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FROM THE DIRECTOR'S DESK
To
further our cause, and to help educate New Zealanders (particularly our decision makers), a seminar and Parliamentary breakfast have
been arranged at which we plan to
have overseas experts speak. Two speakers have been secured so far: Dr Tim Dewhirst, Associate Professor in the Department of
Management and Marketing at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada, and Anne Jones, Chief Executive of ASH Australia.
Everyone
in the tobacco control community will be welcome at the 23 November seminar to be held in Wellington, and details
and registration forms will soon be made available. We believe this is an opportunity not to be missed and a chance to make some
positive gains for smokefree issues in New Zealand.
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ONLINE QUITTING SUPPORT TAKES OFF
Over 200 people have signed up to be members of The Quit Group's new online quit smoking community at www.quit.org.nz.
The quitter blogs have been a success, with nearly 50 members maintaining about 80 private and public blogs. It's encouraging to see about a quarter of the blogs have been written by Māori quitters such as Eddie, who had been quit 23 days when she wrote;
"I am not feeling any pain of not having a smoke. I have been at other people's houses where they smoke inside and I had no worries. They said sorry to me. I said don't say sorry QUIT. I am doing so well that I can be around people that smoke and not want to have one. I have saved $70.00 in not smoking, Whoo hooo it feels really good."
The Quit Group is looking at adding more features to the site, such as regular email quitting tips.
For more information about the website, contact Hayden Sanders hayden.sanders@quit.org.nz.
OH DEAR, HOW SAD, NEVER MIND
The Party born from the ashes of the ban on smoking in pubs has itself gone up in smoke. The WIN party was set up by John Van
Buren, a former proprietor of the Wheatsheaf Tavern in Teddington, near Christchurch.
Mr Van Buren was the first publican to be prosecuted under the law which banned smoking in pubs and clubs.
The Electoral Commission said that the WIN Party and two other minor parties had been removed from the political party register. The 99MP Party and One New Zealand were also removed. One New Zealand and the WIN Party were removed from the register at the parties' request while the 99MP party was unable to prove it had 500 members.
The Dominion Post, 3 October 2006
MEAT WORKS LOSES SMOKING ROOM APPEAL
The High Court has upheld a judge's decision that a Hastings meat works was breaching anti-smoking law with a special room for workers who couldn't smoke outside.
Progressive Meats built a new smoking room as part of a $1 million upgrade in 2003. Staff entered through two sealed, self-closing doors, and an extractor fan and two exhaust ducts pumped out contaminated air. Eating was not allowed in the room, and no one was employed to clean it.
The room was built in response to strict food safety regulations which came into force in 2002, prohibiting workers from leaving the building when they were wearing their work gear - white overalls, aprons, rubber boots, head coverings and mesh gloves.
District Court judge Richard Watson found changing in and out of special gear in order to smoke outside would be virtually pointless.
"That would require them to remove all their whites, check in their knives, change into civilian clothing and then reverse that process on their return to the work area. In effect all of their break would have been taken up changing clothing and there would have been no time for them to 'light up'."
Although it was "difficult to imagine" what more Progressive could have done to comply with the purpose of the Smoke-free Environments Act, the smoking room was a legal workplace and the company was breaking the law by allowing staff to smoke, Judge Watson said.
Progressive's lawyers argued in the High Court that because non-smokers never had to enter the smoking room, it could be considered different from a common work area.
Crown lawyer Nicola Graham said there were a few specific exceptions to the rules on what constituted a workplace, and Progressive's smoking room was not covered by them. The text of the law was perfectly clear and that was the end of the matter, she said.
High Court Justice David Baragwanath confirmed the original finding, saying while he had much sympathy for Progressive, allowing its appeal would have resulted in "the wholesale creation of smoking rooms".
Stuff, 29 September 2006
ACTION ON SMOKING AND HEALTH - DIRECTOR VACANCY
Be part of an established smokefree organisation and gain valuable national-level experience. This challenging and
exciting position offers an opportunity to work for ASH (NZ), a non-government organisation known for its high-profile
and effective advocacy work in tobacco control.
Responsibilities include:
- Developing evidence-based policies and advocating for their implementation.
- Providing leadership in the tobacco control field.
- Maintaining a high profile in the media.
- Influencing health policy nationally.
- Fostering community and national networks.
- Overseeing funding contracts and finances.
- Managing a seven person team.
It is critical that candidates possess proven communication, advocacy, and management skills. Strong leadership skills are essential with the ability to be flexible and adaptable. A background in tobacco control is highly desirable. A relevant tertiary qualification in a health field is preferred. Candidates should also have an understanding of the Treaty of Waitangi in relation to health.
Salary will be commensurate with experience.
Please contact the ASH office at (09) 520 4866 or email ashnz@ash.org.nz for a job description prior to submitting an application. Applications close 5:00pm October 24th, 2006. For more information about ASH please go to www.ash.org.nz.
Please send CV and cover letter by mail, fax or email to:
Attn: Bruce Arroll
Action on Smoking and Health
P O Box 99126
Newmarket
Auckland
New Zealand
Fax: (09) 520 4891
ashnz@ash.org.nz.
ASH NEW STAFF UPDATE
Hiria Minnell: My name is Hiria Minnell and I moved to Auckland recently from Mercury Bay on the Coromandel Peninsula. I have a Bachelor of Sport and Recreation degree from AUT University and a Graduate Diploma in Teaching from the University of Waikato.
I have always had a genuine interest in health promotion, specifically anti-smoking as our family has a long history with smoking and its consequences. To be brief, my mother was diagnosed with lung cancer at the age of 46 and sadly passed at the age of 48. I was 11 years old.
During this time a TVNZ crew completed a documentary which followed her through her last year. The documentary was named July's Legacy. Ten years on, the production crew did a follow up documentary to see how I and my brother were coping. My brother Michael has been a smokefree role model through his efforts as a NZ Representation in Taekwon do. I myself have never taken to smoking and work hard to ensure my family, friends, peers and students are aware of the cost, to whānau, and society.
I believe I make a difference by being a positive role model. I am looking forward to the exciting prospect of working in an area specific to my interest and skills.
Celine Lu: I've been working at ASH for one month and I like it here. My primary objective is to maintain the day-to-day running of the front end, ensuring quick and pleasant service. I also work alongside the ASH director, health promoters and the communications team. My first project has been doing the administration for the ASH Year 10 survey. I am enjoying the challenge and looking forward to working in Smokefree.
NO SMOKING DAY WHANGAREI: FOR SMOKERS WHO WANT OUT!
The inaugural No Smoking Day Whangarei in October 2005 was a great success, so ASH is delighted to be working along side many other health organisations in Northland on No Smoking Day Whangarei 2006.
No Smoking Day is a collaborative team effort. This year, organisations such as Sport Northland, Northland Health, Manaia Health PHO, Ngati Hine Health Trust, Te Hauora o Hiku o te Ika, Cancer Society Northland, Northland Polytechnic and Fonterra Northland are actively planning No Smoking Day events.
No Smoking Day 2006 aims to help people who want out of smoking by creating a supportive environment for them and by highlighting the many sources of quit smoking support available.
This year's theme, 'for smokers who want out', is about wanting out of the health damage caused by smoking, the money spent, lack of fitness and second-hand smoke damage to their whanau/ family.
It's also about people who smoke supporting each other to get out of smoking. No Smoking Day is about wanting out of an addiction to cigarettes and onto a fresh start, free of tobacco.
The events will be held in three settings: Northland base hospital, participating Whangarei medical centres, and Northland Polytechnic.
For any general information, free phone ASH on 0508 ASH INFO / 0508 274 4636.
DO YOU PROMOTE SMOKEFREE/AUAHI KORE in SCHOOLS/KURA?
If the answer is yes, or you intend to work in schools, we would love to hear from you!
Why? Because the National Smokefree Working Group wants to create a database of everyone promoting smokefree in schools to make it easier for us all to communicate and coordinate with each other.
Our aim is to ensure we all have the information and support we need to help schools to do all they can to prevent their pupils from taking up smoking.
Please tell us:
- Your name and your job title
- Who you work for
- Your contact details: phone, email and physical address
- Briefly, what smokefree work you do in schools and/ or what you plan to do.
Please send this info to jessica@hsc.org.nz or call Jessica on 04 472 5777.
AUSTRALIAN BAN ON TOBACCO ADVERTISING IN SPORT TAKES EFFECT
Tobacco advertising has been banned at all sporting events in Australia. Federal laws passed six years ago set October 2006 as the deadline for tobacco-related advertising to be phased out completely at all sports events.
Until now, the federal health minister had the power to grant an exemption from the general ban on tobacco advertising in Australia for internationally-renowned events. But an amendment to the Tobacco Advertising Prohibition Act 1992 in 2000 removed this exemption.
"We set the October 2006 deadline to allow sufficient time for organisers to negotiate alternative sponsorship arrangements," Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Ageing, Christopher Pyne, said.
In 2000, five events were allowed to be sponsored by tobacco companies, including the Ladies Masters Golf, the Indy 300, Rally Australia, the Motorcycle Grand Prix, and the Formula One Grand Prix. Over the past six years, three of these events have succeeded in securing alternative sponsorship," Mr Pyne said in a statement.
Just two, the Motorcycle Grand Prix and the Formula One Grand Prix, continued to accept tobacco sponsorship up until the deadline.
The Melbourne Age, 1 October 2006
SMOKING REDUCTION CONTRIBUTES TO CANCER DEATH REDUCTION
In the latest issue of Tobacco Control, just out (2006;15:345-347), a paper has been published by Michael Thun and Ahmedin Jemal of the American Cancer Society on the contribution of smoking reduction to reduction in overall cancer deaths.
They conclude:
"Even our most conservative estimate indicates that reductions in lung cancer, resulting from reductions in tobacco smoking over the last half century, account for about 40 percent of the decrease in overall male cancer death rates and have prevented at least 146 000 lung cancer deaths in men during the period 1991 to 2003. A more realistic straight line projection of what lung cancer rates might have become suggests that, without reductions in smoking, there would have been virtually no reduction in overall cancer mortality in either men or women since the early 1990s.
"The payoff from past investments in tobacco control has only just begun. The aging of birth cohorts with lower smoking initiation rates and the anticipated future decrease in lung cancer mortality in women will help to sustain progress.
"It is unclear how long the recent decrease in the number of Americans dying of cancer will continue, given the size of the 'baby boomer' generation, even though the 2004 preliminary mortality data covering over 90 percent of the total US deaths suggest that the decrease will continue in the near term. What is certain is that sustained progress in tobacco control is essential if we are to continue to make progress against cancer."
This is hugely important statement according to Simon Chapman, Professor of Public Health at the University of Sydney, and tobacco control groups are urged to use it in their lobbying.
GLOBALink News and Information, 26 September 2006
BLAST FROM THE PAST
Chesterfield is Best for You! (1953)
Brand: Chesterfield; Liggett
Full Text: Chesterfield is Best for You! "Chesterfield is the only cigarette I can speak for, because it's the only one I smoke. I've smoked Chesterfield for 22 years and I recommend you try 'em - They satisfy - and how!" - Ed Sullivan - millions see him on TV's "Toast of the Town" and read his famous column.
And [he's] first to present this scientific evidence on effects of smoking: A medical specialist is making regular bi-monthly examinations of a group of people from various walks of life. 45 percent of this group have smoked Chesterfield for an average of over ten years. After eight months, the medical specialists reports that he observed ...no adverse effects on the nose, throat and sinuses of the group from smoking Chesterfield.
Chesterfield king-size cigarettes contain tobaccos of better quality and higher price than any other king-size cigarette. Buy Chesterfield - much milder.
Retrieved from: 20th Century Tobacco Ad Collection Collected by Richard Pollay, catalogued by Roswell Park Cancer Institute http://roswell.tobaccodocuments.org/pollay/dirdet.cfm.
QUOTABLE QUOTES
"Smoking is the most dangerous activity we engage in in our lives. For every one death, and there are 114,000 deaths from smoking in the United Kingdom each year, there are another 20 people suffering from smoking-related diseases. That is such a big public health issue, and it continues into the next generation."
Deborah Arnott, director of Action on Smoking and Health (UK)
UK Healthcare Commission Press release, 23 September 2006
"Quitters may be discouraged from quitting, or at least kept in the market longer... A less irritating cigarette is one route (indeed, the practice of switching to lower tar cigarettes and sometimes menthol in the quitting process tacitly recognises this)."
Imperial Tobacco, Canada, 1986
"Health experts say teenagers who watch films in which stars smoke are three times more likely to try smoking, and those whose favourite stars light up on screen are 16 times more likely to have positive attitudes toward smoking."
'Indian film star Shah Rukh Khan struggles to quit smoking'
International Herald Tribune, 4 October 2006
"You can imagine me as a producer seeing my product end up in a packet with all that awful stuff[health warnings] on it," says grower Peter Traini. "Why would you want to keep producing something like that, anyway?"
Australian tobacco grower Peter Traini
The Melbourne Age, 5 October 2006
MEDIA THEMES
Judge Denies 'Light' Cigarettes Request
A Washington federal judge has denied a request by tobacco companies to let them keep marketing 'light' and 'low tar' cigarettes until an appeal is settled in their case.
U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler ruled in August that the cigarette makers violated racketeering laws and misled the public about the health consequences of smoking.
Kessler ordered them to stop marketing light and low-tar cigarettes and said the companies must make public statements about nicotine addiction and the health effects of smoking.
The companies immediately asked Kessler to hold off on enforcing that order until the appeal was complete, a process that could take years. They said they would lose business to companies not affected by the ruling.
Kessler rejected that request late last week, saying the public would be harmed by a delay. "Loss of market share, if it results from imposing an appropriate remedy to prevent and restrain past violations of the law, may well be the price defendants have to pay," Kessler wrote.
The tobacco companies, which have already appealed Kessler's judgment, can still ask an appeals court to put the ruling on hold.
Washington Post, 3 October 2006
Smokers unaware of lung disease
Four out of five adults with long-term lung disease do not know they are ill, research suggests.
The condition, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. It is strongly associated with lung cancer because both arise from long-term damage to lung tissue, which can be caused by smoking.
The study of 8,215 adults by the charity Cancer Research UK is published online by the journal Thorax. Researchers identified 1,093 people with COPD based on impaired lung function, but more than 80% said they had not received diagnosis of any kind.
More than one third of those with the condition were still smoking and a further 35% were ex-smokers. Sufferers were more likely to be older, manual workers, male and more socio-economically deprived.
The study also found that smokers who had COPD showed higher levels of dependence on cigarettes and smoked more cigarettes a day than smokers without the disease. But those with COPD were no more motivated to quit than smokers without the disease.
Lead researcher Professor Robert West, director of tobacco studies at Cancer Research UK's Health Behavioural Unit, said: "It is crucial to identify smokers with COPD and take urgent action to support them in stopping smoking because the most effective way of halting the progression of the disease is to stop smoking.
"Many smokers feel that they will 'get away with it' and not be affected in a serious way. For smokers with COPD that doubt is removed. Every day they continue to smoke will make things worse."
Professor West said many smokers thought the symptoms of COPD - such as a smokers' cough or becoming breathless during exercise - were normal. "They do not realise that they can be the beginnings of a disease which, in many cases, will leave them disabled or dead if they do not stop smoking.
"It only requires a simple lung function test to find out whether they have COPD and this can be done by their GP."
BBC News, 20 September 2006
Ireland: Ban on cigarette 10-packs delayed
A Government ban on packs of 10 cigarettes, due to come into law on 2 October, has been delayed by the tobacco industry.
Anti-smoking campaigners want to outlaw the 10-packs in a bid to stop schoolchildren buying cigarettes. However the tobacco industry has advised the Health Department that there are logistical difficulties in complying immediately with the ban.
A department spokesperson said: "Submissions were received on behalf of the tobacco industry which indicated that there would be logistical problems with the introduction of the ban on this date as stocks of packaging material have already been ordered and stocks of tobacco products have already been manufactured and are in the distribution chain.
"These representations are being considered and while no final decision has yet been made, the ban will not be introduced with effect from October 2."
Similar difficulties arose in recent years with the phasing out of tobacco brand descriptions such as 'light' and 'mild'.
The Office of Tobacco Control has found that packs of 10 cigarettes are popular with 75 percent of young smokers and has been urging the Government to introduce the ban.
Ireland Online, 2 October 2006
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Tel. +64 4 472 0157. Fax +64 4 472 0167. Mobile +64 274 591 664. Email director@sfc.org.nz
If you are considering using any material from the Smokefree Coalition Tobacco Control Update, please first seek permission from Mark Peck - director@sfc.org.nz