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martes, 24 de febrero de 2015

Egypt's president raises cigarette tax

journalstar.com – 22 de Febrero de 2015 – Egipto

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt said Sunday it will raise the sales tax on both local and imported cigarettes as it confronts a major budget deficit.

The decision announced by the presidency increases a flat tax by at least 7 cents for a pack of less expensive cigarettes. More expensive brands will see an increase of at least 20 cents.

A similar move last July raised prices 25 to 40 cents per pack. One in four Egyptian adults smoke, according to a 2013 World Health Organization report.

Unrest since the 2011 overthrow of longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak has battered the Egyptian economy. The vital tourism industry is a shadow of its former self and foreign investors have been hesitant to commit to what they once considered a promising emerging market.

President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi's government has said it will take tough measures to close the deficit, reduce internal debt and slash unemployment. Last year el-Sissi partially lifted fuel subsidies, aiming to reduce the massive aid program that eats nearly a quarter of the state budget.

Cairo has grown to rely on massive influxes of aid from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates to keep its economy afloat and buttress the state budget.

The cigarette tax hikes come less than a month before Egypt is set to host a three-day international economic conference to support the country's economy and attract badly needed foreign investment.

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R.I. Lung Association representative says cigarette butts poison babies and small children

politifact.com – 22 de Febrero de 2015 – EEUU

A bill before the General Assembly would prohibit smoking on public beaches; the Senate Judiciary Committee took testimony on the proposal Feb. 12.

There were only two speakers. One was Steven Brown, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union,’s Rhode Island chapter, who objected to the provision calling for violators being charged with a misdemeanor.

The other was Karina Wood of the American Lung Association, who cited the health dangers of secondhand smoke.

But she also talked about another aspect of the issue -- the environmental problems posed by beach butts (the cigarette kind, not the anatomical variety).

"Environmentally, cigarette butts are unsightly. They are the number one polluting litter on our beaches," she said. "I've been involved in beach cleanups myself with my kids and you'll be amazed, or maybe you won't, at how many of those butts are littering our beaches. And they're dangerous to animals -- wildlife, birds."

"And also they poison babies and small children because of the nicotine in them."

Sandcastle on Dubai beach will highlight cigarette waste

thenational.ae – 22 de Febrero de 2015 – Dubái

Dubai Municipality is creating a sandcastle installation covered in cigarette butts to raise awareness of littering. Millions of butts are discarded on Dubai public beaches every year, potentially harming children and destroying marine life.

“The volunteers working on this installation collected thousands of cigarette butts from beaches and other public spaces,” said Ismail Al Banna, director of corporate marketing and relations department at the municipality.

“Our goal is to give people food for thought on how pollution of this scale can affect the future of our children, as well as the environment in the UAE.”

Last year, a one hour clean up by Volunteer in UAE at an Umm Suqueim beach produced 50,000 cigarette butts in an hour. A clean up at Al Mamzar beach produced 31,000 cigarette butts.

The campaign also includes an online petition and a social media campaign to encourage responsible disposal of cigarettes

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Hike tobacco tax for a healthier Ohio

dispatch.com – 21 de Febrero de 2015 – EEUU
Now is the time for action and taking meaningful steps toward reducing the health impact and financial burden of tobacco in Ohio.

It is an indisputable fact that tobacco use is linked to an increased rate of serious medical conditions including cancer, heart disease, pulmonary dysfunction and low infant birth weights.

There is also no question that health-care expenses and lost productivity related to smoking cost Ohio billions of dollars annually.

Tobacco use is a global problem, but it is one that disproportionally affects Ohioans.

In Ohio, 23.4 percent of adults smoke, compared with the national average of 17.8 percent.

In addition, every year, an estimated 12,500 Ohio children under the age of 18 become daily smokers.

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Belarus to step up control over alcohol, tobacco sales from 1 July

eng.belta.by – 23 de Febrero de 2015 – Bielorrusia

MINSK, 23 February (BelTA) – Measures to prevent the sale of falsified alcohol and tobacco products on the Belarusian market will be enhanced on 1 July, BelTA learned from the presidential press service.

On 20 February President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko signed ordinance No. 2 to introduce additions and amendments to ordinance No. 28 of 17 December 2002 “Concerning the state regulation of the manufacture, sale, and consumption of tobacco raw materials and products” and additions to ordinance No. 3 of 29 February 2008 “Concerning certain aspects of state regulation of the manufacture, sale, and advertising of beer, alcohol and tobacco products”. Apart from that, the head of state signed decree No. 92 to introduce amendments and additions to decree No. 450 of 1 September 2010 “Concerning the licensing of certain activities”.

According to the press release of the press service, these documents enhance state control over the sale of alcohol and tobacco products, and aim to prevent the sale of low-quality and falsified products on the domestic market of Belarus starting from 1 July 2015.

Besides, the official documents provide for a number of measures to reduce access to alcohol and tobacco products and eradicate shadow sales.


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Tobacco-related illnesses cost Hong Kong HK$72 billion a year

scmp.com – 23 de Febrero de 2015 – China

Has health chief Ko Wing-man taken leave of his senses? His remarks on smoking and taxation are extraordinary for someone who is the Secretary for Food and Health.

The Council on Smoking and Health has suggested doubling the tax, which would push the cost of a pack of cigarettes to HK$93 from HK$53. But Ko, according to The Standard, said, "We will definitely adjust the tobacco tax at the proper time to control the percentage of smokers," adding "but each time we consider increasing the tax, we take into account the affordability for citizens, especially those at the grass-roots level."

As Clear the Air chairman Jim Middleton said, "The main idea of excise taxation in excess of inflation is to stop youth starting smoking, not whether grass roots can afford it, which encourages them to keep on smoking for heaven's sake."

High levels of taxation are recommended by the World Health Organization as the most effective way of discouraging people from smoking. A study in 1998 concluded that a conservative estimate of the annual health-related cost of tobacco in Hong Kong in 1998 was US$688 million with a range of US$469 to US$916 million. This included US$459 million for health care costs (US$341 million for medical care and US$118 million for long-term care) and US$230 million for productivity losses.

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Crown wants to see ‘bankruptcy’ of ‘evil’ tobacco industry

irishtimes.com – 23 de Febrero de 2015 – Irlanda

Independent Senator John Crown has said he wants to see the “bankruptcy” of the “evil” tobacco industry.

Prof Crown told the British Irish Parliamentary Assembly meeting in Dublin there was never a year during the Troubles when more people died from violence than died from smoking-related diseases.

“Really what we’re trying to achieve is the end of smoking and the bankruptcy of the tobacco industry. That’s actually what we’d like to achieve,” he said.

“The main victims of tobacco smuggling are not omnivorous high spending Government Departments who are being deprived of the revenue they would get from cigarette taxation.

Tobacco Giants Battle New Ads Painting Them As Liars

huffingtonpost.com – 22de Febrero de 2015 – EEUU

WASHINGTON (AP) — Never underestimate the staying power of big tobacco.

In 2006, U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler ordered the nation's largest cigarette makers to publicly admit that they had lied for decades about the dangers of smoking.

The basis for the punishment: Testimony from 162 witnesses, a nine-month bench trial and thousands of findings by the judge that defendants engaged in what the largest public health organizations in the country have called a massive campaign of fraud.

¿Algo para celebrar en los 10 años del convenio contra el tabaco?

ipsnoticias.net – 20 de Febrero de 2015 – EEUU

El 27 de este mes se celebra el 10 aniversario de la entrada en vigor del Convenio Marco para el Control del Tabaco, de la Organización Mundial de la Salud, el primer tratado de salud pública mundial.

En la actualidad, el Convenio Marco para el Control del Tabaco tiene 180 Estados parte, lo que lo convierte en uno de los instrumentos internacionales más adoptados. Alrededor de 90 por ciento de la población mundial queda amparada por sus disposiciones.

Los creadores del Convenio tuvieron propósitos audaces como “proteger las generaciones presentes y futuras de las consecuencias devastadores que el consumo de tabaco causa a la salud, la sociedad, el ambiente y la economía”.

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La letal tradición de masticar tabaco en el béisbol

bbc.co.uk – 23 de Febrero de 2015 – EEUU

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sábado, 21 de febrero de 2015

Plain packaging tobacco: a global battle not yet won

blogs.plos.org – 18 de Febrero de 2015 – Canadá

This week, we hear from Dr Genevieve Bois, MD and spokesperson for the Québec Coalition for Tobacco Control on the important but unfinished battle that is plain packaging of tobacco products.

Tobacco use is the number one cause of preventable deaths in Canada today, and in the UK, and in the United States – in fact in most countries around the world. Even in low-income countries that still face significant burdens from maternal health issues and infectious diseases, non-communicable diseases are on the rise, with tobacco-use leading the way as an ever-present first risk factor.

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viernes, 20 de febrero de 2015

Who's who in the tobacco wars? Chapter One

miamiherald.typepad.com – 19 de Febrero de 2015 – EEUU

The lobbying team suited up to do battle this year to pass a single sentence into law to save the embattled tobacco industry millions of dollars is a virtual constellation of both new and old stars. All were selected for their unique ability to "enlighten" certain members.

Consider Ellyn Bogdanoff, the former Fort Lauderdale state senator who tried and failed to return to Tallahassee this year in a second hard-fought campaign. She is returning after all -- as a lobbyist for R.J. Reynolds' parent company, RAI Services.

DEATH FOR TOBACCO!

mumbaimirror.com – 19 de Febrero de 2015 – India

Visit to Tata Memorial strengthened CM Devendra Fadnavis's resolve to banish the substance from the state.

Arming itself with sufficient ammunition to do battle with tobacco in the state, the government has created the Maharashtra Public Health Act, which will impose a complete ban on consumption of all forms of smokeless tobacco in public, making it the first in the country to pass such stringent regulations. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis hastened the formulation of the act after he consulted senior oncologists at Tata Hospital.

State health minister Dr Deepak Sawant told Mumbai Mirror on Tuesday that former home minister R R Patil's death - of acute oral cancer - gave impetus to the creation of the act and the government's resolve to ban smokeless tobacco in Maharashtra.

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Ya está en vigencia aumento de cigarrillo

eltiempo.com.ve – 14 de Febrero de 2015 – Venezuela

Caracas.- La alícuota del impuesto previsto en el decreto presidencial nº 1.417 de Ley aplicable a los cigarrillos, tabaco, picaduras y otros derivados del tabaco, importados o de producción nacional destinados al consumo en el país, se fija en el setenta por ciento 70% del precio de venta al público, publicado en Gaceta Extraordinaria nº 6.151.

Es decir que los consumidores de cigarrillos ahora tendrán que pagar B. 136 bolívares por una caja de 20 unidades que solía costar Bs 80. Así lo reseñó una nota publicada en el portal de noticias Globovisión.

El decreto también establece que este impuesto en los productos de tabaco, picaduras y otros derivados del tabaco, será liquidado por el Ministerio del Poder Popular con competencia en materia de finanzas, a través de la administración tributaria nacional.

El decreto, que entró en vigencia este 13 de febrero, indica que el impuesto no se causará cuando los cigarrillos, tabaco, picaduras y otros derivados de producción nacional sean para la importación.

jueves, 19 de febrero de 2015

John Oliver contra el tabaco en Montevideo

elpais.com.uy – 18 de Febrero de 2015 – Uruguay

El informe semanal del programa conducido por el comediante y actor inglés estuvo dedicado a algunas de las tácticas de la industria tabacalera. Entre ellas, la de entablar demandas contra distintos países, como la que actualmente lleva adelante Philip Morris contra Uruguay.

Oliver y su equipo diseñaron un afiche que, según el chiste, es un compromiso entre las advertencias que los países quieren hacerles a sus ciudadanos sobre los riesgos de fumar, y el interés de las compañías tabacaleras de presentar imágenes que cultiva para vender cigarrillos.

Para eso, diseñaron un afiche de un pulmón enfermo ataviado con sombrero y botas de cowboy, en alusión a la famosa imagen del "Hombre Marlboro", y pusieron varios en la vía pública montevideana.

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Corazones deben estar alejados del humo del tabaco y del alcohol

elcolombiano.com – 18 de Febrero de 2015 – Colombia

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Cajas de cigarrillos sin marcas desincentivarían consumo de tabaco

eltiempo.com – 17 de Febrero de 2015 – Australia

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Schools Cracking Down on E-Cig Use

wtvy.com – 16 de Febrero de 2015 – EEUU


Schools are cracking down on e-cigarette use.

The devices heat a nicotine solution to make a vapor instead of using tobacco.

They're becoming popular among teens and schools say these e-cigs can be used for illegal drugs as well, mostly marijuana.

Many schools have added e cigs into their anti-tobacco policies, punishing students with detention, a letter home, and sometimes a tobacco education class.

But other schools in states like North Carolina, New Jersey, Washington are grouping the devices in with bongs and pipes.

That means students could face long suspensions and even have possession of drug paraphernalia marked on their school record.


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DOH: Smokeless tobacco use remains an issue

suwanneedemocrat.com – 16 de Febrero de 2015 – India

TALLAHASSEE—The Florida Department of Health's Tobacco Free Florida Program is raising awareness about the dangers of smokeless tobacco, like chew and dip, to help combat this deadly addiction. "Through With Chew Week", a national public awareness campaign created to reduce the use of smokeless tobacco among young people, takes place Feb. 15—21, with the Great American Spit Out on Feb.19.

While cigarette use among Florida youth has reached an all-time low, smokeless tobacco use has not decreased when compared to a decade ago. In 2014, 5.4 percent of Florida high school students reported current use of smokeless tobacco products compared to 5.6 percent in 2004, according to the Florida Youth Tobacco Survey.1

"Smokeless tobacco products have many health consequences and are highly addictive," said Tobacco Free Florida Bureau Chief Shannon Hughes. "Youth who use smokeless products are more likely to experiment with other types of tobacco. In fact, the use of multiple tobacco products, including cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, is common among young people."

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Health minister declares all out war on tobacco

mumbaimirror.com – 18 de Febrero de 2015 – India

State draws up 10-point plan to rid train stations, colleges, govt offices and all public buildings of gutkha and paan masala.

Unnerved by the untimely death of former home minister R Patil, who was consumed by oral cancer, the new state health minister has drawn up a 10-point plan to rid Maharashtra of smokeless tobacco products. Dr Deepak Sawant, who took charge of the ministry three months ago, told Mumbai Mirror he would begin the campaign in his backyard, by petitioning politicians, bureaucrats and government officials with a penchant for the leaf to quit chewing tobacco.

"It is really sad that we lost a senior politician and statesman to acute oral cancer," Sawant said. "It is alarming that 2 crore people in Maharashtra chew tobacco. I want my state free of this scourge."

He said the offensive will begin in Maharashtra's educational institutions. "I do not want to see a single teacher or member of the staff to be seen chewing tobacco in the premises of the educational institution that employs them," Sawant said.

Plain tobacco packs likely to deter smoking, studies show

reuters.com – 16 de Febrero de 2015 – Australia

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Tobacco giant issues legal threat over plain packaging

irishtimes.com – 18 de Febrero de 2015 – Irlanda

One of the world’s largest tobacco firms has told the Government to immediately halt plain packaging legislation in the Dáil or face a High Court claim for damages.

JTI Ireland, owner of the Benson & Hedges and Silk Cut brands, has told Ministers James Reilly and Leo Varadkar that it will take legal action if they fail to promise by Friday that no further steps will be taken to enact the draft law.

The intervention by the company, whose Geneva- based parent the Japan Tobacco Group has a market capitalisation in excess of €55 billion, comes as the Dáil health subcommittee prepares for a debate today on measures to ban branded designs on tobacco packaging.

Japan Tobacco’s packaging objections look set for courts

irishtimes.com – 18 de Febrero de 2015 – Japón

The threat by Japan Tobacco Group to promptly sue the Government over draft laws to ban branded tobacco packaging stands as a blatant intrusion into Ireland’s political process in the interests of its own profit.

The business, which owns the Benson & Hedges and Silk Cut brands, could have waited for the Oireachtas to enact the law before proceeding to the Four Courts with an action to vindicate its intellectual and other property rights.

Instead, the firm’s Irish unit sent unambiguous missives to Ministers James Reilly and Leo Varadkar in which it purported to instruct them to stop the legislation in its tracks within 10 days or face a High Court claim for damages. As if to maintain some kind of decorum as hostilities intensify, the threat was copied to Taoiseach Enda Kenny.

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martes, 17 de febrero de 2015

Fumar tabaco es asociado a cinco nuevas enfermedades

lagranepoca.com – 11 de Febrero de 2015 – EAU

Si hasta ahora la academia norteamericana reconocía que en forma directa o indirecta el tabaco es responsable de al menos 21 enfermedades, incluyendo 12 clases de cáncer y mataba medio millón de personas al año en EE.UU. , ahora añadieron a la lista de patologías otras cinco, que hasta ahora no eran consideradas vinculantes con el hábito de fumar, y sumaron con ello unas 60.000 muertes anuales más a las responsabilidades de ese vicio.

Los riesgos de infecciones, enfermedad renal, enfermedad intestinal por menor flujo sanguíneo, y enfermedades respiratorias hasta ahora no vinculadas al consumo de tabaco. Los estudios revelaron en el primer ítem que fumar debilita el sistema inmunológico, por lo que no asombró que los riesgos de infecciones quedara asociados. La enfermedad arterial que producen puede conducir a problemas renales, e incluso minimizar el suministro sanguíneo a los intestinos. El aumento de vulnerabilidad a la infección “puede dar lugar a múltiples enfermedades respiratorias” hasta ahora no asociadas, según la publicación en The New England Journal of Medicine, que reproduce el diario ABC de España.

La OMS confirma vinculación de tabaquismo y Alzheimer

El tabaquismo, aumenta los niveles de homocisteína plasmática, uno de los factores de riesgo comprobados en la aparición de enfermedades mentales, con el Alzheimer en primer término. Según la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) hasta el 14% de los casos de Alzheimer podrían tener vinculación directa con el consumo de tabaco, acorde a distintos trabajos coincidentes. Además del endurecimiento de los vasos sanguíneos del corazón y del cerebro, privando de oxígeno a las neuronas, el tabaco produce estrés oxidativo, una fase previa de la muerte neuronal, asociada a una inflamación presente en los pacientes con Alzheimer.

El tabaco es un maligno compañero de viaje

rpp.com.pe – 13 de Febrero de 2015 – Perú

“Siga fumando, queme su vida y si se asfixia al caminar, peor para usted. Le diré que, no sentiré lástima cuando reciba una mala noticia como consecuencias de su adicción al tabaco”.

Durante diferentes ciclos de mi vida he sido fumador, habiendo dejando de estar enganchado a esa grave adicción, en diferentes ocasiones cuando me encontraba mal y era consciente de que me envenenaba. Por ello, le declaré al tabaco diferentes cruzadas ganándosela casi siempre, siendo la última vez que recaí, cuando volví a cometer la gran torpeza de elegir como compañero de viaje a una cajetilla de cigarrillos tras una debilidad.

Pero desde hace dos décadas soy otro al no estar enganchado a esa droga. Considerando, en esa última ocasión, para enfrentarme al tabaco, el domingo rociero de una Feria Real de Algeciras. Porque me gustan los retos fuertes al considerarme una persona con bastante fuerza de voluntad. Desde la que reactivo todos mis sentidos, creciéndome ante las adversidades. Y más contra el tabaquismo, teniendo que reformar mi personalidad y carácter para tajantemente decir no, cuando posteriormente después de haber dejado de fumar, algún necio me insistía que aceptara un cigarrillo ofrecido, diciendo “de algo hay que morir”.

Debido a mis relaciones con el tabaco negro, rubio con o sin boquilla y el de pipa. Soy consciente que, nada más pegarle la primera calada a un pitillo, ya estoy a merced de esa maldita droga que impregna mis pulmones… con sus compuestos químicos… Y al ser una persona que practicaba deportes, el tabaco perjudicaba seriamente mi salud, a pesar de que inicialmente intentaba, en lo posible, no tragarme totalmente el humo de esas materias… cancerígenas, que tantos beneficios proporcionan a las multinacionales tabaqueras. Siendo evidente que, gobiernos de determinados estados, recaudan millones de euros procedentes de impuestos del tabaco. Realizando una hipócrita política al anunciar su peligrosidad con diferentes slogans. Sin embargo, gran parte de ese dinero recaudado, posiblemente es destinado a sufragar parte de los gastos médicos, hospitalarios… que ocasionan las enfermedades que padecen los fumadores activos y pasivos.

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Minsa: Consumo de tabaco en mujeres se redujo en 4.3 %

rpp.com.pe – 13 de Febrero de 2015 – Perú

La tendencia del consumo de cigarrillos en las mujeres peruanas, sobre todo las que están en edad fértil, está disminuyendo de manera constante y progresiva, informaron hoy especialistas del Ministerio de Salud.

Informaron que el grupo etario que ha evidenciado mayores logros tiene entre 20 y 24 años de edad. Cada día se registra que 3 mujeres de cada 1,000 fuman menos cigarrillos. Según la ENDES, ha ocurrido un descenso de 4.3% en el consumo de tabaco en las mujeres en edad fértil entre el 2008 (6.9%) y el 2013 (2.6%).

Este hecho es resultado de múltiples acciones realizadas en los recientes años en el campo legal, publicitario y de defensa del derecho a la salud, así como a los ambientes libres de tabaco, y de actividades de sensibilización para reducir su consumo, en especial en adolescentes y jóvenes.

Las acciones emprendidas en cumplimiento de la Ley 29517 (que modifica la Ley General para la prevención y Control de los riesgos del Consumo del Tabaco), ha sido producto de las alianzas entre Salud, los gobiernos locales, instituciones públicas (Sunat e Indecopi) y la sociedad civil, a través de la Comisión Nacional Permanente de Lucha Antitabáquica (Colat).

El Minsa destacó que el Perú participó activamente en el proceso de elaboración, negociación y adopción del Convenio Marco para el Control del Tabaco de la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS), que aborda el tratamiento, la prevención, publicidad, contrabando, reglamentación y el comercio de productos de tabaco.

Fighting smokeless tobacco, promoting children's dental health

meadvilletribune.com – 16 de Febrero de 2015 – EEUU

A number of Crawford and Venango County groups have proclaimed the week of Feb. 15 to 21 as “Through With Chew Week” in an effort to call attention to the use of smokeless tobacco.

The highlight of the week is Thursday, which has been designated the “Great American Spit-Out” and calls for all smokeless tobacco users to start a plan to quit.

The week is organized by Crawford and Venango County dentists groups, community organizations, the NWPA Tobacco Control Program, YWCA Titusville and the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

In 2013, 5.7 percent of high school students in the U.S. used smokeless tobacco, the groups reported. The public awareness campaign is designed to reduce the use of smokeless tobacco among young people.

A flyer campaign highlighting misleading information and hidden dangers of smokeless tobacco is taking place during “Through With Chew Week.” Corky’s Pizza in Pleasantville and Little Caesars Pizza in Titusville will send fliers out with every order. The fliers are also being distributed to students at Titusville high and middle schools, and community dentists will have fliers on display as an added incentive to tobacco cessation services already offered to patients.

Grocery store chain to stop tobacco sales

news10.net – 16 de Febrero de 2015 – EEUU

You won't find cigarettes and tobacco chew on the store shelves of Raley's, Bel Air and Nob Hill Foods by the end of February, according to Raley's.

The West Sacramento-based grocery store chain has made the decision to cease sales of tobacco products to promote health and wellness.

Many customers in the parking lot of the Natomas Boulevard location on Friday thought the news was positive.

"Being a non-smoker, it doesn't affect me, but being around second hand smoke can be a little bit annoying, so I think it's a good move," shopper Robert Stevenson said.

Smaller liquor stores nearby are looking forward to possible sales coming their way.

"It'll help us a little bit you know," Select Wine & Spirits manager Manny Gaara said.

Smokers on the other hand are not as happy.

"The fact that they're not selling tobacco products anymore its actually kind of disappointing," Branden Hooker said. "I think for some reasons, it could be good for those who don't smoke. But honestly, for people who do, its going to be a lot harder."

Great American Spit Out targets smokeless tobacco use

chron.com – 16 de Febrero de 2015 – EEUU

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — ESPN college basketball analyst Dan Dakich plans to help Quit Now Indiana kick-off a statewide anti-tobacco campaign to educate Indiana residents about the dangers of smokeless tobacco.

Dakich is a former Hoosiers player, Indiana's interim head coach in 2008 and a former tobacco chewer. He's challenging men to quit, saying adults need to send the right message to young people.

This is "Through With Chew" week and "The Great American Spit Out" is Thursday.

Smokeless tobacco includes chewing tobacco, dip and snuff. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, health problems associated with smokeless tobacco include cancer of the esophagus, lip cancer, tongue cancer, mouth cancer and pharynx cancer. Smokeless tobacco use can also increase the risk for death from heart disease and stroke.

viernes, 13 de febrero de 2015

Uso de cigarrillos electrónicos supera el de los cigarrillos de tabaco entre los adolescentes

elperiodicousa.com – 12 de Febrero de 2015 – EEUU

ANN ARBOR- Los adolescentes estadounidenses usan más cigarrillos electrónicos que cigarrillos de tabaco o cualquier otro producto de tabaco de acuerdo al estudio ‘Monitoring the Future,’ “(Observando el Futuro) de la Universidad de Michigan, que registra tendencias en el uso de sustancias entre los estudiantes de octavo, décimo y 12º grados.

El estudio nacional, ahora en su 40º año, encuesta entre 40.000 a 50.000 estudiantes en unas 400 escuelas en todo Estados Unidos. Richard Miech, investigador principal del estudio, dijo que al ser uno de los productos de fumar más recientes en los últimos años, los cigarrillos electrónicos han irrumpido con fuerza en las vidas de los adolescentes.

La encuesta preguntó a los estudiantes si habían utilizado un cigarrillo electrónico o un cigarrillo de tabaco en los últimos 30 días. Más del doble de los estudiantes de 8º y 10º grados reportaron haber usado cigarrillos electrónicos en comparación con aquellos usando cigarrillos de tabaco.

Los adolescentes mayores reportan menos diferencia en el uso de cigarrillos electrónicos en comparación con los cigarrillos de tabaco. El 9 por ciento de los estudiantes de 8º grado reportaron haber usado un cigarrillo electrónico en los últimos 30 días, mientras que sólo el 4 por ciento reportó haber usado un cigarrillo de tabaco. En el grado 10º, el 16 por ciento reportó haber usado un e-cigarette y 7 por ciento reportó haber usado un cigarrillo de tabaco.

Entre estudiantes de 12º grado, el 17 por ciento usó un e-cigarette y un 14 por ciento reportaron uso de un cigarrillo de tabaco. Lloyd Johnston, director investigador del proyecto, dijo que los cigarrillos electrónicos son relativamente nuevos, lo cual podría explicar por qué los estudiantes mayores no los hayan probado. "Puede que los estudiantes de 12º grado de hoy no hayan tenido la oportunidad de comenzar a utilizarlos cuando eran más jóvenes. Las futuras encuestas deberían ser capaces de decirnos si ese es el caso", dijo.

El tabaco eleva el riesgo de cáncer de mama y de próstata

lavanguardia.com – 12 de Febrero de 2015 – EEUU

El tabaquismo aumenta un 30% el riesgo de morir por cáncer de mama y un 43% el de morir por cáncer de próstata, según un estudio de la Sociedad Americana del Cáncer que ha analizado datos de casi un millón de personas a lo largo de once años.

El estudio amplía la lista de enfermedades potencialmente mortales directamente causadas por el tabaco. Hasta ahora se atribuían al tabaco 21 de estas enfermedades -entre ellas, once tipos distintos de cáncer-. El nuevo estudio demuestra que el tabaco es causa segura de otras cinco y causa probable de cinco más.

"Nuestros resultados sugieren que el número de personas que mueren cada año por el hecho de fumar cigarrillos puede ser sustancialmente mayor de lo que se calcula actualmente", concluyen los investigadores en la revista The New England Journal of Medicine, donde hoy presentan sus resultados.

El estudio confirma que la mortalidad es más alta entre personas fumadoras que entre no fumadoras, lo cual no es una novedad. Concretamente, las personas que fuman mueren, de media, diez años antes.

El tabaco es más mortífero de lo que se creía

elmundo.es – 12 de Febrero de 2015 – EAU

Será dentro de un mes, aproximadamente. El 17 de marzo de este año comienza en Abu Dhabi (Emiratos Árabes Unidos) la Decimosexta Conferencia Mundial sobre Tabaco y Enfermedades Crónicas. Cinco días completos de presentaciones científicas, debates, denuncias y propuestas para tratar de bajar la enorme mortalidad que fumar causa cada año en el mundo.

Asistirá mucha gente importante y el evento tiene el patrocinio de la Organización Mundial de la Salud. Se han presentado casi 1.000 trabajos. Habrá que estar atento a lo que dé de sí la reunión.

Mientras tanto, quizá hoy convenga fijarse en un extenso estudio que acaba de publicar en su último número el New England Journal of Medicine. En él se revisan las diferentes patologías que causa el tabaco, cómo buena parte de ellas acaban con la vida del fumador y, lo que es muy importante, se concluye que la adicción a la nicotina mata bastante más de lo que hasta ahora se pensaba, incluso debido a enfermedades que no han estado antes entre las que provocaba el cigarrillo.

Es un estudio impresionante, en el que se han seguido durante 11 años a 421.738 personas mayores de 55 años, en EEUU. Los autores proceden de las mejores instituciones del país: el Instituto Nacional del Cáncer, la Universidad de Harvard, la Sociedad Americana contra el Cáncer...

La conclusión es clara, el tabaco tiene mayor mortalidad de lo que se sospechaba. Y la tiene no porque se hayan ajustado al alza los números de muertos que producen las patologías asociadas hasta ahora al tabaco. No. Lo que ocurre es que hay otras enfermedades que no se habían tenido en cuenta aún, pero que también tienen una estrecha relación con fumar.

Por supuesto que el cáncer de pulmón, el de laringe, de esófago, la enfermedad pulmonar crónica y las trombosis que causan infartos de miocardio y cerebrales se llevan la palma de las muertes que produce el tabaco. Sin embargo, que la aterosclerosis de per se, el aneurisma de aorta, las infecciones, la hipertensión arterial, la miocardiopatia hipertensiva, la cirrosis y hasta el cáncer de mama -problemas que antes no habían sido asociados al tabaco- están ahora seriamente ligadas "al vehículo que transporta nicotina", como eufemísticamente se denomina al cigarrillo, era muy poco conocido.

Los autores opinan que su trabajo es una sólida prueba de que el tabaco es bastante más dañino de lo que se suponía, y que en EEUU causa 60.000 muertos más cada año que hay que añadir a los 437.000 fallecimientos debido a su consumo. Si extrapolamos a España, por ejemplo, -y aún reconociendo que aquí fumamos más que al otro lado del Atlántico- tendríamos que sumar, como poco, 6.000 muertos anuales más a nuestra lista, que es de 55.000.

Cancer rates’ decline is just the start

dispatch.com – 11 de Febrero de 2015 – EEUU

I wish to comment on the Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram article “ Cancer death rates drop 22% in 2 decades” in the Feb. 2 Dispatch, and the New York Times article “ Half as many exposed to secondhand smoke” in the Feb. 4 Dispatch.

The decrease in lung-cancer rates from a reduction in tobacco use and of secondhand smoke go beyond just “good news,” it’s fabulous news. Moving the dial on lung cancer in our nation and in our community, and turning the tide on the huge public burden tobacco use causes, is a great collective accomplishment.

Yet tobacco use still remains the leading preventable cause of death. Most smokers start before the age of 18, and 40 percent of all children and 70 percent of black children in the United States are exposed to secondhand smoke. Smokeless tobacco, including e-cigarettes, contains 28 cancer-causing agents (carcinogens). Clearly, there is still much more to be done.

The news that cancer rates are declining is great news. The news that secondhand-smoke exposure has dropped is great news. Those in our community who have helped make this happen should feel great.

Now let’s go forward together with renewed energy to push the numbers downward ever still, until tobacco use is a thing of the past.

Smoking's Death Toll May Be Higher Than Anyone Knew

wbur.org – 11 de Febrero de 2015 – EEUU

The U.S. Surgeon General lists 21 deadly diseases that are caused by smoking. Now, a study in this week's New England Journal of Medicine points to more than a dozen other diseases that apparently add to the tobacco death toll.

To arrive at this conclusion, scientists from the American Cancer Society, the National Cancer Institute and several universities tracked nearly a million people for a decade and recorded their causes of death.

As expected, the researchers found that smokers were much more likely to die of lung cancer, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, esophageal cancer, mouth cancer and a long list of other diseases that health officials have previously linked to smoking.

But author Eric Jacobs, strategic director of pharmacoepidemiology at the American Cancer Society, found other causes of death that were also more common in smokers — "things like kidney failure, infections and certain types of heart and respiratory diseases that weren't previously counted," he says.

Federal campaign aims to help military members drop chewing tobacco

vcstar.com – 11 de Febrero de 2015 – EEUU

When you hear about the Great American Spit Out, you probably imagine a massive contest among the country’s top expectorators. And you’d be way off.

The annual event is actually a campaign aimed at helping United States military members quit using chewing tobacco. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense, the Great American Spit Out encourages service members to stop dipping for 24 hours on Feb. 19.

Organizers behind the campaign are trying to hammer home with dip users that their habit isn’t a safe alternative to smoking cigarettes.

“Smokeless tobacco contains three to four times more nicotine than cigarettes,” said Paul Fitzpatrick, program director for Quit Tobacco, the official name of the group behind the campaign.

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Dade City urges merchants not to sell candy-flavored tobacco products to underage patrons

tampabay.com – 11 de Febrero de 2015 – EEUU

DADE CITY — City commissioners are asking local merchants to stop selling and marketing fruit- and candy-flavored tobacco products to underage patrons.

The commission passed the resolution Tuesday after a presentation by several teen members of Students Working Against Tobacco, a Florida youth organization aimed at educating fellow youth about the dangers of tobacco.

Several commissioners said they were unaware of some of the products on the market, such as dissolvable, flavored tobacco tablets that look like mints.

While selling tobacco to anyone under the age of 18 is illegal, the students said kids their age still manage to obtain the products. Dade City joins Pasco County and the cities of San Antonio and New Port Richey in adopting resolutions. The students hope to get all of the county's municipalities on board in order to present a united front with the state Legislature.

Bangladesh worse than Pakistan in tobacco control

bdnews24.com – 11 de Febrero de 2015 – Bangladesh

Authorities in Bangladesh have been struggling for the past 22 months to introduce a similar warning.

Pakistan’s health ministry on Wednesday said their warning would cover 85 percent of the cigarette pack on both sides from the current 40 percent.

The measure will make Pakistan only the third country in the world after Nepal and India to have enhanced pictorial health warning to 85 percent.

“If Pakistan can, why can’t we?” asked Taifur Rahman, Bangladesh coordinator of the US-based Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids.

He was one of the members of the committee that drafted the tobacco control law and its implementation rules.

The amended law was passed nearly two years ago in April 2013 with a provision that tobacco companies must print pictorial health warning covering 50 percent on both sides.

Pictorial warning on tobacco packs is regarded as the most effective means of communication with tobacco users.

Researches show a smoker looks at this picture at an average of 7,000 times a year.

Moreover, those who intend to start smoking are discouraged by the warning while it encourages many to quit the habit.

But Bangladesh, a country where more than 45 percent people smoke, could not put the provision into practice as the rules needed for implementation have not been finalized yet.

Teens Are More Likely to Combine Multiple Forms of Tobacco

universityherald.com – 11 de Febrero de 2015 – EEUU

New research suggests that teens who use tobacco products are likely to use more than one product, including e-cigarettes, hookahs and pipes, and smokeless tobacco.

Researchers found that 14.7 percent of middle and high school students use one or more tobacco products. Among these users, 4.3 percent report using three or more tobacco products, and 2.7 percent of teens use cigarettes with an additional product.

"The prevalence of teens combining multiple tobacco products is alarming, especially since there may be potential additive harms associated with this practice," Youn Ok Lee, a research public health analyst at RTI International, said in a statement. "By using more than one tobacco product, teens may be increasing their risk of nicotine dependence."

Abu Dhabi Summit to Focus on Tobacco and Disease

voanews.com – 11 de Febrero de 2015 – EAU


The 16th World Conference on Tobacco or Health will be held next month in Abu Dhabi. The five-day meeting will feature the latest in smoking control efforts. The World Health Organization estimates tobacco kills nearly six million people every year, mostly in low- and middle-income countries.

jueves, 12 de febrero de 2015

¡Cuidado con ese cigarrillo electrónico! Podría explotar

laopinion.com – 11 de Febrero de 2015 – EEUU

Un hombre fue hospitalizado el sábado después que un cigarrillo electrónico explotara dentro de una tienda del condado de San Diego, informó el Departamento Estatal de Protección contra Incendio Forestales (CalFire).

El hombre se encontraba dentro de la tienda Stage Shop Liquor en la ciudad de Ramona cuando su cigarro explotó, y estrelló vidrios dentro de la tienda.

Se desconoce en qué situación se encuentra, pero fue trasladado de inmediato a un centro para tratar sus quemaduras en la Universidad de California, San Diego.

Hasta el momento se desconoce qué ocasionó la explosión, pero no es la primera vez que ocurre algo así.

Hace dos semanas, la Administración Federal de Aviación emitió una orden de restringir el almacenamiento de estos dispositivos electrónicos dentro del equipaje, ya que en dos ocasiones habían ocasionado incendios dentro del compartimento de equipaje de los aviones.

Dentro del cigarro electrónico, una batería pequeña calienta la solución líquida, ya sea ésta nicotina o cualquier otra sustancia que se pueda inhalar.

China proyecta prohibir el tabaco en lugares público

lavozdegalicia.es – 11 de Febrero de 2015 – China

El Gobierno de China aprobó un proyecto de reglamento que se convertirá en la ley antitabaco más dura de las que ha habido en el país. Según la normativa, se prohibirá fumar en lugares públicos cerrados, pero también al aire libre, especialmente espacios deportivos y áreas de espera de trenes y autobuses.

A las limitaciones en el consumo de los cigarrillos, las autoridades suman un control de las propias cajetillas, al estilo de lo que hay en Europa o Australia. El Gobierno propone que lleven mensajes e imágenes que ilustren los daños del tabaco, y que deben cubrir por lo menos la mitad de los envases.

Experts pressure Government to use bigger health warnings on tobacco products

dailymail.co.uk – 11 de Febrero de 2015 – India
Concerned over the growing tobacco menace in India, health organizations from across the world have asked the Indian Government to oversee new warning labels on tobacco packets.

Tobacco products like cigarettes and gutkas will have more prominent health risk warnings from April 1 this year.

“Similar health warnings were first proposed in 2006 and they were vigorously opposed in and out of courts by the tobacco industry.

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Here's What's Being Done To Get Child Laborers Working 16-Hour Days Off Of U.S. Tobacco Fields

huffingtonpost.com – 11 de Febrero de 2015 – UK

Advocates are speaking out on behalf of child workers' health and well-being after a bill that would have regulated Virginia's tobacco farming industry failed to pass last week.

Minors would not be allowed to work directly with tobacco plants or their dried leaves, had Virginia House Bill 1906 passed, NBC 29 News reported. Children working on family farms as part of tradition would have been exempt from the law.

Proponents of the bill pointed to a report released by Human Rights Watch (HRW) last May that found children who work on tobacco farms are more at risk of getting cancer, living with reproductive health issues and suffering from permanent neurological damage, among other side effects.

While the bill in Virginia failed to pass and no other state-level legislation is currently in the air, Jo Becker, advocacy director of HRW's Children's Rights Division, told The Huffington Post that "there's certainly been a lot of interest" at a national level in cracking down on child labor in the tobacco industry.

The next big step against child labor on tobacco farms will come later this year, according to Becker, when Rhode Island Congressman David Cicilline (D) will reintroduce a federal bill that would prohibit children under the age of 18 from working in direct contact with tobacco.

Plain tobacco packaging 'reduces' smoking by a tenth

newkerala.com – 11 de Febrero de 2015 – UK
Research from the Universities of Exeter and Bristol comes amidst debate over whether a law introducing plain cigarette packaging in England and Wales could come into force in 2016. Recently, ministers said MPs would be asked to vote on the plan before May's general election, following a series of public consultations on the issue.

Lead author Lee Hogarth said that the key finding was that plain cigarette packs were about 10 percent less likely to prompt participants to make the tobacco choice compared to branded packs.

In fact, the plain packs promoted no more tobacco choice than when nothing was presented. These findings provide experimental support for the idea that introducing plain packaging might reduce tobacco purchasing or consumption.

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Tobacco bill would rise the legal age of purchase to 21 years old

valleyjournal.net – 11 de Febrero de 2015 – EEUU
POLSON — As the harmful effects of smoking continue to receive national attention, tobacco companies have shifted their focus to smokeless tobacco products, claiming them to be a “safe” alternative to smoking cigarettes and actively working to build new customers. “Through With Chew Week,” Feb. 15-21, highlights the truth that there are no “safe” tobacco products.

In Montana, tobacco companies have long used our culture of independence and our rural Western image against us with targeted smokeless product marketing. Increasingly, however, these companies are shifting product flavorings, package designs and marketing campaigns to appeal to a younger, trendier audience – an audience that increasingly includes teens. But no amount of fruit flavor or fancy marketing can alter the harmful effects of smokeless products, including tooth decay, gum disease, cancer, heart attack or stroke.

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Tobacco bill would rise the legal age of purchase to 21 years old

parkrecord.com – 11 de Febrero de 2015 – EEUU

Utah would become the first state to raise the age limit for purchasing tobacco products to 21 years old, if a bill passes after it failed to gain enough support in 2014.

This week, a Utah House of Representatives committee will get its first look at the revived bill, which stalled in the Senate last year.

Sponsored by Rep. Kraig Powell, a Republican from Heber City whose district includes Park City, HB 130 would prohibit the sale of tobacco products or related paraphernalia, such as lighters and electronic cigarettes, to people younger than 21 years old.

"The most important fact we keep emphasizing over and over again is that 90 percent of adult smokers began smoking cigarettes prior to the age of 21," Powell said. "If we can delay their first exposure and the early habitual use of cigarettes, it's likely that they won't get hooked."

Utah is one of four states with a legal purchasing age for tobacco products of 19. But if passed, it would become the first state where tobacco and alcohol legislation are in sync.

Despite the bill narrowly passing the Senate Health and Human Services Committee last year, Powell said he is more confident the bill will be successful this time around. But he admitted it will likely face opposition in the Senate again.

"I think there is a good chance that we could pass it this year, but I don't think much has changed in the legislation. So it could be difficult to get senators to change their minds from the way they voted last year," he said.

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CVS earnings beat forecasts in first tobacco-free quarter

philly.com – 11 de Febrero de 2015 – EEUU

CVS Health Corp., the largest provider of prescription drugs in the United States, posted fourth-quarter earnings that beat analyst estimates as demand for medicine outweighed the drop in revenue from a decision to stop selling tobacco products.

Profit of $1.21 a share, excluding one-time items, was one cent more than the average of analysts' estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Sales rose 13 percent to $37.1 billion, the Woonsocket, R.I.-based company said in a statement Tuesday. Analysts had projected $36 billion on average.

Growth in prescription drug sales, driven by new health insurance available to millions of previously uninsured Americans through the Affordable Care Act, is helping the company weather the loss of tobacco revenue.

CVS stopped selling cigarettes in September, making the fourth quarter the first full financial period without any tobacco-related revenue. CVS previously generated about $2 billion annually in tobacco sales.

miércoles, 11 de febrero de 2015

E-cigarette flavourings damage the lungs - cinnamon vape juice found to be the most toxic

mirror.co.uk – 9 de Febrero de 2015 – uk

Dangerous emissions from flavourings used in e-cigarettes damage the lungs, according to a new study.

Although safer than smoking real cigarettes, e-cigarettes are still toxic - with some flavourings causing more lung stress than others.

"Our research affirms that e-cigarettes may pose significant health risks and should be investigated further.

"It seems that every day a new e-cigarette product is launched without knowing the harmful health effects of these products," said Irfan Rahman, a professor at the University of Rochester, where the research was carried out.

The research team looked at the impact of vaping on human lung cells and mice. In both cases the lung cells became inflamed.

The harmful vapours seem to be created by when the element inside the e-cigarette is activated to heat the "juice" into an aerosol that can be inhaled like regular cigarette smoke.

It's these vapours that contain nano-particles of heavy metals and other carcinogens that aggravate the lung tissue.

Cinnamon-flavored e-liquid was one of the worst offenders, while sweet flavors were generally more damaging than straight nicotine.