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| Issue 70 | 4 July 2007 |
Having trouble viewing this newsletter? Try the online version. FROM THE DIRECTOR'S DESK
I received the following question from Dr Janine Paynter one of the ASH researchers: I'd be a millionaire if I'd been given a dollar every time I've heard the phrase that goes something along the lines of, "Tobacco is legal for historical reasons only." For a long time, and for historical reasons, women, Australian aborigines and people who didn't own land didn't have a vote. Thanks to some hard work and suffrage this has been changed. Do we need to think seriously about challenging the existence of the tobacco industry? Does the industry have too much power because we are placing too much emphasis on maintaining the supply of cigarettes to addicts for 'compassionate' reasons? Even worse, are we, as a nation, addicted to the money?
If you read C-Store (a magazine for convenience retailers) you will find articles by tobacco companies wherein they happily talk about innovative ways they can and are marketing their products. Are we happy with this occurring or should we regard the people who make these comments with as much distaste as a P dealer or a heroin supplier? Love to hear from you. Janine This is a timely question to raise in light of last week's workshop in Auckland which looked at issues of harm reduction and product regulation. The consensus of the group was that we should have a country where our children are not exposed to the dangers of tobacco. I would really appreciate hearing your views on what Janine has asked of us. We will feature a representative sample of responses in the next Update. If the questions posed by Janine can be addressed, then it may be that the goal identified by the workshop in its korero can be realised. Have a good fortnight. Mark Peck Director IN THIS ISSUE:
FIRST COMPREHENSIVE TOBACCO USE SURVEYTwo thirds of smokers in New Zealand have tried to quit in the past five years, the first comprehensive survey of New Zealanders' tobacco use shows. "This is strong evidence that the majority of smokers are fed up with smoking, and that the Government's multi-pronged approach to help people give up makes sense," Associate Health Minister Damien O'Connor said. The New Zealand Tobacco Use Survey (NZTUS) benchmarks New Zealand's tobacco control performance for the first time and allows international comparisons to be made. The survey will be repeated in 2008. "Smoking rates are highest among Māori (45.8 per cent) and Pacific peoples (36.2 per cent). But the Government and sector groups are having success in reaching them. Nearly 68 per cent of Māori and 60 per cent of Pacific peoples have made quit attempts in the past five years," said Associate Health Minister Mita Ririnui. The Smokefree Coalition welcomed the release of the Ministry of Health's findings, and Director Mark Peck said while they confirm what tobacco control groups have long understood to be the case, it was good now to have some official figures. "Almost all smokers regret they ever started, and even the young ones are saying they wouldn't smoke if they could have their time over. They hope to stop by their twenties, but smoking is such a powerful and destructive addiction that many won't stop, and will probably die younger as a result. "The tobacco control community will find these figures very useful, and they will certainly inform our future efforts to reduce smoking initiation, so fewer New Zealanders fall prey to what Associate Health Minister Damien O'Connor rightly calls a 'horrible' addiction." Mr Peck says the survey throws out a number of challenges and he looks forward to addressing these with the Ministry in the future. Ministry of Health and Smokefree Coalition media releases, 28 June 2007 TOBACCO CONTROL LEADERS SET FUTURE AGENDA
The country's tobacco control leaders met in Auckland recently to consider the future direction of tobacco control in New Zealand. Those attending the invitation-only meeting on 25-26 June included a number of tobacco control experts such as: Dr Tony Blakely, Dr Richard Edwards, Professor Alistair Woodward, Dr Marewa Glover, Dr Chris Bullen and Professor Julian Crane. Representatives from non-government organisations and other interested parties also attended. Under discussion was a report commissioned by the Smokefree Coalition and Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) into potential approaches to minimising harm in New Zealand from tobacco and nicotine products over the next five years. The report, completed in January by Gravitas Research and Strategy Limited, reviewed national and international literature on tobacco control. The writers also consulted local and overseas experts about models of regulation that could be used here. The meeting sought consensus on the report's findings and an agreed way forward. Smokefree Coalition Director Mark Peck said, "A number of diverse initiatives are underway, but this is a timely opportunity to identify and develop shared goals and strategies." He said there is widespread agreement on issues such as banning misleading 'light' and 'mild' descriptors, and removing tobacco displays, but that calls to completely ban the sale of tobacco products, and the benefits of smokeless products such as Swedish snus, are less clear cut. Mr Peck said the priority on the second day was to draft a statement of agreement and intent which will be released to the media. "If we are serious about making inroads into smoking prevalence and initiation, then we need to identify and work towards the models that are most likely to discourage smoking as normal behaviour." Smokefree Coalition media release, 24 June 2007 TEEN SMOKING RATES HALVED IN LESS THAN A DECADEFigures released by Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) New Zealand show that teen smoking rates have halved in the last eight years. In 2006, 14.2 percent of Year 10 New Zealand teenagers said they were smokers, down from 28.6 percent in 1999, according to the Year 10 Smoking Survey conducted by ASH and the Health Sponsorship Council (HSC). Teenagers who have never smoked increased from 31.6 percent in 1999 to 53.8 percent in 2006. This means more than half of all Year 10 students have never had even one puff of a cigarette. ASH Director Ben Youdan says, "It is fantastic to see increasing numbers of teenagers turning their backs on tobacco. The tobacco companies have long portrayed smoking as a cool and grown-up behaviour, and we are delighted that teenagers are showing that they're not there to be manipulated by a ruthless industry trying to replace the 5000 Kiwi smokers who are killed by their product each year." Teenagers from homes where parents smoke are more likely to be smokers themselves. One third of teenagers whose parents both smoke, smoke themselves, whereas only 7.6 percent of teens whose parents don't smoke, smoke themselves. "Parents express concern that there is little they can do to stop their children from taking up smoking. The results clearly indicate that parents play a vital part in whether their children become smokers. If you are a parent worried about your child taking up smoking, and you smoke, the best thing you could do for your child's present and future health and wellbeing is to quit smoking," says Mr Youdan. During 1999-2006, the prevalence of smoking amongst Year 10 students declined in all District Health Boards (DHBs). Auckland DHB region has the lowest Year 10 smoking rate in the country at 8.5 percent. Wanganui DHB region has the highest at 23.3 percent. The ASH Year 10 Smoking Survey has been conducted annually since 1997 and surveys around 30,000 Year 10 students from around New Zealand. This year 32,954 questionnaires were analysed. Click here to access the Year 10 Survey 2006. ASH media release, 25 June 2007 SMOKE SIGNALS FROM SCHOOL PUPILS
The Year 5 pupils delivered a petition to Associate Health Minister Damien O'Connor at Parliament on Thursday 21 June, demanding that shops and petrol stations be banned from displaying cigarettes. The petition, organised by the Cancer Society, ASH and the National Heart Foundation, secured nearly 20,000 signatures. Advocates say cigarette "power walls" are often displayed prominently next to lolly displays aimed at children, thus normalising cigarettes for young people and triggering impulse purchases by people trying to quit. Public health groups believe retail displays have become more important in tobacco marketing since traditional forms of advertising were banned in 1990. Mr O'Connor said the petition showed there was public disquiet at the way tobacco sales were "in the face" of adults and children. The Dominion Post, 22 June 2007 THE QUIT GROUP UPDATE – MAY 2007A total of 3,309 callers were registered with the Quitline in May. 24.5 percent (809) of registered callers were Māori, 75.5 percent (2,497) were New Zealand European and 5 percent (166) of callers identified themselves as Pacific peoples. There were two weeks of Quit advertising in May when the Pacific Heart Attack commercial was on television. The highest proportion of callers was in the 30-34 age bracket, followed by the 25-29 age group.
WORLD EXPERT ON TOBACCO POLICY LEGAL ISSUES DIES AT 64
At the Federal Trade Commission, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the non-profit Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Ms Wilkenfeld sued tobacco companies, helped enforce federal policies and played a major role in the negotiation of the international Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. She was the lead attorney in the case against Brown and Williamson Tobacco in 1985, the lawsuit that was a catalyst for the first major exposé about the ways tobacco companies manipulate their products to deceive the public. She was also the lead attorney in the 1990 case brought by the federal government against the RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co, which challenged tobacco industry advertising disputing the health risks of smoking. In 1994, Ms Wilkenfeld joined the FDA as special adviser for tobacco policy, after the FDA asserted its jurisdiction over tobacco products and their marketing. In 1999 she became the vice president of international programmes at the non-profit Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. For the next four years, she was a leader in negotiations of the world's first treaty devoted exclusively to a health issue. The Tobacco Treaty has been ratified by 147 nations, but not the United States. "Too often in the past, our government has sided with the tobacco companies when they challenged other nations' tobacco control measures as violations of trade agreements," she said in 2005. "US ratification of the treaty would send a strong message to the rest of the world that we will not support these efforts, and instead put protection of public health ahead of tobacco industry interests." Washington Post, 17 June 2007 WHO FCTC UPDATE – 20 JUNE 2007More than 80 percent of the world's population, represented by 148 countries known as 'Parties', are now bound under international law by the provisions of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). A further 20 countries have signed up to the FCTC, intending to become a Party in the future. Together with eight countries which became Parties by 'accession' (without previously signing up to the Framework) and one by 'succession' (a new country which becomes a Party on partition from another country), 177 Participant countries, representing almost 92 percent of the world's people, are committed to the FCTC. Just 18 countries are neither signatories nor parties. A PDF copy of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), June 20, 2007 Parties (Ratifications/Accessions) is available at http://www.sfc.org.nz/pdfs/070620ratificationoverview.pdf. THROUGH THE SMOKE
We read this on the net, so it must be true. Apparently this smoker from Shanghai has developed the party trick of inhaling smoke through his ears or eye-sockets. He inserts the cigarette in his ear or eye, scrunches up his face as he takes a drag, then blows the smoke out through his mouth. Smokers thinking this might be a new way of avoiding the harmful effects of tobacco are warned not to be so silly. Two-thirds of adult Chinese men currently smoke which will mean many millions of entirely preventable deaths over the next 50 years in China. That's no laughing matter. SMOKEFREE SHORTS
New ZealandNew medication to help smokers quit A new medication to help smokers quit is now available in New Zealand. Champix, or varenicline tartrate, can help relieve the cravings and withdrawal symptoms experienced when smokers try to quit. If smokers smoke while taking Champix they're likely to notice a reduction in the enjoyment they get from smoking a cigarette. The medication is only available by prescription and is not subsidised. Sunday News, 24 June 2007 Vents in police cells clear air for smoking inmates
The system will be installed soon and its $4,500 cost recovered from the daily rate the Corrections Department pays police for holding remand prisoners. (Smokefree Coalition comment: We all know how effective ventilation is at removing smoke!) New Zealand Herald, 18 June 2007 Call to lift fight against smoking Hospitals are spending "nowhere near enough" on nicotine patches and other aids to help patients give up smoking, says a Christchurch respiratory expert. Dr Roland Meyer and colleague Dr Lutz Beckert said an audit of Christchurch Hospital spending last year showed surgical services spent only $759 on stop-smoking pharmaceutical aids. From the surgical unit's records, 2320 patients had been identified as smokers. The Press, 18 June 2007 Company challenges anti-smoking law Hawke's Bay meatworks, Progressive Meats, is taking to the Court of Appeal its argument that a smoking room at its plant is not a workplace covered by the Smoke-free Environments Act. The company lost its argument in the High Court last September, when Justice David Baragwanath said allowing the appeal would result in the wholesale creation of smoking rooms. Stuff, 27 June 2007 InternationalThird of UK bosses to axe cigarette breaks now smoking ban in force More than a third of employers are planning to axe cigarette breaks now that the 1 July smoking ban has come into force in England. Lighting up in enclosed public places is now illegal, with those caught flouting the law facing a £50 on-the-spot fine or being summoned to court. Premises that allow smoking – including 200,000 pubs and restaurants – will be fined up to £500. Daily Mail, 18 June 2007 Mental health patients need extra anti-smoking support A leading UK charity said mental health patients needed extra support from the government to help them quit smoking now the ban is in place. Seventy percent of mental health inpatients smoke, half of them heavily, and the Mental Health Foundation believes the government should invest in smoking cessation services that offer them psychological therapies and drug-based interventions such as nicotine replacement therapy. In the News, 18 June 2007 Tar Babies: How can you get teenagers to give up smoking?
Public health nurses have teamed up with a school in Cornwall, the police and a bus company to help students give up smoking. The nurses spoke to pupils about smoking and offered them turns on a monitor which tests students' carbon monoxide levels. Another tool, Smokey Sue, has a doll's head attached to a jar – when a cigarette is placed in the doll's mouth, the tar collects in a jar. The Guardian, 26 June 2007 Smokers face ban in own homes People in Liverpool face a ban on smoking in their own homes as part of the 1 July ban to outlaw exposure to second-hand smoke. A council committee is discussing a new policy where residents will be told not to smoke for at least half an hour prior to pre-arranged visits to their homes by council employees, to open windows after smoking and not to smoke during the visits. Liverpool Daily Post & Echo, 18 June 2007 New mums likely to start smoking again Most women who quit smoking when they become pregnant relapse within a year of giving birth, Australian public health researchers say. A West Australian-based project which encourages mothers to keep their children away from tobacco smoke says many mothers have good intentions but do not always follow through. The West, 27 June 2007 Revealed: tobacco giant's secret new weapon
The controversial "Heatbar" is about the size of a mobile phone and is said to heat specially designed cigarettes without burning them, cutting harmful substances in second-hand smoke, including carbon monoxide. The Age, 27 June 2007
Critics slam Philip Morris' slick new smokes store Ahead of the new smoking bans in the Australian state of Victoria which came into force on 1 July, cigarette giant Philip Morris announced plans for Australia's first tobacco "concept store". A company spokeswoman said "The New Movement Tobacconist", in Melbourne's fashionable Chapel Street, has received a council planning permit to install retractable windows enabling it to accommodate smokers. Quit Victoria slammed the proposal saying it was part of a strategy to target the young. The Age, 15 June 2007 Smokers vow to quit ahead of pub ban In the meantime, half of Victoria's young adult smokers said they would quit when bars and clubs went smokefree last weekend. A report by the Cancer Council of Victoria showed 50 percent of Victorians aged 18-29 said they would butt out when smoking bans came into effect from 1 July. A further 14 percent said the ban would encourage them to smoke less. The Australian, 23 June 2007 Butt Busters to go undercover
The council has named the 10 worst cigarette litter sites in the city which include bus stops, public squares, street corners and even the council's own front door – the Town Hall's steps. Sydney Morning Herald, 26 June 2007
Anti-smoking efforts have big impact Aggressive efforts to curb smoking led to a sharp drop in the number of smokers in New York City in the past few years, US health experts say. Just 17.5 per cent of adults in New York smoked last year, down from 21.6 percent in 2002, after the city brought in higher taxes, smokefree environments and tough-talking educational campaigns, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Stuff, 22 June 2007 QUOTABLE QUOTES"The first modern anti-smoking ban was instituted by the vile dictator Adolph Hitler who banned tobacco use in all of Nazi Germany's universities, post offices, military hospitals and Nazi Party offices. "Naturally, Hitler's motivations against tobacco were racist - 'the wrath of the Red Man against the White Man, vengeance for having been given hard liquor' – as he saw it." Editorial, The China Post, 20 June 2007 "He said, 'We've x-rayed your lungs. No more smoking.' But he meant 'You're a goner, mate. You're a dead man. 'That was it. I got rid of the tobacco, the papers, the matches, the lot." 72 year old Alex Love, newly smokefree after 47 years,
"The best way to convince a 16 year old not to smoke would be to take them into that hospital ward." Alex Love again, reflecting on his stay in hospital after having
"Smoking and dietary habits are formed at a young age, long before the age of reason. The average smoker starts at 14 and a half. Nobody will claim that an adolescent of that age is making a rational choice. Adults very rarely take up smoking. They can see, as adolescents cannot, that smoking is slow suicide and madness. The government is justified in trying to save adolescents from themselves and from the immoral activities of the tobacco companies." Editorial, Sunday Star Times, 24 June 2007 "I was married to a chain smoker for 30 years, and he died at the young age of 56. Because of second-hand smoke, I developed asthma in my late 50s. I am now 70 and getting close to having emphysema. According to my doctor, my health problems are from my late husband's smoking." Reply to 'Smoked Out', the young wife of a smoker, |
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Sometimes, not often, I can be at a loss for things to say. So it is good when an email arrives on my desk that raises an issue of moment.
Tobacco companies are constantly striving to make a profit by maintaining and increasing their market. Their main responsibility and accountability as companies with shareholders (people who are investing money in them because they are a legal entity) is to make money. This is the main driver for tobacco companies to oppose tobacco control measures. Should this situation continue to exist based on historical reasons?
Queen Margaret College pupils Isabella Seymour, 9, left, and Annabelle Skoglund, 10, are asking the Government to kick tobacco sales in the butt.
Judith Wilkenfeld, 64, an attorney who became one of the world's experts on legal issues related to tobacco policy, died of pancreatic cancer on 24 May at her home in Washington.
Smoke gets in your eyes
Where
possible, links are provided below the stories. Please click these to read the
story in full.
A ventilation system is to be installed in two holding cells at Dunedin Central police station so remand prisoners may smoke without any risk to staff or other prisoners' health and safety.
By enlisting the help of their peers... and Smokey Sue!
Philip Morris has secret plans to launch Australia's first hand-held electronic smoking device, which it claims will reduce second-hand smoke by more than 90 percent.
Plain-clothes rangers in Sydney are to be sent out to issue fines of up to $200 to butt chuckers next month in a crackdown in the CBD.