Tobacco.org

Update: Smoking to Blame for Car Fire that Hospitalized Girl  

Using the Time-Varying Effect Model (TVEM) to Examine Dynamic Associations between Negative Affect and Self Confidence on Smoking Urges: Differences between Successful Quitters and Relapsers 

• Mobile technology helps explore nicotine addiction 

Some people quit smoking on the first try while others have to try to quit repeatedly. Using such mobile technology as hand-held computers and smartphones, a team of researchers from Penn State and the University of Pittsburgh is trying to find out why.

"One thing that really stood out among the relapsers is how their urge to smoke just never dropped, in contrast to those who were successful in quitting for a month -- their urge dropped quickly and systematically -- almost immediately upon quitting," said Stephanie Lanza, scientific director of The Methodology Center at Penn State. "That was surprising to see."

With a new statistical model to interpret data and the ability to collect data via mobile devices, the researchers looked at how baseline nicotine dependence and negative emotional states influenced people's urge to smoke while they were trying to quit.

The Centers for Disease Control found in a 2010 National Health Interview Survey of 27,157 adults that about 52 percent of cigarette smokers tried to quit during the year. Six percent of all smokers -- who had been smoking for two years or more -- quit for at least six months. Also in 2010, the CDC reported that even though cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the U.S., nearly one in five Americans smokes.

The team found that those who successfully quit during the four-week study period had a weaker association between their urge to smoke and their ability to quit. However, those who were unable to abstain did not show any association between their urge to smoke and their self-confidence.

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Higher tobacco taxes can boost state revenues by $170 mln: AUB study 

Honduras joins WTO complaint on Australia tobacco packaging 

EDITORIAL: Waking up to dangers of smokeless tobacco  

Like cigarettes, smokeless tobacco contains nicotine, which makes it addictive. While it may not be quite as lethal as cigarettes, it does raise the risk of cancer, heart disease and gum disease, among other ailments. According to the Mayo Clinic, "You can call chewing tobacco by whatever name you want -- smokeless tobacco, spit tobacco, chew, snuff, pinch or dip -- but don't call it harmless."

That message has started to catch on, though it's no match for the hundreds of millions of dollars that tobacco companies have poured into marketing their smokeless products. One key test is in Maryland, where lawmakers are considering a bill that would raise levies on various tobacco products -- including smokeless ones, cigarillos, small cigars and the like -- so they are on par with the $2-a-pack level at which cigarettes are taxed.

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Sex Differences in Availability of {beta}2*-Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors in Recently Abstinent Tobacco Smokers 

500 mln lost to cigarette smuggling 

Sales of smuggled cigarettes have more than trebled in Greece, amounting to an estimated 3.5 billion euros per year, or 15 percent of the legal market, as the worsening of the economic recession and repeated price hikes for tobacco products have frustrated smokers.

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• The myth of schools, colleges being tobacco-free zones  

Though chances of cancer are almost 70% among young smokers, Jharkhand has done little to implement central laws that keep youngsters away from tobacco.

The National Tobacco Control Programme and the Cigarettes and other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) 2003 - which forbids sale of tobacco products within 100 yards of an educational institution - exist only on paper. There is hardly any school in the city near which tobacco products are not sold.

"Seven out of 10 children, who start smoking at an early age, are likely to suffer from cancer," said Patna-based A A Hai, who is associated with the Cancer Awareness Society.

Well-known surgeon in the city, Indramohan Gupta, added, "A child's body is vulnerable to the harmful effects of tobacco. Children are more prone to developing respiratory problems and other symptoms."

Ranchi University pro-vice chancellor V P Sharan said, "Not only cigarettes, even liquor is sold within 100 yards of Ranchi Women's College."

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• Another Obama administration health law faces court challenge  

Two weeks after fighting for the survival of its signature healthcare reform law before the Supreme Court, the Obama administration will be back in court Tuesday to defend another part of the president's agenda to make Americans healthier.

The D.C. Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear oral arguments in a case brought by five tobacco companies challenging regulations requiring graphic warning labels on cigarette packs and advertisements starting in September.

Once again, the administration is finding itself accused of overstepping its constitutional authority, this time on First Amendment grounds.

“The graphic images … were neither designed to protect the consumer from confusion or deception, nor to increase consumer awareness of smoking risks; rather, they were crafted to evoke a strong emotional response calculated to provoke the viewer to quit or never start smoking,” federal Judge Richard Leon, a George W. Bush appointee, ruled in February.

Leon's critics argue that his litmus test for what constitutes permissible federal limitations on free speech should not apply to commercial speech, which is not as widely protected as political, religious or artistic expression. They also argue that the government has a compelling interest in protecting public health through the regulations.

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Famed CBS Journalist Mike Wallace Dies At 93  

Analysis: Although many were proposed, few initiatives may actually make Missouri's ballot 

sometimes changing only a few words in the hopes of getting a favorable ballot summary from the secretary of state's office and one that could withstand possible legal challenges.

For example, supporters of an initiative about local tobacco taxes submitted 27 versions to the secretary of state's office, none of which are still being pursued for the ballot. Proponents of a proposal to scrap the state income tax in favor of a broader sales tax submitted 22 versions, according to the secretary of state's office. A group proposing a statewide tobacco tax increase turned in a dozen versions.

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Parks commission again calls for smoking ban in parks 

Smoking "no longer part of life", Lansley hopes  

Breath tests call to combat smoking during pregnancy 

PREGNANT women could be breath tested to see if they smoke so that health professionals can help them quit, a leading anti-tobacco crusader says.

Director of Quit Victoria Fiona Sharkie said although pregnancy prompted many women to quit, research also suggested some chose not to discuss smoking with midwives and doctors because they felt guilty about continuing.

For this reason, she said Australian health authorities could follow the UK and use breath tests for carbon monoxide so that all women are tested and prompted to discuss the issue during pregnancy.

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