Smoking bans have made the air healthier in bars and restaurants, but may have made the air just outside the establishments more hazardous, University of Georgia researchers have found.
Nonsmoking diners and imbibers sitting in outdoor patios or sidewalk seating areas connected to the bars or restaurants are picking up doses of secondhand smoke, the scientists found.
In fact, nonsmokers who volunteered to sit in the outdoor seating areas had levels of a tobacco byproduct in their bodies up to 162 percent higher than when they first sat down, said Luke Naeher, a professor in the university's environmental health science department.Collaborating with researchers in the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Northeast Health District, Mr. Naeher and other UGA researchers measured levels of a substance called cotinine.
Mr. Naeher's research team assigned 20 nonsmoking volunteers to spend six evening hours in one of three outdoor areas for the study -- outside a downtown Athens bar, outside a restaurant near downtown or outside UGA's main library."We're looking at real-world settings," Mr. Naeher said.
After six hours, the volunteers gave a saliva sample, which the researchers tested for cotinine, a nicotine byproduct often used as an indicator of tobacco exposure.
Volunteers who hung out where smokers gather outside a restaurant saw their cotinine levels more than double. Nonsmokers outside a bar had their cotinine increase by even more, up to 162 percent.
The study is published in this month's issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene .
Previous studies have shown that restaurant and bar smoking bans reduce the incidence of heart attacks and respiratory illness among people inside the establishments.
But researchers don't know the health impacts of outdoor secondhand smoke."The question is, is it an environment that warrants concern or further study?" Mr. Naeher said. "The answer is, we don't know yet."
The researchers aren't quite ready to declare outdoor cafes a new health hazard for those that may inhale secondhand smoke there -- including children, restaurant and bar workers, and pregnant women and their unborn children.
"We feel like it's something we need to be taking a look at," said Lou Kudon, one of the authors of the study. Mr. Kudon is program manager for the Athens-based Northeast Health District, which includes Clarke and nine other area counties.
Next, researchers will measure levels of a carcinogen called NNAL in nonsmokers who spend time in outdoor places where people smoke.
Nov 27, 2009
Nov 23, 2009
Cigarette packages to feature graphic images
Turkey will start warning smokers with both written and pictorial cautions on cigarette packages in 2010.The chairman of the Turkish Tobacco & Alcohol Market Regulation Board (TAPDK), Mehmet Küçük, said on Sunday that the board would start warning smokers with both written statements and pictures as of Jan. 1, 2010. “In addition to the current written warnings, there will be 14 pictures on cigarette and other tobacco product packages,” Küçük told the Anatolia news agency. Küçük said the board would try to draw attention to the harms of cigarettes with this method.
There are 180 different types of cigarette packages in Turkey. All these packages will be changed to include the new visual warning system.
Tobacco companies will switch over to the new packaging at designated intervals. Cigarette packages produced through Dec. 31, which include only written warnings, can be put on the market through June 30, 2010. Both visual and written warnings must cover 65 percent of the cigarette packages, according to the new regulations. One year after the switch, by Jan. 1, 2011, every cigarette package on shelves in Turkey must have the pictorial warning.
Visual warning on cigarette packages is a system already in place in countries including the UK, Belgium, Romania, Brazil, Thailand and Singapore. The European Union has 42 sample pictures for visual warnings on tobacco products. Turkey will choose 14 of these pictures for domestic use. Research indicates that visual warnings are effective in 20 percent of cases of people who want to quit smoking.
Turkey banned smoking in workplaces and malls in May 2008. It gave restaurants, bars and cafés extra time to comply with the new smoking ban. The expanded smoking ban went into effect across Turkey on June 19. Under it, it is illegal to smoke in coffeehouses, cafeterias, pubs, clubs, restaurants and taxis, and advertising or promoting tobacco products or the names and brands of tobacco-producing companies is prohibited, as well.
Turkey became the seventh country in Europe to ban smoking in all enclosed public places.
There are 180 different types of cigarette packages in Turkey. All these packages will be changed to include the new visual warning system.
Tobacco companies will switch over to the new packaging at designated intervals. Cigarette packages produced through Dec. 31, which include only written warnings, can be put on the market through June 30, 2010. Both visual and written warnings must cover 65 percent of the cigarette packages, according to the new regulations. One year after the switch, by Jan. 1, 2011, every cigarette package on shelves in Turkey must have the pictorial warning.
Visual warning on cigarette packages is a system already in place in countries including the UK, Belgium, Romania, Brazil, Thailand and Singapore. The European Union has 42 sample pictures for visual warnings on tobacco products. Turkey will choose 14 of these pictures for domestic use. Research indicates that visual warnings are effective in 20 percent of cases of people who want to quit smoking.
Turkey banned smoking in workplaces and malls in May 2008. It gave restaurants, bars and cafés extra time to comply with the new smoking ban. The expanded smoking ban went into effect across Turkey on June 19. Under it, it is illegal to smoke in coffeehouses, cafeterias, pubs, clubs, restaurants and taxis, and advertising or promoting tobacco products or the names and brands of tobacco-producing companies is prohibited, as well.
Turkey became the seventh country in Europe to ban smoking in all enclosed public places.
Nov 20, 2009
Smokers feel attacked by local bans
Thursday marks the 33rd annual great American smoke-out.
The American Cancer Society uses the day to encourage smokers to kick the habit, at least for a day.The ultimate goal is to snuff it out completely.
Several municipalities have already done snuffed out smoking, at least in public places.
Just in our viewing area alone, nine cities and counties have kicked the butts.
Seven of those bans have already gone into effect and two others take effect in January.
But the recent bans have left some smokers feeling like they are under attack.
Clarence Lovick enjoys taking a smoke on his lunch break.“If I’m upset, it might calm me down,” says Lovick.
The Columbia resident says he’s been a smoker since he was 16.
But lately Lovick says, lighting up has been harder to do, with smoking bans in capitol city restaurants and bars.
“I think it’s just a waste of time, for somebody to make a law, to have somebody stop doing what they feel they have the right to do,” says Lovick.”"I wish it would be totally banned," says Executive Director of the American Cancer Society, Sue Mclesse.
Mclesse says one way to make people quit smoking, is to make the habit more expensive.
Currently the organization is working to increase to the state’s cigarette tax from seven cents a pack, to a dollar.
But Mclesse says she won’t be completely satisfied until the whole state, is smoke free."What I would like to see, is total cessation, total lack of production, of cigarettes," says Mclesse.
According to the American Cancer society, 440,000 people die in this country every year from tobacco related illnesses.That's more than alcohol, car accidents, suicide, murder and illegal drugs combined.
Clarence Lovick knows the numbers, but wishes the organization would butt out of his personal choice.
"Somebody sometimes might need or want a cigarette, just like somebody might need or want something to eat that they shouldn't it,” says Lovick.
The American Cancer Society uses the day to encourage smokers to kick the habit, at least for a day.The ultimate goal is to snuff it out completely.
Several municipalities have already done snuffed out smoking, at least in public places.
Just in our viewing area alone, nine cities and counties have kicked the butts.
Seven of those bans have already gone into effect and two others take effect in January.
But the recent bans have left some smokers feeling like they are under attack.
Clarence Lovick enjoys taking a smoke on his lunch break.“If I’m upset, it might calm me down,” says Lovick.
The Columbia resident says he’s been a smoker since he was 16.
But lately Lovick says, lighting up has been harder to do, with smoking bans in capitol city restaurants and bars.
“I think it’s just a waste of time, for somebody to make a law, to have somebody stop doing what they feel they have the right to do,” says Lovick.”"I wish it would be totally banned," says Executive Director of the American Cancer Society, Sue Mclesse.
Mclesse says one way to make people quit smoking, is to make the habit more expensive.
Currently the organization is working to increase to the state’s cigarette tax from seven cents a pack, to a dollar.
But Mclesse says she won’t be completely satisfied until the whole state, is smoke free."What I would like to see, is total cessation, total lack of production, of cigarettes," says Mclesse.
According to the American Cancer society, 440,000 people die in this country every year from tobacco related illnesses.That's more than alcohol, car accidents, suicide, murder and illegal drugs combined.
Clarence Lovick knows the numbers, but wishes the organization would butt out of his personal choice.
"Somebody sometimes might need or want a cigarette, just like somebody might need or want something to eat that they shouldn't it,” says Lovick.
Nov 17, 2009
FDA Goes After Online Sales of Flavored Cigarettes
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning more than a dozen online cigarette sellers that they may be in violation of the new regulations against selling most types of flavored cigarettes to U.S. citizens and have 15 days to prove that they have stopped those sales or risk government action.A ban on the U.S. sale of cigarettes flavored with anything other than menthol went into effect on Sept. 22 as part of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act.
That law, enacted in June, gives the FDA power to regulate the content of tobacco products, along with the marketing and distribution of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, and the impact of ads for those products on young people. The new law also lets the FDA limit the amount of nicotine in products and block labels such as “light” and “low tar” that appear to offer “healthier” cigarettes.
The warning letters went out to 14 owners of Web sites that the FDA says are still offering the banned flavored cigarettes for sale to U.S. customers, according to Internet searches conducted by its own Office of Enforcement and by its new Center for Tobacco Products, a division created within the FDA in August to administer the new tobacco ad and promotion policies and review applications for the exemption of new tobacco products.
The FDA sent a previous letter to the tobacco industry at large on Sept. 14 reminding them of the flavored-cigarette ban and stating that company selling the banned products would be subject to enforcement.
This latest round of notices went out to individual merchants, some located in the United States and some based overseas but selling to U.S. citizens through their Web sites. All the letters cite the language of the new bill that “A cigarette or any of its component parts (including the tobacco, filter or paper) shall not contain, as a constituent (including a smoke constituent) or additive, an artificial or natural flavor (other than tobacco or menthol) or an herb or spice, including strawberry, grape, orange, clove, cinnamon, pineapple, vanilla, coconut, licorice, cocoa, chocolate, cherry, or coffee, that is a characterizing flavor of the tobacco product or tobacco smoke.”
If the products listed for sale on the merchants’ Web sites do contain such flavorings, the letters say, they are adulterated tobacco products and subject to FDA penalty. If they don’t, they are misleadingly labeled and also subject to FDA penalty.
Merchants not based in the U.S. who received FDA letters were told that the agency will work to have their shipments into the U.S. stopped at customs, and that the FDA will notify authorities in their home countries that their banned products will not be allowed into the U.S.
The FDA’s enforcement effort is part of its initiative to prevent children and adolescents from taking up the smoking habit—something they can be lead into by candy- or fruit-flavored tobacco products, as well as marketing aimed at young audiences.
“FDA takes the enforcement of this flavored cigarette ban seriously,” Center for Tobacco products director Lawrence Deyton said in a release. ”These actions should send a clear message to those who continue to break the law that FDA will take necessary actions to protect our children from initiating tobacco use.”
In related news, a U.S. District Court ruled a week ago that tobacco companies have little chance of blocking enforcement of the Family Smoking Prevention Act on the grounds that it restricts their free speech rights to market new tobacco products, including smokeless tobacco and so-called “electronic cigarettes.”
R. J. Reynolds, which markets the Camel cigarettes product line, and Lorillard Inc., maker of Newport menthol cigarettes, filed suit against the law Aug. 31 in Richmond, VA, along with several other smaller tobacco marketers. In its filing, Reynolds asked the court to issue a preliminary injunction against the law, arguing that it impaired “their First Amendment right to communicate with adult tobacco consumers about their products.” If granted, the ruling would have prevented the FDA from enforcing the law while the plaintiffs pursued their broader case against it.
But U.S. District Court Judge Joseph McKinley denied the injunction on Nov. 5, saying that the “plaintiffs have little likelihood of success” in challenging the provisions of the law governing new “modified-risk” tobacco products.
The ruling means the tobacco makers will have to comply with the FDA’s new manufacturing and marketing regulations while the plaintiffs’ lawsuit moves forward.
That suit contends that the new law prohibits their use of “color lettering, trademarks, logos or any other imagery in most advertisements, including virtually all point-of-sale and direct-mail advertisements.” They also allege that new, more prominent health warnings on package fronts and cartons will relegate their branding to the bottom half of cigarette packaging and make it difficult, if not impossible, to see.”
That law, enacted in June, gives the FDA power to regulate the content of tobacco products, along with the marketing and distribution of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, and the impact of ads for those products on young people. The new law also lets the FDA limit the amount of nicotine in products and block labels such as “light” and “low tar” that appear to offer “healthier” cigarettes.
The warning letters went out to 14 owners of Web sites that the FDA says are still offering the banned flavored cigarettes for sale to U.S. customers, according to Internet searches conducted by its own Office of Enforcement and by its new Center for Tobacco Products, a division created within the FDA in August to administer the new tobacco ad and promotion policies and review applications for the exemption of new tobacco products.
The FDA sent a previous letter to the tobacco industry at large on Sept. 14 reminding them of the flavored-cigarette ban and stating that company selling the banned products would be subject to enforcement.
This latest round of notices went out to individual merchants, some located in the United States and some based overseas but selling to U.S. citizens through their Web sites. All the letters cite the language of the new bill that “A cigarette or any of its component parts (including the tobacco, filter or paper) shall not contain, as a constituent (including a smoke constituent) or additive, an artificial or natural flavor (other than tobacco or menthol) or an herb or spice, including strawberry, grape, orange, clove, cinnamon, pineapple, vanilla, coconut, licorice, cocoa, chocolate, cherry, or coffee, that is a characterizing flavor of the tobacco product or tobacco smoke.”
If the products listed for sale on the merchants’ Web sites do contain such flavorings, the letters say, they are adulterated tobacco products and subject to FDA penalty. If they don’t, they are misleadingly labeled and also subject to FDA penalty.
Merchants not based in the U.S. who received FDA letters were told that the agency will work to have their shipments into the U.S. stopped at customs, and that the FDA will notify authorities in their home countries that their banned products will not be allowed into the U.S.
The FDA’s enforcement effort is part of its initiative to prevent children and adolescents from taking up the smoking habit—something they can be lead into by candy- or fruit-flavored tobacco products, as well as marketing aimed at young audiences.
“FDA takes the enforcement of this flavored cigarette ban seriously,” Center for Tobacco products director Lawrence Deyton said in a release. ”These actions should send a clear message to those who continue to break the law that FDA will take necessary actions to protect our children from initiating tobacco use.”
In related news, a U.S. District Court ruled a week ago that tobacco companies have little chance of blocking enforcement of the Family Smoking Prevention Act on the grounds that it restricts their free speech rights to market new tobacco products, including smokeless tobacco and so-called “electronic cigarettes.”
R. J. Reynolds, which markets the Camel cigarettes product line, and Lorillard Inc., maker of Newport menthol cigarettes, filed suit against the law Aug. 31 in Richmond, VA, along with several other smaller tobacco marketers. In its filing, Reynolds asked the court to issue a preliminary injunction against the law, arguing that it impaired “their First Amendment right to communicate with adult tobacco consumers about their products.” If granted, the ruling would have prevented the FDA from enforcing the law while the plaintiffs pursued their broader case against it.
But U.S. District Court Judge Joseph McKinley denied the injunction on Nov. 5, saying that the “plaintiffs have little likelihood of success” in challenging the provisions of the law governing new “modified-risk” tobacco products.
The ruling means the tobacco makers will have to comply with the FDA’s new manufacturing and marketing regulations while the plaintiffs’ lawsuit moves forward.
That suit contends that the new law prohibits their use of “color lettering, trademarks, logos or any other imagery in most advertisements, including virtually all point-of-sale and direct-mail advertisements.” They also allege that new, more prominent health warnings on package fronts and cartons will relegate their branding to the bottom half of cigarette packaging and make it difficult, if not impossible, to see.”
Nov 13, 2009
Tobacco prevention program earns World Health Organization recognition
The state’s Tobacco Prevention and Control Program, a national leader in fighting tobacco use, will take part in an international workshop on effective prevention strategies.
Terry Reid, the program’s director since March 2001, will represent the Department of Health at the World Health Organization (WHO) event in Tunis, Tunisia on November 13 and 14. The group will work on tobacco control measures for use by countries around the world.
“This is a real honor for our state and our Tobacco Prevention and Control Program,” said Secretary of Health Mary Selecky. “Since the program began, adult smoking is down by 30 percent, youth smoking has dropped by about half, and we’ve implemented one of the most comprehensive smoke-free indoor air laws in the country. The invitation is a tribute to Terry’s leadership. Improving the health of our state’s people is the real payoff.”
The meetings in Tunisia bring together WHO representatives and select managers of national tobacco control programs. Reid is the only person from the U.S. who has been invited.
“I’m proud of the effective tobacco prevention and control model we’ve deveoped and the difference it has made in our state,” said Reid. “It’s a testament to the daily efforts of state and local tobacco prevention specialists throughout Washington. Their dedication has helped save our state thousands of lives and billions in future health care costs. I’m delighted to share with an international audience how we’ve achieved those successes.”
“Washington has long been a national leader in tobacco prevention and control,” said Matthew L. Myers, executive director of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. “For the last nine years, the program has implemented a comprehensive effort to help adults quit, prevent youth from starting, and protect people from secondhand smoke, which produced dramatic results.”
Terry Reid, the program’s director since March 2001, will represent the Department of Health at the World Health Organization (WHO) event in Tunis, Tunisia on November 13 and 14. The group will work on tobacco control measures for use by countries around the world.
“This is a real honor for our state and our Tobacco Prevention and Control Program,” said Secretary of Health Mary Selecky. “Since the program began, adult smoking is down by 30 percent, youth smoking has dropped by about half, and we’ve implemented one of the most comprehensive smoke-free indoor air laws in the country. The invitation is a tribute to Terry’s leadership. Improving the health of our state’s people is the real payoff.”
The meetings in Tunisia bring together WHO representatives and select managers of national tobacco control programs. Reid is the only person from the U.S. who has been invited.
“I’m proud of the effective tobacco prevention and control model we’ve deveoped and the difference it has made in our state,” said Reid. “It’s a testament to the daily efforts of state and local tobacco prevention specialists throughout Washington. Their dedication has helped save our state thousands of lives and billions in future health care costs. I’m delighted to share with an international audience how we’ve achieved those successes.”
“Washington has long been a national leader in tobacco prevention and control,” said Matthew L. Myers, executive director of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. “For the last nine years, the program has implemented a comprehensive effort to help adults quit, prevent youth from starting, and protect people from secondhand smoke, which produced dramatic results.”
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