In the last few years, we have seen a downside to the good quality of life that makes the VolunteerState so attractive.
One aspect of that downside is the high rate of adult and childhood obesity, and the other is the paucity of funds allocated to restrict smoking. Efforts to reduce childhood obesity have shown some slight improvement, the (Nashville) Tennessean reported earlier this year, but the efforts to curb smoking appear headed in the wrong direction.
A new study by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and reported by the Tennessean this month ranks the state dead last among other states and the District of Columbia in funding anti-smoking programs. The report was tilted "Tobacco Control State Highlight 2010."
Other statistics in the report are equally sobering. Tennessee is 39th for low tobacco taxes, even though the Legislature raised the tax by 42 cents per pack of cigarettes - from 20 cents to 62 cents - three years ago. The tax remains below the national average of $1.34 per pack.
The state ranks 43rd for the likely chance that workers in Tennessee will be exposed to smoke in their jobs; 45th for the number of smokers who use the state quit-smoking help hot line; 46th for the high number of adult smokers and 47th for youth smokers, ages 12-17.
Elected officials can blame the poor funding of anti-smoking programs on the current state of the economy, but that argument goes only so far. Tennessee brings in about $400 million in tobacco taxes and payments from a settlement agreement involving dozens of states and tobacco companies.
Tennessee's share this year is about $145 million. And, while the bulk of the money arguably could go for health care costs, a portion of the money was promised for anti-smoking programs.
Tennessee's contribution to those programs this year was a paltry $200,000, creating an uphill struggle for state health officials. The spending was down from $10 million in 2007 and $5 million in 2008. The CDC says the state should be spending at least $7.1 million each year.
Tennessee made progress with the 2007 outlay, and the number of smokers dropped from 27 percent of the population to 23 percent in 2008. That clearly demonstrates the effectiveness of the wise use of the tobacco-settlement money.
However, other states made gains as well; some even used the tobacco-settlement funds as they promised and didn't allow progress to stop after one year.
As the CDC report noted, tobacco use is the single most preventable cause of death in the U.S. Moreover, diseases attributed to smoking result in $96 billion in health care costs annually.
The report challenged state officials to work creatively by using high-impact, cost effective measures to curb smoking, even in challenging economic times.
We urge those officials to keep up the fight. Tennessee's quality of life doesn't begin and end with the scenic mountains, hills and lakes. It also includes what we put in our mouths and breathe into our lungs.
A lobby group of small retailers protesting the Government's tobacco price hike is receiving public relations support from Imperial Tobacco, the tobacco giant told a select committee last week.
The Association of Community Retailers (ACR), set up late last month, had earlier rejected suggestions it was backed by tobacco cash and said it was entirely funded from its members.
The ACR shared a postal address with Omeka Public Relations, whose managing director, Glenn Inwood, also represented Imperial Tobacco and Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research through another PR company, blogger Keith Ng revealed.
Mr. Inwood said earlier this month the ACR received no funding from tobacco companies or himself but purely from members' subscriptions.
"It's running off the smell of an oily rag."
One of the ACR's coordinators, Denielle Boulieris, told another blogger, Rory McKinnon, earlier this month that the association does not have a relationship with tobacco companies.
But Imperial Tobacco's New Zealand sales and marketing director, Tony Meirs, last week told a Maori Affairs select committee the company was providing the ACR with public relations resources through Omeka Public Relations.
Mr. Meirs told the select committee the company wanted to support retailers in speaking out about regulations that would damage their business viability, according to a transcript provided to Mr. McKinnon.
"This is our way of helping those retailers protect their business against unnecessary regulations that will be ineffective. We're helping them to develop a voice," Mr. Meirs said.
He told the select committee he did not know the value of the public relations support Imperial Tobacco was providing, and was unable to say whether Imperial Tobacco would be better off if the ACR achieved its aims.
"I don't know, because whether Imperial Tobacco would be financially better off or not depends on how we compete in the marketplace, how we compete for adult smokers. So it's just, the two just aren't linked," he said.
"I support the position of those retailers wanting to develop a voice, wanting to put their argument forward to protect their businesses from unnecessary regulation."
ACR founding member Richard Green, who ran a tobacconist business in Palmerston North, told NZPA earlier this month the ACR grew out of the former Stay Displays coalition of retailers, a coalition that formed to fight a proposed ban on displaying tobacco products for sale.
ACR would speak for retailers on a wider range of subjects affecting retailers, such as security, sale of alcohol and confectionary, and was set up with the help of Mr. Inwood, who had also worked on the Stay Displays campaign.
Mr. Green said the sole funding for the ACR so far came from its members. It had employed two part time coordinators but it had yet to figure out how they would be funded, as it was still early days.
Arizona hospital admissions for stroke, asthma, heart attacks and angina fell more than 10 percent in the year after a statewide smoking ban took effect, a new study says. While there have been studies on the economic impact of the ban onsmoking in public places, including bars and restaurants, the researchers believe the study on hospital admissions is the first to look at the health ramifications of Arizona’s smoking law.
For their report, University of Arizona psychology department researchers Patricia M. Herman and Michele E. Walsh analyzed admission data from Arizona’s 87 hospitals between January 2004 and May 2008 for Arizona residents only.
Their findings are published in a peer-reviewed article in this month’s issue of the American Journal of Public Health. The new study shows evidence of a direct relationship between exposure to secondhand smoke and asthma and cardiovascular disease.
Herman and Walsh found that in the 13 months after the law took effect in May 2007, admissions for asthma dropped by 22 percent; heart-attack admissions by 13 percent; admissions for unstable angina by 33 percent and admissions for acute stroke by 14 percent.
For strokes, angina and heart attack, the researchers used data from adult admissions only, but they included babies and children in their analysis of the asthma data, Herman said. The study looked at hospital admissions, not emergency room visits, she stressed.
The cost savings of those reduced hospital admissions was nearly $17 million, the researchers estimate.
“Within the context of the growing body of consistent evidence from studies in other states and regions, the results of this study support the case for substantial health benefits from Arizona’s comprehensive statewide smoking ban in areas with no previous bans,” the study says. “If one considers the fact that only about 40 percent of the U.S. population is presently covered by a comprehensive smoke-free law, and the need for effective and cost-saving options in health care, comprehensive smoking bans should be considered by any governmental agency, employer or other organization seeking to advocate or implement policies that improve health and reduce health-care costs.”
Herman said the Arizona study, which was funded by the Arizona Department of Health Services’ Bureau of Tobacco and Chronic Disease, had results similar to health studies conducted in other jurisdictions with smoking bans.
“There’s a lot of evidence out there,” said Herman, who is also a licensed naturopathic physician. “One of the things I found fascinating, that piqued my interest, was that I think people recognize the long-term effects of smoking, but not the short-term effects. The cardiovascular effects are profound.”
As a check on their results, the researchers looked at admission data for four diagnoses that aren’t related to secondhand smoke – appendicitis, kidney stones, acute cholecystitis and ulcers. The researchers said they found no statistically significant changes in admissions for those conditions before and after the ban took effect.
NEARLY 40 million kilograms of tobacco have been sold since the marketing season opened in February earning the country just over US$121 million.
The Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) said 39.1 million kilograms of the golden leaf have gone under the hammer raising US$121.2 million for the liquidity-starved economy.
The volumes delivered are also 8.9 percent better compared to the same period last year.
Prices are averaging US$3.10 per kg, a 9 percent improvement on the comparative period last year.
The TIMB said about 25.5 million kilograms of the crop was sold through the auction system while the balance came from contract arrangements.
The government has also revised upwards the overall production forecast for the season to 86 million kgs from the initial 77 million.
Production of the crop – a key foreign exchange earner for the economy – is recovering have plummeted from peaks of about 200 million kgs over the last decade.
The decline in output has been blamed on the country’s land reforms while the new farmers have not been given adequate technical and financial support to boost production.
Children who live in apartments are exposed to secondhand smoke, even if they don't live with smokers, a new study has found.
The research from the University of Rochester Medical Center is the first to examine whether housing type is a potential contributor to children's exposure to cigarette smoke.
It has been presented at the Pediatric Academic Society Meeting in Vancouver, Canada.
Among children who lived in an apartment, 84 percent had been exposed to tobacco smoke, according to the level of a biomarker (cotinine) in their blood that indicates exposure to nicotine found in tobacco, and this included more than 9 of 10 African-American and white children. Even among children who lived in detached houses, 70 percent showed evidence of exposure.
"We are starting to understand the role that seepage through walls and through shared ventilation may impact tobacco smoke exposure in apartments," said Karen Wilson, M.D., MPH, author of the study and an assistant professor of Pediatrics at the University of Rochester Medical Center's Golisano Children's Hospital. "We see that children are being exposed in ways we are not picking up, and it's important, for their health, that we figure out where this exposure is taking place, and work to eliminate it. Multi-unit housing is one potential source, but a very important one."
The study analyzed data from almost 6,000 children between 6- and 18-years-old in a national database (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2001-2006) to see if there was any relationship between their smoke exposure and their housing type. Apartment living was associated with a 45 percent increase in cotinine levels for African American children and a 207 percent increase for white children. About 18 percent of U.S. children live in apartments, and many of these children are living in subsidized housing communities where smoking is more prevalent.
Wilson said many parents are trying to limit their children's tobacco smoke exposure by not allowing smoking in their apartments, but they say they can smell tobacco smoke coming from other apartments or from common areas.
In the last few years, we have seen a downside to the good quality of life that makes the 
