Tobacco-free Pima County good fiscal policy; saves money

tucson.com – 5 de Febrero de 2015 – EEUU

As often happens when complex public policy initiatives are proposed, a few opponents reduce the issue to rhetorical phrases such as “government overreach.”

Such has been the case with Pima County’s effort to reduce the county’s high healthcare costs associated with employee tobacco and nicotine use. The proposed changes are scheduled for consideration by the Board of Supervisors at its Feb. 17 meeting.

Last year, after years of study, planning and preparation, the county switched its employee health-care plan from one purchased from the health insurance marketplace to a self-insured plan. In doing so, we gained better control of our employee health-care costs. Last fiscal year, our health insurance costs increased by about 2 percent under our self-insurance program. The previous fiscal year, our health insurance costs had jumped 18 percent, which had followed several consecutive years of double-digit health insurance premium increases.

Several years before the self-insurance switch, the county began a robust employee health and wellness campaign. Those wellness efforts increased with the self-insurance program.

County employees aren’t just expenses on a balance sheet; they are good and decent people working hard every day to serve the citizens of Pima County. And, from a personal perspective, I want them all to be healthy.

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http://tucson.com/news/opinion/column/guest/tobacco-free-pima-county-good-fiscal-policy-saves-money/article_5e8af582-4b81-5955-a412-ddeae7944abb.html

Cambridge Raises Tobacco Purchasing Age to 21

thecrimson.com – 6 de Febrero de 2015 – UK

The Cambridge City Council passed amendments to the Tobacco Ordinance last week that raise the age to legally purchase tobacco in Cambridge from 18 to 21, while also designating more public spaces as smoke-free and placing limits on the use of electronic cigarettes, according to Cambridge City Councillor Marc C. McGovern.

The Public Health Department followed its initial proposal in October with two options for the amendments in December, and the Council ultimately favored Option B with additional changes. The changes include that e-cigarettes will not be allowed in restaurants and that fenced in “tot lots”—areas where children play—and tot lots at Clement Morgan Park and Raymond Park will become smoke-free areas, McGovern wrote in an email.

The amendment to the ordinance will not take effect until June 2015 in order to give businesses notice of the new policy. Businesses will be required to check for age verification to sell tobacco to anyone under the age of 26.

Although e-cigarette smoking will be banned inside restaurants, smoking that involves hookah or water pipes will be allowed in outdoor restaurant seating if the area does not reside on a public sidewalk, according to an exemption in the ordinance amendments.

Only retail tobacco stores may sell flavored tobacco under the approved amendments.

“This is going to be one of the most significant public health decisions we’ve made,” McGovern said in an interview Wednesday.

McGovern said he hopes the ordinance will limit smoking by 16- and 17-year-olds in Cambridge.

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http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2015/2/5/cambridge-ordinance-amendment-tobacco/

Maharashtra government may slap hefty tax on tobacco

dnaindia.com – 6 de Febrero de 2015 – India

Stating that the state would soon impose a ban on consumption of tobacco in public places, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday said that his government would also consider imposing hefty taxes on tobacco, if required.

After visiting Tata Memorial Hospital, Fadnavis said that cancer, which is caused by chewing tobacco and consumption of such substances including gutkha, paan masala as well as cigarettes, ultimately leads to the suffering an entire family. He said that the cancer incidence rate has not fallen in last 20 years and because of this there is a need to create awareness about the same in addition to banning tobacco consumption in public places.

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http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report-maharashtra-government-may-slap-hefty-tax-on-tobacco-2058513

Youth anti-smoking campaign supports tobacco legislation

vtdigger.org – 5 de Febrero de 2015 – EEUU
A group of high school students from across Vermont visited the Statehouse this week to combat the influence of the tobacco industry on young people.

The students were with the Health Department’s Our Voices Exposed (OVX) campaign, which aims to empower young people to get involved in tobacco prevention.

Lt. Gov. Phil Scott told the group to advocate for better prevention by talking to their legislators, but also encouraged them to lead by example and make healthy choices in their own lives.

Tian Berry, a Burlington High School senior, said the OVX chapter at her school visited local convenience stores to see what tobacco products they sell and how they’re marketed. She said many of the products are set at eye level for children and feature advertising that would appeal to them.

Each year the industry spends $18 million on marketing in Vermont, according to the Health Department. Much of that money, 93 percent, goes toward point-of-sale advertising, according to the Center for Public Health and Tobacco Policy.

In Vermont 13 percent of high school students are current smokers, and 1,000 adults die each year from smoking, according to Health Department figures.


Two House bills aimed at youth tobacco cessation are now before the House Human Services Committee.

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http://vtdigger.org/2015/02/05/youth-anti-smoking-campaign-supports-tobacco-legislation/

Tobacco-Free Generation in Our Sights

huffingtonpost.com – 5 de Febrero de 2015 – EEUU

It's hard to believe that every day, more than 2,800 kids under the age of 18 try smoking for the first time. Research tells us that lifetime smokers and users of other tobacco products typically start before they even graduate from high school. And a teen who starts smoking at such an early age is far more likely to develop a strong addiction that can overpower even the most well-intentioned attempts to quit.

Any efforts to bring an end to tobacco use for good must include reducing experimentation and tobacco use among teenagers and pre-teens. Today, more than one in five high school students currently use tobacco. This needs to change. By working together, we can help our youth lead tobacco-free lives by helping them understand the lifelong damage tobacco use and smoking can inflict on their health so that those who don't smoke never start, and to provide those who already smoke the support they need to quit.

Over the past year, since CVS Health announced that all CVS/pharmacy locations across the country would stop selling tobacco products, we've seen significant progress made in the fight against tobacco in our local communities. Hawaii County recently banned the sale of tobacco products or electronic smoking devices to people under the age of 21. Last week, the Mayor of New Orleans signed into law a measure making bars and casinos throughout the city smoke-free. And now there is new legislation in California that is attempting to rise the legal smoking age from 18 to 21.

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eileen-howard-boone/tobaccofree-generation-in_b_6609470.html

El tabaco también es malo para la vista

elcorreoweb.es – 2 de Febrero de 2015 – España

A estas alturas pocas personas quedan que desconozcan que el tabaco está relacionado con las peores enfermedades respiratorias. También con la fuerza física y, como recuerdan las cajetillas, incluso con la fertilidad de las mujeres o la potencia sexual de los varones. Más desconocido es que el tabaco sienta mal también a la vista. Fumar, y cuanto más se fume peor, puede provocar dolencias en los ojos que incluso pueden llegar a la ceguera. Así lo explica el presidente de la Sociedad Andaluza de Oftalmología, Ignacio Vinuesa. La sociedad celebró el pasado fin de semana su XLVII Congreso anual en Sevilla.

Vinuesa explica que el efecto más perverso del tabaco, sobre todo si se combina con la bebida, es la enfermedad de la neuritis óptica, que afecta a “grandes bebedores y fumadores”, debido a que el tabaco y el alcohol son “muy tóxicos” para el nervio óptico.

Hay tratamiento, pero esto implica dejar hábitos de vida tan difíciles de abandonar como el fumar y el beber de forma habitual. Y aunque es una enfermedad con efectos muy graves y con la dificultad añadida al tratamiento de romper con los malos hábitos, al menos la neuritis óptica está en retroceso en Andalucía porque cada vez se fuma menos, explica el director de la Sociedad Andaluza de Oftalmología.

Asimismo, en el marco del XLVII Congreso, la responsable de la Unidad de Neurooftalmología del hospital Carlos Haya de Málaga, Manuela España, expuso que la prevención de las enfermedades oftalmológicas pasa por “llevar una vida sana, protegerse del sol y sobre todo, no fumar: está más que demostrado que el tabaquismo es un factor de riesgo”, incidió. Pero la doctora puso el acento en la degeneración macular asociada a la edad en sus formas más agresivas, que, en opinión de Vinuesa, tiene una relación menos directa con el consumo de tabaco que la neuritis óptica.

Sin embargo, la degeneración macular asociada al a edad es la enfermedad de los ojos que más afecta a los andaluces, junto con la ceguera provocada por la diabetes, el glaucoma o las cataratas: “Son enfermedades, estas sí, que cada vez tienen más afectados porque los andaluces viven cada vez más y están ligadas a la vejez”, explicó el director de la asociación de oftalmólogos y del congreso de Sevilla. Por el contrario, el uso de móviles y pantallas de nueva tecnología solo le preocupa “en cuanto producen picor y dolores de cabeza, pero no tiene nada que ver con los problemas en la visión que provoca la edad”, enfatizó.

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http://elcorreoweb.es/2015/01/31/el-tabaco-tambien-es-malo-para-la-vista/

EL 90% DE LOS CASOS DE CÁNCER ORAL SON PROPICIADOS POR LA COMBINACIÓN DEL CONSUMO DE ALCOHOL Y TABACO

teinteresa.es – 2 de Febrero de 2015 – España

Según afirma Vitaldent con motivo del Día Mundial contra el Cáncer. Vitaldent informó hoy, a través de un comunicado y con motivo del Día Mundial contra el Cáncer, que se conmemorará el próximo miércoles 4 de febrero, que el 90% de los casos de cáncer oral se desarrollan como consecuencia de la combinación del consumo de alcohol y tabaco.

Según los expertos de la compañía, el cáncer oral suele detectarse a simple vista, ya que aparece como una úlcera, un bulto o una pequeña herida roja o blanca, no atribuible a heridas previas, y que no se cura o mejora sensiblemente en un plazo de dos semanas.

Por este motivo, el director médico de Vitaldent, Gustavo Camañas, recomendó a las personas con estos hábitos, especialmente a los mayores de 40 años, que se autoexaminen la boca una vez al mes para que, de aparecer, detecten estos signos lo antes posible, “ya que si el cáncer se detecta en estado avanzado, la posibilidad de cura se reduce en un 50%”.

“Si se localiza una herida de estas características, hay que acudir a un odontólogo para que realice una exploración y un diagnóstico”, explicó Camañas, quien añadió que “estas lesiones no tienen por qué ser dolorosas, y pueden ser ocasionadas, entre otros motivos como los antes descritos, por rozaduras por dientes rotos o prótesis desajustadas”.

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http://www.teinteresa.es/espana/PROPICIADOS-COMBINACION-CONSUMO-ALCOHOL-TABACO_0_1296470693.html

Apoyo a la idea de ‘borrar’ las cajetillas de Tabaco

estusanidad.com – 2 de Febrero de 2015 – España

Eliminar los eslóganes, marcas o imágenes de las cajetillas de tabaco puede ayudar a reducir el consumo. Así lo ha considerado el 63 por ciento de participantes en nuestra encuesta, quienes apuestan por un diseño ‘neutro’ que ya ha sido implantado en Australia y que a partir del año que viene será adoptado también en Reino Unido. Mientras, el 38 por ciento cree que esta iniciativa no tendrá ninguna consecuencia directa sobre los fumadores españoles.

Los británicos pretenden con esta medida reducir la mortalidad asociada al tabaquismo, que en este país alcanza cifras de 800.000 muertes al año. El doctor Cyril Chantler mantiene que el empaquetado genérico de cigarrillos aleja a la población de su consumo, especialmente entre los ciudadanos más jóvenes. Esta decisión viene también motivada por el ejemplo de Australia, donde este tipo de empaquetado está vigente desde el año 2012 obteniendo una reducción considerable del número de fumadores. Así, desde 2010 el número de cigarrillos semanales consumidos por cada persona ha bajado de los 111 a los 96 y solo un 12,8 por ciento de los residentes se declara fumador.

Francia, Irlanda y Finlandia son algunos de los países europeos que se plantean adoptar esta medida. Nuestro país no aparece de momento en la lista, pero el sondeo indica que los españoles respaldan esta iniciativa, auspiciada por la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) dentro del Convenio Marco para el Control de Tabaquismo.

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http://www.estusanidad.com/secciones/actualidad/los-espanoles-borran-las-cajetillas-de-tabaco-2284

California Says E-Cigarettes a Health Risk

wsj.com – 28 de Enero de 2015 – EEUU

The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has come out against electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes), releasing a new report on Wednesday outlining their risks.

“E-cigarettes contain nicotine and other harmful chemicals, and the nicotine in them is as addictive as the nicotine in cigarettes,” CDPH director and state health officer Dr. Ron Chapman said in a statement about his report. “There is a lot of misinformation about e-cigarettes. That is why, as the state’s health officer, I am advising Californians to avoid the use of e-cigarettes and keep them away from children of all ages.”

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http://time.com/3686557/california-ecigarettes-health-risk/

North Dakota legislator looks at age restriction for e-cig consumers

valleynewslive.com – 1de Febrero de 2015 – EEUU

FARGO, N.D. It's a hot item that's causing some serious commotion in the North Dakota legislator. E-cigarettes and vapes are becoming more popular, but some believe they lack regulation. North Dakota is looking to set a statewide law that would require all buying the product to be 18-years-old and over.

“Literally eight, nine and 10-year-olds could be smoking,” said State Representative Kathy Hogan. “And, that creates a habit and I think in some ways that is the intent."

Representative Hogan is extremely concerned for those under 18-years-old who are vaping. It allows minors to get their hands on tobacco and nicotine products. She told us it's a market that's just emerged over the last two years.

"And, because of lack of regulation and standards, their accessibility is really significant,” said Hogan.

It's why Hogan like others, is looking to pass a statewide age limit on these pipes. Infinite Vapors in downtown Fargo supports the bills and told us while they only sell to 18 and plus, not everybody follows.

"Online retailers will have you enter your birthday,” said Kelsey Eaton, regional manager of Infinite Vapor. “There's always ways around the system, but they do have the system in place to try to check analysis."

Those opposed to this bill said it's not considered a tobacco product since most vapors only have nicotine. But, with many flavors to choose from like cherry and apple pie, Hogan said it’s a marketing strategy to target young adolescents.

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http://www.valleynewslive.com/home/headlines/North-Dakota-legislator-looks-at-age-restriction-for-e-cig-consumers-290495571.html