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FROM THE DIRECTOR'S DESK
That is very true, and some of these ideas are currently gaining a solid groundswell, particularly the idea about point-of-sale display bans. Get the cigarettes off the shelf, and out of sight becomes out of mind. It further de-normalises smoking as an activity. What I like the most about it is that the tobacco industry will positively hate having their product sold in paper bags from under the counter. Returning to tobacco taxation, however, the latest issue of Tobacco Control has an article reporting on German research showing the effectiveness of increases.1 The study concludes: Price increases lead to a substantial reflection on smoking and intended and realised behaviour changes such as reduced consumption and switching to cheaper tobacco products. These effects are more pronounced the more the price rises. Therefore, taxation policy will lead to quitting and reducing smoking. However, complementary measures should also be taken to prevent smokers switching to cheaper tobacco products, which would reduce the effectiveness of taxation policy. Jeepers, creepers, where'd you get those peepers! This is exactly what the Smokefree Coalition's submission to Parliament's Finance and Expenditure Committee said (though maybe not so eloquently). The evidence is that price is the most effective single intervention to reduce demand for tobacco. That does not mean that we don't do other things like ban displays. Of course we should. But it does mean that decision makers cannot forever ignore the need to continually raise the price of tobacco if we are serious about reducing our smoking prevalence. No one can take any comfort at all from the latest figures which show that prevalence has stalled at about one in four of the population. One could say, and I am sure there are some that do, that tobacco taxation is a health issue. They might argue that it is unwise to ask the chief economic committee of Parliament to form a view. They would be right in that view if the suggestion of a tax increase was only about raising revenue. If, however, one of the purposes of a tax increase is to provide more money for tobacco control initiatives, including cessation assistance, then their argument vanishes. I for one refuse to be impressed by the argument that such a tax will hurt the working person. That is paternalistic balderdash. The evidence is that up to 90 percent of smokers regret ever having started and wish they could quit. Increasing the cost of tobacco gives them a reason for doing so. Importantly too, it provides a disincentive to those curious about starting. I do accept that the burden of the tax falls heaviest on low to no income adults as this is the demographic (made up disproportionately of Māori and Pacific peoples) where smoking prevalence is highest. It that respect it is a regressive tax. So give something back to those who want to quit. That way we will all be better off. The decision makers have not heard the end of this. In fact, we have not yet begun the fight. Have a good fortnight. Mark Peck Director 1.Hanewinkel, R. Isensee, B. Five in a row - reactions of smokers to tobacco tax increases: population-based cross sectional studies in Germany 2001 - 2006; Tobacco Control 2007; 16:34 - 37. doi: 10.1136/tc.2006.017236 IN THIS ISSUE:
FROM THE QUIT BLOGSThe Quit Group features a blogging service on its website where quitters can share their experiences with others. It's proving to be an effective way for many to help themselves through the withdrawal process, while supporting others at the same time. Here are some recent words from Polly.
You can read the blogs in the Quitting Smoking section of the Quit Group site (www.quit.org.nz). KEY ROLE FOR GPS IN SMOKING CESSATION PROJECTGeneral practices will have a key role to play in a stop smoking project planned for district health boards (DHBs) with the worst life expectancies. The Breath of Fresh Air project, led by the Ministry of Health, aims to reduce tobacco use in Tairawhiti, Whanganui, Lakes and Northland, the four DHBs identified in a 2005 public health report as having the lowest life expectancies in the country. The Ministry's chief advisor on public health, Ashley Bloomfield, says general practice will have a major role in the smoking cessation project. "I'm looking at primary care to up the ante around cessation," he says. At present GPs must undergo training before they can become certified providers of 'Quitcards', which entitle patients to subsidised nicotine replacement therapy. Dr Bloomfield promises there will be rapid progress "from drawing board to action" with the project, which will also involve the public health sector and local government. The Breath of Fresh Air project will be piloted in Tairawhiti DHB before it is rolled out to the other three DHBs. Among other actions, the Ministry has also undertaken to involve each of the four DHBs fully in the 2007 review of the population-based funding formulae. NZ Doctor, 14 February 2007 SHOULD PATRONS LIGHT UP OUTSIDE?
Capers Epicurean in Eruera St has banned smoking at its outside tables and, although it cannot enforce it legally, says smokers appear to have respected its wishes for clean air for all its outdoor diners. The central city cafe decided to take laws against smoking inside bars, restaurants, cafes, clubs and work places a step further by placing "smokefree" signs on its six outdoor tables. However, Rotorua District Council manager of regulatory services Jim Nicklin confirmed the city's footpaths are owned by the council and are a public place. "I imagine the only way they could do it is to make potential diners aware that the area is smokefree, but at the end of the day I don't know how they could enforce that." Capers manager Tracey Haxton said that if customers wanted to smoke they usually took the initiative and stood away from the tables or walked down the street. "Smoking and eating don't go together. We want to be healthy all round." Toi Te Ora health promoter and member of the Rotorua Smokefree Coalition group Lorraine Howarth praised Capers and said she hoped other businesses would follow in the cafe's footsteps. "They didn't worry about losing money and customers by doing it. They've set the groundwork. They need a pat on the back." The Daily Post, 20 February 2007 SMOKING CESSATION GUIDELINES - HAVE YOUR SAYYou are likely to be aware that a consortium of providers (Clinical Trials Research Unit, National Heart Foundation, Pacific Island Heartbeat and National Addiction Centre) has been reviewing the 2002 Guidelines for Smoking Cessation. The process to date has also included two meetings of an advisory group of providers. We are currently working on the final draft of these guidelines and would very much like to have your feedback. We are giving you plenty of advance notice (so that you can mark it in your diary!), that this draft will be posted on the NZ TAN listserv around 8 March 2007. This will in effect be your last opportunity to have your say and we would like to encourage you to provide feedback to us on this very important document. If you are not on the NZ TAN listserv please contact Trish Fraser (tfraser@global-public-health.com) for a copy of the draft guidelines after 8 March 2007. GRAPHIC HEALTH WARNINGS SITE
This Physicians for a Smoke-free Canada website provides background information on the reasons why health warnings are so effective and then presents individual pages showing the types of images that are either in place or under review for use in various countries around the world. Helpful information about government requirements for the warnings is also listed for each country. See: http://www.smoke-free.ca/warnings/. TOBACCO COMPANIES OBSTRUCTED SCIENCE - PROFESSOR"Doubt is our product," stated a tobacco industry memo from 1969. For half a century, the tobacco industry tried to muddy the link between smoking and cancer. Now, with that effort long since failed, cigarette producers facing dozens of potentially ruinous lawsuits are once again attempting to manufacture doubt. "The tobacco industry is now trying to win their cases by rewriting history, saying that everyone knew but no one had proof," said Robert N. Proctor, a professor of history at Stanford. Proctor claims that by the middle of the 1950s there was a scientific consensus that smoking caused lung cancer. But the tobacco industry fought that finding, both in the public eye and within the scientific community. Tobacco companies funded sceptics, started health reassurance campaigns, ran advertisements in medical journals and researched alternate explanations for lung cancer, such as pollution, asbestos and even the keeping of birds. Proctor says that industry lawyers often claim that "government propaganda", such as warnings from the Surgeon General, was so overwhelming that the risks of smoking were universally known. But they excuse the industry's own counter-propaganda by arguing that the scientific community was unable to prove a link between smoking and lung cancer until relatively recently. If true, this lack of proof would absolve the tobacco companies of any blame for deaths caused by smoking and any charges of fraud for their campaign against the link between cancer and cigarettes. "But if they were lying and if people actually believed their lies," Proctor said, "then the industry can be held liable because they were manufacturing a defective and fraudulent product." EurekAlert, 19 February 2007 PASSIVE SMOKING KILLING WOMENUp to 20 percent of women who develop lung cancer have never smoked and researchers think second-hand smoke may be to blame. A survey of a million people in the United States and Sweden shows that just 8 percent of men who get lung cancer are non-smokers. "I have a lot of patients who have never smoked," said Dr Heather Wakelee of Stanford University in California, who led the study. She said it was not clear why women were more likely to get lung cancer even if they had never smoked. Writing in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Dr Wakelee and epidemiologist Ellen Chang said they tracked the incidence of lung cancer in more than a million people aged 40 to 79. Dr Chang said that because more men smoked than women, women might be more likely to be exposed to second-hand smoke, even when classified as never having smoked. "We know that second-hand smoke does increase the risk of lung cancer so it's likely that a lot of these cases we observe are attributable to that." New Zealand Herald, 12 February 2007 BRAIN CHANGES PERSIST IN SMOKERS
For the study, which is published in the 21 February issue of The Journal of Neuroscience, researchers from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) examined eight samples of human brain tissue from each of three groups: long-term smokers who smoked until death, previous long-term smokers, and non-smokers. All of the participants had died of causes not related to smoking. The researchers analysed levels of two specific enzymes found inside brain cells that have been associated with addictive-related behaviours in animals exposed to cocaine, heroin and other illicit drugs. Levels of these enzymes were elevated in smokers and, more interestingly, former smokers, compared with non-smokers. According to lead author Bruce Hope, of NIDA, these findings suggest that the brain changes persist long after smoking has ceased and could contribute to future drug relapse. "The parallel between the new study and the animal studies is important, because a causal role has been shown in animal studies between increased levels of these neuronal signalling enzymes in these brain regions and addiction-related behaviours. This strongly suggests that the similar changes observed in smokers and former smokers contributed to their addiction." He also pointed out that it is not yet clear that these biochemical changes actually cause addiction-related behaviours. Washington Post, 20 February 2007 BLAST FROM THE PAST
Full Text: Virginia Slims You've Come A Long Way, Baby. "Beauty without brains is just window dressing."
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"Thirty percent of people surveyed say the hardest thing to do is to quit smoking, followed by saving for retirement. Those are the two hardest. Well, there's an easy solution: Just don't quit smoking and you don't have to worry about retirement." Jay Leno, The Tonight Show, NBC "The Superannuation Fund clearly has a responsibility to make ethical investments. The fund itself said it abides by UN standards in that respect. Now in light of some of the reports about it, more questions can be asked of the fund. Personally I don't like to see superannuation funds go into tobacco companies. That is not ethical at all." Prime Minister Helen Clark, "Most people who are trying to quit are so concerned about failing they don't want to tell anybody. I think it's pretty bold of Obama to publicly, intensely try." Chris Cartter, QuitNet, Newsweek, 26 February 2007 MEDIA THEMESBeach smokers to be limited to roped off areas Smokers on the beaches of South Florida city Delray Beach will be confined to two 30-foot-by-30-foot (10m2) areas about a third of a mile apart if the City Commission accepts a recommendation by the Ocean Rescue department. Each smoking area would be roped off and have one receptacle for cigarette butts within its boundaries, Ocean Rescue suggests. Commissioners have already approved fines of $100 for smokers caught indulging in prohibited areas. The citation would double for second-time offenders. Under the recommendations, 68 new signs listing the beach rules, including the smoking restrictions, would be posted at the 34 beach entrances. An all-terrain vehicle is recommended to patrol the one-mile beach for violators. Also, Ocean Rescue recommends the city form partnerships with other governments and boards to educate residents and visitors about the law. Robert Taylor, Ocean Rescue superintendent, said he chose the two sites because there was enough room there to put the smoking areas away from the water. He said that since the city started pursuing the smoking limits, he's gotten "mostly positive" feedback. Sun-Sentinel, 8 February 2007 Eyes on the road, or else Vermont lawmakers are considering a measure that would ban eating, drinking, reading, writing, smoking, personal grooming, playing an instrument, "interacting with pets or cargo", talking on a cell phone or using any other communication device while driving. The punishment: a fine up to US$600 (NZ$887). Bay of Plenty Times, 9 February 2007 Puffing Potter star Daniel Radcliffe has been slammed by anti-smoking groups for lighting up on stage in London. The Harry Potter star, 17, puffs on a cigarette during a special performance of his new show, Equus, the Daily Mail reports. Amanda Sandford from anti-smoking organisation ASH [UK], said, "It is regrettable that he is smoking, whatever the circumstances. He is a role model for young people and if he decided to take up smoking in real life that would be of great concern." Stuff, 25 February 2007 Prisoners pay $125 a pack to beat smoking ban California is being urged to drop or overhaul its no-smoking policy in prisons after black market prices in jail reached $125 ($NZ176) for a packet of tobacco, sparking riots and a booming trade that is diverting warders from their duties. The situation has become so bad that a prisoner at the Pelican Bay State Prison was found sneaking back on to prison grounds only hours after being released, carrying a pillowcase stuffed with rolling tobacco. A cook at Folsom State Prison has been forced to resign after being caught with plastic bags filled with rolling tobacco. He told the authorities that he was earning $1,000 a week from tobacco sales, much more than he did in his day job. Smoking was banned in Californian prisons in 2005, with the aim of improving work conditions and curbing rising healthcare costs. Now the warders are saying that their time is being wasted trying to break tobacco-smuggling rings when they should be focused on more important matters such as keeping drugs and firearms out of jails. Pepper spray was used at a facility in Northern California recently, when a fight over the control of black-market tobacco sales broke out between white and Hispanic inmates. "I've never seen anything like it," said Lieutenant Kenny Calhoun, of the Sierra Conservation Centre, the California prison where the $125 packet prices were reported, making tobacco almost as valuable, per ounce, as caviar. The Times, 21 February 2007 |
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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 |
Recently, I had a phone call from someone who wanted to tell me that tax was not the only tobacco control issue. They said there was a lot of other interesting stuff which would encourage people to stop smoking or not to start.
19 days
A Rotorua cafe's move to ban smoking in its outdoor area may not catch on elsewhere due to a legal technicality.
Health warnings with pictures are a very effective way to reduce smoking. Warning labels inform about the harms of smoking and provide
smokers with knowledge about how to improve their health.
Smoking produces long-lasting changes in the brains of smokers and former smokers alike, a new study suggests.
You've Come A Long Way, Baby. (1994)