Teen Smokers Become Adult Smokers

A new study from Sweden reveals that having low peer status in adolescence is a strong risk factor for regular and heavy smoking in adulthood. Researchers from Stockholm University in Sweden used a large database that followed the lives of more than 15 000 Swedes, mainly from the Stockholm area, from birth to middle age. The researchers isolated 2 329 people who were interviewed once at age 13 about peer status at school and again at age 32 about their smoking habits. The results indicate that the lower a young person's status is among his or her school peers, the more likely that person is to become a regular (less than 20 cigarettes per day) or heavy (20+ cigarettes) smoker in adulthood.

Smoking Ban and Tobacco Use, Montgomery County

Montgomery County leaders are considering tightening restrictions on tobacco use again, this time with a smoking ban on any property owned or leased by county government. The ban—proposed by Councilwoman Nancy Floreen—would apply to the land around recreation centers and county buildings, for example, but not bus shelters and sidewalks, The Examiner reported. Floreen, a breast cancer survivor, will announce more details at a news conference Thursday timed to coincide with the Great American Smokeout, which the American Cancer Society holds to try to cut into the nation’s 44 million smokers.

Mills County Plan to Quit Smoking

Sheri Bowen wants Mills County to be healthier. The Mills County Public Health administrator is encouraging residents that smoke cigarettes to use the American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout as a starting point for quitting. “ We're asking folks to consider stopping smoking,” she said. Bowen said some residents plan to quit on the Smokeout date, Nov. 15, while others are using the day to focus on a “quit date.”

Teenagers Prefer Flavored Tobacco

On a day when trick- or- treaters and candy reign supreme, Tobacco Free Florida is warning parents to pay attention to candy flavored cigars and snuff, which it says are being marketed to teens. One in three high school students reports they have tried smoking cigarettes at least once. Teen smoking level mirrors those of adults; just under one in five. That’s down from 27 percent 15 years ago when the state started its anti-smoking campaign. Now SWAT, or Students Working Against Tobacco, say they are being targeted once again through flavored tobacco. “For instance this orange tootsie roll flavor kind of looks like this cigar right here”, says Matthew Goodson, Students Working Against Tobacco. Reporter: “So you think this is an obvious attempt to market to kids?” Goodson: “I definitely agree. I definitely think so”. Students say the flavored cigars are popular on high school campus. “Maybe the smoking of cigarettes are down, but you see a lot of people smoking “blacks”, chewing tobacco”, says a local high school junior.

Cigars Taxed, Senators Smokers

More than a dozen lobbyists for retailers and tobacco companies argued Tuesday before state senators considering whether to seek an estimated $15 million or more in improved tax collections by changing how cigars are taxed. The Department of Revenue testified before the Tax Collection Technology Subcommittee of the Senate Finance Committee that 7-23 percent of tobacco sold in the state is not taxed as required by law. That’s because cigars are usually sold separately, unlike cigarettes and chewing tobacco, which come in packages that carry a tax stamp.

Tobacco Sales in Iceland Increased

Sales in loose tobacco in Iceland have increased by 34 percent during the first nine months of this year compared to the same period last year, according to data from the State Alcohol and Tobacco Company of Iceland (ÁTVR). At the same time, sales in cigarettes, the price of which has risen to over ISK 1,000 (USD 8, EUR 6.30), have decreased. Arnþór Indriðason, staff member at tobacco store Björk, says a lot of his customers have started to roll their own cigarettes over the last year since the price of a pack of cigarettes increased.

Tobacco-Free Campus, Virginia Cigarette Smokers

In my 20 or so years of life, I have never once smoked a cigarette. Scientific research has compiled mountains of evidence suggesting cigarette smoking is bad for one’s health. Although this is the case and I personally do not smoke cigarettes, I would never tell someone they could not smoke cigarettes, as long as they were of legal age. However, the government does not share my philosophy. On Sep. 12, the assistant secretary of health at the U.S. Department of Human Services, Howard Koh, announced the launch of a tobacco-free college campus initiative.

Australia and Tobacco Companies Rights

Australia did not violate tobacco companies' intellectual property rights by forcing them to sell cigarettes in plain packets, Australia's highest court said on Friday, killing off any domestic challenge to the plain-packet ruling. Australia's highest court in August dismissed a challenge by international cigarette companies to tough anti-tobacco marketing laws in a major test case that means from December 1, cigarettes and tobacco products must be sold in plain green packets with graphic health warnings, such as pictures of mouth cancer and other smoking-related illnesses.

Hookah Smoking Health Risks

People who smoke both cigarettes and waterpipes – dual users – lack sufficient knowledge about the risks of tobacco smoking and are at considerable risk for dependence and tobacco-related diseases, such as cancer, heart disease and stroke later in life, according to findings of a new study by Virginia Commonwealth University. The study, the first of its kind to assess trends in cigarette and waterpipe tobacco smoke based on long-term data, reveals few users perceive dangers of waterpipe tobacco. A common misconception about waterpipe smoking is that it is not as harmful as cigarette smoking.

Illegal Cigarettes Sales, Waterford Tobacco

Waterford has topped the figures for illegal cigarettes according to statistics released by the Irish Tobacco Manufacturers Advisory Committee (ITMAC). The research showed that 44.5% of the cigarettes in Waterford were non Irish duty paid (NIDP), the highest percentage in the country and well above the average of 29.8%. The figures, which were collected and compiled by MS Intelligence for the second quarter of 2012, show that the average of 29.8% is well above the average from the same period last year which was only 23.8%.

Smoking Ban in Restaurant Positive Results

In countries in Europe where there is a restaurant smoking ban, young people were 35 percent less likely to smoke regularly, U.S. researchers say. Mike Vuolo, an assistant professor of sociology at Purdue University who conducted the research when he was at the University of Minnesota, used data of self-reported cigarette use of people ages 15-24 in the original 15 EU countries.

Illegal Cigarettes Sale to Teenagers

A HOLBEACH shop has been caught selling illegal cigarettes and alcohol to underage teenagers. Police raided Liudwal, in High Street, Holbeach, after receiving intelligence that smuggled cigarettes were on sale to customers. During the raid a total of 720 foreign brand non-UK duty paid cigarettes were discovered.

Smoking Warnings Enlarged on Cigarette Packages

Recently, the US Federal Circuit Court of Appeals has refused to give a green signal to large warning labels on the packaging of the cigarettes. While refusing the large warning signs, the Court said that the Federal Government has failed to provide adequate documents. Judge Janice Rogers Brown informed, “The First Amendment requires the government not only to state a substantial interest justifying a regulation on commercial speech, but also to show that its regulation directly advances that goal”.

Tobacco Use Dropped, Teen Smokers in Kentucky

Fewer teens are smoking these days — which is welcome news for many health advocates. A recent report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says current tobacco use and cigarette smoking dropped for middle and high school students nationally from 2000 to 2011. Among middle school students, current tobacco use dtropped from 14.9 percent to 7.1 percent, and current cigarette use dropped from 10.7 percent to 4.3 percent. Among high schoolers, tobacco use dropped from 34.4 percent to 23.2 percent, and cigarette smoking dropped from 27.9 percent to 15.8 percent. While the report didn’t break down the statistics by state, Kentucky consistently ranks at or near the top for tobacco use in surveys. In the 2011 Kentucky Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 24 percent of high school students reported smoking cigarettes at least once during the 30 days before the survey, and 17 percent reported using chewing tobacco, snuff or dip.

Proposed Smoking Ban, Madison County

The Madison County Board of Supervisors amended its proposed smoking ban this morning to exclude county parks and forest land. A public hearing on the proposed law — which will apply to cigarettes, cigars and pipes as well as chewing tobacco — will be held at 10:45 .am. Sept. 11 in the Board of Supervisors chambers in Wampsville.

Cigarettes Packs Warnings will be Replaced, Korea News

Photos of body parts afflicted by smoking related diseases will replace the current written warning on cigarette packs from as early as next year. The Ministry of Health and Welfare said Monday that it was seeking to revise the National Health Promotion Law to curb the nation’s high incidence of smoking. Currently cigarette packs have the warning labels on them because tobacco growers and cigarette companies are strongly against the adoption of photos or other graphic warnings. The photographs will be put on cigarette packs to show the physical damage caused by smoking _ a measure currently used in over 40 countries including the United States, Britain, Brazil, Canada, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Tobacco Stores Banned to Sell Cigs

Four London variety stores and a Strathroy retailer are barred from selling tobacco for six months after they were convicted for the second time of selling tobacco products to minors. The London stores under prohibition are OK Variety on Hale St., Beckworth Mini Mart on Beckworth Ave., Hasty Market on Belmont Dr. and Dundas Convenience on Dundas St. McRobert Fuels Ltd. on Egremont Dr. in Strathroy also is prohibited from selling any form of tobacco for six months.

Ex Smokers Smoke E-Cigarettes

Electronic cigarettes are picking up steam -- and not surprisingly, especially among smokers. That is the main message that comes from a new study in the American Journal of Public Health. About 40% of individuals reported they had heard of e-cigarettes, and awareness was highest among smokers. What's more, smokers seem to be among the most likely to use e-cigarettes.

Contraband Cigarettes In Kenya

Authorities are sounding alarm over increased sale of counterfeit and smuggled cigarettes in Kenya. Kenya Anti-Counterfeit Agency says cigarettes are rapidly becoming the most illegally traded product in the region, while health experts warn a health crisis could be looming. “Cigarettes themselves are dangerous but the counterfeit ones are more dangerous,” says Vincent Kimosop, executive director of International Institute for Legislative Affairs, who actively fight growth of the contraband in Kenya.

Smoking Vaccineand Nicotine Addiction

Smokers could one day be immunized against nicotine so they gain no pleasure from the habit, according to researchers in the US. They have devised a vaccine that floods the body with an antibody to assault nicotine entering the body. A study in mice, published in Science Translational Medicine, showed levels of the chemical in the brain were reduced by 85% after vaccination. Years of research are still needed before it could be tested on people. However, lead researcher Prof Ronald Crystal is convinced there will be benefits.