings that smoking increases the risk of AF development. The findings also show that associations between smoking and AF do not differ between blacks and whites, despite overall AF incident rates being lower in blacks. Furthermore, this is the first study to document differences in AF development between participants who remained smokers throughout the study follow-up and those who stopped smoking. Future studies may choose to focus on the role of smoking cessation in the prevention of AF development.