Poor Countries Targeted by Tobacco Marketing

Faced with falling sales in richer nations, the tobacco industry has increasingly marketed their product in the developing world, where restrictions on promoting smoking are more relaxed, a new study said Tuesday.

The study, which looked at tobacco marketing in 462 communities spread across 16 countries, was published by the Bulletin of the World Health Organization, a journal created by the UN agency, but the contents of which do not reflect WHO’s views.

Data on cheapest cigarettes promotion was collected since 2005, when a global convention on tobacco controls, including marketing bans, came into force for nations that had signed on.

The study found that “people living in poor countries are exposed to more intense and aggressive tobacco marketing than those living in affluent countries”.

Report contributor Anna Gilmore, director of the Tobacco Control Research Group at the University of Bath, said the tobacco industry’s marketing is designed to drive up smoking among children and adolescents.

The tobacco industry’s “sales are falling in high-income countries and so its future profitability depends on getting young people hooked on smoking in low-income countries,” she said in a statement.

Those findings were based in part on interviews with 12,000 people over multiple years who were asked if they had seen any tobacco marketing in any media over the last six months.

Researchers “found that tobacco advertising was at its most intense in the low-income countries studied (India, Pakistan and Zimbabwe), where they observed 81 times more tobacco advertisements per study community than in the high-income countries (Canada, Sweden and the United Arab Emirates),” the statement said.

Tobacco also proved much easier to buy in poorer nations, which had two-and-a-half times the number of outlets selling cigarettes compared to the richer countries surveyed.

The report called for stronger enforcement of the restrictions which came into force in 2005 — known as WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control– especially in the developing world.

“There has been substantial progress in the past decade, but we must now recommit ourselves to our global tobacco control efforts so that everyone, all over the world, is protected from the tobacco epidemic,” said Dr Armando Peruga, programme manager of the tobacco free initiative at WHO.

Under 21? Then Forget About Buying Smokes In SF

Though an effort to raise California’s smoking age to 21 stalled last month in the state Assembly, that won’t stop a couple San Francisco lawmakers from trying to impose tighter regulations for young vapers and smokers at the local level.

At this afternoon’s Board of Supervisors meeting (underway as we speak!), Supervisor Scott Wiener and co-sponsors Supervisor Eric Mar and Malia Cohen will introduce legislation to raise the purchasing age for tobacco products in San Francisco from 18 to 21.

In a press release announcing the legislation’s introduction, Wiener says that “By raising the tobacco purchase age to 21, we can reduce adolescent tobacco use, which will help combat addiction, stop long-term illness, and prevent premature deaths.”

“For decades we have seen the catastrophic health effects of tobacco use, and every day we spend millions of dollars treating people who suffer from an addiction which often starts in their teens. San Francisco can help lead a statewide and national movement to improve the health of our youth and save lives.”

According to Wiener’s release, a University of California San Francisco study estimated that as of 2009, the direct health care costs and indirect costs from lost productivity and premature births in San Francisco alone added up to $380 million.

And when Wiener says “tobacco” he isn’t just talking about cigarettes or (shudder) cigars: He also means e-cigs and vaping products. Today smokers buy cheap L&M cigarettes online.

In an email to SFist, Wiener says that his legislation will hit even under 21 vapers by default, as “Last year, under legislation authored by Supervisor Mar, e-cigarettes were classified as cigarettes under our Municipal Code.” So, if you’re a 19-year-old e-cig fan, it just might be game over, man.

If the legislation passes, as Wiener seems confident it will, SF will be the second major US city to raise the smoking age to 21. New York City bumped their smoke-buying age to 21 in 2014, and the entire state of Hawaii raised the age last year.

According to the Chron, about 80 cities across the country have raised the cigarette sales age to 21, including Santa Clara County and Healdsburg. The Healdsburg case is interesting, though: Though the legislation passed, after legal threats from the National Association of Tobacco Outlets, it was suspended in October of this year.

“We are going to be threatened by a lawsuit by NATO (National Association of Tobacco Outlets),” Healdsburg mayor Mayor Shaun McCaffery told the Press Democrat in October, saying that former city attorney David Warner had said that “There is some risk involved, potential litigation if we get too far ahead (of other cities),” and that “Healdsburg was likely preempted by state law from adopting an ordinance raising the minimum age to 21.”

Benefits of Reducing Nicotine in Cigarettes

Can the addictiveness of cigarettes be minimized by reducing their nicotine content? This idea was first proposed as a public health measure two decades ago, but when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) argued the case before the Supreme Court in 2000, they were not granted the authority. Times have changed, though, and in 2009 the Tobacco Control Act granted the FDA vastly greater regulatory power over tobacco products, including the authority to reduce nicotine if it is deemed likely to improve public health. But while small studies have shown the possible benefits of such a move, no large trial has compared the effects of regular- and reduced-nicotine cigarettes on smoking behavior, dependence, and subjective measures of smoking…until now.

A large NIDA-funded study by University of Pittsburgh psychologist Eric C. Donny and colleagues, just published in the New England Journal of Medicine, provides important support for the benefits of reducing nicotine in cigarettes. From mid 2013 to mid 2014, 840 smokers at ten research sites were randomized to one of several groups who smoked their usual brand, an investigational cigarette with 15.8 mg of nicotine per gram of tobacco (similar to the content of most commercial cigarettes), or one of a few investigational cigarettes with a nicotine concentration ranging from 33 percent down to 2 percent of a typical cigarette.

The cigarettes were provided for free, and the participants were paid for participating. Cigarette consumption per day was measured across the six weeks of the study (as well as a pre-study week to capture a baseline), and the final week data for the seven groups was compared as the primary analysis. Many participants also abstained from smoking for a day, following the six weeks, and their response to abstinence was assessed.

The results showed a striking split in smoking behavior between groups receiving higher- versus lower-nicotine cigarettes (see graph below). Participants receiving and smoking the lowest-nicotine investigational cigarettes — with 0.4, 1.3, or 2.4 mg/g — smoked 23 to 30 percent fewer cigarettes than those receiving and smoking their usual cigarettes or investigational cigarettes with 15.8 mg/g and 5.2 mg/g. The latter is particularly interesting: A two-thirds (67 percent) reduction in nicotine did not alter smoking behavior, but an 85 percent reduction (or more) did.

New Orleans: Opinions on Smoking Ban

Ray Hummel, co-owner of Cosimo’s and owner of Cajun Mike’s Pub and Grub, said he’s seen profits drop — from both alcohol sales and video poker — since the ban, likely because neither of his businesses has a large outdoor space. He may add an awning to Cajun Mike’s in the Central Business District. Cosimo’s French Quarter location prevents Hummel from making adjustments beyond the tables and chairs he’s placed outside the bar.

“You either have the right kind of facility where you can add an awning or they (smokers) just get thrown out in the street like ours did,” said Hummel, an outspoken critic of the ban. “People don’t drink as much when they’re standing outside the bar.”

He also blames the ban for a downturn in video poker revenue.

“They go outside to smoke their cheapest Monte Carlo cigarettes and they rethink the fact — decide they don’t want to gamble anymore,” said Hummel, who estimates his video poker revenue has sunk by 35 to 40 percent at Cosimo’s, which usually uses those revenues to cover half the bar’s monthly rent.

Other neighborhood joints such as Twelve Mile and Pal’s also have seen slight decreases, but video poker does not form a significant part of their revenue, according to owners.

“Places that depend on video poker revenue do exist. I worry about those bars,” Newton said.

Some spots without patios, such as Lost Love Lounge, opted not to add outdoor seating, partly to keep people inside the bar as much as possible and keep sales healthy.

“I would say the impact has been negligible,” Lost Love co-owner Geoffrey Douville said of the ban, adding that Marigny bar demographics, which trend toward young adults who grew up in places where smoking bans have long been in place in bars, might have eased the bar’s transition to being smoke-free.

“I gauge the health of our business by seeing if we still get regulars,” Douville said. “That’s kind of a bellwether, and I see the same people there.”

New Orleanians tend to be loyal to their neighborhood bars, which has helped, according to a number of bartenders.

“We took a bit of a ding at first in the daytime business,” said Laura Walch, a Pal’s manager, but that did not last long thanks to Pal’s set of “die-hard regulars. … Pal’s is like a hub; it’s like a community center. People are going to come here.”

The bar, like some others, also has picked up new patrons and regained old ones who had been put off by the smoke.

“We’ve seen people coming back who were bothered by the smoke, and that’s nice,” said Suzanne Accorsi, who co-owns Pal’s and Martine’s Lounge in Metairie.

Sitting outside Ms. Mae’s in Uptown, Floyd Allen said the ban has led to annoyances, like losing his seat when he steps out for a smoke, but that will not stop him from visiting his regular spots.

“I’m going to support my local bars, with or without the smoking ban,” Allen said.

New York Wants a Smoking Ban

Data from the American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation, a lobby group, cites nearly 150 municipalities that have outright banned smoking in public parks statewide.

According to Village Manager Richard Slingerland, the ban has been a useful tool in both keeping the public safe as well as ensuring that Mamaroneck’s parks stay clean.

New York’s statewide ban is the latest in a string of legislative actions taken by the state over the past five years to curb smoking in public places, specifically in shared spaces like hotel and motel rooms, workplaces, schools and even some more publicly-shared areas like Times Square in New York City.

According to data from the New York State Department of Health and the Bureau of Tobacco Control, smoking among the state’s youth has fallen considerably over the past four years, dropping by 74 percent between 2010 and 2014. This decline, according to Cuomo’s office, is due in no small part to legislation like the bill recently passed. Smokers say that cigarettes in New York are extremely expensive, and they buy cheap Marlboro Gold from website http://www.cigarettestime.com/marlboro/gold

“This commonsense measure will help protect children from the dangerous effects of secondhand smoke and complements ongoing efforts that have resulted in smoking in New York hitting an all-time low,” Cuomo said in a prepared statement.

But not everyone is as pleased about New York state’s success at deterring smoking as Latimer and the state government.

The state’s avid smokers are expectedly in strong opposition.

Groups like Citizen Lobbying Against Smoker Harassment, CLASH, have continually railed against anti-smoking laws that they claim infringe upon their personal freedom. In 2013, the group was responsible for overturning a push by New York state parks to ban smoking on all of their premises—a ruling which was later reversed by an appellate judge in 2014.

“None of these bans are enforceable,” said CLASH founder Audrey Silk. “There are no cops patrolling to catch anybody and neither should there be.”

Clash’s battle for a smoker-friendly New York, however, could turn out to be a losing one. With the number of smokers in New York dropping annually and increased taxation on tobacco products, smokers’ flames may be flickering.

In a statement recognizing the state’s historically low rate of smoking in June, New York State Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker said, “We must stay vigilant and continue strengthening our efforts until we can rid New York of tobacco once and for all.”

Anti-Tobacco Policies Cut Youth Smoking Rates

As smoking has become more expensive and inconvenient in the United States, fewer young people are lighting up, a new study shows.

“Because smoking initiation typically occurs before youth enter the workplace, smoke-free workplace laws likely affect smoking initiation by showing kids that adult smoking norms reject smoking,” said study first author Anna Song, an associate professor of psychological sciences at the University of California, Merced, Health Sciences Research Institute.

In a news release from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), Song said that the effects of smoke-free laws are similar or larger than other factors linked to smoking, such as age, race and poverty level.

The study looked at information collected in 1997 on the smoking habits of nearly 4,000 young people in the United States. The participants were between 12 and 18 years old.

Researchers monitored the teens for 11 years. During that time, state, county and citywide smoke-free laws became more prevalent and comprehensive. Cigarette taxes also increased during this time, the study found.

While the study can’t definitively show a cause-and-effect relationship, the researchers found that a 100 percent smoke-free environment seemed to lower the odds of young people taking up smoking by one-third. The number of new smokers during the study period dropped significantly, and the number of nonsmokers being exposed to harmful secondhand smoke also went down, the researchers reported.

During the study period, the number of people protected by smoking bans at work, restaurants and bars increased.

Young people living in areas where smoking bans were enforced in bars were 20 percent less likely to start smoking. Teens and young adults who already smoked when these laws were implemented smoked 15 percent fewer days each month, the study showed. However, teens prefer to buy cheap flavoured cigarettes online.

Findings were published Sept. 8 in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.

Senior study author Stanton Glantz, a professor of medicine at UCSF, said in the news release, “Smoke-free workplace laws have the most powerful effect on smoking initiation, equivalent to the deterrent impact of a $1.57 tax increase.”

Making cigarettes more expensive had an impact, too. The researchers noted that each 10-cent tax increase was followed by a 3 percent decline in the odds of starting to smoke. The federal tax increased from 24 cents per pack in 1995 to $1.01 per pack in 2009. The average state tax increased from nearly 33 cents per pack in 1995 to $1.20 per pack in 2009, the researchers said.

Number Of Smokers In New York City are Up

The number of smokers in New York City has risen, as government spending to fight the habit has dropped.

As WCBS 880’s Rich Lamb reported, you may remember the anti-smoking public service messages on TV – one featuring a woman whose fingers had been amputated, another showing a man speaking through a mechanical voice box.

The ads the result of a major crusade by Mayor Michael Bloomberg. But now, the funding for anti-smoking efforts has dropped and the number of smokers has risen, according to a study.

“Spending was pretty high. It peaked at almost $16 million in 2008, and then in more recent years, in 2011, 2012, 2013, spending has gone down about a third from where that peak was,” said Independent Budget Office policy analyst Erin Kelly.

Kelly said smoking rates were at their lowest in 2010, and have risen in the last three years or so.

“There is a bit of a lag where we think people are going through the process of quitting, and then you have kind of the effects of programs, which last a little bit longer,” she said.

A total of $7 million is budgeted for anti-smoking efforts in the coming spending plan.

In conditions when an average pack of cigarettes costs around $12 in New York, smokers choose to pay $13 for carton of cheap cigarettes.

Smoking Bylaw Needs to be Reworked

Moose Jaw needs another Lucia Dalgarno to come forward.

You’ll recall 11 years ago that the local school teacher and her Grade 7-8 class started a grassroots movement to ban smoking in all public places. The students presented their idea to the mayor – Al Schwinghamer at that time – and it eventually led to a bylaw that banned smoking in the city’s public spots. Even smokers who use premium Dunhill cigarettes have to comply.

The movement quickly gathered momentum across the province and eventually the provincial government instituted new smoking laws that are in effect today.

But more needs to be done. Smoking needs to be extinguished in all outdoor patios and parks, sports fields and basically anywhere non-smokers and children congregate.

Saskatoon adopted this law more than 10 years ago, and as a result, a landmark report comparing cancer risk profiles found that Saskatoon has the lowest rate of second-hand smoke exposure among 26 cities studied.

Moose Jaw needs to get on board. All communities need to get on board. There isn’t a legitimate excuse to ignore the risks of smoking and second-hand smoke. Approximately 37,000 Canadians die each year because of smoking. Worldwide, smoking kills more than six million people every year. What’s baffling is that smokers are spending scads of money – more than $10 per pack of cigarettes – to develop lung cancer, heart disease, cardiovascular disease and gum disease.

The Canadian Cancer Agency, Lung Association of Saskatchewan, Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region, and the Heart and Stroke Foundation recently conducted a survey and found that 70 per cent of those who participated wanted to see smoking prohibited on patios at restaurants and bars in Regina.

In addition, almost 90 per cent support smoking bans at children’s playgrounds.

“Every level of government has a responsibility to protect the well-being of its citizens,” said Donna Pasiechnik, with the Canadian Cancer Society. “Municipalities nationwide are moving in this direction, have moved in this direction and it’s time for Regina to do the same.”

It’s time for every community to follow Saskatoon’s lead.

Why Philadelphia’s Public Housing is Going Smoke Free

Philadelphia’s public housing agency became the largest in the country to go smoke-free in its communities. It’s a new policy informed by a solid base of scientific evidence—some of which was generated through evaluation research done in partnership between city agencies and the Drexel University School of Public Health.

Ann Klassen, PhD, a professor in Drexel’s School of Public Health, has worked with the Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA) and Philadelphia Department of Public Health (PDPH) since 2011 on the evaluation of the impact of smoking in public housing. The monitoring data from this evaluation was an important element of the evidence base that led the PHA’s Board of Commissioners to vote unanimously in support of the new policy.

“We found that 70 to 85 percent of common areas, and over 20 percent of non-smoker apartments had detectable nicotine levels—which provides important evidence that current policies are not effective in protecting residents, and that it is not possible to avoid harmful levels of secondhand smoke without community-wide smoke free policies,” Klassen said.

In addition, she told WHYY-FM, “When tobacco is used anywhere in a multi-unit building, there’s really no part of the building that won’t have air exchange and won’t be exposed to that second-hand smoke.” In their turn smokers say that they have no intention to disturb someone with their tobacco smoke and they normally purchase online cigarettes.

Members of the news media interested speaking with Klassen to learn more about Drexel’s research and evaluation supporting Philadelphia’s ban of smoking in public housing should contact Rachel Ewing at re39@drexel.edu or 215.895.2614.

Beijing Holds its Breath on Effectiveness of Smoking Ban

A downtown hotpot restaurant was the first business to get an official warning for breaking Beijing’s toughened smoking ban, as inspectors swooped to enforce the new regulation on Monday.

On the first day of the ban, which prohibits smoking in all indoor public places, workplaces and on public transport, authorities sent more than 1,000 inspectors to government agencies, hospitals, schools, hotels, restaurants and entertainment venues to ensure it is being followed.

The inspectors found cigarette butts in the hotpot restaurant’s washroom on Monday morning, with the restaurant also failing to publicize the smoking complaint hotline 12320 on its no-smoking posters.

Inspectors said they will visit again in two days to check the restaurant’s compliance, and warned of a fine up to 100,000 yuan (US$1,600) if it fails to comply.

The new ban was passed by Beijing’s municipal legislature in November. Individuals caught smoking in public places may be fined 200 yuan (US$32), while businesses will have to pay up to 100,000 yuan for failing to discourage smoking on their premises.

As the world’s largest tobacco maker and consumer, China has more than 300 million smokers, almost the size of the US population, and another 740 million people are exposed to secondhand smoke each year.

Ma Yongsheng, who runs a restaurant in Beijing, canceled a wedding banquet reservation on Monday, as a guest insisted on smoking during the meal. “If we continue to host guests who smoke, we’ll surely be fined,” Ma said.

At Beijing Capital International Airport, people gathered at two designated outdoor smoking areas to have a last puff as indoor smoking rooms in the airport’s three terminals have all been closed.

While regulators has vowed strict implementation, some still doubt the feasibility of the new ban and fear authorities’ resolve to curb smoking could taper over time and leave the ban as ineffective as its predecessors.

Beijing has had smoking bans in place since as far back as the 1990s, and stepped up the campaign before the 2008 Olympics, but the bans have always been weakly enforced. As to smokers, they talk about their right to use a legal product. They buy cigarettes legally online and want to use them in parks.