Ireland: Fine for smoking in a car with children to be just €80

However, if they resist paying the fines and the case is brought to court, the financial penalty could be up to €1,000 under proposed new legislation due to come into effect early next year.

The legislation will outlaw smoking in cars where one or more of the passengers is a child under the age of 18 years, Minister for Children James Reilly told the Dail yesterday. The new offence will be policed by gardai who can issue a fine if the driver or one of the passengers in the car is smoking Camels http://www.verycheapcigarettes.biz/cheap-cigarette/camel with a child in the front or back seat.

A spokesman for Dr Reilly said last night that the fine will be decided on by means of regulation but if it not paid the case can be brought to court with a potential penalty of up to €1,000.

The regular fine is expected to be around €80 and will not be seen as a means of raising revenue. The Protection of Children’s Health (Tobacco Smoke in Mechanically Propelled Vehicles Bill), which originated in the Seanad, was brought before the Dail yesterday is expected to be made law by early 2015.

Dr Reilly said he supported the original Private Member’s Bill, developed and introduced by Senators John Crown, Jillian Van Turnhout and Mark Daly. In June 2012.

Defending the measure, which is set to lead to more accusations of “nanny state” interference, he said environmental tobacco smoke is a carcinogen and contains the same cancer causing substances and toxic agents that are inhaled by the smoker.

“There is no safe level of exposure to second-hand smoke. In children, exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke is a recognised risk factor for the development of asthmatic symptoms and increased risk of other illnesses such as pneumonia, bronchitis and middle ear infections.

“Exposure to tobacco smoke is particularly harmful in enclosed spaces, such as cars. Children’s exposure to second-hand smoke in cars is involuntary. They are unable to remove themselves from risk if people smoke around them.”

Colorful ashtrays hoped to improve smoking manners

Specially designed colorful ashtrays were recently installed on the streets of Shimokitazawa in Tokyo’s Setagaya Ward in a bid to reduce litter and improve the smoking manners of visitors to the area.

The cylindrical ashrays, designed by students at a Tokyo vocational school, were placed in various locations in Shimokitazawa, known as a popular area among young people, earlier this month. A local shopping district promotion association hopes the eye-catching ashtrays will also serve to brighten up the area’s image.

The Shimokita Shopping Street Promoting Association in Setagaya Ward has been implementing the project. On Nov. 2, a total of 17 ashtrays, 16 designed by students at Vantan Design Institute in Shibuya Ward and one designed by a professional illustrator, were installed at 12 locations, such as in front of shops. The students’ designs include a robot motif and a design featuring gears.

Many young people visit the Shimokitazawa district for its trendy image. About one-third of the approximately 1,600 shops in the district are eating and drinking establishments. Because smoking on the street is allowed in Shimokitazawa, many people smoke while walking, sometimes discarding cigarette butts in the street.

Durante on New Year tour

British American Tobacco’s CEO, Nicandro Durante, was due to arrive in Seoul, South Korea, today on the first stop of a New Year global tour, according to a story in The Korea Times.

Durante, the newspaper said, took the Korean market seriously because it was one of the BAT Group’s top 10 markets.

He was scheduled to visit various group facilities around the world as part of efforts to draw up a global plan for the company.

Durante was particularly interested in his company’s being a ‘socially responsible corporate citizen, building value for the business, for shareholders and for other stakeholders’, the paper reported.

Strong demand for electronic cigarettes

The market for electronic cigarettes is growing rapidly in the UK, where there are now an estimated 650,000 users and associated sales worth £60 million, according to a press note released by VIP Electronic Cigarette through PRNewswire.

Two electronic cigarettes

In order to meet demand for these products, VIP says that it has undergone significant expansion in recent months.

Having expanded into retail, the company now operates a number of kiosks and booths nationwide.

At the same time, the VIP range is sold to around 300 pharmacies and newsagents in theUK.

VIP says it has plans to increase its retail expansion further next year.

British american tobacco SA Court denies appeal against ad ban

The Constitutional Court had denied British American Tobacco South Africa’s leave to appeal against an order made by the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein, the National Council Against Smoking said yesterday.

Logo of British American Tobacco

In June, the appeal court had ruled that a ban on the advertising and promotion of tobacco products under the Tobacco Products Control Act was “reasonable and justifiable in an open and democratic society”. The Constitutional Court upheld the ruling.

After examining the cigarette company’s application for leave to appeal the judgment, it “concluded that the application should be dismissed with costs as there are no prospects of success”.

The Supreme Court of Appeal found that the seriousness of the dangers of smoking far outweighed the interests of smokers. Shares closed 0.59 percent lower at R441.26.

Rolling news from Japan

Given that roll-your-own tobacco is little known in Japan, it is not surprising that Smoke Fresh Hands, Japan’s first hand-rolled cigarette bar, is employing young women to help customers roll cigarettes.

Rolling cigarette and tobacco

However, a story by Weird Asia News, relayed by Tobacco China Online, paints a slightly different picture. It says that with Japan’s culture of using attractive women to sell just about anything; it was just a matter of time before cigarettes and young women were combined.

But this is clearly a serious business. The bar, which serves also food and drink, is reported to be kept a little more humid than are other such venues so as to preserve the freshness of the tobacco.

And Smoke Fresh Hands’ products are said to be offered in a variety of flavors, including vanilla, mint, apple, mango and raspberry.

BASIC FACTS ABOUT TOBACCO

Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of premature death in the United States. It is estimated that directly or indirectly, tobacco causes more than 400,000 deaths in the U.S. annually, a figure that represents nearly 20 percent of all U.S. deaths. These deaths have been attributed to a number of conditions defined as tobacco-related, including heart disease (115,000 deaths), cancer (136,000), chronic pulmonary disease (60,000), and stroke (27,000). According to a study published by the British medical journal Lancet, the rate of tobacco-related mortality throughout the entire developed world also averages about 20 percent of all deaths.

ABOUT TOBACCO

There are approximately 47 million smokers in the U.S.  About 23 percent of adults smoke, and about 30 percent of adolescents. It is widely acknowledged that people who haven’t used tobacco by age 21 are likely to remain non-smokers. So it would seem reasonable for much tobacco advertising to target potential adolescent users, although tobacco companies deny this. What is undeniable, however, are statistics showing that the average age of first tobacco use in the United States is 13.

Tobacco is a plant that comes in two varieties, nicotiana tabacum and nicotiana rustica. The latter is the most cultivated of the two and the source of all the tobacco produced in the U.S. The raw leaves are dried and shredded and then rolled into cigarettes or cigars, or packaged as pipe or chewing tobacco or as snuff. Tobacco is the only organic source of nicotine, which is its addicting agent. In addition to nicotine, tobacco smoke contains some 4,000 different gases and particles, including “tar,” a conglomeration of many chemicals, which is especially harmful to the lungs. Among the harmful gases in tobacco smoke are nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide, and cyanide. More than 40 carcinogens—chemicals capable of causing cancer— have been identified in tobacco smoke, and one of these, benzo(a)pyrene, is being studied as a possible direct link to cancer.

What is Tobacco?

The first European settlers in North America were introduced to tobacco smoking by Native Americans. By the early 16th century, the settlers were exporting tobacco to Europe, where it was believed to have curative powers. By the end of the 19th century, tobacco use was common in North America, but the quantity of tobacco that each individual used was still relatively small. A number of factors contributed to a 20th-century surge in tobacco use. Invention of the safety match made it safe and easy to light up, and invention of the cigarette-manufacturing machine made it possible to produce pre-rolled cigarettes in great quantities. The advent of mass-circulation newspapers and magazines made widespread advertising of cigarettes possible. Initially, men were the sole targets of the ads— smoking by women was considered impolite—and cigarettes were portrayed as a product for the rugged and powerful. With the rise of the Women’s Suffrage movement, however, the tobacco companies began to fashion campaigns that encouraged women to smoke.

Cigarette use continued to grow at a rapid pace and peaked at over 40 percent of the nation’s adolescent-and-older population by the mid-1960’s. About this time, several epidemiological studies were released, including the U.S. Surgeon General’s influential 1964 report, pointing to a connection between smoking and such diseases as cancer and respiratory illness. As these and subsequent studies were publicized, fear of long-term illnesses caused many smokers to quit and many potential users never to begin. At present, about 25 percent of Americans smoke, but the decline in use has now leveled off, and there are some indications that cigarette use may be increasing. Since the number of Americans who die each year from tobacco-related illnesses is still appallingly high and adolescent use is on the rise, there are now renewed efforts to prevent smoking.

How is Tobacco Taken?

Tobacco

The great majority of tobacco users smoke cigarettes, inhaling the nicotine-laden smoke into their lungs. A smaller percentage of users smoke cigars and pipes, and generally do not inhale, since cigar and pipe tobacco is potent enough for the nicotine in the smoke they produce to be readily absorbed in the mouth.

The smallest group uses “smokeless tobacco,” in the form of snuff or the peculiarly American product, chewing tobacco. Traditionally, a “pinch” of snuff, a pulverized tobacco preparation, was inhaled through the nostrils. Now, however, it is mostly placed in the mouth (“dipped”), where the nicotine it contains is slowly and directly absorbed. Chewing tobacco is taken in similar fashion.

Both products stimulate saliva production, and users must spit frequently to clear the mouth of excess saliva and tobacco which has lost its flavor. Smokeless tobacco is popular among athletes, especially baseball players, who use it to prevent their mouths from becoming dry during games. Since this form of tobacco is associated with cancers of the mouth and neck, many high school and college athletic associations have banned it, and professional leagues are now discouraging its use.

What is Passive Smoking?

Passive smoking is the process that causes non-smokers to inhale smoke involuntarily. Some of the smoke they inhale is known as “sidestream smoke”—the smoke that smolders off the end of a cigarette, cigar, or pipe. This smoke has neither passed through a filter nor through the lungs of a smoker and is therefore extremely potent, containing more tar, nicotine, particles, and gases than inhaled smoke. Sidestream smoke can cause respiratory distress and allergic reactions, as well as lung cancer.

How Does Tobacco Affect You?

Tobacco Affects

Smoking or chewing tobacco stimulates the habitual user, creating a pleasurable sensation not unlike a high. The effect is generally described as relaxing, although smoking releases the hormone epinephrine, which may create stress in the user.

Nicotine, perhaps the most commonly recognized ingredient of tobacco, is an addictive central nervous system stimulant. When nicotine is taken into the lungs, it is transmitted to the brain in seconds. It causes the heart to beat more rapidly, drawing in and pushing out more blood. It also makes the veins and arteries constrict, thus requiring the heart to labor harder. This results in increased blood pressure and heart rate.

Carbon monoxide is among the many toxic chemicals present in tobacco smoke. It impedes the ability of red blood cells to carry oxygen to bodily tissues, including heart and brain tissue. The lack of oxygen causes the heart to work harder and can lead to a thickening of the walls and possible heart failure.

Despite the fact that tobacco is a stimulant, addicted smokers usually feel that smoking relaxes them. This feeling of relaxation is in reality the result of their having satisfied a physical craving. Smokers are constantly experiencing the symptoms of nicotine withdrawal, and drawing smoke into their lungs relieves these symptoms by satisfying their craving for the chemical. Almost all tobacco users, including those who use smokeless varieties, thus become physiologically and psychologically dependent on nicotine. When they stop using, the withdrawal symptoms they experience can include changes in heart rate, blood pressure, appetite, temperature, and digestion. Withdrawal can also be accompanied by anxiety, insomnia, nausea, irritability, and fatigue.

What are Some Dangers of Tobacco Use?

Tobacco use has been implicated in:

Cancers of the lungs, mouth, throat, larynx, esophagus, stomach, pancreas, uterus, cervix, kidney, bladder, and some forms of leukemia

Cardiovascular disease, heart attack, fatal heart failure, and stroke

Pulmonary diseases, such as sinusitis, bronchitis, pneumonia, emphysema, and tracheitis (inflammation of the trachea)

Reproductive complications, such as miscarriage, premature birth, birth defects, and, especially, low-birthweight babies and babies with developmental problems. Nicotine depresses the appetite at a time when a woman should be gaining weight, and smoking reduces the ability of the lungs to absorb oxygen. Deprived of nourishment and oxygen, a fetus may not grow as fast and as much as it should.

Passive smoke has been implicated in:

Increased, exacerbated episodes of asthma and respiratory illnesses among children; respiratory illness and distress, asthmatic and allergic responses, and cardiovascular damage among adults.