Tobacco.org

LETTER: No evidence exists that vapors from e-cigs cause harm 

On Wednesday, Mar. 21, Governor Herbert has signed HB245S3 into law. The signature of this bill with the inclusion of electronic cigarettes is both troubling and unfortunate in that our government has gone on record that they do not support harm reduction methods to protect the lives of smokers in Utah. With 'vaping,' there is no existing evidence that the "secondhand vapor" poses any level of harm to non-users nor has any potentially harmful levels of exposure been identified. . . .

The Utah Vapers was formed in 2011 as a consumer advocacy group to provide support and education regarding Tobacco Harm Reduction after seeing many years of failed attempts by our public health agencies to reduce smoking rates in the region. We focus on the prevention of tobacco harm and seek to coexist with the Utah Health Agencies and to support legislation that benefits the greater health of the Utah public.

For more information regarding the Utah Vapers, visit www.utahvapers

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Officials hear youth presentation  

Officials: Utah makes strides against teen smoking  

Utah health officials credit a $1-per-pack cigarette tax and statewide prevention programs for bringing the state's youth smoking rate to 5.9 percent, down from 12 percent in 1999.

Utah Department of Health chief Dr. David Patton says a new U.S. Surgeon General report affirms the state's anti-smoking efforts.

A tax hike passed in 2010 reduced annual cigarette sales from 26.7 packs per capita to 22.3 packs per capita in one year.

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Utahns at high risk of lung cancer can be screened early  

And Claudia Crosland, 62, of Salt Lake City, got checked after hearing a CNN interview last fall with actor Charlie Sheen, who said he regretted that he had started smoking cigarettes but that a scan showed his lungs were healthy.

All three were found to have early-stage lung cancer in screenings that used low-radiation CT (computed tomography) technology, doctors said Friday at a news conference at Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City. The three are doing well after surgeries to remove the cancer.

A national study published last year in the New England Journal of Medicine found 20 percent fewer lung cancer deaths among participants who were screened with low-dose CT. Now Huntsman is offering these lung cancer screenings for current or former heavy smokers between the ages of 55 and 74.

"This is something that’s going to save lives," said physician Shamus Carr, an assistant professor in the University of Utah Department of Surgery.

Most lung cancer patients have been in more advanced stages when the disease is discovered, Carr said.

To discover whether patients at high risk of lung cancer would benefit from early screenings, the National Lung Screening Trial followed 53,000 patients, including 3,300 from Utah.

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• Utah battle against youth tobacco use continues despite improvements 

In Utah, more than 200,000 youths and adults continue to smoke, according to the Utah Department of Health. For every tobacco-related death, at least two youths or young adults become new regular smokers.

“We have every intention to continue our vigilance in protecting our children and addressing this leading cause of preventable death in Utah,” said Dr. David Patton, UDOH executive director.

“Working together to implement the findings of this report, we can further benefit the youths and young adults of Utah.”

The state continues to find ways to educate about tobacco and discourage its use, Patton said. . . .

Throughout the last year, the Weber-Morgan Governing Youth Council and several other local anti-tobacco youth groups have educated the media, policy makers, their peers and the community at large on emerging tobacco products, the harmful effects of tobacco use, the harmful effects of secondhand smoke and the tobacco industry’s advertising tactics aimed at youths, Guymon said.

“During fiscal year 2011, 5.1 percent of Weber-Morgan stores sold tobacco to underage youth during compliance checks,” she said. “Since 2001, the illegal sales rate has decreased substantially.”

The Davis County Health Department is also working to combat smoking by youths.

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Utah Teens smoking rates decline 

moking rates amont Utah teens have recently declined, and are much lower than national average rates possibly due to tobacco tax hikes, smoking bans, and mass media campaigns.

With 3.6 million middle and high school students that smoke across the nation, the U.S. Surgeon General's campaign is urging states to discourage youth smoking through high-impact interventions. And the state of Utah has responded to that call.

The youth smoking rate in Utah has dropped from 12 percent to 5.9 percent since 1999. Nationally, 19.5 percent of teens smoke. Part of this decline may be due to tax raises on cigarettes. The Utah Legislature approved a $1 per pack tax hike in 2010, and in recent years has also passed comprehensive tobacco control laws and funded effective programs statewide to keep tobacco products out of the hands of Utah youth.

"Basically, the report says that the efforts Utah Lawmakers and anti-tobacco advocates have made over the years are working, and should be a model for the nation," said Utah Department of Health executive director Dr. David Patton.

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• Utah lawmakers OK ban on hookahs, e-cigarettes  

The Senate gave final approval Thursday to a ban on smoking hookahs and electronic cigarettes in indoor public places.

However, HB245 exempts hookah bars and e-cigarette shops from the ban for five years, when the exemption will sunset, and the Legislature may revisit whether to extend it.

The Senate voted 24-3 to approve the bill, and sent it to Gov. Gary Herbert for his signature.

Until now, hookahs and e-cigarettes fell into a gray area because Utah’s Indoor Clean Air Act bans only igniting tobacco. Hookahs heat tobacco in pipes that pass through water and e-cigarettes vaporize a liquid with nicotine, but neither ignites tobacco.

Passage comes after protesters smoked hookahs outside the Capitol early in the session

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Utah ‘a model’ for Surgeon General‘s call for less teen smoking  

More work needs to be done to keep young Americans from using tobacco, including creating smoking bans and increasing taxes on tobacco products, the U.S. Surgeon General’s office said in a report released Thursday .

And the low number of teens who smoke in Utah shows that such efforts work, said David Patton, executive director of the Utah Department of Health.

"Basically, the report says that the efforts Utah lawmakers and anti-tobacco advocates have made over the years are working, and should be a model for the nation," Patton said in a statement.

Nationally, almost one in five high school-aged teens smokes. That’s down from earlier decades, but the rate of decline has slowed, the report said.

Utah’s teen smoking rate is 5.9 percent, which has dropped from the 1999 rate of nearly 12 percent, according to the state health department.

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Utah Senate tentatively passes smoke shop regulations 

Minors would be prohibited from entering a store that specializes in tobacco products under a bill that has tentatively passed the Utah Senate.

Republican Rep. Paul Ray of Clearfield says anyone under the age of 19 would also not be allowed to purchase tobacco paraphernalia such as pipes or hookahs.

Ray says he is sponsoring House Bill 95 because of a concern about smoke shops are continuing to sell the synthetic drug known as spice despite a law making it illegal.

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Bill Banning Hookah and E-Cigarette Use Clears Another Hurdle 

A bill banning the use of hookahs and e-cigarettes in public places under the Utah Indoor Clean Air Act will be debated by the full senate after a senate committee unanimously approved it today. The bill does carve out exemptions for some established businesses, like the Huka Bar and Grill in Murray. Owner Nate Porter says exposure to hookah vapor is expected by patrons of his business.

“Nobody is involuntarily being exposed to hookah when they go into the Huka Bar and Grill. Nor does the debate for children apply when we’re a 21 and over establishment. So we’re a different entity,” says Porter.

However, the Utah chapter of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network opposes the bill because of the exemptions. Michael Siler, the organization’s director of government relations, says the bill runs contrary to the legislature’s responsibility to protect everyone’s health.

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Bill to ban e-cigarettes, hookah smoking passes House 

The Utah House approved a proposal to ban the smoking of hookah pipes and e-cigarettes in public places, after opponents held a hookah pipe smoking demonstration on the Capitol steps then held signs in the gallery urging the bill's defeat.

The bill, HB245, would add those devices to Utah Indoor Clean Air Act's ban on smoking in public places.

Without the ban, e-cigarette smoking could become as commonplace in stores, restaurants or on public transit just like cigarette smoking once was, said the bill's sponsor, Rep. Bradley Last, R-Hurricane.

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• Bill to ban e-cigarettes, hookah smoking passes House 

The Utah House approved a proposal to ban the smoking of hookah pipes and e-cigarettes in public places, after opponents held a hookah pipe smoking demonstration on the Capitol steps then held signs in the gallery urging the bill's defeat.

The bill, HB245, would add those devices to Utah Indoor Clean Air Act's ban on smoking in public places.

Without the ban, e-cigarette smoking could become as commonplace in stores, restaurants or on public transit just like cigarette smoking once was, said the bill's sponsor, Rep. Bradley Last, R-Hurricane.

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Smoker retires on disability for breathing problems 

Mike Enright ignored warnings from medical professionals that smoking tobacco was making it hard for him to breathe.

When he lost his drivers license in a drunken driving arrest after crashing into a video store, his city firefighting job was in peril. With only 14 years on the job, he did not have enough service time to retire.

Then Enright applied for a disability retirement, saying he was hurt on the job. His disability: obstructive lung disease.

Six hours after the crash that morning in August 2005, a breath test measured his blood-alcohol level at 0.112 percent. Enright told police he had lost control of his pickup in a coughing fit.

In court to get his license back, Enright explained that he was a pack-a-day smoker with emphysema.

Enright submitted a 1997 letter from a nurse urging him to quit smoking. A 2002 letter from a doctor said he had an "airway obstruction" probably due to smoking.

In court in April 2006, he was asked, "Do you still smoke?"

"After today, I'll be done," Enright said. . . .

City records showed he sometimes worked construction jobs with another city firefighter, Leonard Wiesehan, chairman of the pension board. . . .

the pension board voted 6-0 to grant him a service-connected disability retirement. Wiesehan made the motion to approve it. . . .

Enright's annual pension is $44,332 — tax free.

Last year he opened the south St. Louis restaurant Quincy Street Bistro. It's a hit: The Riverfront Times recently named it Best Neighborhood Restaurant for 2011.

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Utah Official Proposes Higher Medicaid Co-pays For Smokers  

Lower-income smokers in Utah may soon have to pay more for a doctor's visit if they continue the unhealthy habit. That is, if a bill currently making its way through the state legislature passes.

State Representative Paul Ray, R., is the author of the proposal to charge a Medicaid recipient a higher co-pay for doctor visits if he or she smokes cigarettes.

Currently in Utah, recipients do not pay premiums but have small co-pays for office visits and prescriptions.

"It's to offset the costs you're bringing to the tax payers," Ray said, "by choosing to smoke and put your health at risk."

Ray said the amount would likely range between $2 and $3, although the actual cost to patients has not been pinned down yet.

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CARPENTER: Where there's no smoke there may still be harm 

I'd like to address some of the points mentioned in the opinion editorial published on Wednesday and titled "Where there's no smoke ...". First the Daily Herald mentioned electronic cigarettes "do not foul the lungs with harmful carcinogens and toxins." However, preliminary analysis by the U. S. Food and Drug Administration showed that the e-cigarettes sampled contained detectable levels of carcinogens and toxic chemicals to which users could potentially be exposed. For example, diethylene glycol . . .

The Daily Herald also mentioned, "some tobacco smokers reportedly have turned to e-cigarettes as a way to wean themselves away from the real thing." Do note, however, Kip Schwartz, one e-cigarette manufacturer's lawyer, admitted to a judge in 2009, "We don't want people weaned off the e-cigarette. We want them smoking it as long as they smoke regular cigarettes." Therefore, if you are trying to quit, we encourage you to use methods that are known to work, like nicotine patches and gum, prescription medications, and counseling. The Utah Tobacco Quit Line (1.800.QUIT.NOW) . . .

E-cigarettes are being banned across the world in countries such as Australia, Canada, Singapore and Brazil not because they look like cigarettes or because people using them look like they're smoking. The ban in these countries is due to the lack of safety and efficacy data.

The most shocking statement by the Daily Herald (in reference to Rep. Paul Ray's piece of legislation regarding nicotine lozenges being locked in the same cases used for cigarettes) reads, "As a general principle, government should not intrude on the private lives of people unless a clear need to do so exists. A clear need hasn't been established in these cases." My question for the author is, are you waiting for a child to die

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