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Tobacco brands target black youth, study finds 

• Study suggests smoking, but not nicotine, reduces risk for rare tumor 

New research confirms an association between smoking and a reduced risk for a rare benign tumor near the brain, but the addition of smokeless tobacco to the analysis suggests nicotine is not the protective substance.

The study using Swedish data suggests that men who currently smoke are almost 60 percent less likely than people who have never smoked to develop this tumor, called an acoustic neuroma. But men in the study who used snuff, which produces roughly the same amount of nicotine in the blood as smoking, had no reduced risk of tumor development.

"We see this effect with current smokers but don't see it with current snuff users, so we think that maybe the protective effect has something to do with the combustion process or one of the other chemicals in cigarettes that are not in snuff," said Sadie Palmisano, a doctoral student in epidemiology at Ohio State University and lead author of the study. "We learned something from exclusion."

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Smokers’ body rejects plans to ban smoking in public parks  

A BODY representing the rights of Irish smokers has slammed proposals from health minister James Reilly to extend the smoking ban to areas like public parks and beaches.

Forest Éireann says the plans, announced by Reilly at a conference on Friday, are "ridiculous" and tantamount to an encroachment on civil liberties.

"The idea that people are at risk from someone smoking in the open air is ridiculous," said Forest Éireann spokesman John Mallon.

"Such a heavy-handed intrusion on me and a million more like me is not based on science or medicine," he added. "It is not evidence-based.

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Philip Morris Earnings: Strong Top-Line Growth Driven by Asia  

MALANI: Strict monitoring on sale of cigarettes to children needed  

• Tobacco brands target black youth, study finds 

Tobacco marketing is targeting California's low-income and African American youth, according to researchers who examined advertising throughout the state.

Academic researchers funded by the state's Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program found that there was greater visibility of menthol cigarette advertising at retailers near high schools where there are larger African American student populations.

According to the most recent statistics issued by the Federal Trade Commission, the tobacco industry spent $10 billion on marketing in 2008.

"There is a systematic targeting (of disadvantaged communities) by the tobacco industry, which is an extraordinary public health problem," said Lisa Henriksen of the Stanford Prevention Research Center, who presented the research at a legislative briefing in Sacramento last week. "The addition of menthol to cigarettes makes it easier to smoke and more difficult to quit."

Henriksen's research, published last year, found that as the proportion of black students increased at a California high school, so did the share of both menthol-related advertising and Newport brand promotions at nearby retailers. The study looked at all cigarette advertising, but specifically analyzed promotions and price discounts for Newport and Marlboro, two of the most popular brands with underage smokers, researchers said.

The University of Michigan's Robert Lipton also presented research at the briefing showing that in the Los Angeles area, communities that tended to be dense, poor and minority had greater rates of underage tobacco sales.

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Japan Tobacco names Koizumi as president  

'Stunning' nude shot of Madonna smoking expected to fetch £5,000 at auction  

An 'absolutely stunning' photograph of Madonna posing naked on a bed while smoking a cigarette has emerged for sale.

The black and white shot, taken in 1990, shows the singer reclining on a bed with her breasts exposed and just a white sheet covering her bottom half.

Madonna, who has bleached blonde hair and dark eye make-up in the picture, is seen holding a cigarette to her pouting lips, adopting a sexy, sultry pose.

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Suit Filed In Response To Evansville Smoking Ban 

LETTER: IN RESPONSE: Smoker hacks into insurance cost claims of ban backers  

I could not let Jackie Jackson's letter of April 19 go without response.

She regurgitated the typical lies we hear about smoking. It drives up insurance costs, second hand smoke is the root of all evils, blah, blah, blah!

Do smoker's really drive up insurance costs or is it all you do-gooder health nuts who plan on living until you're 100? . . .

And please shut up with all the junk science about secondhand smoke! Do you really think that we are getting unbiased information about smoking and secondhand smoke from groups like The American Heart Association, The American Lung Association, or worst of all, the federal government? I am amazed at how incredibly gullible most people are.

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Joint-Replacement Failure Rate Higher for Smokers: Studies 

• Hispanics Seem to Have Better Odds of Lung Cancer Survival 

Hispanic people with lung cancer tend to live longer than white or black people with the disease, according to a new study.

Researchers say Hispanics' increased likelihood of survival may be due to genetic factors or environmental advantages, such as lower rates of tobacco use.

In the study, the researchers examined diagnosis and survival data on cancer patients from a national database that pooled information from U.S. cancer registries.

They identified 172,000 adults diagnosed with any stage of the most common form of lung cancer, known as non-small cell lung cancer, between 1988 and 2007. Of these patients, Hispanics had a 15 percent lower risk of death during the study than whites. This was true for both U.S.- and foreign-born Hispanics.

The study, published online in the journal Cancer, pointed out that Hispanics tend to have better odds of survival despite facing more obstacles to health care and higher rates of poverty than other groups.

"This is important because it shows that our findings are indicative of the Hispanic population in general and not specific to specific groups of Hispanics," lead study author Ali Saeed, an M.D./Ph.D. candidate at University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, said in a journal news release.

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13 NYC apartment buildings that have totally banned smoking 

Bloomberg's Anti-Smoking Agenda Reaches Homes - Smoke Signals 

Mayor's push could ban smoking at home