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| Issue 89 | 30 April 2008 |
Having trouble viewing this newsletter? Try the online version. FROM THE DIRECTOR'S DESK
Most will remember that last year the Smokefree Coalition took British American Tobacco (BAT) to the Commerce Commission on the basis of what are believed to be two instances of deliberate commercial misinformation; namely, statements on the BAT web site that suggest second-hand smoking has not been proven to be harmful, and 'light' and 'mild' brands being marketed as being safer than regular brands. You can read more about that on our website. Recently I had a phone call from the Commerce Commission to advise that a decision on our complaint to the about 'light' and 'mild' descriptors is imminent. Options have been sent on to the relevant division who will meet sometime in May to consider the way forward. This is exciting but also a little nerve wracking. Most of us think this is a case of simply doing the right thing. We understand that there is no such thing as a 'safe cigarette'. And it seemed international precedent agreed with us. New York Judge Kessler was particularly strong on the matter. However, in America where those with the longest pockets get the justice they can pay for, a recent Supreme Court decision has overturned the class actions which had ruled in favour of those smokers hooked in by the lies and deception of the tobacco industry. So, I am a little nervous about all this! I got the feeling from our meetings with the Commerce Commission that they were more likely to favour the precedents of like jurisdictions, so who knows? We have put up our best case. We received research from Janet Hoek, employed the services of experts like Associate Professor Tim Dewhirst and Anne Jones (ASH Australia). We had a number of meetings with investigators and made sure that any questions they posed were answered. Lots of information has been supplied to assist them in their work. It is now up to the decision makers at the Commerce Commission. It is not for me to second guess what they will decide or to influence it now. This is not a debate. The Commerce Commission is an arms length Regulatory Authority which investigates on its own remit. What they decide is theirs alone subject to the rigours of judicial review. Many thanks to all of you who have updated your Smokefree Directory details, either by replying to Chantelle's emails or by using the online facility. Chantelle informs me there are still a number of people to return their information. If you still need to do this you can do so online by clicking here. Finally, in June 2007 a number of high level activists and academics met to consider the 'Vision' for tobacco control for the next ten years and beyond. From that meeting emerged a consensus about New Zealand being smokefree in ten years. The problem with the vision was that it lacked clarity. The sentiment seemed okay to most but some found it hard to believe – and still others put completely different constructs on the idea of 'smokefree'. Consequently this group was reconvened on the 21 April for a review of the vision and to identify the next steps. Good progress was made in identifying the elements which go to make up a vision and some key principle conclusions were reached. The meeting agreed that if we are serious about articulating an 'end game' strategy then the words are important. The Smokefree Coalition was therefore tasked to work up the message. A small group identified from the meeting will meet shortly with a few other key people to start this work, so watch this space for developments. Have a good fortnight. Mark Peck Director IN THIS ISSUE:
CAMPAIGN TO BAN RETAIL TOBACCO DISPLAYS UPDATEYour support and action over the next few months will be critically important to the success of the campaign to ban retail tobacco displays. We need to be mobilising the wide ranging support of people from a grass roots level right up to heads of organisations. Currently, the Ministry of Health is reviewing over 400 submissions made during the consultation on the future of tobacco displays and will be reporting to the Associate Minister in May. In the meantime we hope you can promote this important issue through your networks, and encourage your members to take local action. This can include writing to and meeting with local MPs, writing letters to local media and raising the issue as a local concern. ASH and the Cancer Society have prepared a campaign toolkit for you, including how to approach your local MP and helpful background information. You can download this toolkit from the ASH website at www.ash.org.nz. Please write, call or email ASH or the Cancer Society and we will be happy to help you get underway. Tobacco is not a normal consumer product and a complete ban on retail tobacco displays is the only acceptable option to protect our children and to help smokers to stay smokefree. To meet this goal, we need to have the participation of all New Zealand society. This includes community groups, professional bodies, school principals, cessation groups, the business sector and any other groups for whom retail displays are a concern. Your support is vital in getting these groups behind the campaign. For more information contact Esther U at ASH. eu@ash.org.nz. See also the news story – Cigarette displays come under fire from lobby group – under Smokefree Shorts below. IMAGES HAVE IMPACT
Images including gangrenous toes, diseased lungs and rotting teeth and gums, were introduced at the end of February in a further move to curb cigarette smoking. Professor Janet Hoek says media coverage has focused on smokers' response to the images. "However a key purpose of the pictorial warning labels – known as PWLs – is to deter young people from taking up smoking and to display smoking as abnormal behaviour," she says. She says her own research shows that the images have a very strong impact on young people. "We used plain packaging (unbranded cigarette packets), with text and PWLs, in an experiment where respondents identified the pack that would be the most and least acceptable to a young smoker. "The plain packs with PWLs were many hundreds of times less attractive than text only warnings," she says. Ms Hoek says the images also have a role in prompting smokers to try to quit. Research reported at last year's Oceania Smokefree conference showed that it takes smokers an average 14 attempts to quit. "This means that interventions that promote a quit attempt, or that support behaviours that are precursors to quitting, are extremely important. "Our research clearly shows that PWLs are more likely than text-only warnings to stimulate quit attempts, calls to Quitline and a reduction in the number of cigarettes smoked. "Findings from Australia also show that calls to cessation services increased markedly following the introduction of PWLs." Ms Hoek leads a research team in the College of Business at Massey University. She has conducted three studies on the impact of pictorial images displayed on cigarette packets. Eastern Courier, 23 April 2008 WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION FCTC STATUS UPDATEThe WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control now has 168 signatories, though not all signatories have yet ratified the convention. Three countries have ratified in 2008. These are Iraq (17 March), Italy (18 March) and Colombia (10 April). Countries that have not signed are: Eritrea, Guinea Bissau, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Dominican Republic, Indonesia, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Monaco, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Somalia. For a full list of Signatories and Parties see: http://www.who.int/entity/tobacco/framework/countrylist/en/index.html. TOBACCO HEADS "MOST EVIL" PRODUCTS (SATIRE)Tobacco has overtaken heroin and cannabis to become the country's "most evil" drug of choice, according to a new report. Published by the University of Wombato's School of Substance Abuse, the report reveals that as many as 100 percent of tobacco users "will eventually die" after prolonged use of the product. "Faced with this kind of data, there is only one measure now available to the government," warned the report's co-author, Dr Nick O'Tine, "and that is another hefty amount of research funding to tell everybody what they already know." The survey's listing of the top 10 "most evil" substances are as follows:
National Business Review, 18 April 2008 NEW PUBLIC HEALTH LAW AND PUBLIC HEALTH ETHICS COURSEThe University of Otago Wellington, Department of Public Health, is offering a special topic: "Public health law and public health ethics" as a postgraduate paper in public health. The course will run in the second semester of 2008: to start 28 July and finish, at the latest, 13 October, Mon-Fri 9am-5pm. Particular topics will include the law and ethics relating to communicable disease, screening, environmental health, public health emergencies, tobacco, food and nutrition, illicit drugs, radiation safety and alcohol. Central themes will include the concept of risk in public health law and the impact of international law. For more information email louise.delany@otago.ac.nz. THROUGH THE SMOKEDead Cool Smokers
Here's a list of really cool people who died of smoking-related diseases as well as some current celebrities who have been photographed smoking. There are three pages of them. According to the Dead Cool Smokers page where they feature, "The moral is: even if you think you look really cool being photographed smoking, there have been lots of other dead cool smokers before you." See here for more. SMOKEFREE SHORTS
MilestonesLook who has had a birthday recently! Karen Evison, Paul McDonald, Michael Adams and Denise Barlow. New ZealandMarae campaigns to cut smoking
Hauora Matauraka health promoter Ted Te Hae said that in June 2006, he was given three years to persuade four marae to become smokefree. After achieving his goal in less than half that time, he set his sights on other marae and Māori institutions such as Te Wananga Aotearoa in Manchester Street. It became smokefree last August. Stuff, 28 April 2008 New website aims to stop Māori smoking A new website and 0800 number have been launched to help Māori women and their whānau get more information about and link into Aukati Kaipaipa – a free smoking cessation service. The website includes details about the service and information about each of the cessation practitioners. Scoop, 10 April 2008 Cigarette displays come under fire from lobby group Walk into your local dairy, or gas station or supermarket, and there is only one sign left that tobacco is still for sale in our largely smoke-free country – the cigarette packets themselves. Advertising and sponsorship are long gone, and now anti-smoking groups want all displays gone too – but the businesses who sell cigarettes say they are the ones who will take the hit, not the nation's smokers. TV3 News, 28 April 2008 Lazy Kiwis litter beaches with butts A new report by international agency Ocean Conservancy says New Zealand recorded an average of 21 kilograms of rubbish per 1.6 kilometres of beach. The main item dumped on our beaches was cigarette butts, followed by bottle caps and lids, food wrappers, containers and beverage bottles. The Dominion Post, 19 April 2008 Samoa government to ban smoking in public places under new legislation The Ministry of Health in Samoa has tabled in parliament proposed legislation aimed at banning smoking in several public areas such as public transport and restaurants. The legislation also plans to stop retail shops in the country from selling tobacco to people under 21 years of age. Radio New Zealand International, 21 April 2008 InternationalNational Health Service (UK) wastes millions on smokers who fail to quit
More than £7.5million of taxpayers' money ($NZ18.8m) was spent last year in London alone, helping people quit. According to data from the NHS Information Centre, the worst performing primary care trust was in the suburb of Croydon, where just 27 percent of smokers attending clinics gave up. Daily Mail, 22 April 2008 Pro-smoking website redirected to 'baccy free' zone Hackers attacked the websites of two organisations campaigning against the UK smoking ban, redirecting UK users to the National Health Service Smokefree site. The attack, which targeted British organisation Freedom2Choose and Forces International, lasted 11 hours. The Register (UK),14 April 2008 Smoking ban fuels domestic violence The UK's smoking ban is to blame for high levels of domestic violence in some parts of Preston, according to the city's top police officer. Figures for the last quarter show domestic violence accounts for as much as 40 percent of violent crime in some suburban areas. Lancashire Evening Post, 20 April 2008 New South Wales will be the world's toughest state for smokers New South Wales is set to become one of the world's toughest states for smokers with a move to ban all tobacco vending machines and move cigarettes out of sight in shops. The radical package also proposes a ban on smoking in cars with children and slapping restrictions on under-age employees selling smokes. News.com, 21 April 2008 Thank you for smoking...
The owner of a small company in Germany fired three workers because they were not smokers. It seems that their boss (evidently a smoker himself) felt that they were "disturbing the peace" in the workplace by being vocal about their smoking colleagues. "I can't be bothered with trouble-makers," said the boss. "We're on the phone all the time and it's just easier to work while smoking. Everyone picks on smokers these days. It's time for revenge. I'm only going to hire smokers from now on." Stuff, 17 April 2008 Half Of Europe's workforce remain unprotected from second-hand smoke at work Less than a third of the European Union's member states have introduced fully comprehensive smokefree legislation, three years after the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control introduced the need for protecting employees from the dangerous effects of second-hand smoke. Medical News Today, 17 April 2008 Most quitters light up again – survey Almost 60 percent of smokers who have major surgery because of tobacco-related illness return to the addiction, a survey has found. The survey of 30 leading thoracic, heart and vascular surgeons found most patients ignored warnings to quit smoking. Perth Now, 19 April 2008 Addiction pills tied to depression Two years ago, scientists had high hopes for new pills that would help people quit smoking, lose weight, and maybe kick other tough addictions like alcohol and cocaine. The pills worked by blocking pleasure centres in the brain that provide the feel-good response from smoking or eating. Now it seems the drugs may block pleasure too well. Boston Globe, 24 April 2008 Sex hormones 'hit smoke success'
Those trying before ovulation were more likely to reach for a cigarette again than those trying at other times, US scientists claim. Writing in the journal Addiction, the researchers say differing levels of female sex hormones were to blame. Smoking charity Quit said that women should still try to stop, regardless of the timing. BBCNews, 21 April 2008 Transition to smokefree prisons has gone smoothly, Illinois officials say Five months after the state-wide smoking ban forced all Illinois inmates to go cold turkey, naysayers' predictions of doom have yet to come true, prison officials say. Detractors of the policy when it was first debated warned of the possibility of a cigarette black market arising within prison facilities or arguments over smokes becoming all the worse due to their scarcity. Herald and Review, 24 April 2008 Conference focuses on cutting smoking rate among Native Americans A conference in Oklahoma City focusing on cutting the smoking rate among Native Americans has brought together representatives from American Indian tribes from across the country as well as experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Oklahoma Health Department says about 34 percent of Oklahoma's American Indian adults report some degree of smoking. Oklahoma's state-wide average is 25 percent, which is considered high when compared with the rest of the nation. Court case smokes out Gallaher A three-year legal battle fought by Gallaher, the British maker of Silk Cut and Benson & Hedges cigarettes, has exposed its own connections with tobacco smuggling, sanctions busting and product dumping in the developing world. Times Online, 27 April 2008 QUOTABLE QUOTES"I am sure the profit-over-life tobacco companies are hoping that this does not become a national trend." Te Reo Marama Director, Shane Kawenata Bradbrook, speaking about two
"As a lung specialist, I do not need covers on cigarette packets to assess the dreadful consequences of tobacco smoking in many unfortunate individuals. No, I see it every day on my ward rounds... "Manufacturers and distributors should be forced to put [graphic images] right next to their corporate mission statement. The tobacco industry has proved its aptitude at circumventing the smokefree legislation. Tobacco companies continue to use ever more subtle marketing strategies. The hypocrisy must be out out in the open." Roland Meyer MD FRACP, Christchurch Hospital, |
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Update is produced by the Smokefree Coalition If you are
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Control Update, |
In all the hurly burly around the display ban campaign it is easy to forget that other stuff is going on too.
A purpose of graphic images on cigarette packets is being overlooked, says a leading researcher on health warnings.
Where
possible, links are provided below the stories. Please click these to read the
story in full.
Four marae in Canterbury are now smokefree as health campaigners battle to cut the number of Māori who smoke. Several other marae in the region have also introduced designated smoking areas.
Includes video of Ben Youdan on Campbell Live
The NHS is being accused of wasting millions of pounds trying to help smokers to quit. New figures show a wide variation in the number of people who gave up after taking a four-week intensive course.
Here's one of those stories from the 'odd but true' file.
A successful attempt to quit smoking may depend on where women are in their monthly cycle, say scientists.