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| Issue 65 | 25 April 2007 |
FROM THE DIRECTOR'S DESK
One of the issues that needs resolution is that of harm reduction. I tackled this topic on the very second editorial I wrote for Tobacco Control Update. On revisiting that editorial I remain satisfied with the message I tried to convey more than a year ago. Here is the essence of my argument at that time: "The issue of harm reduction is controversial. On one hand, there is an argument that if people are going to smoke anyway, why not make it as safe as possible? But on the other hand, by providing 'safer' cigarettes, are we encouraging smokers to continue smoking when they might otherwise quit? Will we unwittingly give smokers the message that it is safe for them to continue? "One of the greatest disadvantages of the harm reduction model is that it is likely to require health groups (or at least the Ministry of Health) to work with the tobacco industry. If 'safer' tobacco products are to be produced, as things stand currently, the industry will be involved in their production." I concluded by saying that we should wait until the evidence from the Gravitas report, but in the meantime keep our powder dry. I think that no one has a serious disagreement about the use of a harm reduction strategy as an aid to cessation. But the landscape changes dramatically when harm reduction techniques are used as a way of removing the incentive for people to quit smoking. We learn from SmokeLess New Zealand that "As from... 23 April, nasal snuff is being test marketed at some 20 tobacconists in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, at $3.95 for 3.5 grams, with a menthol flavour." We even learn some of the quaint little ways of using it and how many hits of nicotine one can get from the 3.5 grams. And we are advised that it will be a cheaper nicotine hit than cigarettes. So much for a softly, softly harm reduction approach. Where is the cessation programme to accompany the use of this product? Or is the product merely a cigarette replacement for those occasions when smoking is not permitted? It seems to me that the only beneficiaries from snuff being available (in the absence of a proper harm reduction strategy) are the tobacco industry who gain from a new tobacco product being on the market and also pick up a smidgeon of respectability by selling a 'safer' product. Snuff may prove to be unpopular but to my mind that no longer matters. What matters is that this appears to be the precedent as to how we will deal with harm reduction from now on. Gravitas laid out a number of challenges in the harm reduction arena. This model was not one of them. You might say in this regard – as of today I am officially grumpy! Have a good fortnight. Mark Peck Director IN THIS ISSUE:
OUTDOOR POKIES CYNICAL PROFITEERINGMoving gaming machines into outside smoking areas at pubs is profiteering at its worst, and preying on people's addictions, according to Smokefree Coalition Director Mark Peck. The Kilbirnie Tavern has placed gaming machines in an outdoor smoking area and other pubs around the country may be doing the same. "It's an extraordinarily cynical move designed to protect the revenue lost when addicted gamblers take a smoke break and have the opportunity to think about the money they're losing," Mr Peck said. Internal Affairs ordered the machines back inside, but the case was successfully appealed to the Gambling Commission by the machines' operators – the Lion Foundation. Mr Peck says he finds the Commission's decision bewildering. "It's a sad day when the Gambling Commission ignores the interests of the weak and addicted in favour of those seeking to exploit them." Lion Foundation Gaming Compliance Manager Martin Cheer said the Foundation was committed to minimising harm within the industry, but Mark Peck said he finds that hard to believe. "Gaming machine operators have all sorts of well-known strategies to keep patrons playing the pokies, even against their better judgement. If they care so much, why interfere with the ability to get away from the machines momentarily? "The worry is that more and more pubs around the country are going to beef up their outdoor smoking areas with gaming machines and the serving of alcohol. "The saddest thing is that in the end, it's the poor gamblers' families who will pay the biggest price." Smokefree Coalition media release, 11 April 2007 SNUFF ON SALEAs from 23 April, nasal snuff is being test marketed at some 20 tobacconists in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, at $3.95 for 3.5 grams, with a menthol flavour. Estimating 0.1g per two-finger pinch, one tin will allow one pinch into each nostril for about 17 times, thus replacing an average smoker's cigarettes. Compared with cigarette smoking, the risk will be cut by 90 to 95 percent, and the dollar cost cut by 60-80 percent. Nasal snuff, a brown powder of finely ground tobacco, is the only known product on sale in New Zealand that can equal smoking by raising blood nicotine levels by 10 to 12 nanograms per millilitre and drastically reduce the urge to smoke within ten minutes. The cans will carry an Australian type warning "This product can damage your health." A government-sponsored review has found that low-nitrosamine oral snuff is much less risky than smoking, and does not cause cancer.1 Advertising, and sale to under-18s is banned, as for all tobacco products. ________________ 1.Broadstock M. Systematic review of the health effects of modified tobacco products. SmokeLess New Zealand e-News, 23 April 2007 SLIM CIGGIE RESURGENCE RAISES EYEBROWS
British American Tobacco company spokeswoman Susan Jones said the Dunhill Essence slim cigarettes were launched in New Zealand last month and that the slim cigarettes were just another product the company offered. She was not prepared to comment on whether part of the attraction or marketing was for smokers who had shorter work breaks. Cancer Society tobacco control policy adviser Belinda Hughes said big or small cigarettes were still a health issue. "Slims in the 1970s were targeted at women," Ms Hughes said. Regardless of how big or small a cigarette was it was still harmful, she said. Southland Times, 23 April 2007 THE QUIT GROUP UPDATE – MARCH 2007A total of 3,418 callers were registered with the Quitline last month. A new series of Video Diaries featuring Stuart Sutherland was on television in March.
25.7 percent of registered callers were Māori (878), 75 percent were New Zealand European (2560) and 5.1 percent (174) of the callers identified themselves as Pacific peoples. The highest proportion of callers was in the 35-39 age bracket, followed by the 20-24 age group.
CALL FOR SMOKEFREE PLAYGROUNDSA drive is under way to make playgrounds, sports grounds and parks in the New Plymouth district smokefree. Taranaki Smokefree/Auahi Kore Providers Group wants a smokefree policy introduced to the New Plymouth district, similar to one adopted by the South Taranaki District Council in 2005. "We want to have something substantial come from World Smokefree Day on May 31," says Elaine Jamieson, Cancer Society of New Zealand Taranaki Centre health promotion and education adviser. She says it is hoped the petition will be ready to be presented at the New Plymouth District Council's June policy meeting. "We have to protect the rights of children who don't have a voice. Second-hand smoke does affect children. We don't want to knock people who smoke, but someone has to advocate for the rights of people who don't." South Taranaki District Council Properties and Facilities Manager John Sargent says the policy went through the district quickly and is working well. "We are only asking people not to smoke in public places. We are taking an educational approach using signage rather than policing. It is an educational process in parks to de-normalise smoking." Second-hand smoke is the leading environmental cause of preventable death in New Zealand. It is estimated that about 350 Kiwis die because of exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke each year. North Taranaki Midweek, 11 April 2007 OCEANIA TOBACCO CONTROL CONFERENCE
Early bird registration is open for the inaugural Oceania Tobacco Control Conference until the 29 June 2007. The rate per delegate is $550.00 plus GST ($618.75), with any gateway event attendance running at $150.00 plus GST ($168.75). Those who have provided silver sponsorship for the conference will receive one registration as part of the package of benefits from this sponsorship. Please let your networks know about this conference. Registration and more information is available on line at www.smokefreeoceania.org.nz. Don't delay – time is marching on! Sponsorship Sponsors already confirmed can be seen online. Those interested in becoming sponsors can request a Word version of the sponsorship document from Mark Peck (director@sfc.org.nz). NATIONAL SMOKING CESSATION WORKFORCE COMPETENCIES – HAVE YOUR SAYThe Cessation Competencies project team (Clinical Trials and Auckland Tobacco Control Research Centre) has been developing national smoking cessation workforce competencies with a competency advisory group. This is advance notice that a draft of the National Smoking Cessation Workforce Competencies will be available from 27 April 2007 and will be able to be accessed on the Tobacco Control Research list server NZ TAN. If you work in smoking cessation or have a strong interest in cessation please access the draft competencies and send your feedback to Trish Fraser, Project Manager, Cessation Competencies project (tfraser@global-public-health.com). If you do not have access to the Tobacco Control Research listserv NZ TAN please contact Janine Paynter (jpaynter@ash.org.nz) if you would like to become a member, or contact Trish for a copy of the draft competencies. Feedback on the Guidelines will be required by 5.00 pm, Friday 4 May 2007. QUIT GROUP JOB VACANCY – RESEARCHERThe Quit Group is looking for an analytical and creative researcher to join their small team. You'll be responsible for managing research projects - that's everything from extracting, compiling and analysing data, to providing advice on how to improve our programmes and services. Your written and verbal communication skills will need to be spot-on, as you'll be developing reports and presenting findings to a variety of audiences. Please see http://www.quit.org.nz/page/aboutQuit/jobs.php for more. THROUGH THE SMOKE
Marlboro truck and kiosk set up in the parking lot of a 7-11 store in Concord, California, around the corner from an elementary school and near a park and playground. The truck had set up at approximately 3:15pm, just as school had let out for the day, and was offering freebies with purchase of cigarettes. (August 1997) Source: Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids Ad Gallery
http://tobaccofreekids.org/ SMOKEFREE SHORTS
Smokers more likely to have girls Researchers at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in the United Kingdom have found that rates of female offspring are dramatically higher among smokers. Mothers who smoked during pregnancy were one-third less likely to have a boy child than non-smokers. When the father also smoked the chance of having a boy were cut almost in half. An Australian fertility expert has voiced concern that the startling results could encourage wannabe parents to take up the habit to control their baby's sex. Stuff, 11 April 2003 Big return in on-screen smoking
Despite continuing pressure from health groups, studies show that cigarette smoking is featured in more films than at any time since the classic black and white romance epics of the 1950s, when a swirl of smoke did not suggest heart disease. The Independent, 17 April 2007
Documents up in smoke Brilliant, arrogant, cunning and inscrutable - for 50 years the best legal minds that money can buy have been the tobacco industry's secret asset. But misleading the public about smoking's harmful effects has produced a lot of paperwork. Now, in an attempt to cover their employers' tracks, the lawyers are making it hard to obtain evidence. Maisonneuve, 17 April 2007 Smoking ban may bring a new wave of female customers to pubs The profile of regular pub-goers is set to undergo a major transformation after the English smoking ban comes into effect, as married 40-something women start propping up the bar. New research by pub company and brewer Greene King has found that over a third of women between 45 and 54 currently avoid pubs because of the smoky atmosphere. However, more than half plan to visit pubs more often after the ban comes into play. Caterer, 17 April 2007 Graphic health warnings for India
Health minister Ambunmani Ramadoss said it would be mandatory for tobacco companies to carry these pictures on cigarette, bidi and gutka packet regardless of their size because the Health Ministry believes written statutory warnings do not deter people from smoking. Daily News Analysis India, 12 April 2007
Altria Reports 21 percent drop in profit Altria Group Inc., owner of the Philip Morris cigarette companies, said that first-quarter income fell by 21 percent as domestic cigarette sales dropped off more severely than expected. Chief Financial Officer Dinyar S. Devitre also said Philip Morris International was ready to be spun off, if the board decided to do so. Analysts are predicting that Altria will split its domestic and international units later this year. Washington Post, 19 April 2007 Café and restaurant owners protest Danish smoking ban
Carrying banners reading "Yes to the Right to Smoke" and "Preserve Denmark's Café Culture," the 400 protestors demonstrated calmly and urged MPs to review the planned ban, many carrying a bottle of beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other. Yahoo News, 18 April 2007
More than a million Britons gave up tobacco on No Smoking Day last month (14 March). One in 10 smokers managed to kick smoking and a third of all smokers, while not breaking their addiction, took a positive step towards quitting. A survey questioned 2,025 people aged 16 and over throughout the UK between March 15 and 20. About a quarter were smokers, 16 percent of whom put away their cigarettes on No Smoking Day. A further 32 percent took a step towards giving up. Manchester Evening News, 19 April 2007
QUOTABLE QUOTES"I used to have a terrible judgement of smokers. I was like, 'Why do they do this? It tastes bad, it's going to kill them, and it doesn't even get them high. It's the shittiest vice you could possibly pick.' Then I got hooked during Frida. I've tried to quit before. But this time I'm done with it." Actress Salma Hayek – The Independent, 17 April 2007 "The Gambling Commission also felt its decision wouldn't lead to a whole lot of other pubs moving machines out into their smoking areas. With this opening the door, don't bet on it." Editorial on the Kilbirnie Tavern
moving gambling machines into its smoking areas, "It is one thing to insult people, infantilising them by assuming they are crippled by their own appetites and incapable of making decisions for themselves. But it is quite another to calculatingly capitalise on those habits, to their considerable cost." Editorial on the Kilbirnie Tavern
moving gambling machines into its smoking areas, "I have just received data on the graduating class of 1982 and the results are much more encouraging and corroborate the Roper data [a survey that tracked smoking trends]. ...These data show that smoking prevalence among these 18-year-old high school seniors has increased from 1981 to 1982." Philip Morris interoffice memo, 19 February 1983 |
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The Gravitas literature review on product regulation completed for ASH and the Smokefree Coalition raises difficult issues with which the tobacco control community needs to get to grips. To this end ASH has already held two events to present the report and express its priorities arising from it. At a recent SFC board meeting, it was decided that SFC would hold an event to assist with deliberations on the issues raised.
Big or small? Does size really count? The concept of slim cigarettes is not new but for many years smokers have been used to larger-sized cigarettes.
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KIOSK AIMED AT KIDS
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possible, links are provided below the stories. Please click these to access full stories.
Cigarette smoke may have been banished from public spaces across America but not, it seems, from cinemas - at least when it comes to the actors on the big screen.
From 1 June all cigarette packets sold in India will have pictorial warnings including photographs of corpses, disfigurements caused by cancer and smoking induced impotency.
Hundreds of Danish café and restaurant owners and their customers recently protested outside parliament against a ban on smoking in public places due to be introduced on August 15.