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| Issue 81 | 19 December 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Having trouble viewing this newsletter? Try the online version. FROM THE DIRECTOR'S DESK
However, seasons greetings and all that jazz. Slip, slop, slap and wrap, take copious quantities of Berocca with you, and enjoy the festive season. On reviewing the themes evident over this busy year, I note they have included; tax, ethical investment, product and market regulation, harm reduction, smokefree dairies, duty free, the Commerce Commission, the roll-your-own price anomaly, the Oceania Tobacco Control Conference and finally, the ten year countdown to a smokefree Aotearoa/New Zealand. Much more will be heard about all these topics next year. Two events have stood out for me, however. The first has to be the Oceania Tobacco Control Conference. While plaudits have been handed out to the hard working team who made the conference such a success, there is no doubt in my mind that the person who made the greatest contribution to the sector this year was Iain Potter. I know this will be seriously embarrassing for him but credit should go where it is due. Thank you Iain; your holiday break is well earned. The second was the June meeting looking to the future, and grappling with the issues identified in the Gravitas report. From this meeting came the vision of a smokefree Aotearoa/New Zealand in ten years. I want to particularly acknowledge the key role played by Alistair Woodward in drawing the threads of the debate together at the meeting, and defusing the contentious issue of 'snus' as being irrelevant to the greater vision. As an element of harm reduction it can take its place in the queue of ideas which will inform the countdown. The hope I got out of this year from both these events is that it is not just rhetoric to visualise a smokefree Aotearoa/New Zealand. While we have a prevalence figure which exhibits some stubbornness, it is almost a given now that the tobacco industry has become the social pariah of the 21st century. That status has been recognised with the Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation divesting themselves of their tobacco stocks and the recent announcement from AMP of a socially responsible investment portfolio. My first task for 2008 will be to finalise the new Smokefree Coalition's strategic plan. Expect to see a very heavy emphasis on industry denormalisation and market reform to add to the tobacco industry's well earned public disdain. I have but one caution at this moment. Let us remember, in the words of Dr Papaarangi Reid, that "smokers aren't the problem..." Whatever we do to press home on the issues ahead of us next year, we need to keep that in mind, particularly as we will need their assistance to encourage the next generation of would be smokers not to pick it up. This will be the last Update for the year. We'll be back with the next issue on 23 January. Have a great holiday! Mark Peck Director IN THIS ISSUE:
TAX REPORTS AVAILABLE ONLINEThe Smokefree Coalition and ASH have together commissioned a study into the effects of taxation on tobacco products, and to make some recommendations about the future of tobacco taxation in New Zealand. These reports are now available online at http://www.sfc.org.nz/taxreports.html. There are two main reports, one into the effects of tobacco taxation and a second concerning the principle of 'tied taxes', where the revenue gained from any increase in tobacco taxation is used to provide support for smokers who wish to quit. Revenue from this source could also be used for mass media campaigns and other tobacco control activities. These are long and complex documents aimed at decision makers. For those who want to view the condensed version a more than useful summary document is also available on the same link. These reports provide a strong evidence base for an immediate increase in the taxation on tobacco products, a change in the methods of indexation to maintain the relative effect of taxation increases and regular and predictable incremental tax increases over time. The Smokefree Coalition and ASH are grateful to the authors for the presentation of this work. WEBSITE FEEDBACK RESULTSFirst of all, thank you to all those who took the time to provide us with some feedback and thoughts on our website. In the end we had 42 responses which is enough to give us a representative sampling. Congratulations go to Middlemore Hospital smoking coordinator Garry Palupe who was chosen at random as the winner of the $100 CD Store music voucher. The voucher is in the mail! Results have only just been collated, and we'll give them some attention in the new year, but we're grateful that responses were very positive on the whole. While there were some thoughtful suggestions offered for improvement, the vast majority of respondents rated the website as very good or excellent, and said that it met their needs. It seems most find the site easy to navigate and a highlight for many was the way the site is regularly updated with new information. There haven't been many clear trends in the suggestions for improvements to the site, but a number of individual suggestions have some merit, especially around how some information is grouped and presented. Here are a few results for the curious:
YOUNG NEW ZEALANDERS HAVE "EASY" ACCESS TO CIGARETTES: STUDYA study in the most recent issue of the New Zealand Medical Journal has found that young New Zealanders aged 11 to 15 have easy access to cigarettes, some of them saving their pocket money to buy smokes. Others get cigarettes, or money to buy cigarettes, from family or friends, or even strangers on the street. The study's authors say although parents monitor what adolescents spend large amounts on, they don't monitor the small amounts and often children will save up those small amounts to buy cigarettes. To listen to the story at the Radio New Zealand website, click http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/national/mnr/smoking_youth. The story will remain on the website until the end of Thursday 20 December, so you'll need to be quick. ONLINE SMOKEFREE MAP IN THE PIPELINEAn online map of smokefree organisations and services is being developed to make it easier for the public to get the contact details they need. The map is being developed by The Quit Group and The Smokefree Coalition, and is scheduled to be up and running by next March. It is designed to be placed on many different websites and will connect back to a central database. Contact details for cessation services and the wider tobacco control sector are intended to be stored on the map. Organisations will be able to place the unbranded map on their own website, and this should make the experience of using the map simple for the public. The tobacco control workforce can choose to sign up to the map and select which of their contact details the public can access. Every six months an email will be sent asking for details to be confirmed. If no response is received after 30 days, those details are removed from the map. This will ensure contact details remain up-to-date. QUITLINE ADVISOR OPPORTUNITIES
This is a great opportunity for people to make a difference in a rewarding role and to join a group that is a world leader in its field. Wellington-based job opportunities are available. Applicants should contact Todd Firman on (04) 460 9876 or visit www.quit.org.nz (job vacancies) for more details.
POSITION OF RESEARCHER IN TOBACCO CONTROLThe University Of Otago, Wellington, is seeking to appoint an Assistant Research Fellow or Research Fellow to work with a team of researchers based mainly in the Health Promotion and Policy Research Unit (HePPRU) within the Department of Public Health. The appointee will undertake research activities as part of a research project to develop and explore ways of framing and communicating to key audiences some radical proposals for structural reform to facilitate the introduction of more effective tobacco control policies in New Zealand. Duties will include helping to develop and refine radical tobacco control policy options and methods of framing, communicating and advocating for them to key audiences and organising and leading interviews, a workshop and focus groups with policy makers, journalists and members of the public to test understanding and acceptability of the chosen policy options and methods of advocacy and communication. The appointee will also be expected to assist with supporting the principal investigator with administering the project. Applicants should have postgraduate qualifications in a related area (the possible relevant expertise is very wide and could include the social sciences, law, humanities and public health), and ideally will have experience in qualitative research methods including running focus groups and analysis of qualitative data, and research experience in policy-related research, preferably in public health policy. This is a half-time grant-funded position for a fixed term of up to two years. Specific enquiries may be directed to Dr Richard Edwards Associate Professor in Epidemiology, Department of Public Health, Wellington School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Tel 04 385 5541 Ext 5089, Fax 04 389 5319, Email richard.edwards@otago.ac.nz. Reference Number: A07/202. Closing Date: Friday 21 December 2007. Further details and application forms are available at:
http://www.otago.ac.nz/vacancies/ WORKFORCE TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES REMINDERTwo consecutive training days are being offered in February 2008 in Wellington. While each day is independent of the other, they have been arranged so that those who are travelling can minimise costs. Introduction to tobacco control and sector orientation This day will explore some of fundamentals of tobacco control and introduce attendees to agencies working in the sector. It is designed to supplement the Beginners Guide to Tobacco Control.
Reducing smoking around children This seminar/workshop will cover some of the ways to implement smokefree policies for areas with children.
THROUGH THE SMOKE
And the lucky winner is our close neighbour, Nauru, with some pretty staggering statistics. Fifty-four percent of the 13,528 strong population are smokers, and their cost to the total national income is $5.1 million or 7.5 percent. Click here for the Forbes news story (click to skip the advertisement you're initially subjected to) and then click "In Pictures: The World's Heaviest-Smoking Countries" under the first image to the left of the page.
A number of statistics are provided for each of the ten countries listed. The link is: http://www.forbes.com/2007/12/04/smoking-africa-asia-biz-cx_tvr_1203smoking.html. SMOKEFREE SHORTS
New ZealandNo smoke, no fire, just nicotine
Lyttelton health researcher Dr Murray Laugesen is involved in safety tests of the product - which has a glowing tip to emulate real cigarettes - for the China-based company that makes it. The e-cigarette will be tested in Auckland next year to see if it is worth releasing in New Zealand. New Zealand Herald, 8 December 2007 MPs misuse research on smoking – Study A new study has found that denial by New Zealand MPs of the risks of second-hand smoke (SHS) was common during 2000-2005. Almost half of the 21 MPs who spoke about health research on SHS denied or were sceptical that it was harmful, according to the University of Otago, Wellington study. At least five of these MPs also used tobacco industry versions of research, which diminished or denied the health risks from second-hand smoke. "The research clearly shows a need for the health sector to counter tobacco industry misinformation," says Dr George Thomson from the university's Department of Public Health. University of Otago press release, 10 December 2007 Don't drag and drive Drivers should be banned from smoking suggests a recent Manawatu Standard website poll launched after a woman crashed her car while trying to pick up a cigarette she had dropped. The poll attracted 324 votes and 45 percent favoured a ban, 31 percent said no ban, and a blasé 23 percent said they didn't care because smokers were killing themselves anyway. Manawatu Standard, 14 December 2007 Cafe fined $600 for allowing smoking
The Cuba St cafe was convicted and fined $600 in Wellington District Court yesterday after pleading guilty to one charge under the Smokefree Environments Amendment Act. The Health Ministry prosecuted the cafe, saying it had issued repeated warnings to co-owners Potti Wagstaff and Roger Young that their smoking area at the rear of the cafe did not comply with anti-smoking laws because it was not an open area. But Mr Young said the rules were impossible to interpret, even harder to apply, and the court action was completely over the top. The Dominion Post, 6 December 2007 InternationalAttempt to make Adelaide world's first smokefree city Adelaide would be the first smokefree city in the world, under proposed legislation to be debated in state parliament next year. The Tobacco Products Regulation (A Smoke-Free Adelaide) Amendment Bill 2007 would ban smoking in Adelaide for at least one day of the year, with maximum penalties of $200 to go to the Cancer Council. New Zealand Herald, 17 December 2007 More businesses saying no to smoking For 26 years, Bob Martin brought music to his downtown club. The smoke went with the blues and the booze. It was part of the background. He knew smoking was dangerous. He says he never picked up that particular addiction, so it came as a shock to him when his doctor told him smoking was the cause of his breathing troubles. Martin says the doctor couldn't believe he didn't smoke and told him to change his environment and end smoking at his club. Ashbury Park Press (New Jersey, US), 3 December 2007 Smoking common in cartoons for kids and movies: survey A recent survey on tobacco in movies and TV programmes found that viewers are exposed to an average of nine smoking scenes per general audience-rated film, while children see an average of 4.2 smoking scenes in a one-hour TV cartoon. The survey also found that television series produced in Japan had an average of 6.1 smoking scenes per episode – the highest of all countries from which Taiwan imports TV programmes. Taipei Times, 5 December 2007 Jails in tobacco state of Kentucky will be smokefree in 2008
"I really want a cigarette," said Edward Simpson. He's a pack-a-day smoker, and an inmate at the Bell County Detention Center. "Just now starting to get uptight, and you can see the tension, but it's not really that bad," said Simpson. "It's a lot better than what I expected." WBIR.com (US), 4 December 2007 40 percent of smokers mentally ill People with mental illness are three times more likely to smoke, and experts say not enough is being done to help this vulnerable group quit. A new Access Economics report shows almost 1.3 million Australians with a mental illness are smokers, costing $33 billion a year. Sane Australia, which commissioned the report, is calling for urgent action to introduce quit smoking programs and supports for people with a mental illness. News.com.au, 11 December 2007 Pupils using tobacco will have to attend cessation classes Students who are caught using tobacco at school will be required to go to smoking-cessation classes under a new policy approved by the Harford county (Baltimore, US) school board. The previous policy required a five-day suspension and a parent conference for first-time offenders. Under the new policy, students receive a one-day suspension and must attend a one-hour tobacco cessation class, and a parent-teacher conference is held. A student who does not attend the class will get a five-day suspension. Baltimore Sun, 9 December 2007 Participation in high school activities lowers smoking risk Researchers from the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania have reported that students who participate in high school sports or individual physical activity are less likely to smoke than their classmates. The new study indicates that the protective effect of participation extends at least three years beyond graduation. The Penn team discovered, however, that girls do not derive the same level of protection from school sports as do boys. Newswise (US), 5 December 2007 Reynolds to halt Camel ad campaign
In a hearing on a lawsuit brought by California Attorne-General Jerry Brown, Reynolds voluntarily offered to suspend distribution of compact disc recordings at events sponsored by its Camel Farm campaign, which promotes independent bands. Los Angeles Times, 6 December 2007 Tobacco giant loses fight over documents The family of a Victorian woman that won, then lost, a damages action against the tobacco multi-national she blamed for her lung cancer is a step closer to reopening her case. Shortly before she died in 2002, Rolah McCabe, 53, sued British American Tobacco Australia Services (BATAS) for damages in a case won after her death when a Victorian Supreme Court case awarded damages of $700,000. Yahoo News (Aust), 14 December 2007 Nationals (Australia) flag car smoke ban Smoking would be banned in cars carrying children under new laws proposed by the Nationals. The proposal would also make it illegal for children aged under 18 to smoke. Nationals MP Damian Drum has told the Victorian State Parliament of his intention to introduce the sweeping reforms in a private member's Bill. "Fifty Victorian kids are going to have their first smoke today, and there will be another 50 having their first smoke tomorrow," Mr Drum said. Herald Sun, 5 December 2007 Tobacco control measures are effective and affordable strategies to reduce chronic disease deaths globally: Lancet A new study published in the December issue of the scientific journal The Lancet shows that tobacco control measures, including higher tobacco taxes, smokefree workplace laws, advertising bans and large health warnings, are among the most effective and affordable strategies nations can adopt to reduce deaths from chronic diseases, such as cancer and heart disease. This new study sends a powerful message to governments around the world that these scientifically proven measures to reduce tobacco use are both effective and cost-effective ways to protect the health of their citizens. InterestAlert/PRNewswire (US), 6 December 2007 Research shows what works to cut smoking rates Graphic warning labels on packages, bans on cigarette advertising, legislating smoke-free areas, boosting cigarette prices, and preventing smuggling and counterfeiting of tobacco products are among the most effective ways to discourage smoking, according to researchers involved in a study on international tobacco control policies. Health Day News, 6 December 2007 Why the smoking ban (UK) is bad for the environment
But a new study argues that the smoking ban has actually caused far more harm than good, at least in environmental terms. Pubs' and bars' efforts to make smokers more comfortable outside has seen a significant increase in the number of patio heaters in bars, pubs, and restaurants throughout the UK. Environmental groups predict that pub and restaurant patio heaters will produce around 282,000 tons of emissions per year now. That's a 260,000 ton increase over pre-ban numbers. Environment Graffiti, 2 December 2007 Cigar smoking priest to hold "smoke in" Wichita's (Kansas, US) proposed smoking ban is coming under a lot of fire. Now, a cigar smoking priest is protesting the proposal with a "smoke in" on the corner of First and Washington Streets in Old Town. Father H Setter, the shepherd for the All Saints congregation near Harry and Hillside, has four humidors and wall to wall memorabilia and is something of a cigar aficionado. He stood in his rectory, gesturing to the hundreds of cigars he owns. "Every one of these cigars," he says, one in hand, "every brand of these is going to give you a very distinct flavour, very different than the one next to it." Eyewitness News 12, 9 December 2007 Landlord still trying to smoke out puffer tenant A Quebec court judge is taking the time to decide whether a tenant can keep her right to smoke in her apartment. Sandra Ann Fowler and her landlord Olesia Koretski were before an appeal court at the Montreal Courthouse, five months after the Quebec Rental Board ruled in Fowler's favour. The landlord maintains the tenant knew what she was doing when she filled out a pre-lease application that spelled out, "Absolutely No Pets or Smokers, Honesty is Much Appreciated", crossing out the No Pets part, saying she had a dog, but never once mentioning she was a smoker. CJAD Newstalk Radio, 30 November 2007 QUOTABLE QUOTES"As someone who has recently become an ex-smoker, I can absolutely say my life would be much easier if I didn't have to grapple with my conscience each time I walked into a dairy and saw cigarettes. "Having them in full view right where you have to pay is in itself a form of advertising, especially to young, impressionable teenagers who haven't succumbed to the evil weed – yet.'" Letter to the Editor, Sunday News, 16 December 2007 "Arguments against smoking: It's a repulsive addiction that slowly but
surely turns you into a gasping, grey-skinned tumour-ridden invalid, hacking up brownish gobs of toxic waste from your one remaining lung. Dave Barry, Hacking my way to adulthood "Guess what, space invaders, smoking may be the single stupidest leisure activity ever devised, and ranks alongside halitosis as a social asset, but until I give up or the nanny state grows a pair and does it for me, I'd like to be able to cower on the pavement in peace without your unsolicited obvious advice." Matt Time, It's my right, so there |
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I threatened
them with the sack, but they've put that funny Santa hat on my head again! Gee I hate it how that happens.
Demand for quitting services is expected to be high next year and the Quitline is looking for more Advisors to meet this demand.
The world's heaviest-smoking countries in pictures
Where
possible, links are provided below the stories. Please click these to read the
story in full.
Smokers can puff legally at indoor bars and cafes with a battery-powered "electronic cigarette" because its nicotine hit comes in a vapour. The Ministry of Health has confirmed that using the device would not breach the Smokefree Environments Act, which extended workplace smoking bans.
The owners of Wellington coffee house Fidel's are fuming after being fined for allowing smoking on-site, labelling the move heavy handed and like a police state.
A new state law says all Kentucky jails must be tobacco-free, but one detention centre is getting a jump on the no-smoking rule, by going smokefree a month before the law begins.
Cigarette maker R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. has agreed to temporarily halt a controversial advertising campaign featuring cartoons in hopes of negotiating a settlement to lawsuits filed by California and seven other states.
You'd think, or hope, that a smoking ban would be good for the environment. In theory, less people would be smoking because its more difficult. This would mean less smoke being emitted, at least.