December 14, 2011 (Institute of Medicine) — Report Specifies Research FDA Should Require Before Allowing 'Modified Risk' Tobacco Products to Be Marketed
"A new Institute of Medicine report specifies the types of research that the Food and Drug Administration should require before allowing tobacco companies to sell or advertise 'modified risk' tobacco products as being capable of reducing the health risks of tobacco use. While modified risk tobacco products could be one part of a comprehensive strategy to lower tobacco-related death and disease in the U.S., especially among tobacco users who are unable or unwilling to quit entirely, little is currently known about the products' health effects and whether they pose less risk than traditional tobacco products. Examples of modified risk tobacco products may include e-cigarettes and tobacco lozenges."
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December 9, 2011 (China Daily) — Enforce Ban on Smoking
China struggles with enforcing its January 9th ban on smoking in public places. Only 20 percent of surveyed restaurants in Beijing had banned smoking completely by mid 2011. The country has 300 million smokers (roughly 22% of the population). One major hurdle is the state-owned tobacco industry. It provided the country nearly $80 billion in revenue in 2010.
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December 8, 2011 (Fox News Latino) — Brazil Widens War on Tobacco
"The Brazilian government is a presidential signature away from passing a law that would not only ban smoking in enclosed public places nationwide, but also extend restrictions more than previously thought. But the new law would increase restrictions making it illegal to light up in smoking rooms, or in airports and bars, ban cigarette advertisements everywhere cigarettes are sold, and increase taxes on cigarettes by up to 300%."
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December 5, 2011 (The Boston Globe) — E-cigarettes: Threat or therapy?
"Are e-cigarettes less harmful than real cigarettes? Advocates say they help smokers quit. But health officials aren't so sure."
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December 1, 2011 (The Charleston Gazette) — Tobacco use to hike health insurance costs in South Charleston
"Employees of the city of South Charleston may soon pay more for their insurance - especially if they are tobacco users. City Council members passed two ordinances that will increase the health insurance deductible from $2,500 to $4,000 a year. Tobacco users will be hit with an additional fee of $50 a month for individuals and $100 a month for families."
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November 17, 2011 (The White House) — President Obama: Congratulations to Everyone Taking Part in Today's Great American Smokeout
"Today, Americans from across the country are making plans to quit smoking as part of the American Cancer Society's Great American Smokeout. And this morning, we released a video from President Obama congratulating everyone who is participating in this important event and underscoring our Administration’s commitment to fighting tobacco use."
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November 16, 2011 (The New York Times) — The Smokers' Surcharge
"More and more employers are demanding that workers who smoke, are overweight or have high cholesterol shoulder a greater share of their health care costs, a shift toward penalizing employees with unhealthy lifestyles rather than rewarding good habits. Policies that impose financial penalties on employees have doubled in the last two years to 19 percent of 248 major American employers recently surveyed. Next year, Towers Watson, the benefits consultant that conducted the survey, said the practice — among employers with at least 1,000 workers — was expected to double again."
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November 16, 2011 (ABC News) — The Great American Smokeout: Tips for People Deciding to Quit
"The American Cancer Society continues its tradition today with the 36th Great American Smokeout — a day dedicated to encourage smokers to either quit or set a date to officially put down the pack. According to the CDC, there are still 46 million smokers still in the country and one in five deaths can be attributed to tobacco use. What's worse, 70 percent smokers who try to quit relapse, and experts say that it takes a smoker seven to 10 times to quit for good. Here are seven tips for smokers looking to kick the habit from leading experts."
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November 12, 2011 (Statesman-Journal) — Officials wary of electronic cigarettes
"Smoking for the modern age never looked so easy. It just requires a push of a button, vaporized mist and optional flavors of chocolate, coffee or peppermint. This isn't a futuristic prop from the set of 'The Jetsons.' It's an electronic cigarette and it's been on the market for several years. But the e-smokes are just now catching the eyes of community and health leaders. Across the country, health warnings and bans are being raised regarding the devices, even though little is known about how often they're used or who is using them. 'It's a tobacco product but it's being marketed like a candy cigarette,' said Rene LeBlanc, director for the South Central Public Health District. 'It's mimicking the same smoking behavior but you're being told it's not the same.'"
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November 3, 2011 (Anchorage Daily News) — Providence hospital will screen job applicants for nicotine
"Smokers, if you want a job at Alaska's biggest private employer, forget about it. Providence Alaska Medical Center and its affiliates around the state will stop hiring tobacco users as of Nov. 17. That's when Providence will begin testing prospective employees for nicotine along with illegal drugs."
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October 26, 2011 (The Baltimore Sun) — Baltimore Co. to ban smoking in county-owned vehicles
"Baltimore County plans to prohibit employees from smoking in government vehicles, including police cars and maintenance trucks, a county health official confirmed. Dr. Gregory Wm. Branch, the county health officer, recommended the move to county Administrative Officer Fred Homan last week, citing the health risks of secondhand smoke. 'Secondhand smoke can remain in [homes and cars] through contaminated dust and surfaces, even if smoking took place days, weeks and even months earlier,' Branch wrote in the letter obtained by The Baltimore Sun. 'The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has concluded that secondhand smoke is an occupational carcinogen.'"
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October 22, 2011 (The Economist) — After the tsunami: Old habits die hard
"To a smoker from Europe or America, Japan is a puffer's paradise. A pack of cigarettes in Tokyo, despite a hefty tax increase last year, still costs about half what it would in London or New York. Smoke billows out of bars. There is little social stigma. Yoshihiko Noda, the prime minister, is a two-pack-a-day man. The state, despite signing an international anti-smoking convention in 2004, still owns 50% of the world's third-largest cigarette company, Japan Tobacco."
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October 19, 2011 (Business Wire) — CEOs Lead Cancer Fighting Effort
"Eli Lilly and Co. became the 100th employer to receive CEO Cancer Gold Standard accreditation, recognizing the company's commitment to reducing cancer risk by promoting healthy lifestyle choices, encouraging early detection through cancer screenings, and ensuring access to quality treatment for their own employees and their covered family members. The CEO Cancer Gold Standard™ was created by the CEO Roundtable on Cancer in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute, many of its designated cancer centers, and leading health non-profit organizations and professionals. The CEO Cancer Gold Standard™ calls for companies to evaluate their health benefits and corporate culture and take extensive, concrete actions in five key areas of health and wellness to fight cancer in the workplace. Through the support provided by the CEO Roundtable on Cancer, there is no cost for companies large or small, for-profit or not-for profit to apply for CEO Cancer Gold Standard accreditation. To earn accreditation, a company must establish programs to reduce cancer risk by discouraging tobacco use; encouraging physical activity; promoting healthy diet and nutrition; detecting cancer at its earliest stages; and providing access to quality care, including participation in clinical trials."
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October 8, 2011 (CNN) — Debate: Should cigarette breaks be deducted from working hours?
"Should cigarette breaks be deducted from working hours? The debate rages on in France, where a few companies have begun requiring employees to take their ID cards off when heading outside for a puff, and put them on again when returning to their desks. The issue has come up in other parts of Europe as well. This past summer the registry office in Florence, Italy began docking smokers for their frequent breaks. And as of this week, civil servants in Walloonia, the predominantly French-speaking southern region of Belgium, are also being obliged to deduct their cigarette breaks."
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October 5, 2011 (The New Zealand Herald) — Nicotine on anti-doping hit list
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is taking initial steps to classing nicotine as a performance-enhancing drug. According to its Lausanne laboratory, WADA and all sport federations should evaluate the inclusion of nicotine to WADA's Prohibited List or/and Monitoring Program. The theorized performance-enhancing effects of nicotine included increased "vigilance and cognitive function," and reduced stress and body weight. There is "alarming evidence" of nicotine use by athletes across 43 sports. Tests on 2,185 urine samples found 15% of athletes actively used nicotine, compared to 25% of the general population. Read More…

September 30, 2011 (Time) — Ranked: Jobs With the Most (and Fewest) Smokers
"Miners, food service workers and construction workers are more likely to smoke than adults in other industries, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported on Thursday. In an analysis of 2004-10 data from a national health survey, the CDC found that 30% of workers in mining and an equal proportion of workers in hotel and food services reported smoking. An estimated 29.7% of adults working in construction smoked. The overall adult smoking rate in the U.S. is 19.3%."
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September 29, 2011 (The Japan Times) — 40% still off cigarettes year after tobacco tax hike
According to research conducted by Pfizer Japan, Inc., nearly 40 percent of people who gave up smoking in response to cigarette price hikes a year ago are still nonsmokers. In October 2010, the Japanese government significantly raised taxes on cigarettes which translated into per pack cost increases of over 30%.
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September 21, 2011 (Wall Street Journal) — A Global Push for a Smoke-Free Workplace
The Mayo Clinic, Johnson & Johnson, the American Cancer Society, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, and GBCHealth have joined forces to eliminate workplace smoking worldwide. This global smoke-free worksite challenge calls on employers to ban smoking in all offices and at all facilities worldwide. According to the World Health Organization, only 11% of people globally are protected by comprehensive national smoke-free laws. The impact of tobacco on companies is significant. Smokers miss eight to 10 more days of work a year than nonsmokers, costing companies millions of dollars a year in lost productivity and healthcare costs.
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September 18, 2011 (Reuters) — WHO says $1.20 a person could curb chronic diseases
"Poorer countries could introduce measures to prevent and treat millions of cases of cancer, heart disease, diabetes and lung disease for a little as $1.20 per person per year, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Sunday. In a study released on eve of the first United Nations high-level meeting on chronic, or non-communicable diseases (NCDs), the WHO said there are many cheap steps governments could take to stem a tide of expensive-to-treat, life-threatening diseases which could bankrupt health systems." Read More…

September 8, 2011 (International Business Times) — It's Official: Smoking is No Longer Cool
According to a recent Gallup poll, one in four people judge a person's character because of the unhealthy habit -- even if they are smokers themselves. In the 1990s, only 14% of people reported having lost respect for smokers. Read More…

September 7, 2011 (China Daily) — Smoking's last gasp saloon
Hong Kong is on the verge of becoming the first place in the world in modern history where less than one in 10 adults smokes. In August, the city found that 11.1% of the adult population smoked - just 3% of women and 19.9 percent of men smoke. Hong Kong's male smoking rate compares to 35% in Singapore, 48% in Vietnam, 33% in both the US and Germany and 51% on the Chinese mainland. Three decades ago, nearly one in four Hong Kong adults smoked. Recent years have seen a precipitous decline in smoking rates in the city given punishing tax rises, the expansion of no-smoking areas and a host of initiatives to help people quit. Read More…

September 5, 2011 (BBC News) — Stub out car smoke
A recent study in Scotland suggested air quality inside a smoker's car was comparable to industrial smog in cities such as Beijing or Moscow - even when the driver had windows open. Read More…

August 31, 2011 (HealthDay News) — Smoking Harder on Women's Arteries Than Men's, Scans Show
Research conducted on men and women in Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, France and Italy found that smoking causes more arterial damage in women than in men. A lifetime of smoking was associated with thickening of the arterial walls (atherosclerosis) in both genders, but the impact in women was more than double that seen in men. The association between smoking and atherosclerosis was independent of other risk factors, such as cholesterol level, obesity, age, blood pressure and social class. Read More…

August 26, 2011 (United Press International) — Swedish city eyes far-reaching smoking ban
Authorities in a Swedish city say they are considering a smoking ban for city employees during working hours, even if they are working from home.

Under the ban being considered by Landskrona in southern Sweden, city staffers would not be allowed to go onto the street during group coffee breaks that are common practice in many Swedish workplaces, the Swedish news agency TT reported Friday. Read More…

July 22, 2011 (Gallup) — Americans Don't Want Biases in Hiring Smokers, the Overweight
"More than 8 in 10 Americans think it is not right for companies to refuse to hire people just because they are significantly overweight or smoke. Fourteen percent say the practice should be allowed for each. The views Americans express in the July 7-10 poll are essentially unchanged from prior Gallup readings on the same questions since 2005. In 2003, Gallup also found most Americans saying that if they were in a position to hire someone, it would make no difference to them if that person were overweight (79%) or smoked (74%)." Read More…

August 11, 2011 (MedPage Today) — Cigarettes Hurt Women's Hearts More than Men's
"Women who smoke have a greater risk of developing coronary artery disease than men who smoke, a large systematic review and meta-analysis showed. Compared with nonsmokers, women smokers have a 25% greater relative risk of coronary heart disease than do men who smoke, independent of other cardiovascular risk factors, reported Rachel R. Huxley, DPhil, from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, and Mark Woodward PhD, from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore." Read More…

August 2, 2011 (Irish Central) — Electronic cigarettes taken off shelves in Ireland
"Electronic cigarettes have been removed from the shelves of Irish pharmacies due to concerns about the safety of the products. The device allows people to smoke in areas where tobacco is banned and were invented by a Chinese pharmacist." Read More…

July 27, 2011 (NetAlert, Thomson Reuters Foundation) — World Bank warns of economic slowdown if China fails to tackle chronic diseases
The World Bank has urged China to step up efforts to fight chronic diseases and warned that rising health expenditures could translate into an economic slowdown without rapid action. Chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) (e.g., lung cancer, stroke, heart disease and diabetes) account for over 80% of all deaths in the country. For example, China's mortality rate for strokes is four to six times higher than Japan's or the United States'. An aging population and poor population lifestyle choices (decreased activity, bad diet, smoking, etc.) contribute to increasing rates of the diseases. "A reduced ratio of healthy workers to sicker, older dependents will certainly increase the odds of a future economic slowdown and pose a significant social challenge" in the world's second-largest economy. Without intervention, the World Bank estimates that China will lose $550 billion in national income between 2005 and 2015 due to heart disease, stroke and diabetes. Read More…

July 25, 2011 (Manchester Evening News) — Smoking Bans Broaden across UK
"If you live in the UK and are considering buying an electronic cigarette, then you might want to learn about the legal issues that surround smoking in general. E-cigs, or electronic cigarettes, such as those sold on Electronic Cigarette Direct have the potential to change the way people in the UK look at smoking — something that everyone can benefit from. There are additional factors that suggest how a greater number of smokers might switch to electronic cigarettes in the UK. Recently, as of July 2011, the Welsh Assembly has been eyeing a law that could ban cigarette smoking in cars carrying youngsters of less than 18 years old. This could be quite a wakeup call for any parent in Wales who thinks that second hand smoke poses no health threat to their children." Read More…

July 25, 2011 (Voice of America News) — Russia Pledges to Cut Number of Smokers by 2050
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev wants to cut the country's smoking rate by 10 to 15 percent by 2050. The World Health Organization says Russia is one of the smokiest nations in the world with more smokers per capita than Indonesia or China. According to Sophia Malyavina, a worker in the country's Ministry of Health, "the government is cognizant of the fact that many young people are being targeted by cigarette branding ... the government is aiming for a total ban on smoking in public places starting in 2015 and are discussing raising the tax on tobacco." The country is unlikely to put graphic images on cigarette packages. Read More…

July 20, 2011 (The Economic Times) — Chief Ministers of 11 states to support an anti-tobacco campaign
Chief Ministers of 11 states in India have pledged to support "Voice of Tobacco Victims (VOTV)", a national campaign against chewing tobacco. General Secretary of National Organization for Tobacco Eradication (NOTE), Shekhar Salkar stated that chief ministers of Assam, Goa, Punjab, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Gujarat have pledged to do their best for oral cancer victims, doctors and tobacco control advocates of their states. Read More…

July 11, 2011 (CNN Health) — Secondhand smoke boosts kids' ADHD, learning disability risks
"Two new studies from the American Academy of Pediatrics look at how exposure to secondhand smoke affects American youths' learning behaviors and their attitudes toward smoking. The first found that children exposed to secondhand smoke in the home had a 50% increased risk of developing two or more childhood neurobehavioral disorders compared with children who were not exposed at home." Read More…

July 10, 2011 (Ventura County Star) — Text messages may help smokers kick butts
"The U.S. Food Drug and Administration plans to use cigarette labels showing diseased lungs and tracheotomy holes to help people quit smoking. British researchers suggest another strategy: Texting. A study, published in June and led by researchers at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, suggests receiving messages of encouragement and advice can double a smoker's chances of quitting cigarettes for at least six months. Nearly 3,000 smokers who were trying to quit received several daily text messages for more than seven months. The texts ranged from cheerleading - 'This is it! QUIT DAY...' - to inside information like 'Cravings last less than five minutes on average.'" Read More…

July 5, 2011 (The Wall Street Journal) — Australia Brings Tobacco Legislation to Parliament
Australia's government has introduced into parliament new laws banning advertisements on cigarette packets. Under the proposed laws, Australia will be the first government in the world to restrict logos, branding, colors and promotional text on tobacco packets beginning January 2012. Product names will appear in standard colors and positions in a regular font and size on packets colored a dark olive-brown, which government research has found holds the lowest appeal to smokers. Health warnings with graphic images of the harmful effects of smoking will have to make up 75% of the front of the packaging and 90% of the back. The new laws have the backing of the center-right opposition coalition and are expected to be passed by both the lower and upper house of parliament. Read More…

July 4, 2011 (Bloomberg Businessweek) — Employers getting tougher with smokers
"Many companies use quiet incentives to encourage desired employee behavior, such as losing weight. Not Macy's. As of Friday, the department store chain began charging workers who admit to using tobacco an extra $35 a month - $420 a year - for health coverage. The surcharge will be deferred only if smokers enroll in a free quit-smoking class. Their progress will then be reviewed after six months. Instead of using carrots to encourage smokers to kick the habit, businesses increasingly are wielding sticks. At PepsiCo, smokers pay an annual $600 insurance surcharge, while publisher Gannett charges $60 a month. Some go even further: Union Pacific and Scotts Miracle-Gro refuse to hire smokers." Read More…

July 2, 2011 (The Arizona Republic) — Everyone benefits if workers don't smoke
Humana is instituting a tobacco-free hiring program at their Arizona worksites in Phoenix, Glendale, Tempe, Tucson and Mesa. They are offering free resources, including a tobacco-cessation program, to help their 1,400 employees in Arizona stay tobacco-free. In addition, Humana associates who are tobacco-free or who are participating in the tobacco-cessation program receive significant discounts on their medical-plan premiums. Read more…