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| Issue 96 | 6 August 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Having trouble viewing this newsletter? Try the online version. FROM THE DIRECTOR'S DESK
This database is going to replace the Aotearoa/New Zealand Tobaccofree/Tupeka Kore Smokefree Directory. If you want to be included in the hard copy of this directory, the Smokefree Contacts Map database is where you will need to be. So, why don't we just dump you all in? Well we can't – not so much for technical reasons but for reasons more linked to the Privacy Act. We cannot just assume that you consent to be in the online database. In any case we would still need completed online registration forms for each person who registered. So sign up now! Why not have a look at the data-map, while you are about it, and encourage others you know who should also be listed. The teething problems which we are experiencing are being dealt with and the map is going to be a pretty impressive resource, not only to the tobacco control community but also to the general public. It is already being referred to by some agencies as the pre-eminent source of tobacco control contact information. Also in this issue is a report from the Ministry of Health into the revelations from the New Zealand Association of Convenience Stores about tobacco company incentives for pride of place advertising of cigarettes. Clearly we are going to hear more about this at a later date. However, I am reliably informed that the Health Select Committee is far from finished with these characters. Maybe there will be another opportunity for the New Zealand Association of Convenience Stores to shine before the committee. Watch this space! Have a good fortnight. Mark Peck Director IN THIS ISSUE:
UPDATE ON TOBACCO COMPANIES PROVIDING INCENTIVES TO RETAILERSThe Ministry of Health is currently looking at the issue of tobacco companies providing incentives to retailers to sell and display tobacco. This has come about following a Health Select Committee hearing in July, where the New Zealand Association of Convenience Stores (NZACS) reported that retailers received 'standard trade rebates' from tobacco companies. Section 28 (2) of the Smokefree Environments Act (1990) bans any gift or cash rebate as an inducement or reward to any retailer for the purchase, sale, advertising or placement of tobacco products. The Ministry of Health's Chief Advisor Public Health, Dr Ashley Bloomfield, said the Ministry had written to the three major tobacco companies in New Zealand and has received responses from each. These are currently being assessed. The Ministry has also set up a meeting with the NZACS. Dr Bloomfield said the Ministry was planning to report back to the Health Select Committee on this issue by mid-August. A public statement will be issued once the Minister of Health has been fully briefed on the matter, including advice on whether the Ministry of Health has any concerns about possible breaches of the Smoke-free Environments Act 1990. "In the meantime, if any new information arises, we will provide a further update," Ashley Bloomfield said. Ministry of Health website update, 4 August 2008 THE QUIT GROUP HELPS RECORD NUMBERSThe Quit Group, the government funded national smoking cessation service dealt with almost 44,000 people wanting to quit smoking during the past year. The Quit Group is a charitable trust set up to run quit smoking programmes nationally to reduce the number of New Zealanders who smoke. "We are thrilled with the record number of people coming to us to quit smoking. It has an enormous positive impact when you consider the difference quitting smoking will make on these people's lives and the health of their families, friends and colleagues," Executive Director Helen Glasgow said. "Quitting smoking not only has immediate health benefits, it increases peoples' quality of life and their life expectancies. "This result is a credit to our frontline advisers who provide support and advice to those wanting to quit smoking. They are making a real difference to thousands of New Zealanders' lives. "It reflects changing attitudes to smoking brought about by the bans on tobacco advertising and sponsorship and the restrictions on smoking indoors put in place in recent years. The graphic health warnings on cigarette packets are also having an impact. In January 10 percent of Quitline clients said they got the Quitline number from the packets, rising to 30 percent last month." The Group recently introduced the Txt2Quit service targeting younger smokers – around 400 people have already used that service. A combined front across the health sector on tobacco control and smoking cessation was resulting in the national smoking rate falling to its lowest level since monitoring of tobacco use began more than 30 years ago, (19.9 percent for smokers aged 15 years and over). "We are looking forward to more people making more quit attempts in the coming year," Ms Glasgow said. The Quit Group services can be reached via the Quitline free phone service 0800 778 778, www.quit.org.nz and www.txt2quit.org.nz. The Quit Group media release, 28 July 2008 Quitline client registrations by DHB for July 07 – June 08
1 Source: 2006 Census – New Zealand smokers (Age 15+ years) population by DHB. WHAT CAN YOU DO TO END TOBACCO MARKETING TO CHILDREN?
To keep profits pouring in, the tobacco industry needs new smokers to replace them. The average age of these 'replacement smokers' is just 14 years. Most forms of tobacco advertising were eliminated in New Zealand in 1990 with one major exception – tobacco 'power walls'. Cigarettes can still be openly promoted at the check-out in thousands of convenience stores, petrol stations and supermarkets around the country. We need your help to end this insidious form of tobacco marketing. Please act now. What can you do to end tobacco marketing to children? WATCH THIS: SEND THIS: ORGANISE THIS: Visit the website to learn more about the campaign to get tobacco out of sight in shops. BEN YOUDAN LETTER TO HAMILTON PRESSTim Wikiriwhi (Letters Wednesday, 16 July 2008) likens laws restricting tobacco use to the extreme and deplorable ideologies of Himmler and Bin Laden, using this to argue that more libertarian laws are needed to kick 'Nanny' out of Parliament. As a libertarian Mr Wikiriwhi would know that the father of this political belief, John Stewart Mill, said in chapter 1 of his book on liberty, "The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilised community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others." This is exactly the principle under which the smokefree law was introduced. Second-hand smoke was responsible for 300 deaths per year in New Zealand. The argument that people choose their behaviour – so leave them alone, cannot be applied to smoking. Nearly three quarters of smokers under 19 say that if they had their life over again they would not smoke, and two thirds of all smokers want to quit. People may choose to start, but very quickly become addicted, creating a dependence that totally undermines their freedom to choose. The very addictive and deadly nature of smoking is a violation of rights in itself. Under the principles of libertarian thinking, this fully justifies intervening. Ministry of Health research has shown that 91 percent of the public support the smokefree law. This doesn't sound like social chaos to me. Ben Youdan PART-TIME RESEARCH ASSISTANT – ASH NEW ZEALANDFixed Term: One year, 0.4 FTE, Auckland, $55,000 pa pro-rata Action on Smoking and Health is a leading policy NGO dedicated to reducing the death and disease caused by smoking in New Zealand. We are looking for a talented quantitative researcher to work on an exciting new project looking at smoker behaviour and attitudes. The project will be investigating the role and impact of campaigns and policies on smoking and looking in depth at what helps people quit smoking successfully in New Zealand. ASH needs someone with experience in research project management. The successful candidate will have excellent statistical and research skills, strong interpersonal skills and be highly motivated. They will be able to communicate results that facilitate development and improvement of evidence based policy and strategies to reduce tobacco use in New Zealand. For more information and an application pack contact sding@ash.org.nz or call 09 520 4866. Applications close 27 August. THROUGH THE SMOKE
Tobacco Videos is a comprehensive collection of cigarette commercials and other types of tobacco videos provided by the Roswell Park Cancer Institute. Two early Marlboro ads are featured, looking at early incarnations of the Marlboro Man, but lots of others – for many different brands – are available for you to watch online. It's amazing how times have changed. In the video pictured, for example, the first type of Marlboro Man was a loving dad who helps his son make a sailboat out of an empty Marlboro, packet, happily puffing away while hugging the boy as they watch it sail. See the videos at: www.tobaccovideos.com/. SMOKEFREE SHORTS
New ZealandHealthphone takes quit message to US
Healthphone's STOMP service will be used by schools and courts as a form of diversion, providing an alternative to suspending students from school. Company president Matt Hector-Taylor says the contract is a breakthrough for the ambitious 60-person software firm, providing its first reference customer in the United States. Dominion Post, 28 July 2008 Four Waikato retail outlets fail compliance test Three Cambridge retail employees and a Morrinsville dairy employee face possible prosecution and a fine of up to $2000 after selling cigarettes to people under 18. Waikato District Health Board's Population Health Service staff visited 17 supermarkets, service stations and dairies at the weekend in a campaign to stop retailers selling cigarettes to underage people, under the Smoke-free Environments Act 1990. Waikato DHB media release, 29 July 2008 Lower Hutt tobacco 'sting' results poor Four out of eight tobacco retailers visited recently in the Petone, Wainuiomata and central areas of Lower Hutt sold cigarettes to a 15-year-old secondary school student. This contrasts with one sale out of 25 retailers visited by the same 15-year-old in areas of Wellington a few weeks earlier. Pam Smith, Smokefree Officer, Regional Public Health, says the Lower Hutt results are poor and more needs to be done to control tobacco, a highly-addictive toxic substance that will kill half of the people that use it. Wellington Regional Public Health media release, 25 July 2008 Smokefree stadiums For all the fire expected at the rugby match between Counties Manukau and Auckland in Pukekohe on 3 August there wasn't much smoke. In fact the pavilion at Growers Stadium is a smokefree zone for the Steelers' Air New Zealand Cup matches. Smokers are welcome to attend matches but they will be banished to two designated areas outside the pavilion whenever they want to light up. Manukau Courier, 1 August 2008 InternationalA victory for German smokers
The court held that laws banning smoking in one-room bars in Berlin and in the state of Baden-Wurttemberg discriminated against owners who are unable to provide a separate room in which patrons can light up. The same laws allow larger establishments such as cafes, bars and restaurants to allow smoking, but only in separate and closed-off rooms. Time, 30 July 2008 Weeks after smoking ban, some businesses see surge Almost a month after its implementation, the controversial statewide smoking ban in Iowa has proven to be a business booster for some Iowa City bars. Lauren Kokott, a server at Micky's Irish Pub, 11 S. Dubuque St., said that she is now serving more customers than ever before. "[The ban] has helped business, if nothing else," she said. The Daily Iowan, 28 July 2008 Smokefree bars only slightly less smelly than swine production sites Even though an increasing number of public places are going smokefree, unpleasant aromas in bars may persist. And not necessarily from cigarettes. A survey by scientist Alan Hirsch found that bar patrons themselves might be responsible for foul odours. Only one bar/restaurant in Chicago was tested, but Hirsch found that sweat and body odour were one of the top contributors to 'stinkiness'. Tri City Herald (US), 29 July 2008 Who really profits from smoking bans? "Smoking bans in the United States have been funded by those who directly profit from the sales of Nicotine Replacement Therapies," said Debi Kistner with Opponents of Ohio Bans. Robert Wood Johnson, the late CEO of Johnson & Johnson, established the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation tax exempt non-profit in the early 1970s. According to their November 2005 publication, Taking on tobacco: The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Assault on Smoking, from 1991 to 2005 the foundation paid US$446,398,054 in tobacco-control grants. Grantees that did not move from tobacco education to tobacco control became ineligible for further grants. The Wall Street Journal, 23 July 2008 Is this the last gasp for big screen smoking?
I wondered when the war against smoking was going to move on to a new front. The last time I wrote about this kind of thing was when Paul McCartney's cigarette was airbrushed from his hand on the cover of Abbey Road, and when the French decided to rid Sartre and Camus of their fags when famous pictures of them – originally depicting them smoking – were put on stamps. So an attack on smoking in films was only a matter of time. The Guardian (UK), 21 July 2008 Second-hand smoke seen to raise spouse's stroke risk Non-smokers married to smokers have a greatly increased chance of having strokes, according to a US study showing yet another hazard from second-hand smoke. Being married to a smoker raised the stroke risk by 42 percent in people who have never smoked compared to those married to someone who never smoked, the researchers said. The Mirror (UK), 29 July 2008 Tobacco pin-pointed as big marital spoiler Revelations that smoking is a source of marital problems besides the commonly known medical one of causing cancerous diseases, shocked the audience at a function focused on the effects of tobacco, which was held in Dar es Salaam (Tanzania). The audience comprised mostly members of the Tanzania Tobacco Control Forum who assembled at the Karimjee Hall for the Annual General Meeting of the NGO, which is on the forefront in the battle to curb the growth and use of a crop that destabilises health, kills, drains lots of funds, slows down human welfare and destroys the environment. IPPMedia, 27 July 2008 Impact of smoking, being overweight on a person's image The majority of Americans say the fact that a person smokes or is significantly overweight does not affect their opinion of that person, although 40 percent say they have a more negative opinion of smokers, and 29 percent have a more negative opinion of someone who is significantly overweight. Smokers have often complained about societal discrimination, and, in recent years, some US states and municipalities have included or are considering including weight in broad laws banning discrimination on the basis of such fundamental personal characteristics as race, gender, or age. Gallup, 21 July 2008 US smoking rate still coming down
More specifically, in three of the past four Gallup smoking measurements (conducted between July 2007 and today), only 20 percent or 21 percent of American adults have said they smoked cigarettes in the past week. Compared with the average of 25 percent who said they smoked from 2000 through 2006, this suggests a recent decline in US smoking. Gallup, 24 July 2008 Time to regulate Big Tobacco The House of Representatives is poised to vote next week on a pioneering bill that would give the Food and Drug Administration its first real power to regulate tobacco products, much as it now regulates food, drugs and medical devices. This is a critically important bill, the culmination of more than a decade of struggle to bring the renegade tobacco industry under regulatory control. The New York Times, 26 July 2008 Smoking ban in cars with kids Drivers will be banned from smoking in cars carrying children under the age of 16 or face A$250 on-the-spot fines under new tobacco laws, making New South Wales one of the toughest anti-smoking regimes in the world. NSW will also become the first state in Australia, and one of only three jurisdictions in the world, to force tobacco products in supermarkets and retail outlets under the counter and out of sight, with a statewide ban on the display of cigarettes. HeraldSun, 30 July 2008 Out of sight, out of mind is the latest prescription for smokers A tobacco expert has urged the Federal Government to consider banning cigarette packets from carrying any advertising or branding after the NSW Government said it would proceed with tough tobacco reforms. Simon Chapman, professor of public health at the University of Sydney, said the NSW Government had taken a historic step in banning cigarettes from open display but it was now up to the Federal Government to ban brightly coloured packets. Sydney Morning Herald, 31 July 2008 Man fined for smoking in his own van
Gordon Williams, who hails from Wolverhampton, was driving to a shop to buy teabags after work when he was spotted with a cigarette by a council official and pulled over. He was given an on-the-spot £30 fine because smoking laws introduced last July ban people lighting up behind the wheel of work vehicles. But the self-employed 58-year-old claimed that the van was insured for private use only, so he should have been allowed to smoke inside it if he wanted to. Express and Star (UK), 25 July 2008 Bill Gates Foundation assists smoking ban at Olympic Games Microsoft visionary, Bill Gates, has earmarked US$130,000 for the support of a "smokefree Olympics" through his namesake Bill Gates Foundation. "Awareness of the disease burden that smoking causes is not very widespread. I'd say most people in the US know it, but in China, that's not the case," said Gates at a press conference in New York City. Cayman Mama, 28 July 2008 Alicia Keys asks cigarette maker to stop branding show Philip Morris International has pulled down billboards and posters promoting an Alicia Keys concert in Indonesia's capital after the singer protested the cigarette company's sponsorship. The Washington-based Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids organisation initially drew Keys' attention to the company's association with the show. CNN, 31 July 2008 Animals do their part in anti-smoking campaign Billboards with pictures of animals on them are being used to spread anti-smoking messages in Cleveland, Tennessee. With a grant from the Tennessee Department of Health, billboards featuring a chimpanzee, pig, duck, collie and fawn with cigarettes hanging from their lips or beak are going up in four locations. The headline above them reads, "It looks just as stupid when you do it." Knox News, 4 August 2008 Vaccines against smoking, obesity and high blood pressure 'within next decade'
Possible breakthroughs include a blood pressure vaccine which would replace daily tablets and could be available within just four years. Anti-smoking vaccines are also undergoing human trials, this week's New Scientist magazine reports. In a U.S. trial of 300 cigarette smokers, 15 per cent of those vaccinated quit after a year of treatment. Mail on Sunday (UK), 30 July 2008 MILESTONESLook who has had a birthday recently... Helen Glasgow! QUOTABLE QUOTES"The Marlboro Man and various celebrities pitched the cancer sticks like they were love and success wrapped in paper. Advertising works, and with the best and brightest minds dedicated to putting a Lucky in our lungs, I think it's sad that we disdain those who fell for it. They deserve our sympathy." Tom Barlow, "Fred Flintstone's cigarette ad" "That this type of rampant nico-nazism is now routine throughout Britain is symptomatic of that once-great country's slide into politically correct petty-tyranny. Britons should be revolting. Would that a cigar-touting Winston Churchill were around today to rouse them to it, just as he roused them against the fanatical anti-smoker Hitler." Lindsay Perigo commenting on a report that a British painter
and decorator has been fined £30 for smoking in his own van because it was deemed a workplace
(see story above). |
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The tobacco industry has a problem. Each year nearly 5000 of its best Kiwi customers die from tobacco-related diseases.
Tobacco videos
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High school students caught smoking in Mohave County, Arizona
will receive automated 'personalised' text messages for six months from Auckland software firm Healthphone to persuade them to stop smoking.
Cheers and whoops
recently resounded in small bars around Germany as the country's highest court gave smokers cause to light up for a celebratory puff. In a nationally televised ruling the Federal Constitutional Court
has ruled unconstitutional a ban on smoking in small bars, and forcing state legislators back to the drawing board in their efforts to protect public health.
The British Medical Association has proposed a plan to bump all films which show smoking in a positive light up a certificate. They also want to have an anti-smoking propaganda film shown beforehand.
The percentage of U.S. adults saying they smoked cigarettes in the past week, now 21 percent, is similar to what Gallup found in 2007. However, it represents a decline from earlier this decade, when between 22 percent and 28 percent said they smoked, and is among the lowest figures Gallup has recorded in more than six decades of polling on tobacco use in America.
A painter and decorator was left fuming after being slapped with a £30 fine for smoking behind the wheel of his van because it was his place of work.
Vaccines against smoking, obesity and high blood pressure could all be developed within the next decade, scientists believe. Even drug addiction could be beaten by a new generation of jabs aimed at tackling the scourges of 21st century health.