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| Issue 134 | 6 January 2010 |
Having trouble viewing this newsletter? Try the online version. From the Director
Unlike most jaded journalists whose pieces I read over the week between Christmas and New Year, I'm NOT cynical about New Year's resolutions. I take mine very seriously, teaching my children to do so too. We even had a New Year's resolution meeting, where we discussed our plans for 2010, and what it would take, in our hearts, to accomplish all our goals and dreams for the year. When I told my children about the challenge we tobacco control advocates had chosen – taking on the tobacco industry in New Zealand – my son told me we would need courage, lots of courage. I had explained how these people liked the money too much to care about the people dying from their products and my daughter looked thoughtful for some time. I thought she might have drifted off with some seven-year-old distraction but then her eyes lit up: "So THAT'S why they put 'rage' in 'courage'. Get it? r-a-g-e is half of courage. More than half! It means you have to feel angry and fight." I was very impressed at her spelling and her creativity, but she is also absolutely right. There is no courage without the focus our anger and contempt gives us for the big business of tobacco. There is so much grief in our community for the losses in life and health smoking creates. There is so much fear in our community that this war on the industry will just go on and on, them with all their legal and financial resources to slow our progress, confuse our arguments and muddy our image. But our grief and our fear must be channelled by our convictions, that what we fight for is freedom for our future generations! Now is no time to wallow in sorrow and anxiety. We have less than a month to rally New Zealanders everywhere to join with us in chorus against the tobacco industry in New Zealand. We have until 29 January to unite with courage and conviction, making our submissions to the Māori Affairs Select Committee Inquiry on the tobacco industry and the consequences of tobacco use for Māori. Let 2010 be remembered by us all as the year we showed big tobacco the door. What have they got to show for all their acquisitions and stock market shares? Next to their record of cover ups and murder we will always stand taller with our Vision, our Coalition, and our COURAGE. Take care, Prudence Stone, Director, IN THIS ISSUE:
The New Zealand Herald on smoking in New ZealandThe New Zealand Herald is kicking off 2010 with a series of articles by health reporter Martin Johnston on smoking in New Zealand and the efforts being made to reduce our smoking rates. In addition, this morning's editorial, "Tax rise most likely way to curb smoking", provides a clear and persuasive case for tobacco tax increases as the "right recipe for reducing the smoking population." The articles are listed and linked to below, as well as in our Smokefree Shorts section, and more are expected over the next few days or weeks.
The article Would tax increases deter people from smoking?, published 2 January, specifically requests reader feedback. Please do send in your views. Here are a few things you may want to let the New Zealand Herald (or anyone else) know about the benefits of a tax rise on tobacco products.
Lastly, the New Zealand Herald's online poll currently asks whether retail tobacco displays should be banned in New Zealand. There's no telling how long this poll will remain in place, so please rush on over to the New Zealand Herald home page and record your vote. Scroll down a little way. The poll is just under the National News section. More than 50,000 use quitline
Quit Group Chief Executive Paula Snowdon said New Zealand's smoking cessation programme is the most successful in the world. "It's a combination of support through the phone service, Text2quit and Web online, and also the subsidised Nicotine Replacement Therapy, that's, the patches and gum. These make it five times more successful." The Quit Group said about 10,000 people a year give up successfully through Quitline and many thousands more go it alone, or use community-based or Māori-led cessation programmes. Action on Smoking and Health (ASH NZ) said the introduction of graphic picture warnings on cigarette packets in 2008 has led to increased calls to the Quitline. ASH NZ spokesperson Michael Colhoun said a major tax increase would lead to even more people trying to give up. "There hasn't actually been a major tax increase on tobacco for 10 years... The May 2000 tax increase was a substantive increase of 20 percent; roughly a dollar a packet for 20 cigarettes, and that led to 16,000 calls to the Quitline, compared to around 6000 in other months." The Morning Report story went on to say that while the New Zealand smoking rate is around 21 percent, among Māori it is nearly one in two. It quoted Rebecca from Wellington, who is of Tuwharetoa and Te Arawa descent, and who said it has not been easy to quit smoking. She had managed, however, with the support of the Quitline, nicotine patches, gum and smokefree cigarettes. Māori Party co-leader, Tariana Turia, who is also the Associate Minister of Health, said she was pleased with the smoking cessation rates and that she had discussed with the Government, moves to increase taxes on cigarettes and a tobacco display ban. Listen to the full story online. Smoke and ireRhythm and Vines Director Scott Witters gets my stupidity award for accepting blood money from a company responsible for millions of global tobacco-related deaths (Philip Morris Tobacco). Witters needs to look up what "host responsibility" is. Pimping a product that is designed to addict and kill its customers is an affront. This activity is part of the drive to also hook youth who will be attending the event. Resorting to tobacco industry money is like accepting Mafia money on the church collection plate. Stop taking money from an industry that kills 5000 New Zealanders a year. Shane Kawenata Bradbrook, Letters, Announcing Round Seven of the Bloomberg Initiative Grants Programme
Project Ideas are now being accepted for Round Seven of the Grants Programme. The deadline for submissions is Friday 22 January 2010. This competitively awarded grants programme, funded by Michael R Bloomberg, is a global initiative to reduce tobacco use in low- and middle-income countries. It was launched in December 2006. The programme is managed by the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Proposals must focus on achieving policy change that will lead to substantial reductions in tobacco use. Priority will be given to projects that lead to sustainable improvements in tobacco policies, in particular:
The grants programme can also support where improving tobacco policy is the central goal. For example:
For more information about the grants programme, including the call for proposals, information on how to apply for a grant and the online submission form, visit www.tobaccocontrolgrants.org. Through the smoke
Put a coin in the slot in the top of the box and help yourself to a cigarette. Made to be placed on a counter top, bar or table, the cigarette dispenser could be operated by anyone. Potentially, that included children, despite the fact that selling tobacco to under-16s was made illegal in the UK in 1908. Vending machines like this made the law difficult to enforce. In the UK, the age limit was raised to 18 in 2007. Source: New Scientist's gallery of bizarre devices from medicine's dark past. SMOKEFREE SHORTS
New ZealandSmoking tax rise explored by Government
She said that increasing the tax was "worth exploring if we are genuine about wanting to prevent uptake" of smoking. The Government will not say whether tobacco taxes will rise this year or discuss the likely size of an increase. Health Minister Tony Ryall refused to be interviewed and Mrs Turia's staff referred inquiries to the Ministry. New Zealand Herald, 2 January 2010 Fewer butts about in Rotorua's open spaces A year since Rotorua's smokefree outdoor places policy began and more people visiting parks and playgrounds are "kicking smoking in the butt" according to a survey by Toi Te Ora Public Health. The Rotorua District Council installed signs at playgrounds and around The Redwoods in December last year asking people not to smoke in those areas. Rotorua Daily Post, 22 December 2009 Battle lines drawn in final push to get rid of tobacco Surveys for the Ministry of Health show that just over half of teenagers aged 15 to 19 have never tried smoking – "not even one puff". This is markedly higher than in 2006, when the figure was 39 percent. The trend, attributed to the increasing "denormalisation" of smoking through changes like the 2004 ban on smoking in bars, is even more marked among 14- and 15-year-olds. A survey of them in 2008 found that 61 percent reported never having smoked – a figure that has nearly doubled in nine years. New Zealand Herald, 4 January 2010 Curiosity likely to tempt savvy youngsters to smoke
But the 14-year-old from Mt Albert in Auckland reckons he will probably give smoking a try one day. "I think most kids will want to know what every experience is like. Quite a few of my friends have tried it." Two other Mt Albert boys, Matthew Turner and Adam Eynon-Richards, both 14, likewise say that although they have never tried smoking, they may in future. New Zealand Herald, 4 January 2010 More Māori women stubbing out smokes Quitline says 800 Māori families would have an extra loved one around the Christmas table tomorrow if it was not for smoking, but more people are trying to give up. Newstalk ZB, 24 December 2009 Māori women pay price for their high addiction rate Dr Marewa Glover wants more attention paid to addressing the alarmingly high number of Māori women who smoke. While there has been a marked reduction in smoking among teenagers, including Māori – which health officials expect will lead to a reduction in the number of adults smoking – the number of Māori women who smoke remains high at just under 50 percent. New Zealand Herald, 5 January 2009 Freed from the habit, and feeling great
The 33-year-old from Glorit, near the Kaipara Harbour, quit smoking in June, breaking a habit which began when she was 17 and which had reached 20 cigarettes a day. On average smokers try to quit 14 times before they succeed, but this was Ms Pairama's first attempt, with only one relapse. New Zealand Herald, 5 January 2010 Staying power and support big factors in stopping smoking It is a decade since New Zealand formally adopted the idea that regularly suggesting to smokers that they quit helps them to give up the habit. Yet despite the health sector's universal endorsement of the policy, few health workers complied with the recommendation to "provide brief cessation messages at nearly every encounter". New Zealand Herald, 6 January 2010 Power of reason reaching smokers
Professor Arroll, a GP in Manurewa and Head of General Practice and Primary Healthcare at Auckland University, likes to weave it in where he judges the fit is best. "If there's some obvious entree, like a patient with respiratory disease, I would go into it early. If not, I would deal with your issues and then I would say, 'Are you still smoking? Are you interested in quitting? You're 45, a good age to quit', because that personalises it. I seem to get traction by saying that." New Zealand Herald, 6 January 2010 Tax rise most likely way to curb smoking For the past few years, the number of smokers has remained at much the same level. About a fifth of people still smoke. For Māori women, the figure touches almost 50 per cent. This is particularly frustrating, given the time, effort and money devoted to lowering the rate. No longer can anyone be in any doubt about the danger of smoking but the problem persists, despite an encouraging increase in the number of teenagers who have never lit up. Clearly, something in the anti-smoking policies of the past decade has not been right. New Zealand Herald, 6 January 2010 InternationalChildhood exposure to tobacco smoke raises risk of emphysema
Researchers have reported that children exposed regularly to tobacco smoke at home were more likely to develop emphysema in adulthood, suggesting that lungs may not heal completely from early-life exposure. Scientists at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health studied CT scans of 1781 non-smoking adults. The participants were asked about their exposure to tobacco smoke in childhood. The CT scans showed that participants with more childhood tobacco smoke exposure had more emphysema-like lung changes. LA Times Blogs, 28 December 2009 Tobacco giant faces $89m bill The Australian Taxation Office has won an AU$89 million dispute with British American Tobacco. A Federal Court judge found the company failed to declare a capital gain on the sale of nine cigarette brands during the 1999 worldwide merger of British American Tobacco plc and Rothmans International BV. British American Tobacco's local subsidiary, WD & HO Wills Holdings, sold the brands to Imperial Tobacco Group to satisfy the concerns of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission that the merger would reduce competition. Sydney Morning Herald, 23 December 2009 Vietnam: smoking ban in public places effective from 1 January The ban on smoking in public spaces, approved by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, has been in place since 1 January 2010. However, many people still have no idea about this new regulation. In order for the ban to be effective, Doctor Nguyen Ngoc Bich of the Vietnam Public Health Association said that all people must be informed through an organised mass media campaign and other activities held by local authorities. Bernama.Com, 22 December 2009 Eye doctors: Quit smoking, save sight
The ophthalmologists at the University of California-Los Angeles found even in women age 80 and older, smoking continues to increase the risk of age-related macular degeneration – a disease damaging the centre of the retina that can prevent reading, driving and recognising faces, and the leading cause of blindness in the elderly. United Press International, 1 January 2009 Leading-edge therapy targets brain chemistry of addiction Grappling with nicotine addiction is never easy, but a new drug therapy – developed at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto – brings promise to one of the greatest public health challenges. The experimental medication targets the brain chemistry that is associated with addiction by disrupting a specific receptor-receptor interaction. Proof-of-concept data demonstrate that this therapy decreases addictive behaviour associated with nicotine and alcohol in animal models. Yahoo News, 17 December 2009 Tobacco bio fuel to solve energy/environment crisis? Scientists in Philadelphia, America, have come up with a radical new plan for bio fuels. Rather than the cars of tomorrow running on various forms of alcohol, sunflower oil, algae etc, the scientists propose that they should instead be fuelled by burning tobacco. "Tobacco is very attractive as a bio fuel because the idea is to use plants that aren't used in food production," says Dr Vyacheslav Andrianov of Thomas Jefferson University. The Register, 31 December 2009 Anti-smoking ads rekindle desire
In the world's first long-term international study of people who have given up smoking, researchers found that respondents showed widespread resilience to cravings in the first 30 days. But after that, cravings occurred more often in those reminded of smoking, by being exposed to stimuli such as friends who smoke or by viewing advertisements. Sydney Morning Herald, 17 November 2009 No smoking prison sparks drop in crime A noticeable drop in recorded crimes on the Isle of Man is being attributed to the opening of Europe's only completely non-smoking prison. The island which is one of the safest places to live in the British Isles, has seen a massive reduction in total crimes since the new £42m jail opened in August 2008. The Telegraph, 28 December 2009 Bulgaria introduces staggering cigarette tax hike Bulgarian smokers have had to swallow a raise in excise duties on cigarettes and their prices as of 1 January, as the Government struggles to curb smoking and relieve the health care system. Bulgaria has the second highest percentage of smokers in Europe and plans to ban smoking in all public spaces as of June 2010. Sofia News Agency, 1 January 2010 Avatar fails anti-smoking test
Stanton A Glantz, Director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California, said his Smokefree Movies initiative would soon come out swinging with an informational campaign aimed at what he saw as the Avatar's pro-smoking message. "This is like someone just put a bunch of plutonium in the water supply," Mr Glantz said in a telephone interview last week. He was referring to scenes in which an environmental scientist played by Sigourney Weaver drags lovingly on a cigarette as she works to save the moon Pandora sometime in the 22nd century. New York Times, 3 January 2010 Obesity 'a bigger threat than smoking' Obesity has overtaken smoking and is now a bigger threat to people's health, American scientists have warned. Expanding waistlines now cause as much or more disease than tobacco, and do as much or more to shorten healthy life spans, they say. New Zealand Herald, 5 January 2010 QUOTABLE QUOTES"Opposition to increasing the tax on cigarettes would doubtless portray smokers as being picked upon unfairly. But that would hold no sway if some of the revenue was allotted to quit programmes or education campaigns. Mrs Turia seems ready to take that approach. Handled adroitly, it is the right recipe for reducing the smoking population to a minimum of diehards." Editorial: "Tax rise most likely way to curb smoking" "The powers that be are increasingly banning smoking in open air parks, on railway platforms and even in private car parks. The aim is to "denormalise" smoking – a term that owes more to George Orwell's 1984 than a rational public-health policy in 2007." Message from our Director,
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Happy New Year everyone!
In a
Morning Report (Radio NZ) story on 23 December 2009, the Quit Group reported that 54,000 people – or one in four smokers – signed up to stop smoking by using Quitline
in 2009. This is more than double the 26,000 who used the service in 2005. 
Cigarette dispenser, United Kingdom, 1925-1935
Where
possible, links to full articles are provided below each story.
Associate Health Minister Tariana Turia last year spoke supportively of tobacco tax increases in a speech that has put pressure on the Government on a range of tobacco policies.
Fraser Kearns is among the rising number of teenagers who have never smoked a cigarette. Not one puff.
For Marama Pairama, there's no going back to smoking now that she has learnt how much harm tobacco can do to her body.
Some doctors now make smoking status the first question of every consultation.
Scientists have long thought that people who quit smoking recover some of their lung function and health. That may be true, but it appears children exposed to second-hand smoke are not so lucky.
US eye doctors say they have found another reason to decide to quit smoking for the New Year – saving vision.
Advertising encouraging people to quit smoking may be making it harder for quitters to stay on the wagon.
Some of those who oppose smoking in movies have just seen the future, and they are not happy about it.