Research looks at smoking addition among teens

Adolescents as young as 12 do smoke, and researchers have found that the sooner they do so upon waking in the morning, the more addicted they may be.

Branstetter — whose research focuses on youth tobacco use; tobacco cessation; and the influence of family, peers and social context in adolescent behavior teamed up with Joshua Muscat, professor of public health sciences at Penn State, to examine data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The team narrowed the survey participants down to 220 adolescents between the ages of 12 and 19 who were regular smokers. The researchers’ goal was to examine the relationship between time to first cigarette, the number of cigarettes smoked per day, and blood levels of continine, a metabolite of nicotine.

The team found that the time to first cigarette was significantly correlated with several smoking behaviors, including the number of cigarettes smoked per day, the time since the last cigarette and having a family member who smokes at home, informs Centre Daily News.

“Most importantly, we found that a shorter time between waking and having the first cigarette of the day is a strong indicator of nicotine uptake, as defined by serum continine levels, in adolescents,” said Branstetter. “In other words, adolescents who smoke sooner after waking up in the morning tend to inhale more deeply and more thoroughly, which is why they have higher levels of continine in their blood. And these kids who take in more nicotine per cigarette may be more dependent on nicotine — regardless of the number of cigarettes they smoke per day.”

According to the researchers, compared with adults, adolescent smokers tend to be lighter smokers overall, are less likely to inhale when they smoke and are less likely to smoke when they are ill. Nevertheless, even adolescent smokers who smoke less than five cigarettes a day or who are nondaily smokers experience dependence and withdrawal symptoms at very high rates.

Read more here: http://www.centredaily.com/2012/11/25/3414224/research-looks-at-smoking-addition.html#storylink=cpy

Salt Lake City airport’s smoking areas don’t protect non-smokers

 As Shane Lenz, of Tooele, puffs a cigarette before flying to New Orleans for Thanksgiving, he explains why he likes the special smoking rooms at Salt Lake City International Airport — especially since almost all other airports nationally totally ban smoking indoors.

"The findings in today’s report further confirm that ventilated smoking lounges and designated smoking areas are not effective," said Tim McAfee, director of CDC’s Office of Smoking and Health. "Prohibiting smoking in all indoor areas is the only effective way to fully eliminate exposure to secondhand smoke."

The CDC study found that at the five large hub airports in America that still allow some smoking — in Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Denver, Atlanta and Washington Dulles — air pollution levels caused by secondhand smoke are five times higher than in airports that ban smoking. Inside designated smoking areas, the pollution levels average 23 times higher.

The CDC noted that while Utah law bans smoking in indoor workplaces and public areas, the law specifically exempts Salt Lake City International Airport. It even bans smoking at smaller airport terminals in the state.

Annual ‘Great American Smokeout’ is Nov. 15

Every year, on the third Thursday of November, the Great American Smokeout draws attention to the deaths and chronic diseases caused by smoking. This year, on Nov. 15, smokers nationwide are challenged to stop using tobacco for 24 hours in the hope they might make the decision to quit smoking forever and increase their chance for better health and a longer life.

The Tobacco Action Coalition of the Finger Lakes (TACFL) partners with the American Lung Association and local Public Health Departments to educate the community about the dangers of tobacco use and prevent people from ever starting to smoke, reports MPNnow.com.

Tobacco farmers expect Philip Morris to announce station closure

For decades, Greene County boasted the biggest burley hauls in the state. But by 2010, the county had slipped to sixth as fewer and fewer farms cultivated the cash crop.

The Philip Morris receiving station in Midway (also called Tennessee Valley Tobacco Services) still takes in 6,000,000 pounds of burley tobacco a year -- most of it from Upper East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia, TriCities reports.

"It will be roughly $10.5 million in sales lost if this receiving station closes," Jonathan Cavin said.

Cavin, of Cavin Farms, said 138 farmers use the station. They're worried Philip Morris -- and parent company Altria Group -- will close it and direct shipments 175 miles north to Danville, Kentucky.

"Tobacco is something that's been passed down from generation to generation through our family," he said. "My great grandfather bought the main farm that my father and grandfather live on with tobacco money from the Great Depression."

Altria called farmers last Friday and invited them to a company-hosted meeting at the General Morgan Inn in Greenville this Friday at noon.  Hotel staff said that meeting is closed to the press.

Danville Economic Development Partnership CEO Jody Lassiter said the Philip Morris receiving station there (also called Danville Tobacco Services) opened last year. He described it as one of the most efficient facilities of its kind.

"It's a 50,000 square foot warehouse, previously an industrial facility, and they've done a lot of interior work this year," Lassiter said. "Drivers drive through, unload, and drive out."

Lassiter said the Danville station could easily handle an additional 6,000,000 pounds of tobacco a year.
 

Anti tobacco case taken up for hearing

A petition filed in the Court of Appeal requesting the Health Minister or the National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol to fully implement the regulations prescribed in the Tobacco products labelling and packaging gazette without prejudice to Parliament was taken up for hearing on October 22. The Bench constituting of Justice Sisira de Abrew and Justice Sunil Rajapakse issued notice to the respondents returnable on November 12.

The petitioner is Jayasuriya Hewage Sirimal Pathmasiri a resident of Polgasowita. The respondents cited are Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena, The National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol and the Attorney General. The petition inter alia states that tobacco amongst other health hazards causes cancer, heart risks and impotency.

Eighty per cent of cancer patients are smokers, statistics reveal. The Mahinda Chinthanaya Mathata Thitha has referred the perils of alcohol. The relief prayed for is to grant/issue a mandate in the nature of a writ of mandamus directing the first respondent or the second respondent to fully implement the regulations without prejudice to Parliament powers.

Missouri tobacco tax gains three new supporters

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On November 6th Missouri voters will decide whether or not to raise the state's tobacco tax. Leaders in health, business and education in the state have joined forces to support that effort. Right now the state has the lowest tobacco tax in the country.

Attempts to raise the tax by smaller amounts in 2002 and 2006 failed. If voters approve the tax increase education officials hope to get access to close to $300 million dollars in revenue that would be used to support public schools.

Imperial Tobacco earnings rise 8 pct

Imperial Tobacco, the world's fourth largest cigarette group, reported an 8 percent rise in annual earnings, helped by strong revenue growth from its key brands. The British firm, which sells over 340 billion cigarettes annually of brands such as Davidoff, Gauloises, JPS and West, on Tuesday said adjusted earnings rose to 201.0 pence a share for the year to end-September, ahead of a company-compiled consenus of 199.6 pence.

It raised the annual dividend by 11 percent to 105.6 pence a share, boosting its payout ratio from earnings to 52.5 percent. Revenue rose 4 percent to 7.0 billion pounds, however, reflecting the group's aim to counter Europe's downturn by offering economy-brand cigarettes, such as JPS, Lambert & Butler and roll-your-own products, while also raising prices for more affluent consumers in western Europe and the United States.

We see significant growth opportunities in our rest of the world region across Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East and Asia-Pacific and we'll continue to invest to support sustainable growth, the firm said in a statement. Overall stick equivalent volumes declined 2.7 percent in the period due to tough markets in Poland, Ukraine and compliance with international trade sanctions against Syria.

Its four key brands -- upmarket Davidoff, mid-priced Gauloises Blondes and value brands West and JPS -- saw annual volumes increase 7 percent. Its Gold Leaf and Golden Virginia fine cut business volumes were stable, it added. In Spain, where high unemployment and government austerity measures have hit the market, the group said it would take a non-cash impairment charge of 1.2 billion pounds during the year due to the macro economic indicators.

UCLA first UC campus to impose smoking ban

The University of California is banning smoking on its 10 campuses in 2014, but UCLA has decided to go tobacco free this spring. Cigarettes, cigars and chewing tobacco will be prohibited on the UCLA campus starting April 22.

UCLA Chancellor Gene Block says in a news release that his goal is to become the nation's healthiest college campus. The ban is designed to promote community well-being through research, education, nutrition and exercise, among other things. Tobacco users will have access to various resources to help them quit, including a free nicotine replacement starter kit.

UCLA campus to become tobacco-free zone

The UCLA campus will become a smoke- and tobacco- free zone beginning in April, Chancellor Gene Block announced today, following through on a request by the president of the University of California system. The policy will take effect on Earth Day, April 22, Block said. It will ban the use of all tobacco products, along with electronic cigarettes, on the UCLA campus and at any sites owned or leased by the university.

"Tobacco use and exposure to second-hand smoke remain the leading causes of preventable disease and death worldwide," Block wrote in a letter to the UCLA community. "A draft of the tobacco-free policy will be available for review by students, faculty and staff beginning Nov. 15. We also plan to ensure that tobacco users in our community have access to a variety of free and low- cost support services, in addition to those provided by health insurance, to help them." According to UCLA, the university is the first in the UC system to announce plans to ban tobacco products, although more than 800 colleges across the country have enacted similar policies.

UC President Mark Yudof previously requested that all campuses in the system adopt a tobacco-free policy. UCLA created a Tobacco-Free Steering Committee, which recommended the policy to Block and will develop an implementation plan, according to the university. Linda Sarna, a UCLA nursing professor and chair of the campus' Academic Senate, said tobacco bans on other university campuses have led to an increase in the number of people who quit smoking.

"The world is changing," she said. "People didn't used to wear seatbelts or bike helmets, and they used to smoke in airplanes and restaurants. But we know more than we did in the 1950s and we have to act. We have a responsibility to the health of our campus, and this is the right thing to do." She said the university will work with the county Department of Public Health to offer free two-week starter kits for smokers who want to quit.

Ark. marijuana proposal could lead to local fights

If Arkansas voters approve a ballot issue that would make the state the first in the South to legalize medical marijuana, the move could set off a new series of fights in cities and counties over how to deal with the measure's impact. The proposal on next Tuesday's ballot calls for allowing patients with qualifying conditions to buy marijuana from nonprofit dispensaries with a doctor's recommendation, but local governments also could ban the facilities. Local officials opposed to the measure are exploring that as a backup plan, but also say they're worried it could lead to a proliferation of home-grown marijuana.

That's because while the proposal allows local governments to restrict the dispensaries, they cannot prohibit another part of the measure that would allow qualifying patients to grow their own marijuana if they live more than five miles away from a dispensary. "The ability to grow six marijuana plants could make this more pervasive in our society than the dispensaries themselves. I think each jurisdiction, each county would have to look at that question," said Chris Villines, executive director of the Association of Arkansas Counties, a group opposed to the measure. "Do you want the dispensaries or do you want to have a more ubiquitous growing operation across your county?" Supporters of the medical marijuana proposal say they wanted to allow local governments to have some say over the number of dispensaries, but didn't want to render the law moot by allowing them to prohibit patients from growing themselves.

Chris Kell, campaign strategist for Arkansans for Compassionate Care, said he believes counties would rather allow the dispensaries so they could have some oversight rather than banning them outright. "It's going to be treated the same way alcohol is now," Kell said. Forty of Arkansas' 75 counties ban alcohol sales, but allow exceptions for private clubs. Kell thinks it would be counterproductive for local governments to ban the dispensaries, and said most patients would prefer going to them rather than growing their own marijuana. Health conditions that would qualify under the proposal include cancer, glaucoma, HIV, AIDS and Alzheimer's disease. Seventeen states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical marijuana in some way.

Arkansas' proposal faces an uphill fight in next week's election, even though backers have enjoyed a wide fundraising advantage. Many of the state's top elected officials, including Gov. Mike Beebe and Attorney General Dustin McDaniel, are opposed to the measure. More than half the voters surveyed in a University of Arkansas poll released last week said they were opposed to the proposal. The annual Arkansas Poll, taken Oct. 9-14, surveyed 800 people and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. That polling has meant many mayors and city officials aren't yet making plans to restrict or prohibit the dispensaries.

The county association and the Arkansas Municipal League say they haven't yet heard from local governments seeking guidance on what to do if the measure passes. "They haven't gone to Plan B because they don't think it will pass," said Don Zimmerman, the municipal league's executive director. The league hasn't taken a formal position on the measure, but its public safety advisory council has opposed it, Zimmerman said. Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola, a former local prosecutor, is among those who are skeptical of the proposal.

He said he will look at any restrictions the city can enact if voters approve it. One of the chief opponents of the measure, Jerry Cox, said if the proposal passes, he will make it his priority to encourage the state Legislature to repeal the law. That would require a two-thirds vote in both the state House and Senate. Cox, who heads the Family Council Action Committee, said he also will likely lobby local governments to ban the dispensaries. "What you're dealing with is varying degrees of bad," he said. "Letting people grow their own and having dispensaries is worse than if we didn't have the dispensaries."