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Saturday, November 13, 2004
Sat, November 13, 2004
Smoke cops strike Treherne hotelier vows to fight 'fascist law'
By DAVID SCHMEICHEL, STAFF REPORTER
No more messin' around. The province made good on its promise to crack down on cigarette scofflaws yesterday, charging a Treherne hotel owner with ignoring the new smoking ban.
In recent months, Creekside Hideaway owner Robert Jenkinson has become the unofficial poster boy for those opposed to the new legislation, pledging repeatedly to continue to allow patrons to light up in his lounge.
Yesterday, Jenkinson became the first business owner cited under the province's new Non-Smokers Health Protection Act, which came into effect Oct. 1. Jenkinson was charged with six offences under the act and his corporation another seven.
Jenkinson said he plans to fight the charges in court.
"Definitely ... we have every intention of getting this fascist law thrown out," he said yesterday. "Whatever happened to our charter of rights?"
The charges against Jenkinson include providing ashtrays to patrons, failing to display no-smoking signage, and allowing patrons to smoke indoors, said Manitoba Health spokesman Jim Drew.
Drew said the province doesn't want to appear heavy-handed but was left with little choice in the case of Jenkinson, who was issued a written warning on Oct. 5.
The province has already said it won't seek out those who ignore the ban but will act when complaints are lodged.
"Mr. Jenkinson had an opportunity to comply," Drew said, noting the Creekside Hideaway has been the subject of several public complaints.
SURPRISED
Fines for first-time corporation offenders range from $500 to $3,000, while individual first-time offenders face charges of $100 to $500.
Jenkinson said the legislation infringes on his rights, and estimates he'd lose up to 30% of his revenue if he complied.
"None of these people have worked a day in the restaurant business, yet they can dictate what we can and can't do," he said. "They (the province) want to sell cigarettes but they won't let us smoke them inside."
Jenkinson also said he was somewhat surprised by yesterday's events and feels the province is making an example of him.
"I didn't think the government would bully me with so many charges, he said. "Why not just one charge, why 13?"
Jenkinson, who is scheduled to appear in court in Portage la Prairie on Nov. 29, said he plans to comment more on the charges early next week. Until then, customers are still welcome to spark up on his premises.
"For sure," he said. "I'm not guilty until the courts decide I am."
Investigations into other business owners suspected of flaunting the ban are still ongoing, Drew said yesterday.
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/WinnipegSun/News/2004/11/13/712247.html
Butt ban faces test in court
First charges laid
Saturday, November 13th, 2004
By David Kuxhaus
THE first charges under the province's new anti-smoking law were laid yesterday, setting the stage for a court challenge to the controversial legislation. At the centre of the fight is a self-described struggling small-town bar owner who says he's anxious to take on the provincial government. After weeks of warnings and threats, provincial health inspectors finally swooped down yesterday on the Creekside Hideaway Motel in tiny Treherne, laying 13 charges against Robert Jenkinson.
The 36-year-old Jenkinson has openly thumbed his nose at the province ever since the law came into effect about six weeks ago, almost daring inspectors to charge him.
Yesterday, he remained defiant.
"I hope the courts can make amends for what this fascist NDP government has done," said Jenkinson.
He said rural folks have taken plenty of hits this year, from the mad cow crisis to, more recently, increased duties on hogs.
He said they shouldn't now be forced to go outside in sub-zero weather to enjoy a smoke.
Jenkinson is scheduled to appear in a Portage la Prairie court Nov. 29.
Under the law, which bans smoking in public places, individuals can be fined up to $500 and businesses a maximum of $3,000.
Jenkinson said he already has a lawyer, but wouldn't say who it is. He said he will issue a statement next week.
Jenkinson said he's received plenty of support for his stand, including calls from across Canada and the United States, and he's hoping that some of those supporters may help him out with his legal fees. He's even thinking of holding a fundraiser.
"This is all about freedom of choice," said Jenkinson.
Last night, at least one other bar owner seemed eager to join the fight.
"Maybe we should all get together and go after them (the provincial government)," said Jamie Betle, who for the last 20 years has operated the Spruce Woods Pizza and Slider's Lounge in Carberry.
"This is just wrong."
When the smoking ban came into effect, Betle dumped over 100 ashtrays in Healthy Living Minister Jim Rondeau's office in protest.
Since then, he says, his bottom line has been sinking.
Betle said profits for October are down about 24 per cent compared to previous years. He said instead of playing VLTs or pool, customers are huddled outside his back door, smoking.
If the trend continues, Betle said, his overall take will be down $170,000 over a 12-month period.
"That's how much this government is taking out of my pocket," Betle said.
He said he has already cut back on the hours for some staff and may ultimately have to lay some off.
Jenkinson estimates that if he were to prohibit smoking, it would cost him at least 30 per cent of his business.
"I can't afford that," he said. "I'm not like the government who can ban smoking in their casinos and afford to lose millions of dollars."
Jenkinson grew up in Treherne, a community of about 800 people, located about 100 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg.
Less than two years ago, he opened up the Creekside Hideaway Motel.
The motel's restaurant seats 36, the lounge 150 and the banquet hall 110.
Last night, Jenkinson said there were about half a dozen people puffing away in the lounge.
He said he's always tried to give his customers a choice when it comes to smoking.
"When you come in through the front door, you can turn left and go into the restaurant, where there's no smoking, or turn right and go into the lounge where you can smoke," Jenkinson said.
It is up to whomever is renting the banquet hall to determine whether smoking will be allowed.
Jenkinson said he wishes the province would allow him to choose how he wants to run his business.
The provincial government said it brought in the law to protect employees from second-hand smoke.
But Jenkinson said he's spent about $90,000 on a ventilation system, which he maintains keeps the air clean.
Moreover, he can't figure out why native reserves are exempt from the ban. Some First Nations have already said they're hoping to lure smokers to their gaming and bingo halls.
"We should all be equal under the law," said Jenkinson.
Officials with the province could not be reached for comment yesterday.
The NDP has said it is not enforcing the ban on First Nations because it doesn't have clear jurisdiction there and isn't willing to risk a court challenge on the issue.
david.kuxhaus@freepress.mb.ca
Wiinnepegfreepress.com
Students' pot use alarms educators
Facing an uphill battle against marijuana, schools say new law sends wrong message
Grace Macaluso, Windsor Star Saturday, November 13, 2004
Danny sucks on the joint like a pro. At 17, he started smoking marijuana shortly after entering high school, and lunch hour is prime time for getting high.
"Everybody does it," says Danny, who asked that his real name not be used. "It's no big deal." He and two other friends pass around the joint as they huddle in an area of Jackson Park that's far enough away from the watchful eyes of Kennedy high school administrators. The marijuana cigarette was purchased just minutes ago from a fellow student - one of a handful of dealers who profit from on-site demand for a drug that has become a fact of life in Ontario high schools.
Marijuana use among teenagers has risen to the point where it has overtaken tobacco for the first time as the second most popular drug of choice behind alcohol, according to a recent study by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. The trend is alarming school officials and politicians, who fear it will only get worse under Ottawa's plan to decriminalize marijuana.
"It doesn't make a lot of sense," says Randy White, Conservative solicitor general critic and MP for Langley-Abbotsford. "Canada should be telling kids not to smoke pot; instead we're telling kids 'you'll just get a fine.' "
Federal Justice Minister Irwin Cotler, who reintroduced the legislation earlier this month, insists the bill constitutes a multi-pronged approach that includes tougher penalties for grow-ops as well as funding for a public education campaign aimed at discouraging the use of marijuana and other illicit drugs.
"Cannabis use is harmful and it will remain illegal in Canada," Cotler says. "Combining cannabis reform with this public education campaign will reinforce the message that marijuana is illegal and harmful to one's health."
But the minister's reassurances offer little comfort to principals like Tom Halliwill, who face an uphill battle against pot-smoking students who believe inhaling a joint is no worse than consuming alcohol.
"There are drugs in every school in North America," asserts Halliwill, principal of W.F. Herman high school. "I think it's more socially acceptable; a lot of parents do it. In the media they're talking about decriminalization. Well, kids read the paper, too, and it seems smoking pot doesn't carry the same stigma it had during the '70s."
In fact, in the minds of some students, pot is far less harmful than tobacco. "Cigarettes are worse; they're addictive," says Jason, a Grade 11 student at Herman who didn't want his real name published. "Pot can become habitual, and you know what's in it. It's not like cigarettes that contain chemicals like formaldehyde. Look at what second-hand smoke can do to you."
At F.J. Brennan Catholic high school, principal JoAnne Shea says the eight pot-related suspensions she handed out last year do not reflect the full extent of use among students. "I'd literally have to be policing alleyways," says Shea, adding that the school hears from nearby residents and businesses complaining about kids smoking up.
The majority of Brennan's 1,027 students are not using marijuana during the school day, says Shea. "We're hearing that pot is the drug of choice during the week; on the weekends it's alcohol."
Major challenges for principals include detecting use and catching kids in the act, she says. "We're always trying for evidence; it's easily camouflaged."
And it's affordable. "I was offered some just this morning during food and nutrition class in second period," says Herman high school student Jason, a pot smoker who declined the offer. "Pot is sold in the school on a regular basis."
The going rate for one cigarette is $5, or three joints for $10, he says. "You can make good money."
Identifying drug dealers is also easy, says 16-year-old Kennedy student Derek - not his real name. "Most people that deal are always high," says Derek, who used pot weekly until it started affecting his grades and athletic performance. Now, he indulges "once in awhile, on a Friday when I'm with friends.
"My parents said I can smoke weed as long as I don't get into trouble and continue to do well in school, but they didn't like that I was doing it."
CULTURAL SHIFT
Richard Pollock, a Windsor lawyer and federal prosecutor, attributes the rising use of marijuana to the ever-increasing supply of marijuana from large-scale hydroponic operations in the area. But more troubling, says Pollock, is the cultural shift that has contributed to the growing perception that pot use is acceptable.
"I've prosecuted cases where children under the age of 16 have been caught consuming cannabis out in the open, in public places and not hidden for fear of getting caught. I've prosecuted cases where teens were smoking up and their parents were aware of it.
"This debate (over decriminalization) is taking place in a vacuum without considering how it's affecting the lives and activities of our children."
Under Ontario's Safe Schools Act, a student found to be under the influence or possession of a drug, including alcohol and illegal substances, faces an automatic 10-day suspension, says Vickie Komar, supervisor of social work at the Greater Essex County District School Board. "And, there's always a recommendation to student and families to seek counselling through a variety of agencies that can provide education and support."
While both the public and Catholic boards offer anti-drug workshops and assemblies featuring police officers and a variety of public speakers, schools can't tackle the problem alone, say education officials.
"It has to be a community response; like the campaign against drinking and driving," says Komar. "The message has to be that it's not socially acceptable.
"As long as the message among teens is 'everyone is doing it,' it becomes normal behaviour and it's much more difficult for us to step in."
Even teens who refrain from using pot face intense peer pressure to smoke up, says Katie Moore, a Grade 12 student at Brennan. "People call me a narc, a police narcotics officer, because I want to stop drugs. If you're one to go against it, you're looked down upon."
Determined to spread her anti-drug message, Moore says she's researched the impact of pot, noting the grade on the streets today is far more potent than what was available in previous years. "The THC is much higher. It's going to affect your judgment, especially when you're driving and you're high."
Current growing methods have made pot more potent, said Const. Deb Mineau, spokeswoman for Essex Ontario Provincial Police. In 1960, an average marijuana cigarette contained 0.2 per cent THC - the mind-altering ingredient in pot, says Mineau. Today, the level of THC in an average joint is between five and 14 per cent.
Users like Derek agree that pot isn't a benign drug. "I couldn't concentrate in school," he says. Push came to shove when he began playing competitive hockey. "I was skating real slow. So that's when I cut back."
Still, misconceptions about pot are widespread, says Stephen Gard, Focus Community co-ordinator at the Teen Health Centre.
"It's becoming normalized. I'm being told that it's not that bad. Some teens think decriminalization means legalization."
And some teens, like Bogdan Babos, an 18-year-old student at Herman, doubts the battle against pot can be won. "Obviously it's there. You won't be able to stop them from trying it. I know they're going to try it sooner or later -- it's a given."
Adds Jason: "They've been trying to stop kids from having sex for how long, now? If they want to do it, they'll find a way to do it, so why stop them?"
THE STATS
Drug use among students from Grade 7 through Grade 12 (2003)
Alcohol 66.2 per cent, Cannabis 29.6 per cent, Binge drinking 26.5 per cent*, Cigarettes 19.2 per cent, Hallucinogens 10 per cent
Pot use soared from 6.2 per cent in Grade 7 to 44.8 per cent in Grade 12.
In the spring of 2003, 6,616 students in Grades 7 to 12 from 37 school boards participated in the study by The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health's Ontario Student Drug Use Survey.
* Binge drinking (five-plus drinks on one occasion) refers to the past four weeks time period.
Ran with fact box "The Stats" which has been appended to the story.
http://www.canada.com/fortstjohn/story.html?id=ab86babc-b81e-4aa8-b127-53281cff0afe
A smoke break creates icon of the war; now groupies seek out the weary Marine
By Patrick J. McDonnell
Los Angeles TimesSaturday, November 13, 2004 - Page updated at 12:00 A.M.
FALLUJAH, Iraq — The Marlboro man was angry: He has a war to fight, and he's running out of smokes.
"If you want to write something," he tells an intruding reporter, "tell Marlboro I'm down to four packs, and I'm here in Fallujah till who knows when. Maybe they can send some. And they can bring down the price a bit."
Those are the unfettered sentiments of Marine Lance Cpl. James Blake Miller, 20, a country boy from Kentucky who has been thrust unwittingly and somewhat unwillingly into the role of poster boy for a war on the other side of the world from his home on the farm.
"I just don't understand what all the fuss is about," Miller drawls yesterday as he crouches — Marlboro firmly in place — inside an abandoned building with his platoon mates, preparing to fight insurgents holed up in yet another mosque.
"I was just smokin' a cigarette, and someone takes my picture and it all blows up."
Miller is the young man whose gritty, war-hardened portrait, shot by Luis Sinco, a Los Angeles Times photographer, appeared Wednesday in more than 100 U.S. newspapers, including The Seattle Times. In the full-frame photo, taken after more than 12 hours of nearly nonstop deadly combat, Miller's camouflage war paint is smudged. He sports a bloody nick on his nose. His helmet and chin strap frame a weary expression that seems to convey the timeless fatigue of battle. And there is the cigarette, of course, drooping from the right side of his mouth in a jaunty manner that Humphrey Bogart would have approved of. Wispy smoke drifts off to his left.
The image has quickly moved into the realm of the iconic.
More than 100 newspapers printed it, although it took the New York Post to sum it up in a front-page headline: "Marlboro Men Kick Butt in Fallujah." The fact that Miller's name was not included in the caption material only seemed to enhance its punch.
The Los Angeles Times and other publications have received scores of e-mails wanting to know about this mysterious figure. Many women, in particular, have inquired about how to contact him.
"The photo captures his weariness, yet his eyes hold the spirit of the hunter and the hunted," wrote one e-mailing admirer. "His gaze is warm but deadly. I want to send a letter."
Maybe it's about America striking back at a perceived enemy, or maybe it's just the sense of one young man putting his life on the line halfway across the globe.
Whatever the case, the photo seems to have struck a chord, and top Marine brass are thrilled. Lt. Gen. John. Sattler, commander of the I Marine Expeditionary Force, dropped in on Charlie Company yesterday to laud the Marlboro Men.
"That's a great picture," echoed Col. Craig Tucker, who heads the regimental combat team that includes Miller's battalion. "We're having one blown up and sent over to the unit."
Miller, though, has been oddly absent from the hoopla. Sattler did not single him out during his visit. In fact, Miller only heard about it from the two Los Angeles Times staffers embedded with his unit. He seemed incredulous. "A picture?" he asked. "What's the fuss?"
And what does he think about the Marines, anyway? "I already signed the papers, so I got no choice but to do what we're doing."
The photo was taken on the afternoon after Charlie Company's harrowing entry into Fallujah under intense enemy fire, in the cold and rain. Miller was on the roof of a home where he and his fellow First Platoon members had spent the day engaged in practically nonstop firefights, fending off snipers and attackers who rushed the building. No one had slept in more than 24 hours. All were physically and emotionally drained.
"It was kind of crazy out here at first," Miller says. "No one really knew what to expect. They told us about it all the time, but no one knows for sure until you get here."
In person, Miller is unassuming: of medium height, his face slightly pimpled, his teeth a little crooked. He takes his share of small-town-hick ribbing from a unit that includes Marines from big cities as well as small towns.
And it has only increased as word of the platoon radio man's instant fame has spread among his mates.
"Miller, when you get home you'll be a hero," Cpl. Mark Waller, 21, from Oklahoma, said yesterday. "They'll put out a big sign: 'Welcome home, Marlboro Man.' "
Miller is now obliged to provide smokes to just about anyone who asks. It's just about wiped out his stash in a town where Marlboros aren't available just yet.
"When we came to Fallujah, I had two cartons and three packs," Miller explains glumly, adding that his supply has dwindled to four packs, not much for a Marine with a three-pack-a-day habit. "I don't know what I'm going to do."
Even in the Marines, where smoking is widespread, the extent of Miller's habit has raised eyebrows.
"I tried to get him to stop — the cigarettes will kill him before the war," says Navy Corpsman Anthony Lopez, a medic. "I get on him all the time. But this guy is a true Marlboro man."
Miller, who was sent to Iraq in June, is the eldest of three brothers from the hamlet of Jonancy, Ky., in the heart of Appalachian coal country.
Never heard of Jonancy?
"It's named after my great-great-great-grandparents: Joe and Nancy Miller," the young Marine explains. "They were the first people in those parts."
His father, James Miller, is a mechanic and farmer, and Miller grew up working crops: potatoes, corn, green beans.
His mother, Maxie Webber, is a nurse. She last talked to her son briefly on Sunday via a satellite phone. He could speak for only a few minutes, enough time to say hello and reassure his family. After the U.S. attack on Fallujah began Monday, family members waited for some message that he was still alive. Days later, they sat in shock as newscaster Dan Rather talked about the photograph. Who is this man, Rather asked, with the tired eyes and a look of determination?
"I screamed at the TV, 'That's my son!' " Webber said.
Others in Jonancy, including his own father, didn't recognize the camouflaged and bloodied man as the boy they knew.
"He had that stuff on his face. And the expression, that look," said Rodney Rowe, Miller's high-school basketball coach. "Those are not the eyes I'm used to seeing in his face."
Back in high school, Miller was an athlete, joining every team that played a sport involving a ball. The school, Shelby Valley High, is located in Pikeville, Ky., the nearest town of any consequence and the home of an annual three-day spring festival called "Hillbilly Days."
Miller was adrift after high school, wondering what to do with himself. His father never wanted him to work in the mines. "He would have been disappointed if I did that," Miller says. "He told me it was awful work."
So Miller enlisted in the Marines in July 2003 after a conversation with a recruiter he met at a football game. His road to fame was paved in Marine khaki.
"What I really wanted to do was auto-body repair," he says. "But before I knew it I was in boot camp."
Now, he says he's just trying to get through each day. His predecessor as platoon radio man was sent home after being injured in a car-bomb attack.
Miller has three years to go in active duty, but he appears disinclined to re-enlist.
And he shrugs off suggestions he may cash in on his fleeting stardom. He has no plans to hire an agent.
"When I get out, I just want to chill out a little bit," he explains. "Go back to my house, farm a little bit, do some mechanical stuff around the house and call it a day."
Oh, and one more thing: "I'll just sit on my roof and smoke a cigarette."
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002089907_marlboro13.html
*unionleader.com had same article, page wouldn't load at:
http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_showa.html?article=47033
Reports still good -PA
I am breathing easier these days.
It has been two years since I quit smoking. That's helped, but it is not the only reason.
A report from my third and final free chest X-ray in the National Lung Screening Trial of the National Cancer Institute showed that my lungs are clear, the size of my heart is normal, my chest is stable and there is no plain evidence of lung cancer.
I am grateful that no problems have been detected in chest X-rays I had on Oct. 25, 2002; Oct. 3, 2003; and Sept. 29 at UPMC Lee Regional Medical Center in Johnstown.
But I will have to keep checking on the possible effects of inhaling cigarette smoke, nicotine and tar into my lungs for 42 years. I quit smoking Nov. 1, 2002. I will receive annual reminders to keep checking as I complete questionnaires concerning my health over the next five years to provide additional information for a national study on diagnosing and treating lung cancer.
The NLST began in 2002 to give men and women smokers ages 55 to 74 an opportunity to receive free annual chest X-rays or computed tomography (CT) scans for three years in a nationwide study to determine whether conventional chest X-rays or CT scans are the best way to detect lung cancer in its early stages.
About 55,000 people are participating in the NLST throughout the nation with approximately 2,200 in western Pennsylvania. The results of the X-rays and CT scans are provided for the participants and their personal physicians. The participants are responsible for scheduling and paying for follow-up tests and treatment if cancer is found.
"It would be great if you can emphasize the need for people to have their third X-ray or CT scan in anything you write," said Dr. Jeffrey Schragin of the UPMC Cancer Pavilion in Pittsburgh. "We have diagnosed 30 cancers to date with most, but not all, in the very early stages. It is important for participants to have all three tests. Some of the cancers have been diagnosed on the second tests and some on the third tests."
Schragin is the regional coordinator for the National Lung Screen Trial in western Pennsylvania. Although the X-rays and CT scans are provided annually for three years and the program started in 2002, it will take a few years to get results of the study, Schragin said. People were enrolled until February of this year, with the second round of screening to end in early 2005 and the third round finishing in early 2006.
He said the study is going well in both the region and the nation. He was pleased to hear that I am still not smoking after two years.
He thanked me for participating in the NLST and writing about it the past two years.
"Congratulations on quitting smoking," he said. "That is not easy to do and you should be proud."
I told him I am proud and I am also grateful for the opportunity to participate in the NLST. Joining the national study gave me the incentive to quit smoking. I was concerned about what I might find out. At the time, it seemed silly to be worried with no plans to quit smoking. So, I decided to try to quit before I got the results of the first chest X-ray.
The good X-ray reports have made it easier for me to breathe and to hang tough on not smoking. When I am tempted, I remember what John R. Como, my dad, told me about three months before he died at age 76 in 1986.
"You really ought to quit smoking, John," Dad said. "But, if you do, you really have to be tough. I quit smoking in the Navy more than 40 years ago and there are still times when I really want to smoke."
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1078&dept_id=151030&newsid=13358211&PAG=461&rfi=9
Healthcast: Test Your Smoking I.Q.
The following Healthcast report by medical editor Marilyn Brooks first aired Nov. 12, 2004, on Channel 4 Action News at 5 p.m.
There was a time that smoking was not only widely accepted, but promoted by celebrities on television. Not any more. These days, most Americans know that smoking is unhealthy.
But how much do you really know? Let's test your smoking I.Q.
1. Is the number of smokers in the United States going up, going down or staying the same?
It's not going up, but it's not going down either. About 50 million people smoke. That's equal to the entire populations of 26 different states.
2. When you take a puff from a cigarette, how many different compounds are you inhaling?
Dr. Karen Ahijevych, researcher: "Believe it or not, you inhale more than 4,000 compounds from a burning cigarette. In that amount are 50 cardinogens."
Ahijevych studies the effects of smoking on the human body.
3. True or false: It's the nicotine in tobacco that causes cancer.
False.
Ahijevych: "Nicotine itself is not carcinogenic, but there are other ingredients in the cigarette smoke that are." -- ingredients such as ammonia and carbon monoxide.
4. If you smoke 1½ packs a day, and you quit now, how much money could you save over 10 years?
Nearly $22,000.
If you or someone you know is trying to quit, experts recommend getting help. Only 3 percent of people successfully quit each year. Studies show that the use of nicotine patches or gum, along with behavioral modification, can increase the odds.
http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/health/3915098/detail.html
Smoking Triggers Early Onset Of Pancreatic Cancer
A new study finds tobacco may act as an environmental trigger for patients with an inherited genetic predisposition to pancreatic cancer. The authors of the report say the findings underscore the importance of strongly counseling patients with a family history of pancreatic cancer to avoid smoking. The study will be published in the December 15, 2004 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.
Pancreatic cancer is rare and poorly studied. What is known is that pancreatic cancer is aggressive, with a five-year survival rate of only 4 percent. A small percentage of patients with pancreatic cancer have first-degree relatives with pancreatic cancer. Smoking has been identified as the single most important risk factor in familial pancreatic cancer. Despite genetic characterization of other hereditary cancers, the genetic component of pancreatic cancer remains a mystery. With such little known about what is now called familial pancreatic adenocarcinoma (FPAC), researchers led by Ted A. James, M.D. of the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York investigated the clinical course and outcome of FPAC compared to sporadic pancreatic cancer.
Retrospective review of 826 patients with pancreatic cancer found 30 had the familial form (3.6 percent). Earlier age at diagnosis and a smoking history were marked features among the familial group. The mean age of diagnosis was younger in the hereditary cohort than among those with the sporadic form (57.1 years old versus 61 years old), and more FPAC patients were diagnosed before the age of 50 (36.7 percent versus 18.3 percent). Moreover, patients with FPAC were more likely to smoke than those who had sporadic pancreatic cancer (87 percent versus 66 percent).
The authors of the report conclude, "Patients with a family history of pancreatic cancer must be strongly counseled against smoking, and smokers with a family history of pancreatic cancer should be informed of their increased risk and offered enrollment into a smoking cessation program."
###*theres related news stories I didn't copy
Article: "Risk Factors Associated with Earlier Age of Onset for Familial Pancreatic Cancer," Ted A. James, David G. Sheldon, Ashwani Rajput, Boris W. Kuvshinoff, Milind M. Javle, Hector R. Nava, Judy L. Smith, and John F. Gibbs, CANCER; Published Online: November 8, 2004 (DOI: 10.1002/cncr.20700); Print Issue Date: December 15, 2004.
State-Specific Prevalence of Current Cigarette Smoking Among Adults --- United States, 2003
Cigarette smoking causes approximately 440,000 deaths annually in the United States (1). To assess the prevalence of current cigarette smoking among adults, CDC analyzed data from the 2003 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey. This report summarizes the results of that analysis, which indicated substantial variation in cigarette smoking prevalence in the 50 states, the District of Columbia (DC), Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) (range: 10.0%--34.0%). To further reduce the prevalence of smoking, states/areas should implement comprehensive tobacco-control programs.
BRFSS is a state-based, random-digit--dialed, telephone survey of the U.S. civilian, noninstitutionalized population aged >18 years. In 2003, the median state/area response rate was 53.2% (range: 34.4%--80.5%). Estimates were weighted by age and sex distributions for each state's population, and 95% confidence intervals were calculated. BRFSS respondents were asked, "Have you smoked at least 100 cigarettes in your entire life?" and "Do you now smoke cigarettes every day, some days, or not at all?" Current smokers were defined as those who reported having smoked >100 cigarettes during their lifetimes and who currently smoke every day or some days.
In 2003, the median prevalence of current cigarette smoking among adults was 22.1% in the 50 states and DC (range: 12.0% [Utah]--30.8% [Kentucky]) Smoking prevalence was higher among men (median: 24.8%; range: 14.0%--33.8%) than women (median: 20.3%; range: 9.9%--28.1%) in the 50 states and DC. Smoking prevalence for both men and women was highest in Kentucky (men: 33.8%; women: 28.1%) and lowest in Utah (men: 14.0%; women: 9.9%). In areas other than the 50 states and DC, the median prevalence of current cigarette smoking among adults was 13.6% (range: 10.0% [USVI]--34.0% [Guam]).
Reported by: J Bombard, MSPH, A Malarcher, PhD, M Schooley, MPH, A MacNeil, MPH, Office on Smoking and Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, CDC.
Editorial Note:
Although the prevalence of current cigarette smoking among U.S. adults has declined, the rate of decline has not been rapid enough for the nation to achieve the 2010 national health objective of <12% of adults smoking cigarettes (objective 27-1) (2,3). The median prevalence of adult smoking decreased 1 percentage point from 2002 to 2003, and the national objective for 2010 was achieved in Utah and the USVI. The high prevalence of current cigarette smoking in most of the remaining states/areas underscores the need for increased efforts to reduce tobacco use.
The findings in this report are subject to at least three limitations. First, the BRFSS survey does not sample persons in households without telephones, a population that might be more likely to smoke (4). Second, data for cigarette smoking are based on self-reports and are not validated with biochemical tests. However, self-reported data on current smoking status have high validity (4). Third, the median response rate was 53.2% (range: 34.4%--80.5%); lower response rates indicate a potential for response bias. However, BRFSS estimates for cigarette smoking are comparable with current smoking estimates from other surveys with higher response rates (5).
Comprehensive tobacco control is effective in preventing and reducing tobacco use (6). CDC recommends the following evidence-based interventions as strategies within comprehensive tobacco-control programs: clean indoor air laws, telephone support quitlines, media campaigns, increased excise taxes on tobacco products, insurance coverage for cessation counseling and pharmaceuticals, and health-care system changes that support cessation (7). Substantial variation exists across states in their use of these strategies. For example, in 2002, two states offered Medicaid coverage for all recommended medication and counseling treatments for tobacco dependence, whereas 11 states covered no tobacco-dependence treatments (8). In addition, the average cost of a single pack of cigarettes (which includes state-based excise taxes) ranged from $3.10 in Kentucky to $5.54 in New York in 2003 (9). The majority of states offer telephone support quitlines, and residents of all states soon will have access to a nationwide network of quitlines. Finally, only six states (California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, and New York) have comprehensive statewide bans in effect on smoking in indoor workplaces and public places.
The more funds that states spend on comprehensive tobacco-control programs, the greater the reduction in smoking (6). However, the amount of money that states spend for tobacco control decreased 28% during the preceding 2 years to $541.1 million, which is less than 3% of the estimated $19 billion states expected to receive from tobacco excise taxes and tobacco settlement money in 2003 (10). For fiscal year 2004 (i.e., July 1, 2003--June 31, 2004), only four states (Arkansas, Delaware, Maine, and Mississippi) were investing at least the minimum per capita amount that CDC recommends for tobacco-control programs (10). Efforts and resources must be expanded if more states are to reduce smoking prevalence to <12% by 2010.
References
1 CDC. Annual smoking-attributable mortality, years of potential life lost, and economic costs---United States 1995--1999. MMWR 2002;51:300--3.
2CDC. Cigarette smoking among adults---United States, 2002. MMWR 2004;53:427--31.
3 US Department of Health and Human Services. Healthy people 2010 (conference ed, in 2 vols). Washington, DC: US Department of Health and Human Services; 2000. Available at http://www.health.gov/healthypeople.
4 Nelson DE, Holtzman D, Bolen J, Stanwyck CA, Mack KA. Reliability and validity of measures from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). Social Prev Med 2001;46:S3--S42.
5 US Department of Health and Human Services. Women and smoking: a report of the Surgeon General. Rockville, MD: US Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Office of the Surgeon General; 2001:24--25.
6 Farrelly MC, Pechacek TP, Chaloupka FJ. The impact of tobacco control program expenditures on aggregate cigarette sales: 1981--2000. Health Econ 2003;22:843--59.
7 Task Force on Community Preventive Services. Guide to community preventive services: tobacco use prevention and control. Am J Prev Med 2001;20(2 Suppl 1):1--87.
8 CDC. State Medicaid coverage for tobacco-dependence treatments---United States, 1994--2002. MMWR 2004;53:54--7.
9 Orzechowski W, Walker RC. The tax burden on tobacco, volume 38. Arlington, VA: Orzechowski and Walker; 2003.
10 Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, American Lung Association. A broken promise to our children: the 1998 state tobacco settlement five years later. Washington, DC: Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids; 2003Available at http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/reports/settlements/2004/fullreport.pdf .
Table of Prevelence of Current smoking
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5344a2.htm
*THE ABOVE REPORT TURNS INTO THIS, I HAVE THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ARTICLE YESTERDAY
Adult Smoking Rate Continues to Decline -USA
11/12/2004
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study finds that the overall smoking rate among U.S. adults continues to decline, albeit slowly. Last year, the smoking rate fell to 22.1 percent, one percentage point less than the previous year, the Associated Press reported Nov. 10.
"It's a slow decline, but at least it is still going down," said Dr. Corinne Husten, acting director of the CDC's Office on Smoking and Health. Still, it seems unlikely that the government will meet its goal of a smoking rate of 12 percent or less by 2010.
According to the report, Utah was the first and only state last year to meet the government's goal. California has the second-lowest smoking state at 17 percent, while Kentucky has the highest, at 31 percent.
The adult smoking rate has been dropping every year since 1998. The CDC credited the decline to smoking bans, anti-smoking media campaigns, higher cigarettes taxes, and insurance coverage for smoking-cessation programs.
Thailand signs international anti-tobacco pact
BANGKOK, Nov 13 (TNA) - Thailand has become a member of the World Health Organisation's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).
"Thailand is the 36th country to ratify the pact, making Thailand one of the founder member countries of the global anti-smoking treaty," said Dr. Hatai Chitanondh, the President of the Bangkok-based Thai Health Promotion Institute, a leading network for the anti-smoking campaign.
A Thai government representative signed the pact on 8 November at the United Nation's headquarters in New York, he disclosed.
The aim of the treaty is to regulate smoking, the advertising of tobacco products and the illicit trade of cigarettes, among other issues.
"The treaty will be in use when four further countries adopt it, which is expected shortly", said Dr Hatai.
He noted that Thailand's national anti-smoking policies are stronger than those of the FCTC, but that Thailand would benefit from the pact, which will control cross-region advertisements launched by international cigarette companies, especially on local cable television's international sports programmes.
If the FCTC is adopted and subsequently ratified by all 40 member countries, the convention will become the WHO's first global treaty on public health. (TNA)--E112, E002
http://www.mcot.org/query.php?nid=32779
Wallace denies effect of smoking ban on trade -UK
ANDREW DENHOLMMINISTERS yesterday insisted they would not be deflected from bringing in tough smoking curbs for Scotland despite protests from the licensed trade.
The warning came from the enterprise minister, Jim Wallace, in an uncompromising speech that disputed many of the licensed trade’s claims about the impact of the Executive’s proposed legislation.
Mr Wallace set out the Executive’s case in a speech to the Institute of Directors Scotland’s annual conference at Gleneagles Hotel, Perthshire.
Jack McConnell, the First Minister, announced on Wednesday that legislation will be launched before Christmas to outlaw smoking in enclosed public places, with a target of spring 2006 for full implementation.
The Scottish Licensed Trade Association, which favours a voluntary approach, has denounced a consultation process as a sham and has threatened a legal battle.
The licensed trade claims a ban could cost 30,000 jobs but Mr Wallace rejected this.
"At the end of the day, once we have listened to all sides of the debate - and we have - ministers need to do what we believe is right," he said.
He said evidence from New York did not back up the "more pessimistic" claims about the effect on trade.
http://news.scotsman.com/politics.cfm?id=1309692004
Danger that 'lifestyle politics' will force out economic issues
WHAT are, or should be, the big issues in government and political life? Whatever one’s views on the Scottish Executive’s proposals this week to ban smoking in public places, the fact that such legislation is now in prospect marks a step change in our perceptions of the business of politics. The proposed ban has springboarded Scotland to international attention, with articles and commentary across the world’s press. It is the boldness of the proposal - unthinkable ten or even five years ago - that has caught public attention. Moreover, the ban will not only be far reaching in Scottish life and behaviour. It will also be keenly studied by the Westminster parliament which may follow suit.
The drive to legislate in Scotland is itself inspired by the introduction of similar smoking bans in New York and more recently Ireland. Indeed, far from politicians being dragged reluctantly down the path of health intervention, legislatures round the world now appear to be in a race to see who can effect the earliest and most effective law. On public health grounds, this is a race to the good. Scotland is one of the unhealthiest nations in Europe - and smoking is a major contributor. Lung cancer rates are 49 per cent higher in Scotland than in the rest of the United Kingdom; and some 31 per cent of Scots smoke, compared with 26 per cent in England. But, ironically, far from this making the Executive more circumspect in its approach on the grounds of voter acceptability, it is cited as an argument to be all the more radical and to go for an immediate and sweeping smoking ban.
"Lifestyle politics" is now taking all before it. Whether it is drug-taking, obesity and eating choices, alcohol consumption or smoking - the cascade of interventions through government education, task forces, health warnings, admonitory advertising and partial or total bans is now a common phenomenon in politics. The right of legislators to intervene has become accepted by voters to a degree that would have astonished our parents’ generation. Half a century ago, foreign affairs dominated the political agenda. The former prime minister, Sir Anthony Eden, represented a generation that could never understand why politicians should concern themselves with health and hospitals; but today there seems room for little else.
Many see in this a wholly welcome and desirable shift in political attention and emphasis: evidence of an extension of the power and influence of legislatures in important fields. But it is not without its dangers. One of these is the rise of, for want of a better phrase, "displacement politics": the elevation of the politics of personal lifestyle change over traditional "big issue" matters such as the economy, or international relations. Legislatures risk being reduced to "cigarette politics" because of an impotence over the bigger macro concerns. Thus we may be seeing less an extension or enhancement of the modern legislature than a massive demotion in which traditional "big issue" matters are increasingly closed to discussion, let alone intervention.
Scotland this week may have presented a perfect example of this displacement effect at work. It was the proposed smoking ban that the First Minister, Jack McConnell, was anxious to see given top press attention. Media interest in his phone calls with the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, over the fate of the Black Watch regiment was not something he wished to encourage. Similarly, the announcement this week of the "refreshing" of Smart, Successful Scotland - the central plank of Executive policy on the economy - was a markedly downbeat affair. This was particularly striking given Mr McConnell’s previous earnest assurances that "the economy is our number one priority". But it clearly was not the number one priority this week - or in many other weeks, for that matter. The Executive should be careful in its zeal for lifestyle politics ranging over smoking bans and hunting bans to child-smacking bans that it does not lose sight of the issues that really shape our lives in Scotland: jobs, growth, investment and prosperity.
THE second danger arises directly from the nature of the new "lifestyle politics": who sets the agenda, and who determines its limits? One of the charges laid against interventions such as smoking legislation is that it is less a reflection of popular preference than the agenda of a politically correct elite that feels its lifestyle choices to be superior and that it has a right to force others to adopt them. Lifestyle politics has, of necessity, to address the objection that parliaments are supposed to represent the choices and preferences of all the voters, not just a certain section, no matter how righteous they may feel themselves to be. This, in turn, has a direct bearing on the public acceptability of legislation and critically on the question of compliance and enforcement. Proscription does not avoid the need for persuasion.
And this is critical, because the rise of lifestyle politics is unlikely to stop here. Already the drinks industry is preparing to fend off legislation by putting health warnings on beer bottles. Whether this will have any more effect in deterring legislation than warnings on cigarette packs had in pre-empting smoking bans is moot. But few of the doctors who put their names to letters this week calling for a smoking ban would challenge the enormous damage that alcohol abuse inflicts on individuals, families and society as a whole. The health - and wider social damage - is colossal, and it would not be at all surprising if alcohol regulation is the next big step. But in the new Prohibition, how exactly will the law be enforced?
And did we really bring universal suffrage parliaments and legislatures into being to pass laws on the minutiae of human behaviour? What of the broader society and economy? What of those things that are not in our personal gift to control, but which a democratic society recognises our right to influence? We should be careful that, in setting out to correct small personal behaviours, we let great social misbehaviours pass unattended.
http://news.scotsman.com/opinion.cfm?id=1309212004
Miami-Dade Police reviewing use of stun guns after second child shocked with Taser
MIAMI (AP) - Police have acknowledged using a stun gun to immobilize a 12-year-old girl just weeks after an officer jolted a first-grader with 50,000 volts.
Police Director Bobby Parker defended the decision to use a Taser on the 6-year-old boy last month because he was threatening to injure himself with a shard of glass. But Parker said Friday that he could not defend the decision to shock the fleeing girl, who was skipping school and apparently drunk.
According to the incident report, officer William Nelson responded to a complaint that children were swimming in a pool, drinking alcohol and smoking cigars on the morning of Nov. 5.
Nelson said he noticed the girl was intoxicated and was walking her to his car to take her back to school when she ran away through a parking lot.
Nelson, 38, said he chased her and yelled several times for her to stop before firing the Taser when she began to run into traffic. The electric probes hit the girl in the neck and lower back, immobilizing her.
Nelson said he fired "for my safety along with (the girl's) safety." Paramedics treated the girl, who went home with her mother.
Parker said department policy permits officers to use the Taser to apprehend someone, but he said he expected his officers to use better judgment, especially when police had no plans to arrest the girl.
The first incident had already exposed the department to more criticism for its use of Tasers, which it has begun distributing in greater numbers to officers.
The 6-year-old boy was shocked on Oct. 20 in the principal's office at Kelsey Pharr Elementary School. Principal Maria Mason called 911 after the child broke a picture frame in her office and waved a piece of glass, holding a security guard back.
The boy had cut himself under his eye and on his hand when officers arrived.
"The police could have handled this better," said the boy's mother, Kathy Rojas. "They did not have to shoot him."
Parker said that, in light of the disclosure of the second incident, the department will review its policy.
http://www.fox23news.com/news/natio Posted at 8:07 pm by looped_ca
Friday, November 12, 2004
Do You Want To Kick Butt On a Smokin' New Reality Show? - Casting call
We want 5 nicotine addicted 20-35 year olds with the urge to kick the habit to be part of a new reallity serieson the Knowledge network.
Shooting dates Jan 19 - may15, 2005
Burnaby, BC - Knowledge Network's new reality TV series called Kick Butt is smokin'. This documentary series will follow five quitters (current smokers who want to give up the nasty habit of smoking) that are ready to fight the urge to light up in front of the camera. This could be your chance to Kick Butt, once and for all.
Throughout the series, viewers will meet the participant's friends and families and find out just what they think about smoking. The show provides the cast with a resident psychologist who is a smoking cessation specialist as well as other medical experts who will weigh in on each participant's progress. Watch as each of the five go through various stages of withdrawal, and celebrate with them as they reach each smokeless milestone. As key targets are reached, contests and incentives will be provided to keep the participants motivated to reach their ultimate goal of quitting smoking for good.
Kick Butt is funded in part by Health Canada, the British Columbia Lung Association and the Kaiser Foundation.
Knowledge Network's mission is to deliver high quality, relevant, credible, and compelling educational programming accessible to all British Columbians via TV and the Web. As BC's educational broadcaster, they also offer access to targeted audiences for educators who provide the information British Columbians need to adapt to their changing world.
http://kickbutt-tv.com/
Discount cigarettes a reasonable concession, says N.S. doc
Though discount cigarettes are becoming a growing option for smokers not willing and able to pay for their old brands, a Nova Scotia doctor says it's not neccesarily a problem.
There's a lot of different ways to feed a tobacco addiction these days. You can buy a pack of twenty cigarettes, or twenty-five. You can choose from King-size, light, menthol, un-filtered. You can roll your own, or chew it.
And since tobacco taxes have increased over the past few years, you can pick from a variety of discount brands, made with lower-grade tobacco.
Two weeks ago, the chief executive of Rothmans Inc., one of the Canada's largest tobacco companies, predicted that as taxes on cigarettes increased smokers would turn to discount brands. One physician in Nova Scotia says the trend toward discount cigarettes isn't necessarily a bad thing.
Dr. Gerry Brosky, a family physician and chair of Working Group on Tobacco Issues, a Nova Scotia-based anti-smoking iniative, says taxing cigarettes is an ethical dilemma because many people addicted to tobacco are low-income earners. He says discount cigarettes are a reasonable concession to make when you keep that in mind. &qng." Brosky says that taxation will work only if linked with legislation to make smoking "not normal, not acceptable."
Brad Kenny, a Dartmouth native, says he's never had to sacrifice anything else for cigarettes, but admits to being careful with his money so he can still afford to smoke. He smoked DeMaurier Light for seven years, and says he switched when his brand started costing over ten bucks a pack. " I switched to Peter Jackson's in June. None of my friends smoke their old brands anymore. We all had to switch."
Kenny says he didn't consider quitting when taxes went up, but he wants to quit now. "The cigarettes I smoke are disgusting. I used to smoke because I loved it," he says. "Now I just smoke because I'm addicted."
"More is better"
Catherine Cole, Public Awareness Coordinator for the Coalition for a Smoke-Free Nova Scotia, says not to feel sorry for tobacco companies like Rothman's, who reported lower profits after last spring's tax increase. "The tobacco industry will always make money. They sell discount cigarettes but they'll sell more, because they're cheaper."
The tobacco companies weren't the only one worrying about a dip in income due to high cigarette taxes. Diana Elcheikh owns a corner store in Halifax. She says she's noticed most of her regular customers have switched from premium brands, like DeMaurier and Players, to discount cigarettes, such as Number 7, Peter Jackson's, or Canadian Classics.
Elcheikh says she makes less money on the cheaper packs, but it all evens out: "Even though it's nine cents less profit per pack, people buy more of the cheaper cigarettes. So we make more profit, eventually. More is better." She says that cigarettes, along with lotto, are what keep her in business. "Without cigarettes, there'd be no corner stores."
Taxes still have desired effect
Brosky says that even though it seems the tobacco companies found a loophole in the tax legislation, the problem really lays with where the tax money is going. "Nova Scotia makes around $130 million a year from cigarette tax. They spend about 1 per cent of that on tobacco programming." Brosky says that taxation will work only if linked with legislation to make smoking "not normal, not acceptable."
While discount cigarettes do give smokers another option rather than paying up, but it seems the high taxes are still having the desired effect. Kenny says he wouldn't be quitting if his favorite brand was still affordable.
"Put it this way," he says. "If DeMaurier was still eight dollars a pack, I wouldn't be thinking about quitting."
http://novanewsnet.ukings.ns.ca/nova_news_3588_3269.html
New treatment targets smokers with panic disorder
Posted on Friday, November 12, 2004 @ 10:30 AM PST by bjs
Not everyone who tries to quit the habit on the Great American Smokeout Nov. 18 will have the same odds of success. The 2.4 million Americans who have panic disorders not only smoke at a disproportionately high rate--about 40 percent vs. 24 percent of the general population--they also have a harder time quitting and relapse more often. Another 5 percent of American smokers--2.4 million more people--may develop panic-related symptoms or even panic disorder when they try to quit. Interventions such as nicotine replacement therapy and counseling don't address their symptoms, but new programs pioneered by University of Vermont psychologists are offering hope.
From University of Vermont:
Burning anxiety: New treatment targets smokers with panic disorder
Not everyone who tries to quit the habit on the Great American Smokeout Nov. 18 will have the same odds of success. The 2.4 million Americans who have panic disorders not only smoke at a disproportionately high rate--about 40 percent vs. 24 percent of the general population--they also have a harder time quitting and relapse more often. Another 5 percent of American smokers--2.4 million more people--may develop panic-related symptoms or even panic disorder when they try to quit. Interventions such as nicotine replacement therapy and counseling don't address their symptoms, but new programs pioneered by University of Vermont psychologists are offering hope.
Research suggesting that smoking often precedes panic disorder and may increase risks of developing the malady led Michael Zvolensky, assistant professor of psychology and director of UVM's Anxiety Health and Research Laboratory, to pioneer new prevention and treatment programs now being duplicated at other institutions. Participants learn to deal with their panic-related symptoms through gradual exposure, coping strategies and mentally correcting illogical fears.
''Once conditioning has happened, you can't undo it,'' says Zvolensky, who initiated the programs. ''We don't try to remove panic-related symptoms, but we offer an alternative model to teach people to tolerate and/or alleviate symptoms.''
Smokers with panic disorder ''appear to be super-motivated to quit,'' says Zvolensky, ''but they also seem to have a harder time quitting, and are more likely to relapse.'' That's not hopeful news, considering that more than 90 percent of smokers in the general population who quit on their own and up to 85 percent who attend traditional treatment programs relapse within a year.
Zvolensky believes that mental health professionals have largely ignored cigarette smoking. Little is understood of how smoking relates to anxiety disorders other than panic disorder, but studies indicate that a history of heavy smoking may increase the chance of developing a variety of emotional disorders.
As a result of his research in the United States and Russia, Zvolensky and his team are currently evaluating a brief prevention program and a 16-week treatment protocol that targets smokers who are vulnerable to panic psychology. By inducing panic symptoms through such methods as having patients hyperventilate or breathe CO2-enriched air, smokers learn to tolerate panic symptoms and react differently to those sensations. For instance, they learn to recognize that a racing heartbeat isn't the onset of a heart attack.
Citizens of Nova Scotia are trying out Zvolensky's treatment model through a collaboration with the Psychiatry Department at Dalhousie University, and laboratories elsewhere are duplicating his studies, which have been documented in more than 30 articles in peer-reviewed journals such as Addictive Behaviors and Clinical Psychology Review. Although long-term data are not yet available, Zvolensky hopes his research will lead to targeted, more effective methods to help people with panic sensitivities quit the habit -- and in some cases, help them to avoid developing the disorder in the first place.
http://www.scienceblog.com/community/article4622.html
Canada Taking Too Long to Resolve Tobacco Ad Case, Globe Says
Nov. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Canadian officials are taking longer than usual to tackle complaints that the tobacco industry is misleading consumers by using the words ``light'' and ``mild'' on cigarette packaging, the Globe and Mail reported.
Eleven doctors and health experts who filed complaints 17 months ago to the Competition Bureau, which regulates advertising, are asking why the case is taking so long to resolve, the newspaper said.
The federal body is supposed to respond within 10 weeks and most complaints are ``turned around'' within six weeks, the Globe said.
The Competition Bureau hasn't responded to the complainants, who said the issue may be too ``sensitive'' for the agency to handle, the newspaper said. A spokeswoman for the agency told the Globe, ``we are still reviewing the matter.''
(Globe and Mail, 11-12, A4)
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000082&sid=axj827IkImkg&refer=canada
Smoking on Decline in US
11/12/04- Fewer Americans are smoking, although the overall decline is a small one. The Centers for the Disease Control and Prevention says the overall smoking rate among adults was 22.1% last year. That's a decline of just 1 percentage point from the previous year.
The US smoking rate has dropped every year since 1998, and the CDC attributes that sustained drop in part to smoking bans, media campaigns against smoking and something Michigan smokers can relate to- higher cigarette taxes.
http://www.wlns.com/Global/story.asp?S=2556426&nav=0RbQT3KN
Virginia gets $50 million in sales, real estate transaction tax increases
RICHMOND, Va. Virginia got 50 (m) million dollars in new funds in October, thanks to an increase in the sales tax and the real-estate transactions.
The increases were part of Governor Warner's legislative package to boost state revenues. After a contentious session, the General Assembly approved the measures in the spring.
A report by state Finance Secretary John Bennett showed the half-percent sales tax increase generated 31 (m) million dollars. Half will go to public schools and reimbursing local governments for lost car-tax revenues. Real estate transactions brought in nearly 19 (m) million dollars.
The tax increase, plus economic recovery, prompted revenues to grow more than 10 percent over last October. And over the next two years, they're expected to raise one-point-five (b) billion dollars to fund the state budget.
The cigarette tax was increased from two-point-five cents to 30 cents a pack -- state officials haven't yet disclosed the amount collected.
http://www.wavy.com/Global/story.asp?S=2557168
Small cigarette makers sue Louisiana
By Allen G. Breed, Associated Press Writer 11-12-04
Posted 3:45 p.m.
Three small cigarette makers filed a lawsuit Monday accusing Louisiana of enacting legislation aimed at preserving Big Tobacco's market share and artificially propping up the major producers' settlement payments to the states.
Plaintiffs said the lawsuit was the first targeting 19 states that have similar legislation.
The National Association of Attorneys General says such laws closed a loophole that gave upstart cigarette companies a price advantage over firms that signed 1998's $200 billion Master Settlement Agreement.
Annual payments to the states are based on the market share of the four major signatories — Philip Morris USA, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Brown & Williamson Tobacco Co. and Lorillard Tobacco Co. In the past four years, hundreds of small manufacturers have seen their market share grow more than tenfold to about 6.5 percent.
Under the agreement, cigarette companies were required to escrow money for up to 25 years with each state to cover awards in future state legal actions. But there was a provision in the settlement allowing companies that only did business in a few states to get most of that money back almost immediately.
The legislation, supported by Philip Morris and the other big cigarette makers, would require those non-signatory companies to escrow the money as if they were doing business in all 46 states and United States territories that entered the settlement.
The suit — filed in federal court in New Orleans on behalf of Xcaliber International Limited of Pryor, Okla.; CigTec Tobacco of Charles City, Va.; and Carolina Tobacco Co. of Portland, Ore. — argues that these small manufacturers are being penalized for Big Tobacco's historical misrepresentation of scientific data on the hazards of smoking, suppression of production of safer cigarettes and marketing of cigarettes to children.
"The MSA was designed to reimburse the settling states for the harm caused by these major tobacco manufacturers' wrongful conduct dating back to the 1950s," the suit argues. "No such claims have been asserted against Plaintiffs."
Lawyers for the three companies argue that the new legislation was designed to increase the costs on nonparticipating manufacturers and "thereby to squeeze them out of business or, at least, inhibit their business development."
In addition to Louisiana, states that have passed such legislation include Alabama, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Montana, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Louisiana's new attorney general, Charles Foti, was sworn in only Monday and could not immediately be reached for comment. But Vermont Attorney General Bill Sorrell, chairman of NAAG's tobacco committee, said the issue is not just about money, but about protecting public health.
Companies that signed the MSA are prohibited from giving out free samples, using cartoons in their advertisements or using merchandise to promote brands. Sorrell said the states have an interest in ensuring that all cigarette makers are playing by the same rules.
"Certainly it is a concern to the states ... because the payments to the states are reduced when there's this kind of market share shift taking place," he said. "But it's also a concern that the nonparticipating manufacturers, by virtue of their status, do not need to abide by the advertising and marketing restrictions that the companies that are part of the agreement need to adhere to."
http://www.news-record.com/news/now/tobacco011204.htm
Gene Found To Defend Against Environmental Pollutants And Pulmonary Emphysema
SourceJohns Hopkins Bloomberg School Of Public Health2004-11-11
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and other institutions have identified a “master gene” in mice that controls the action of 50 other genes whose products protect the lungs against environmental pollutants. The researchers believe their findings will provide a better understanding of the human body’s defense mechanisms and could lead to the identification of what factors make some people more susceptible to lung diseases. The article is published in the current issue of The Journal of Clinical Investigation.
The so-called “master gene”—nuclear factor erythroid-derived 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2)—is activated in response to environmental pollutants such as cigarette smoke, and then turns on numerous antioxidant and pollutant-detoxifying genes to protect the lungs from developing emphysema.
Shyam Biswal, PhD, senior author of the study and an assistant professor in the Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Department of Environmental Health Sciences, said, “The important thing to remember is that the degree of lung damage depends on the ability to defend against environmental factors. We now know that Nrf2 is the key player in protection even in the case of chronic exposure to pollutants.”
In 2002, Dr. Biswal and colleagues were the first to show that activation of Nrf2 in response to an anticancer agent—Sulforaphane—can turn on antioxidant genes, but little was known about Nrf2-regulated genes and their role in lung inflammatory diseases caused by chronic exposure to environmental agents. By exposing mice to cigarette smoke, the researchers were able to learn which gene controlled this natural defense mechanism.
The researchers found that disruption of the Nrf2 gene caused earlier onset and more severe emphysema in a strain of mice that is resistant to cigarette smoke-related emphysema.
Through gene chip analysis, the researchers were able to identify 50 Nrf2-dependent antioxidant and cytoprotective pulmonary genes that work together to protect the lungs from cigarette-smoke-induced emphysema. A gene chip allows researchers to monitor the complex interactions of thousands of genes on a whole genome rather than one at time.
Pulmonary emphysema is a major manifestation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which affects more than 16 million Americans and is the fourth highest cause of death in United States. COPD, the only disease among the top 10 causes of death with a rising incidence rate in the United States, is predicted to reach worldwide epidemic proportions.
Tirumalai Rangasamy, PhD, first coauthor of the study and a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Biswal’s lab, explained that whereas cigarette smokers make up 85 percent of COPD patients, other environmental risk factors can include air pollution and chronic occupational exposure to various dusts.
Dr. Biswal said, “With this new gene and environmental interaction discovery, in the future we may be able to identify people who are genetically predisposed to developing lung diseases—not just COPD—that are caused by environmental factors. The responsiveness of the Nrf2 pathway may act as a major determinant of susceptibility to tobacco-smoke-induced emphysema by upregulating antioxidant defenses and decreasing lung inflammation.”
“Genetic ablation of Nrf2 enhances susceptibility to cigarette smoke-induced emphysema in mice” is published in the November 1, 2004, issue of The Journal of Clinical Investigation.
The study was supported by grants from the Maryland Cigarette Restitution Fund, the Young Scientist Clinical Award from the Flight Attendant Medical Research Institute, National Institutes of Health National Cancer Institute and National Institute of Environmental Health Science to the Johns Hopkins Center in Urban Environmental Health.
Along with Dr. Biswal and postdoctoral fellows from his lab, Dr. Rangasamy and Rajesh K. Thimmulappa, professor Thomas Kensler, with the Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Department of Environmental Health Sciences, coauthored the study. Additional co-authors include Sorachai S. Srisuma, Chung Y. Cho, Lijie Zhen, Masayuki Yamamoto, Irina Petrache and Rubin M. Tuder.
Editor's Note: The original news release can be found at: http://www.jhsph.edu/PublicHealthNews/Press_Releases/PR_2004/Biswal_Nrf2.html
Getting the Message Across to Consumers
By Kate Devlin, PA
Drinkers buying Newcastle Brown Ale and John Smith’s bitter will soon be able to read about the dangers of downing too many of them as the warning will be written on their labels.
Britain’s largest brewer, Scottish & Newcastle, has announced it is to put health warnings on its products from today to promote awareness of sensible drinking.
“Responsible drinkers don’t exceed 4 daily units (men) and 3 units (women)” will soon appear alongside the number of alcohol units contained in the pack.
The brewers want to discourage binge-drinking, and others are expected to follow their example.
The announcement comes on the same day as the launch of a website promoting responsible drinking, which will be marketed on alcohol bottle labels.
The drinks industry-funded www.drinkaware.co.uk features an alcohol unit calculator using real brands and serving sizes, so users can pinpoint the true number of units they drink per week.
But for either of these labels to work they will have to be “big, clear and simple” said the director of a campaign which has long supported product warnings.
Deborah Arnott, from Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), said: “The experience of cigarette warnings show that while they can be very effective, they have to be big and easy to understand.
“Warnings also have to rotate and change, as there is a danger that people will get blasé and ignore them. But they do make people think, and, although their effects are perhaps not immediate, over time they do make smokers more likely to quit.
“Research in Canada shows that when they introduced a new set of warnings (in 2001) 44% of people said it increased their motivation to quit smoking.”
But she thinks the message written on beer bottles will be harder to promote than that on cigarettes.
“It is simpler to get our message across, because it is that cigarettes are so bad for you you shouldn’t smoke, full stop. With alcohol the message is not don’t drink at all, but don’t drink so much, which could be harder to have an impact. All the more reason for it to be clear and simple.”
Food labelling shows how important it is that printed information can be easily understood by shoppers.
Although manufacturers have to include nutritional information on food packaging an MP recently told the Government that most people read such labels using “guesswork and good luck”.
Labour’s Helen Southworth, a Warrington MP, said pre-packaged foods should be labelled in a way that gives people easy to understand information about what they are eating.
In 1996 new regulations required much more information to be stated on packaged food.
Labels now have to include the name of the product – which mustn’t give a false impression – a list of ingredients in descending order of weight, a date mark, storage instructions, the name and address of the manufacturer, the place of origin, its weight or quantity, any special claims, and preparation instructions – especially on high risk foods.
The labelling of genetically modified foods is controlled by separate regulations, and controls on the term “organic” have been established by EU regulations.
Despite this, Kath Dalmeny, policy officer at the Food Commission, says the Government should regulate how food is labelled, so the public “doesn’t have to learn 27 different systems just to do their shopping”.
She says consumers struggle with the technical way nutritional information is presented on food, and advocates “interpretative labelling”, where consumers are given information in a way that means something to them.
“A Commons Health Select Committee recently suggested a traffic light system for food where green would show products low in ingredients like salt and fat, and red would highlight food containing more of these unhealthy items. We think this could work,” she said.
She also pointed out how labels can be used by manufacturers to give a misleading impression of their food.
“Producers sometimes emphasise the positive aspect of a product on the front and hide some of the more negative content in the back. For example, a parent might buy a type of children’s food because it says it is high in calcium, and not realise that it is also high in fat. Regulation would stop this practise.”
And she thinks labelling can occasionally be a distraction from other aspects of food health.
“Labelling is an important part of the jigsaw, but it is not the most important. The most important is that we have good quality food.
“For example, 75% of the salt we eat in our diet comes from processed foods. The industry has started to address this, but it still shows the problem of unhealthy pre-packaged food that needs to be tackled. That said, consumers having access to information is still only a good thing.”
A spokesperson for the National Consumer Council (NCC) said effective labelling can sometimes transform an industry.
“When they started to label fridges according to their energy efficiency it was found that shoppers stopped buying less efficient machines. These then stopped being made, and now all fridges are more energy efficient.
“Although this may not work for everything, it does shows the potential power that labels have,” she added.
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3751222
Hackers target drink awareness website
By
12 November 2004
An alcohol industry website aimed at tackling binge drinking was the worse for wear when it launched today - after it was closed down by hackers.
The internet service, which allows people to check their own alcohol intake against Government guidance, should been available this morning as part of a drive to promote sensible consumption.
Britain's largest brewer Scottish & Newcastle started rolling out cigarette packet-style warnings on bottles and cans promoting the site, but customers have been unable to access the advice.
Responsible drinking organisation the Portman Group, which funds the www.drinkaware.co.uk site, said the failure left them with a major headache.
"There were problems last night and also this morning, at first we thought it was simply technical difficulties, but it seems to have been more than that," said
"Some of those who have been able to log on have reported that they have suffered computer viruses.
"We will be very disappointed if we confirm that it has been targeted by hackers."
He said that the site should be available again from this evening.
It features an alcohol unit calculator using real brands and serving sizes which allows users to pinpoint the real number of units they drink per week.
The web pages also feature a self-assessment test for those worried about their drinking habits.
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/articles/14680308?source=PA
Russia backs plan for smoking ban
The lower house of the Russian parliament has approved legislation to ban smoking in public places.
If the bill is given backing by the upper house, new laws will come into force for one of the biggest cigarette-smoking populations in the world.
The legislation will prohibit smoking in workplaces, enclosed sports facilities and government offices.
It will also outlaw all sales of tobacco in health care facilities and sports venues.
But correspondents say it may have little effect - the current smoking ban on public transport is widely ignored.
Smoking and heavy alcohol consumption are two of Russia's most widespread public health problems, contributing to the country's declining average life span.
Beer ban
Latest figures from the World Health Organisation put Russia in fourth place among the highest-smoking countries.
Earlier this week, the upper house of the Russian parliament rejected a bill backed by the lower house that would have banned the consumption of beer in public.
But a diluted version of the bill may still emerge, when a commission reworks the legislation to try to secure approval by both houses of parliament.
Beer consumption in Russia has doubled in the past five years.
Around 30% of the beer bought in Russia is consumed immediately, as many people find it too expensive to buy alcohol at restaurants and bars.
Russia introduced tough beer advertising laws in September, banning commercials between the hours of 0700 and 2200.
The use of people and animals in beer ads will be prohibited as of next year.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4007369.stm
Sin-tax lobby fund claim irks solons -Philippines
By JODEAL CADACIO
TODAY Senior Reporter
Leaders of the House of Representatives, upset by the allegation that a huge lobby fund oiled the passage of the sin-tax bill, on Friday asked Lakas Rep. Herminio Teves of Negros Oriental to prove his claim that lobby money may have prompted the House to “water down” its version of the bill, now undergoing deliberation in the Senate.
In other developments, administration senators said they will push for the toughest sin-tax version possible, even as American tobacco giant Philip Morris supported the latest “compromise formula” unveiled at the Senate by the Department of Finance.
An incensed Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. called Teves’s accusation an “irresponsible and cruel joke.”
De Venecia said the accusation is unfair to the House and its members who had worked overtime to prevent a credit downgrade that would have meant an estimated P20 billion in additional interest penalties for the country.
Teves, however, denied having made a categorical claim that bribe money put up by industry players flowed into the House.
“I did not say that [lobby money flowed into the House]. I was misunderstood by the media,” Teves said.
Teves made the claim about the lobby money during a breakfast forum in Quezon City. He gave the same statement when interviewed by reporters, who sought clarification from his claim about the alleged lobby money.
Reporters asked Teves if lobby money was involved in the approval of the sin tax bill. To this, Teves replied that “there is lobby money all over the world.”
Teves told a radio interview that he did not intend to malign the House, and that it was the media’s fault that his statements were blown out of proportion.
In a joint statement, House Majority Leader Prospero Nograles, Lakas Reps. Robert Ace Barbers of Surigao del Norte, Exequiel Javier of Antique and Monico Puentevella of Bacolod City took Teves to task for “having besmirched the chamber’s reputation,” and asked him to clarify his statements.
Nograles said that Teves ought to explain what he thought he said or what he meant by what he said.
He said that being the oldest member of the House—at 84—Teves must be allowed to air his side.
Barbers said that Teves must substantiate his claim and name the congressmen who may have benefited from the lobby money. Otherwise, Teves owes the House and its members an apology.
Javier, vice chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means, asked: “What lobby fund is he talking about? The passage of the sin tax bill simply disproves the lobby money, otherwise it would not have been passed.”
Nationalist People’s Coalition Rep. Jesli Lapus of Tarlac, ways and means committee chairman, agreed with Javier saying that any claim that bribe money fueled the approval of the sin tax bill is “ridiculous.”
“A lobby would have killed the bill that increases taxes on alcohol and cigarette products,” Lapus said.
He also stressed that it would be preposterous to lobby the House and the Senate because the final version of the measure would be hammered out by the bicameral conference committee.
Meanwhile, proadministration senators chided the Department of Finance (DOF) for its “half-baked” proposal to generate only P7 billion in additional revenues each year from new taxes on tobacco and alcohol products.
In a joint statement, Sens. Pia Cayetano, Richard Gordon, Lito Lapid, Ramon Revilla Jr. and Mar Roxas II said they would be receptive should the DOF push for more tax revenues from tobacco and alcohol products.
“The DOF’s P7-billion incremental revenue target is inadequate. We envision a larger tax bite on sin products because we consider it [the sin tax] to be the least injurious to the general public and to the broader economy,” the senators said.
“If we can generate more revenues from sin products, then we can reduce, or better yet, forgo other proposed tax increases that are deemed more onerous and burdersome, such as the proposed P2 per liter across-the-board levy on petroleum products,” they pointed out.
Philip Morris Philippines Manufacturing Inc. (PMPMI), the local arm of Virginia-based Philip Morris International Inc., is, however, strongly supporting the DOF proposal, saying it marries the goals of maximizing potential revenue while ensuring the viability of the tobacco industry.
PMPMI spokesman Dave Gomez said in a statement that the passage of the new tax scheme for tobacco products—unveiled by DOF officials in Thursday’s hearing of the Senate ways and means committee—would send clear and positive signals to the foreign investors as well as international credit-rating agencies “that the Arroyo administration is serious in raising more taxes while protecting the viability of the industries concerned.”
Finance undersecretary Grace Pulido Tan had told senators the government would lower the initial adjustment on cigarette tax brackets to 12 percent from the 20-percent tax increase approved by the Houses of Representatives last month—the version described as ‘watered down.” On top of the 12 percent, the DOF’s compromise would apply a P0.40 unitary tax on all cigarette classes on the first year; after which the taxes will be raised by 3.6 percent plus a P0.16 unitary tax every two years until 2011.
The 12 percent was almost a third of the original proposal of the DOF for a 30-percent tax adjustment in the first year of the effectivity of the new excise tax scheme for cigarettes.
Under the new proposal, the DOF said the government could raise as much as P40.88 billion in tax revenues from cigarettes, beer and distilled spirits over a seven-year period. This is P9.42 billion more than the P31.46 billion that would be generated under the House-approved tax scheme.
Gomez said the DOF formula incorporates some of the features of the original PMPMI position calling for uniform specific increases across all the four cigarette tax brackets.
“We originally proposed a unit specific increase as an alternative to percentage increases to preserve the current gaps between tiers. With specific increases built into the final formula, the new tax law will be more equitable and manageable on the part of all stakeholders,” he added.
Philip Morris is the world’s largest producer and marketer of consumer packaged goods. It has five principal operating companies including Kraft Foods Inc., Miller Brewing Co., Philip Morris International Inc., Philip Morris Inc. and Philip Morris Capital Corp.
In pushing for the toughest sin-tax bill possible, senators, meanwhile, warned of the consequences of slackening. “The prospect of a credit downgrade will lead to billions of pesos in additional spending for debt payments. We have to quickly regain the confidence of the financial markets by maximizing our efforts to raise new money out of this first tax bill,” said Roxas, chairman of the Senate Committees on Trade and Commerce and on Economic Affairs.
“We support the President’s efforts of quickly building up tax collections and will not be obstructionist. Instead, we will work to convince our colleagues on the merits of optimizing revenue collections from sin products,” Roxas said.
Cayetano, chairman of the Senate health committee, expressed concern that while the administration aims to raise funds to address the budget deficit, “the government should not turn a blind eye to the perennial health crisis.” With L. Agcaoili
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/NewsStory.aspx?section=NATIONAL&oid=63333
Smoking blamed for 106,000 deaths a year
Fri 12 November, 2004 11:32
LONDON (Reuters) - Deaths from tobacco-related diseases have fallen during the past decade but smoking still kills about 106,000 people each year, according to a report.
Despite efforts to get people to kick the habit, about 28 percent of men in England and 26 percent of women smoke.
"We are in the grip of a smoking epidemic: an estimated 106,000 people in the UK are dying needlessly each year from smoking," said Professor Liam Donaldson, the chief medical officer.
The report, "The Smoking Epidemic in England", compiled by the Health Development Agency (HDA) revealed that more than a third of men under 54 years old and a third of women under 44 in England smoke. The highest prevalence, up to 40 percent, is among 25-34 year-old men.
People living in parts of London, the northeast, Greater Manchester and South Yorkshire had the highest smoking rate at just over 30 percent.
Sussex, Dorset, Somerset, Coventry and Herefordshire were some of the areas which had the lowest prevalence.
"Smoking is an important cause of health inequalities -- the poorer you are, the more likely you are to smoke, you're less likely to quit and you're more likely to die from smoking-related causes," said Dame Yve Buckland, chair of the HDA, in a statement on Friday.
Medical studies have shown that cigarette smokers die, on average, 10 years earlier than non-smokers. But stopping the habit can halve the risk.
Lung cancer is the disease most commonly associated with smoking but it is also a risk factor for heart disease, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), which includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis, and other types of cancer.
"Over 70 percent of smokers say they want to give up and evidence shows that smoke-free workplaces can encourage this, and can reduce the absolute prevalence of smoking by about 4 percent," Buckland added.
Health experts and anti-smoking groups have urged the government to follow Ireland's example and ban smoking in enclosed public workplaces such as pubs, restaurants and bars.
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=620096§ion=news
Posted at 8:24 pm by looped_ca
Thursday, November 11, 2004
Workplace Safety officers can police smoking ban
An unpublicized regulation, filed by the province the day before the smoking ban began, allows Workplace Safety and Health inspectors to apply penalties for contraventions of the smoking ban act.
The Workplace Safety Regulation, Regulation 183/2004, downloadable here, states that a contravention of the Non Smokers Health Protection Act is deemed to be a contravention of the Workplace Safety and Health Act, for the purpose of issuing an improvement order or a stop work warning.
Theoretically, a Workplace Safety and Health officer could go as far as to issue a Stop Work order if he or she believes the contravention does "involve a serious risk to the safety or health of any person in or about the workplace".
The Non-Smokers Health Protection Act specifies penalties for both individuals who smoke and premises where the offence occurs, but the Workplace Safety Regulation is silent on any enforcement or penalties for patrons who smoke.
http://www.manitobahotelassociation.ca/cgi-bin/story.cgi?id=244
Lotteries loses $30M in wake of butt ban-MB
Hopes new VLTs will draw customers back
By Dan Lett Thursday, November 4th, 2004
MANITOBA Lotteries Corp. lost more than $30 million last year as smoking bans in Winnipeg and Brandon drove gamblers away from casinos and video lottery terminals.
However, lotteries officials are hopeful future losses may not be as bad as first predicted. MLC previously forecast losses for the current fiscal year could reach $50 million once the province went completely smoke free.
The final results for the fiscal year ending March 2004 show net income from all forms of gambling dipped to $235.4 million, down 11.3 per cent from the $265 million earned in the previous year.
The biggest losses were posted in casino operations, which produced $14.2 million less than the previous year. Income from video lottery terminals declined $11.1 million, while lottery income declined $4.8 million.
Lotteries spokeswoman Susan Olynik said the losses were consistent with earlier forecasts of the impacts of smoking bans in Winnipeg and Brandon. Last year, MLC predicted a loss in excess of $26 million.
There is some reason for optimism in the current fiscal year, Olynik said.
First quarter financial results, also released yesterday, show a total decline in net income of $5.5 million, evidence the pace of revenue loss has slowed, she said.
Anecdotally, casino managers are reporting that some of their best smoking patrons who fled to avoid the ban are returning, Olynik said.
MLC is also banking on a new $75-million fleet of VLTs, which were put into service this summer, to renew interest among gamblers, Olynik said. Bar and restaurant owners in Winnipeg and Brandon, which saw significant declines in VLT activity when smoking bans were enacted, have reported renewed interest in the newer machines, she added.
With so many variables in play in the current year it may be impossible to predict what will happen with gaming revenues, she added. Hard data on VLT revenues and casino visits will not be available until the new year.
A province-wide smoking ban was enacted on Oct. 1 and is expected to drive away some gamblers from rural and northern sites that have VLTs, Olynik said. However, MLC is hoping that 5,300 new VLTs that were put into service this summer will draw new interest from gamblers turned off by the smoking bans, she said.
dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/
National smoking ban push urged
Mon, November 8, 2004 MARIA MCCLINTOCK, SUN OTTAWA BUREAU
OTTAWA -- Canada's new public health agency should lead the charge in creating a national ban on smoking in the workplace and all indoor public spaces, states a new report commissioned by the Canadian Medical Association. The report, called Health Promotion in Canada 1974-2004: Lessons Learned, details how in the last 30 years Canada has gone from being a leader in health promotion to one primarily pre-occupied with the delivery of health care.
Authored by a trio of experts led by former federal deputy minister of health and welfare Dr. Maureen Law, the report calls on the federal public health agency to get back to basics in four areas, including anti-smoking.
'PATCHWORK'
"The current patchwork of anti-smoking legislation in Canada, which varies almost town by town, should be replaced by a unified national standard, which would include banning smoking in all workplaces and all indoor public places in the country," states the report, released over the weekend at the Chronic Disease Prevention Alliance's convention in Ottawa.
The new agency should also get in the business of promoting mental health and mental illness care, and champion a healthy weight campaign.
"Canada is in the grips of an obesity epidemic,'' the report says.
"As many as one-third of children are estimated to be overweight, while estimates say close to half of adults are overweight."
Previous successful health-promotion campaigns targeting drunk driving and wearing seat belts and bicycle helmets are proof they can work, the report says.
OBESITY, TOO
CMA president Dr. Albert Schumacher said the report is a prescription for the fledgling public health agency created almost a year ago.
"We've picked priority areas for acute treatment (under the recent health accord), but then we also have to weigh this with the prevention side of it," Schumacher said.
"A lot of these things are prevention for not only the next crisis, but also the long-term health affects of things going on, including tobacco, obesity .... and our immunization strategy."
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/EdmontonSun/News/2004/11/08/705373.html
Defiant council lets vets light up -ON
By Ann LukitsLocal News - Wednesday, November 10, 2004 @ 07:00
Veterans Erl Kish and Don Prue stood outside City Hall’s council chambers last night discussing how many air fresheners and ashtrays the city’s three Royal Canadian Legion halls will need if they decide to add smoking rooms.
Moments earlier, Kingston city council had voted 7-3 to exempt Legion halls and veterans’ organizations from the city’s controversial smoking bylaw.
The veterans quickly moved from politics to more practical considerations.
“I think it’s a pretty progressive move,” said Kish, president of Ontario Command, the governing body for 426 Legion branches in Ontario. “Now we’re heading in the right direction in the city of Kingston.”
Prue, past president of Royal Canadian Legion on Railway Street, had only a few minutes to celebrate the historic decision before he rushed off to a “big meeting” at Branch 9. He was eager to break the news to fellow Legionnaires.
“We’ve passed the biggest hurdle today,” he said.
At least two dozen members of Kingston’s three Legion branches and three local veterans organizations watched quietly as city councillors wrestled with the controversial exemption during an intense 30-minute debate.
Councillor Floyd Patterson wanted to postpone the vote until the city’s legal department had an opportunity to review a decision by Mr. Justice Richard Byers of the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario. Veterans’ organizations and local businesses attempted to strike down the bylaw, claiming that it discriminated against them by giving a special exemption to bingo halls. But Byers ruled on June 24, 2003, that the city had a right to discriminate provided the discrimination occurred between different “classes” of businesses and not within the same class. It’s the definition of class that Patterson wanted clarified.
Although he supported the exemption for Legions, Patterson urged councillors “to make sure we are doing the right thing.”
But Councillor Rick Downes, who opposed the Legion exemption, argued that the city’s lawyers have no authority to question a judicial decision. Patterson’s motion to refer the matter to the legal department was lost in a 7-3 vote.
Mayor Harvey Rosen also tried, without success, to defer the vote. Although he initially supported an exemption for veterans’ organizations and Legions, the mayor told council he had misgivings about the legality of the proposed amendment.
“There is a chance that this amendment may destroy the enforceability of the rest of the bylaw,” he said. “If the bylaw is bad, it may be that it’s all bad and we’ll end up with no restrictions [on smoking]. For that reason, I can’t support the motion.”
Downes proposed deferring a vote on the Legion amendment until Ontario Health Minister George Smitherman introduces provincial anti-smoking legislation later this month – but councillors voted 7-3 against waiting.
Smitherman announced last week that the province intends to ban smoking in all public and work places in the province. The minister specifically singled out Legion halls and private clubs, saying they wouldn’t receive special treatment under the legislation.
But councillors felt they owed it to veterans to give them a break, even if the exemption amounted to nothing more than a gesture.
“We are just giving them a tool to work with,” said Councillor Kevin George.
The amendment approved last night gives Legions and veterans’ organizations the right to open “designated smoking rooms” that comprise 50 per cent of the total seating area. Smoking rooms must be fully enclosed and equipped with separate ventilation systems that ventilate directly to the outside of the buildings. The rooms cannot be used as a public thoroughfare nor serviced by employees.
Voting for the amendment were councillors George Beavis, Steve Garrison, Bittu George, Kevin George, Patterson, George Stoparczyk and George Sutherland.
Voting against were Councillors Leonore Foster, Downes and Mayor Rosen.
Although he told The Whig-Standard last week that he’d vote in favour of the exemption, Councillor Ed Smith declared a conflict of interest last night and abstained from voting. Smith owns a Princess Street restaurant.
Councillor Beth Pater also declared a conflict because one of her sons owns two restaurants on Brock Street in the downtown core.
Councillor Sara Meers declared a conflict of interest because her family owns a Princess Street business that sells tobacco products. Meers noted that the motion before council didn’t involve the sale of tobacco but said she felt “more comfortable” declaring a conflict.
http://www.thewhig.com/webapp/sitepages/content.asp?contentID=86100&catname=Local+News
Smoking bylaw: Backlash begins- ON
By Ann Lukits Local News - Thursday, November 11, 2004 @ 07:00
Kingston bar and restaurant owners vow to seek the same smoking bylaw exemption for outdoor patios that was granted this week to local legions.
The business owners reacted swiftly and angrily to Tuesday’s decision by city politicians who approved an exemption to the city’s smoking bylaw.
“In a nutshell, this is just another stupid decision by City Hall,” said Mike Menikefs, owner of Dailey’s Cafe in Progress Square in the city’s west end. “I’m not denying a veteran should get extra treatment but they were veterans 18 months ago when the smoking bylaw came in.
“Now, all of a sudden, why are they getting extra special treatment?”
The exemption allows Royal Canadian Legion halls and private veterans’ clubs to establish separate ventilated smoking rooms.
Councillors were warned, before the decision this week, that granting an exemption could open the floodgates to other exemption requests.
Said Brian Coghlan, owner of Whiskey Willy’s Restaurant on Gardiners Road:
“The city of Kingston never ceases to amaze me. They were so forceful on this whole issue before and now all of a sudden they’re wavering.“I wonder if they’ll waver for our group?”
Bruce Clark, owner of The Toucan and Tango downtown drinking establishments, said that “now they’ve opened this can of worms, we know it [the bylaw] can be changed. We’re going to be fighting for that.”
Peter Betas, owner of Olympia Billiards & Take-Out Restaurant on Charles Street, said: “I got nothing against these guys, but what’s wrong with us?
We pay taxes.”
Kingston councillors voted 7-3 Tuesday to amend the smoking bylaw to allow Legion halls and veterans’ groups to convert half their seating areas to smoking rooms. Three Legion branches and four veterans’ associations are affected by the amendment, which gives them the same status as bingo halls.
Bingo halls got the exemption when the bylaw was enacted in May 2003.
Councillors Leonore Foster and Rick Downes warned councillors this week that making an exception for veterans would prompt other groups to seek exemptions.
Glenn Rea, general manager of the Lone Star Texas Grill on Ontario Street, said he is definitely interested in pursuing an exemption for outdoor patios. The smoking restrictions on patios remain a sore point with restaurant owners and the general public, he said.
“We have had very little pushback from our customers [on indoor restrictions] but the biggest pushback we’ve had and continue to get is when patio season is upon us,” Rea said.
“People just don’t understand why you can walk through 10 people smoking outside a government building but you can’t smoke four tables away outdoors.”
Toucan owner Clark worries that provincial smoking legislation won’t be as tough on patios as the city’s smoking bylaw and Kingston “will look like some kind of a backwater because we have this law that’s so restrictive and all the rest of Ontario won’t.”
“I’m hoping we can get a group of bar owners together to try and fight this patio thing and just comply with the Ontario law,” Clark said.
Kingston lawyer Philip Osanic said bar and restaurant owners shouldn’t waste their time on trying to amend the city’s smoking bylaw. He said the bylaw can’t be enforced on patios adjacent to major roadways anyway because Highway Traffic Act restrictions override the municipal legislation.
To ensure smoking restrictions apply to all outdoor patios, the city included a “no smoking” clause in patio lease agreements instead.
Osanic said bar and restaurant owners don’t have to “touch the bylaw” and recommended they try a little political lobbying instead. He suggested the owners ask council to amend the summer lease agreements for outdoor patios to allow smoking after sunset when most children are in bed.
“There doesn’t need to be an exemption in this bylaw for outdoor patios,” he said. “The bylaw can’t be enforced on those roadways and the city knows it.”
Osanic represented local Legions, veterans’ clubs, bars, restaurants and billiards establishments last spring when they launched a legal challenge to the smoking bylaw, claiming the city had discriminated against them by giving an exemption to bingo halls.
Mr. Justice Richard Byers of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled against the group, saying the Municipal Act gives municipalities the right to discriminate between different classes of persons and businesses.
Byers noted in his three-page judgment that council’s decision to give special treatment to bingo halls was a political one that had nothing to do with public health, adding that “it must have known that this would upset everybody else.”
Mayor Harvey Rosen and Councillor Floyd Patterson wanted City Hall lawyers to review the Byers ruling before council voted to amend the smoking bylaw.
They warned that exempting Legions and veterans’ groups might make the rest of the bylaw unenforceable.
But Osanic said that council doesn’t need to review the Byers decision because the Municipal Act gives municipalities the power to differentiate “in any way and on any basis” it considers appropriate.
“City council just amended their bylaw to determine that service clubs and Legions are specifically defined as a separate class,” he said.
Osanic said the Legion amendment proves that Kingston’s medical officer of health and Councillor Downes “were overly zealous and that city council has taken a step back and said ‘wait a minute, it’s not illegal to smoke.’ ”
Downes chaired a City Hall committee that consulted widely before drafting the controversial bylaw.
Dr. Ian Gemmill, Kingston’s medical officer of health, said yesterday he doesn’t support any exemptions to the bylaw, noting the decision to make an exception for veterans was a political one that had nothing to do with health.
“I care about the health of veterans as much as I care about the health of anybody else, maybe more – my dad was a veteran,” Gemmill said. “Why should we have less for the veterans, especially the non-smoking veterans, than we have for the rest of the population?
“Having said that, I think that this is an issue that is emotionally charged. The veterans served the country and I think everybody
sympathizes about that part of it.”
Gemmill said his biggest concern is that council has opened the door “to others asking for exemptions who don’t have this same kind of emotional pull but may have some economic pull.
“That would be a travesty if the bylaw started to unravel for that reason.”
Three members of council serve on the board of health but only one, Downes, voted against the Legion amendment. Councillor Beth Pater declared a conflict of interest and abstained from voting.
Councillor George Beavis, who voted for the Legion exemption, declared a conflict when the bylaw was first approved in October 2002 because his daughter worked at a bingo hall. He told The Whig this week that he no
longer has a conflict because she has a different job.Beavis said he also consulted a lawyer about another possible conflict:
his brother, Chuck Beavis, is president of Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 9, on Railway Street.
The lawyer told him he did not have a conflict because of his brother, Councillor Beavis said.
http://www.thewhig.com/webapp/sitepages/content.asp?contentid=86207&catname=Local+News
Brandon OKs smoking in outdoor facilities -MB,
By FRANK LANDRY, LEGISLATURE REPORTER
Patio puffing returnsThu, November 11, 2004
Smokers are being allowed back on Brandon's restaurant patios. The Wheat City has repealed its two-year-old anti-puffing bylaw, which prohibited patrons from lighting up on patios as well as all indoor public places.
"Brandon was a leader in bringing forward a bylaw to prohibit smoking in public places," said Dave Baxter, president of the Brandon Chamber of Commerce.
"It just shows the city backing off slightly in order for there to be consistency among restaurants and bars across the province."
Brandon repealed its smoking bylaw Nov. 1. It was the first city in Manitoba to introduce a puffing ban.
The Manitoba-wide smoking ban still outlaws smoking in most enclosed public and work places across the province, including those in Brandon.
The provincial legislation does not prohibit puffing on patios.
Baxter said the change is good for Brandon businesses which, in the spring, would have lost customers to restaurants just outside the city who were free to allow smoking on their patios.
"At the end of the day, the Brandon chamber supports this," Baxter said.
Brandon Mayor Dave Burgess did not respond yesterday to an interview request.
Ray Louie, chairman of the Manitoba Restaurant Association, said Brandon is doing the reasonable thing. He said it's easier to have one smoking policy for the entire province.
"To have separate jurisdiction put out different legislation doesn't make much sense," Louie said.
REVERT TO PROVINCIAL LAW
"The only fair thing to do is revert back to the provincial law."
Winnipeg has not repealed it's smoking bylaw.
Jim Baker, president of the Manitoba Hotel Association, said it wouldn't make much of a difference because Winnipeg's bylaw is similar to the province's crackdown, which kicked in Oct. 1.
The only difference is that the provincial legislation more clearly defines what is a patio, Baker said.
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/WinnipegSun/News/2004/11/11/709286.html
CPA: Staff support smoking rooms in psychiatric units
Staff say they feel safer and save time when patients can smoke on-site
By David Hodges
MONTREAL – More research is needed to determine if in-hospital smoking rooms are of any benefit to psychiatric patients, say Calgary researchers.
Although their retrospective chart review found no significant differences in the number of behavioural disturbances among psychiatric inpatients when the room was introduced after a hospital-wide smoking ban was imposed, a survey of psychiatric staff showed they felt safer after the room was available.
The staff also reported that in-patients were more likely to spend less time discussing cigarette smoking and more time presenting psychiatric complaints, and were more likely to use off-unit privileges based on appropriate psychiatric status rather than their need to smoke.
"The survey points to the fact that the staff find the smoking room to be very helpful. And that data that we have from the chart review shows decreasing trends in terms of behavioural interventions, but it doesn't give us any statistically significant results—and that may partially be numbers. So it's difficult to say conclusively whether it makes an objective difference or not," said Dr. Karen Kerfoot, a resident in the department of psychiatry at the University of Calgary who presented the findings at the Canadian Psychiatric Association meeting here. "At this point, I would say that we need to do more research to determine that."
It was a few months after the Calgary Health Region instituted a property-wide ban on cigarette smoking that a smoking room was opened in a psychiatric inpatient unit at the Foothills Medical Centre.
Dr. Kerfoot and colleagues did a randomly-selected retrospective chart review of 90 inpatient admissions at that unit for three months prior to the opening of the smoking room and in another 90 patient for the same three-month period one year later. The two groups were compared for the incidence of physical and/or verbal aggression and other types of disruptive patient behaviour (security involvement, aggression toward property, locked room use, higher observation and restraint). Also gathered were psychiatrist and nursing staff perceptions of the smoking room and its perceived impact on patient care.
The results of the chart review showed the total number of patients certified did not differ significantly between the two time periods observed. As well, there were no significant differences in disruptive patient behaviour.
Only non-significant decreasing trends, calculated as the average number of incidents per admission, were found for verbal aggression (1.21 pre vs. 0.57 post), aggression towards property (0.25 pre vs. 0.18 post), aggression toward people (0.2 pre vs. 0.09 post) and locked room use (0.25 pre vs. 0.14 post). There was a non-significant increase in the need to keep patients under observation.
The results of the survey showed that 86.5% of the staff supported the smoking room, and more than 80% reported feeling safer on the unit. In addition, staff reported spending more time on patients' psychiatric issues, less time discussing cigarette smoking and more time building rapport.
Significant differences reported by the staff included a decrease in the minutes spent discussing cigarette smoking (21.8 pre vs. 5.7 post), giving patients off-unit privileges purely for the purpose of smoking (25.2 pre vs. 3.3 post) and giving patients off-unit privileges in order to smoke (20.6 pre vs. 5.9 post).
Less time was spent discussing the use of nicotine replacement and other smoking cessation aids when the in-hospital smoking room was available.
Dr. Kerfoot suggested that if a smoking room is to be used in psychiatric in-hospital units, this should be balanced by greater use of appropriately timed smoking cessation interventions.
http://www.medicalpost.com/mpcontent/article.jsp;jsessionid=ELCMLIHPPJPK?content=20041108_200145_1760
Council hears of rising costs- Kingston, ON
By Derek Baldwin Local News - Thursday, November 11, 2004 @ 07:00
On Day Five of budget talks, city council heard from the last of agencies and boards it funds wholly, or in part.
And in two of the three cases last night, council was informed the groups’ 2005 budget costs are spiralling upward.
City police and the Cataraqui Region Conservation Authority confirmed each of their budgets were beyond a 2.5-per-cent spending cap asked for by Mayor Harvey Rosen and senior staff.
The Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington Health Unit told council it’s simply too early to say whether it will be able to stay within the cap because it won’t begin budget talks until late January.
City police officials took great pains to walk council through a 5.68-per-cent budget increase which calls for $1.08 million more next year than in 2004.
That increase is $605,932 over the 2.5-per-cent spending cap.
Police board chairwoman Carol Allison-Burra confirmed that the board could not bring itself to cut back expenses to remain within the 2.5-per-cent cap.
And she told council that by submitting a budget asking for more money, the police board was not “crying poor ... nor are we here to fearmonger.”
Allison-Burra said the police service needed to “hire eight sworn officers” to handle a litany of policing demands.
More officers, she said, are needed to ensure the safety of citizens.
Police Chief Bill Closs admitted that “really not much has changed [in the police budget] since we met here Oct. 6.”
He thanked city staff and council for understanding the police board and administration’s funding dilemma: “It’s never an easy thing to divvy up taxpayers’ money when there are many agencies in the city.”
Closs said the biggest challenge facing the police is the $18.8-million cost for the salaries of roughly 175 officers in 2005.
The officers are critical to meeting demands by citizen demands for police response, he said.
“By the end of 2004, we will have made half-a-million contacts with citizens of Kingston and tourists, Closs said. “We’re not in the business of saying ‘no.’ When people can’t get help, they come to us 24 hours a day.”
Closs said council must also take into consideration the fact that investigations are expensive. A recent accident in the city cost his department $3,290 and 94 hours to clear.
Providing a police presence for the Queen’s Homecoming celebrations cost the department $33,985 and 971 hours in staffing, Closs said.
He also referred to a police investigation which required 5,925 hours of police staff time at a cost of $207,375.
“That’s why we have so much invested in salaries,” Closs told council.
He noted the police board could, if forced, cut a further $128,200 from the budget overrun by reducing rural patrols and deferring the hiring of two officers until 2006.
Deputy police chief Bob Napier outlined the capital needs of Kingston police for 2005.
One of the biggest challenges, he said, is funding the proposed police headquarters on Division Street, the estimated cost of which has jumped from $23 million to $33.4 million.
Councillor Floyd Patterson asked “how did we go up $10 million?”
Napier said among the many reasons is the need for an additional $700,000 to make the building more efficient.
But, he said, “the biggest cost factor has been the passage of time.”
Construction costs have skyrocketed since the original estimates were made three years ago, Napier said.
On another front, council heard it may have to pay out more next year as part of its obligation to fund the Cataraqui conservation authority.
Stephen Knechtel, general manager, said the authority met yesterday for its first budget meeting and said it may ask for 11 per cent more than in 2004 to cover everything from inflation and aging infrastructure to increased operations costs and measures necessary to meet new provincial regulations.
Knechtel said that would push the $16,000 or 2.5-per-cent increase asked for by the city to $56,000, upping the city contribution to the authority to roughly $700,000 next year.
Medical officer of health Dr. Ian Gemmill said the Kingston Frontenac and Lennox & Addington Health Unit couldn’t say whether his agency will meet a $72,000 spending cap asked for by the city.
If the cap was met, it would limit Kingston’s obligation to give the health unit $2.9 million. The health unit’s budget is roughly $8.7 million this year.
Gemmill said the health unit is waiting for provincial changes to health unit funding.
Queen’s Park, he said, is boosting health unit funding from 50 per cent to 55 per cent with the remainder to be funded by member municipalities.
“How that is to be implemented and how much of that is enrichment of public health and for municipalities, we don’t know yet. We have to wait for that information before we can say we’re going to meet the 2.5 per cent guideline of the municipality,” Gemmill said.
Armed with the latest information from agencies last night, council moved into final deliberations to seek approval for Kingston’s proposed $330-million 2005 budget, including operations and capital expenditures.
Results of late talks weren’t available at press time.
If council didn’t reach final approval of the budget, talks were expected to resume at 6 p.m. today in chambers.
http://www.thewhig.com/webapp/sitepages/content.asp?contentid=86227&catname=Local+News
Smoking rooms not up to snuff
Roy Green, Staff Writer Nov 11, 2004
More than 75 per cent of the costly designated smoking areas in restaurants, bars, taverns and bingo halls in York Region failed to meet minimum standards, according to a report from the region's health services department.
The report comes as Ontario Health Minister George Smitherman announced he will introduce legislation this month that will effectively ban smoking anywhere other than in private homes.
There are 102 premises with the completely enclosed and separately ventilated smoking rooms, some of which cost as much as $350,000 to build, but the report says most of them fail to meet bylaw requirements due to poor maintenance, insufficient air supply and exhaust, overcrowding or failing to keep the door closed, according to tobacco control officer Dave Harrison.
"They work when they're first built, but we go back a year later and we find doors are left open, the filters haven't been cleaned or they're not getting the amount of air they're supposed to get," Mr. Harrison said. "The bottom line is they're not meeting the criteria."
Owners are issued a $255 ticket for the first violation, but that could accelerate to a court summons and fine as high as $5,000 for repeated offences.
The number of failures in the smoking areas is not surprising to Markham Regional Councillor Jack Heath, a member of the health committee.
"It's a surprise that even 25 per cent of these DSR's worked," Mr. Heath said this week. "All the way through the processing of this bylaw, there's been no proof you could actually set up (a DSR) that worked all the time."
The region and other GTA municipalities have been asking the province to introduce legislation to shut down designated smoking rooms by 2007.
Mr. Heath believes a total ban is necessary.
"A level playing field is important," he said. "I don't think it's fair some owners can have DSRs, while others don't have the space or financial resources to do it."
Bill Lunney, who recently shut down his Newmarket tavern, Fairlane's, partly because of the bylaw, agrees with Mr. Heath.
"If there was no smoking anywhere, I wouldn't have a problem with that," Mr. Lunney said. "As it is, I lost customers to places that have the smoking rooms even though the ventilation in those places never works properly."
The report provides the first update since the the third phase of the region's anti-smoking bylaw was introduced in June. That phase added all licenced areas to earlier anti-smoking bans in workplaces, restaurants and other public areas.
http://www.yorkregion.com/yr/newscentre/georginaadvocate/story/2336924p-2706453c.html
City and Legion meet - Toronto, ON
Thursday November 11th 2004
7:46 Meeting of Legion Halls convened last night to discuss smoking ban. David Adamson, Chair of Provincial Command Royal Cdn Legion. He attended a meeting at Legion Branch 527 organized by City Councillor Frances Nunziata and 50 other Toronto Legion Branch executives. It was decided that she will ask Howard Moscoe to withdraw his motion
http://www.mojoradio.com/station/john_oakley.cfm
Anti smoking ban Fallout- video
Thunder bay, Ontario council is realizing, after two bar closed and talk of three more about to close, that there should be compromise.
http://tbtv.dayport.com/launcher/4071/?tf=tbtviewer_2004.tpl
Cigarette smoking causes approximately 440,000 deaths annually in the United States (1). To assess the prevalence of current cigarette smoking among adults, CDC analyzed data from the 2003 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey. This report summarizes the results of that analysis, which indicated substantial variation in cigarette smoking prevalence in the 50 states, the District of Columbia (DC), Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) (range: 10.0%--34.0%). To further reduce the prevalence of smoking, states/areas should implement comprehensive tobacco-control programs.
BRFSS is a state-based, random-digit--dialed, telephone survey of the U.S. civilian, noninstitutionalized population aged >18 years. In 2003, the median state/area response rate was 53.2% (range: 34.4%--80.5%). Estimates were weighted by age and sex distributions for each state's population, and 95% confidence intervals were calculated. BRFSS respondents were asked, "Have you smoked at least 100 cigarettes in your entire life?" and "Do you now smoke cigarettes every day, some days, or not at all?" Current smokers were defined as those who reported having smoked >100 cigarettes during their lifetimes and who currently smoke every day or some days.
In 2003, the median prevalence of current cigarette smoking among adults was 22.1% in the 50 states and DC (range: 12.0% [Utah]--30.8% [Kentucky]) (Table). Smoking prevalence was higher among men (median: 24.8%; range: 14.0%--33.8%) than women (median: 20.3%; range: 9.9%--28.1%) in the 50 states and DC. Smoking prevalence for both men and women was highest in Kentucky (men: 33.8%; women: 28.1%) and lowest in Utah (men: 14.0%; women: 9.9%). In areas other than the 50 states and DC, the median prevalence of current cigarette smoking among adults was 13.6% (range: 10.0% [USVI]--34.0% [Guam]).
Reported by: J Bombard, MSPH, A Malarcher, PhD, M Schooley, MPH, A MacNeil, MPH, Office on Smoking and Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, CDC.
Editorial Note:
Although the prevalence of current cigarette smoking among U.S. adults has declined, the rate of decline has not been rapid enough for the nation to achieve the 2010 national health objective of <12% of adults smoking cigarettes (objective 27-1) (2,3). The median prevalence of adult smoking decreased 1 percentage point from 2002 to 2003, and the national objective for 2010 was achieved in Utah and the USVI. The high prevalence of current cigarette smoking in most of the remaining states/areas underscores the need for increased efforts to reduce tobacco use.
The findings in this report are subject to at least three limitations. First, the BRFSS survey does not sample persons in households without telephones, a population that might be more likely to smoke (4). Second, data for cigarette smoking are based on self-reports and are not validated with biochemical tests. However, self-reported data on current smoking status have high validity (4). Third, the median response rate was 53.2% (range: 34.4%--80.5%); lower response rates indicate a potential for response bias. However, BRFSS estimates for cigarette smoking are comparable with current smoking estimates from other surveys with higher response rates (5).
Comprehensive tobacco control is effective in preventing and reducing tobacco use (6). CDC recommends the following evidence-based interventions as strategies within comprehensive tobacco-control programs: clean indoor air laws, telephone support quitlines, media campaigns, increased excise taxes on tobacco products, insurance coverage for cessation counseling and pharmaceuticals, and health-care system changes that support cessation (7). Substantial variation exists across states in their use of these strategies. For example, in 2002, two states offered Medicaid coverage for all recommended medication and counseling treatments for tobacco dependence, whereas 11 states covered no tobacco-dependence treatments (8). In addition, the average cost of a single pack of cigarettes (which includes state-based excise taxes) ranged from $3.10 in Kentucky to $5.54 in New York in 2003 (9). The majority of states offer telephone support quitlines, and residents of all states soon will have access to a nationwide network of quitlines. Finally, only six states (California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, and New York) have comprehensive statewide bans in effect on smoking in indoor workplaces and public places.
The more funds that states spend on comprehensive tobacco-control programs, the greater the reduction in smoking (6). However, the amount of money that states spend for tobacco control decreased 28% during the preceding 2 years to $541.1 million, which is less than 3% of the estimated $19 billion states expected to receive from tobacco excise taxes and tobacco settlement money in 2003 (10). For fiscal year 2004 (i.e., July 1, 2003--June 31, 2004), only four states (Arkansas, Delaware, Maine, and Mississippi) were investing at least the minimum per capita amount that CDC recommends for tobacco-control programs (10). Efforts and resources must be expanded if more states are to reduce smoking prevalence to <12% by 2010….. CONTINUES……..www.cdc.gov
Host Of Radio Show Suspended For Smoking Hoax - KY, USA
(LEXINGTON, Ky., November 11th, 2004, 4:30 p.m.) -- A Lexington radio station has indefinitely suspended the hosts of its morning show for a hoax "report" that told people they couldn't smoke in cars.
The hoax report was broadcast on F-M radio station WXZZ yesterday. It caused hundreds of people to tie up phone lines to police and health departments, City Hall and the county attorney's office.
WXZZ's general manager, Chris Clendenen says the station's management decided to suspend the morning-show hosts because of the disruption they caused.
Lexington's chief administrative officer says the city said will file a formal complaint with the Federal Communications Commission.
http://www.wave3.com/Global/story.asp?S=2554387&nav=0RZFT27n
Mayor vetoes smoking ban
By Fredie Carmichael / staff writer
November 11, 2004
The president of the Mississippi Hospitality and Restaurant Association said today he is pleased with the mayor’s decision to veto a citywide smoking ban.
Rick Beal, who also owns Lagniappe Bakery and Coffee Shoppe in Meridian, said Mayor John Robert Smith “did the right thing” late Wednesday when he vetoed a smoking ban passed last week by the Meridian City Council.
The ban would have prohibited smoking in restaurants and attached bars and also would have banned smoking in such places as sports arenas and museums. The ordinance also would have prohibited smoking within 25 feet of an open window of a restaurant, museum or sports arena.
Beal and other local restaurant owners had argued that the ban would hurt their business.
“I hope the councilmen stay with his decision,” Beal said. He hopes the city council does not override the veto during its Tuesday meeting.
Councilmen Mary B. Perry of Ward 2, Barbara Henson of Ward 3 and Bobby Smith of Ward 5 voted for the Smokefree Air Act of 2004. Councilmen George Thomas of Ward 1 and Jesse E. Palmer Sr. of Ward 4 voted against it.
It would take a fourth council vote to override the mayor’s veto. In a letter to the city council written on Wednesday, Mayor Smith said that after Tuesday’s public meeting on the issue, “There is no doubt that the ordinance approved by the council is overly broad and subject to different interpretations.
“In addition to the specific, problematic language, I am also concerned about striking the proper balance between public policy that has community-wide value and public policy that is overly intrusive.”
The mayor urged the council not to override his veto and instead move to form a committee to come up with a compromise. Councilman Palmer agreed that a compromise should be sought.
But Council President Bobby Smith of Ward 5 said the mayor’s decision is “a step backwards for Meridian.”
Meridian would have become the first city in the state to ban smoking in restaurants and bars. Jackson passed a similar ordinance last year — but it did not include restaurants.
Dennis Warren of the local chapter of the American Cancer Society said he is disappointed. But, he said, his next step will be to try and convince the council to override the veto.
“Our hearts are broken, but this is far from over,” Warren said. “Our efforts to save lives will continue as they do every day. We’ll just continue doing our best to soften the political hearts and get this approved.”
GET INVOLVED
What: Meridian City Council meeting
On the agenda: Possible override of the mayor’s veto
When: Tuesday, 5:30 p.m.
Where: Municipal Courtroom at the police station
*yes they archive, posted to forum as well
http://meridianstar.com/MERIDIANSTAR/myarticles.asp?P=670498&S=584&PubID=10453
December now target for Gainesville smoking ban vote -GA, USA
by Jerry GunnPosted Thursday, November 11 at 4:17 PM
GAINESVILLE - Gainesville City Council members indicated Thursday they want to wait until December to put a smoking ban ordinance up for a first vote.
The council heard from district Tobacco Use Prevention Coordinator Donald Slakie who said Rockdale County's ordinance could be an alternative to Gwinnett County's which the council has been reviewing.
Slakee said the Rockdale ordinance covers free-standing bars as well as restaurants and workplaces.
"And so basically what this does is that it covers that in the event that happens in the future," ; Slakie said.
The council wants more time to study the other ordinances and compare them and give city attorney Bubba Palmour suggestions for an ordinance for Gainesville.
FEE, TAX REVENUES UP
A report from the Gainesville City Marshal clearly shows the city's business sector is growing and city coffers are a bit richer because of it.
Council members learned from Chuck Smith that there are now 2,209 active businesses in Gainesville, 108 more than last year.
"We've collected $2,976,267 (in business taxes and fees)", Smith said.
That is $53,000 more than last year.
Smith told council in almost all areas the city is growing and producing more tax and fee revenue.
http://www.accessnorthga.com/news/hall/newfullstory.asp?ID=86319
Smoking ban could hit rail firm
Committed smokers who believed they had one last refuge on public transport may find their hopes dashed by plans for a ban in Scotland.
Train operator GNER, which runs services along the east coast between London and Scotland, could be pushed into a tobacco ban.
The firm is currently refurbishing its coaches - including smoking carriages.
A spokesman said a Scottish ban on public smoking starting in spring 2006 "had implications" for the company.
The Scottish Executive is bringing forward legislation which would ban smoking in public places, which could include the train services crossing the border between the two countries.
Train refurbishment
John Gelson, of GNER, said: "The issue of smoking provision on board GNER trains is currently under consideration.
"There are a number of factors to be taken into account, including the latest decision from the Scottish Executive and its implications for us."
The move has come a third of the way through the rail company's programme of refurbishment of its 30 electric trains.
A number of these have already been introduced with improved smoking compartments, internet access, power sockets and extra leg room.
But concerns over the impact any smoking ban on the east coast mainline could have on passengers have been expressed by the north east Rail Passengers' Committee.
Spokeswoman Fran Critchley said having smoking compartments seemed "reasonable and fair".
She said: "I suppose the worry is if hardened smokers on four or six-hour journeys abandon the railways and get in their cars and drive, adding to already congested roads.
"It's a pity in some ways that the Scottish (parliament) made the decision on their own and not in conjunction with the rest of the country."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/north_yorkshire/4002417.stm
Posted at 11:45 pm by looped_ca
Canadians are tired of being not heard. Here is a way that you can make your voice Known. Gather up all the empty cigarette packs you can and mail them to the following address, it's free, you don't need a stamp. You Could also mail some to your local M.P.P. , they have to hear our voice!! If you want you could also inform them why you are doing this drastic measure. In order for the government to listen to the smokers, they must use "OPERATION GET THE LEAD OUT".
Minister's Office-Health Canada,
Brooke Claxton Bldg, Tunneys Pasture,
P.L. 0906C
Ottawa, ON K1A 0K9
Attn Ujjal Dosanjh-Health Minister
Canadian Health Spending by province and per capita figures
http://taxpayer.com/pdf/Health_Spending_by_Province_(Total_and_Per_Capita).pdf
Impact of Smoking Bans on Eating and Drinking EstablishmentsCanadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association's (CRFA) look at the " Lies, Dammed Lies, and Statistics"- Winston Churchill's reaction to Conflicting data
http://www.crfa.ca/issues/bytopic/smokingregulations_impactofsmokingbans.pdf
City of St. John's challenges provincial smoking ban - NB, CA
(October 8, 2004) Councillor Art Puddister is leading a group of St. John's city councilors in a push for a 100% smoking ban, despite the fact that not a single complaint about smoking in hospitality establishments has been registered at City Hall in the past year. They want a ban that would eliminate smoking in all public places, including taverns and bars where smoking is now permitted under strict regulation.
Under the province's Smoke Free Environment Act , smoking is only permitted in hospitality establishments when no minors are present. Smoking is banned in all restaurants, but it is permitted in bars and in other adults-only establishments. Within these establishments, smoking is allowed only in a separate and distinct area that takes up no more than 50% of the total occupiable space of the establishment.
CRFA - like 72% of Canadians - believes that smoking regulations should be a provincial, not municipal, concern. The current provincial regulations allow for bar and nightclub operators to install separately ventilated designated smoking rooms, a sensible solution that allows operators to serve smoking patrons while protecting non-smoking customers and employees from tobacco smoke.
A public hearing has been scheduled for Oct. 14, to seek public input into the proposed bylaw that would introduce a 100% smoking ban in St. John's. CRFA encourages hospitality operators in the city to contact their councillors to urge them to support of the existing provincial smoking regulations, which are working just fine.
http://www.crfa.ca/issues/2004/st_johns_challenges_provincial_smoking_ban.asp
Profitability drops across Canada
(November 8, 2004) The average profit margin for the commercial foodservice industry dipped to 4.6% of operating revenue in 2002, down from 5.8% the previous year. Rising food and beverage costs were the primary reason for the decline in profit margins, eating into 37.5% of operating revenue in 2002 compared to 33.5% in 2001.
Profitability fell in every province in 2002 with the exception of Nova Scotia, where profits remained relatively unchanged at 5.2% of operating revenue.
Operators in PEI were the hardest hit. A jump in rental and leasing expenses and higher cost of sales knocked profit margins from 7.1% in 2001 to just 3.4% in 2002 – the lowest profit margin of all Canadian provinces.
At 5.9%, Newfoundland and Labrador was the most profitable province in which to operate a foodservice establishment in 2002, with low rental and leasing costs offsetting the highest cost of sales (41.1%) in Canada.
Quebec ranked second in Canada with a profit margin of 5.5%, despite the high cost of sales and labour. In Ontario, profit margins shrank to 4.3%, with declines in all sectors except for catering. High rental and leasing costs, combined with the highest labour costs in the country (31.9%) made British Columbia one of the least profitable provinces in 2002.
whole Provincial Graph available at website:
http://www.crfa.ca/research/2004/profitability_drops_across_canada.asp
Many Links to the Passive Smoke seminar held in London, England
http://www.forestonline.org/output/page279.asp
Study Hints at Possible Allergy-Cancer Link
Some Types of Allergies May Increase the Risk of Blood Cancers
By Jennifer Warner WebMD Medical News
Reviewed By Brunilda Nazario, MD on Wednesday, November 03, 2004
Nov. 3, 2004 -- People who suffer from some allergies, such as hives and eczema, may have a higher risk of developing cancers of the blood later in life, a new study suggests.
Although previous studies have suggested that allergies may have the opposite effect and help protect against cancer, Swedish researchers say their findings indicate that certain types of allergies may increase the risk of some blood cancers, such as leukemia and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
"In our study, people with hives showed an increased risk of leukemia," says researcher Karin Söderberg, of the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, in a news release. "We also found an increased risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma among individuals who had eczema during childhood."
Further studies are needed to confirm these results. But experts say the study raises interesting questions about the relationship between diseases that affect the immune system, such as allergies, and the long-term risk of certain blood cancers.
"It should not make people alarmed that just because they have allergies that they could go on to develop malignancies, but it does add thought for future studies," says Marianne Frieri, MD, PhD, director of allergy immunology at Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow, N.Y.
Allergies Linked to Cancer?
In the study, which appears in the Nov. 4 issue of the journal BMC Public Health, researchers followed a group of more than 16,000 twins for 31 years. The twins filled out a questionnaire with information on allergies in 1967, and researchers recorded whether they were diagnosed with a blood cancer during the following years.
The study showed that people who reported hives and asthma were about twice as likely to develop leukemia.
Researchers also found an increased risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma among those who had eczema, an allergic disease that affects the skin. Childhood eczema appeared to double the risk of this type of cancer, but researchers say it's important to point out that the likelihood of developing this rare condition is still very small. The disease affects only about 0.03% of people in the U.S.
Other allergic conditions, such as hay fever, were not associated with any increased risk of blood cancer.
Competing Theories, More Study Needed
Researchers say that a link between allergic diseases and cancer risk has been the subject of several studies, and two possible relationships have been proposed.
The first, known as the immune surveillance hypothesis, holds that allergic conditions may reduce cancer risk by enhancing the ability of the immune system to detect and remove malignant cells.
The second theory argues that conditions that stimulate the immune system, such as allergies, increase the risk of cancer. According to this theory, constant stimulation of the immune system increases the number of disease-fighting white blood cells, which raises the risk of cancer-causing mutations of these cells.
"There is a lot of controversy whether it's one theory or another," says Frieri, who is also professor of medicine and pathology at State University of New York at Stony Brook and a fellow of the American College of Asthma, Allergy and Immunology.
Although some studies, including the present Swedish one, have supported both arguments, other studies have also shown no relationship between allergic diseases and cancer risk, or the results were inconsistent.
Researchers say one strength of this study was that the information about allergic diseases and other possible confounding factors was collected after the individuals were diagnosed with cancer, therefore eliminating any potential recall bias. The study also involved a large number of participants who were followed for more than 30 years.
But Frieri points out that there was only a small number of blood cancers reported, which means that random variation in cancer rates cannot be excluded as a possible explanation of the findings. In addition, environmental factors such as exposure to infections may have also played a role.
Frieri says cancer risk is dependent upon many factors and cannot be explained by just allergies. Genes and other environmental, lifestyle, and nutritional factors all contribute to a person's overall risk of developing cancer.
Söderberg agrees and acknowledges that more research is needed before any conclusive links are drawn between blood cancers and allergies.
"It is plausible that the association between allergic conditions and cancer risk is complex and that the risk of developing cancer could depend on the specific malignancy and could also be influenced by the type of allergic condition," write Söderberg and colleagues. "Clearly, these conflicting results indicate that this area needs to be investigated further."
SOURCES: Söderberg, K. BMC Public Health, Nov. 4, 2004; vol 4. News release, BioMed Central. Marianne Frieri, MD, PhD, director of the Allergy and Immunology, Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow, N.Y.; professor of Medicine and Pathology at State University of New York at Stony Brook. American College of Asthma, Allergy and Immunology. American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.
http://my.webmd.com/content/article/96/103759.htm
Enforcers ready for smoking role- UK
Environmental health officers are ready to play their part in enforcing the ban on smoking in public places to be introduced in Scotland.
The Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland (REHIS) said it fully expected to be called upon when legislation comes into force.
It added that extra resources would be needed to match the measures currently employed by health officers in Ireland.
Offenders will be fined and ultimately licences could be revoked.
John Sleith, spokesman for REHIS, said the organisation had already been involved in talks with the executive over how the ban would be enforced.
'Heavy fines'
Measures touted include the setting up of a confidential helpline for members of the public to report places where the new laws are being flouted.
Undercover officers would also be employed to visit bars and restaurants around the country to monitor customers' behaviour.
Mr Sleith said: "We fully expect to be called upon by the executive and our officers are ready to play their part.
"We have already been involved in the consultation process and would be looking to set up a system similar to that already in place in Ireland, which we know has proven to be very successful."
But he stressed that any action taken by environmental health staff must be backed up by heavy fines for those found to be violating the ban.
Mr Sleith said: "In Ireland, people can be fined up to 3,000 euros for smoking where they shouldn't. In the case of a pub, the smoker can be fined along with the bar manager and the licensee of the premises.
"The fine also applies per violation, so if a smoker has five cigarettes, they would pay five times 3,000 euros.
"Ideally, that is the sort of hefty back-up we would like to see here."
'Experience and competence'
Scotland's environmental health staff are the best placed to monitor any new smoking policy, according to the institute's president Dr David Cameron.
He said: "Firstly, our members have the experience and competencies required to protect public health through regulatory controls.
"Secondly, our members are visiting pubs, restaurants and other public places on a daily basis as part of routine inspections for food safety and health & safety inspection programmes, as well as licensing visits, and noise control work.
"This means these officers are well placed to detect businesses that are turning a blind eye to the regulations."
REHIS represents more than 1,000 environmental, community and public health professionals within local government, health services, commerce and industry throughout Scotland.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/3999317.stm
Smoking Ban Prank By Radio Station Prompts Complaints- KY, USA
A smoking ban prank by a Lexington radio station Wednesday morning has prompted the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government to take action to stop future shenanigans.
DJ Tony Twitch on Z-Rock 103 claimed that the Lexington City Council had passed a law banning smoking in cars. The bogus report was backed up by fake callers to back up the story.
After the bogus story aired, about 225 calls inundated police and LexCall lines.
An official at Mayor Theresa Issac's office said that they didn't find the prank funny at all.
"What they did was irresponsible, tying up police and Lexcall lines for people who need police service," said Bruce Edwards. "They did a disservice to their own listeners."
A press release from Edwards late Wednesday morning revealed that the LFUCG "will file an official letter of complaint to Cumulus Broadcasting, owners of Z-Rock, and to the FCC seeking action from either that will prevent such disruptions that affect public safety in the future."
The release also said this was the second time in six months that Z-Rock had disrupted police and LexCall operations with "erroneous and irresponsible" information.
The city says the first time first incident occurred when Z-Rock claimed there was a fight at a certain location, and then waited to see how long it would take police to arrive.
http://www.lex18.com/Global/story.asp?S=2547581&nav=EQlpSyRG
*bill not yet decided upon
Ministers set to agree smoking ban
Ministers are set to agree moves to legislate for a ban on smoking in enclosed public spaces in Scotland.
The radical step is expected to be taken at a meeting in Edinburgh of the cabinet of the Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition at Holyrood.
First Minister Jack McConnell will announce the outcome of the cabinet's deliberations in a statement to the Scottish Parliament, and a total ban with fines of up to A£3,600 for offenders is widely expected.
Minister Debate ban
Posted at 2:19 am by looped_ca
Tuesday, November 09, 2004
JTI seeks to annul Quebec tax debt
Canadian Press
Monday, November 8, 2004 - Page B3
MONTREAL-- Tobacco giant JTI-MacDonald Corp. has filed a motion in Quebec Superior Court seeking the annulment of a demand by the Quebec government to pay almost $1.4-billion in unpaid taxes.
The Quebec government has charged that Toronto-based JTI profited from contraband trade in cigarettes and did not pay taxes on profit from 1990 through 1998.
The federal government made the same allegation against about a dozen companies in a lawsuit filed in Ontario a year ago. All defendants fell under the R.J. Reynolds Holdings Inc. and Japan Tobacco Inc. groups, including JTI.
JTI alleged Friday that the Quebec government had presumed it guilty and violated its right to a fair trial. JTO also requested damages and interest on seized revenue.
JTI takes Quebec gov'tsaying violation right to fair trial
St. Albert Legion ranks grow thanks to smoking bylaw
DOUG BEAZLEY, EDMONTON SUNFri, November 5, 2004
St. Albert's Legion branch says its membership is booming, thanks in part to Edmonton's strict smoking bylaw. "Yeah, a lot of guys from Edmonton have been transferring membership up here because we still let them smoke," said Doug Adsit, 79, a Navy veteran.
"They just don't like being told what to do. It's still a free country, isn't it?"
The membership chair of St. Albert's Royal Canadian Legion said their numbers nearly doubled in the past year.
"In 2003, we had 432 members. This year we're looking at 728 and rising," said Laura Sweeney.
"The smoking bylaw played a part, but our membership started rising before it took effect. We've always had a pretty large number of younger service members."
The Sherwood Park Legion branch, meanwhile, reports a current membership of 339, falling fast in recent years.
"In 1987 we had 850 members," said branch president Penny Beaudoin. She doesn't attribute their membership drop to Sherwood Park's smoking bylaw - which will extend the smoking ban to bingos and lounges in 2005.
"Our problem is we don't have a building. We had one, but we couldn't afford it," she said.
The Kingsway branch in Edmonton says it's holding its own, despite the butt ban.
Their membership has stayed steady at around 2,100 for the last several years, despite attrition among their older members.
"We're always seeking new members," said membership chair Bill Fecteau. "We didn't really lose members to St. Albert or Spruce Grove because of the bylaw, although some of our members don't come around as often now."
Fecteau said the branch has worked hard to bring in younger members of the military by broadening the Legion's range of entertainment beyond beer, pool and darts.
"The younger members are into sports, so we've got golf and curling tournaments," he said. "And we've got the karaoke, of course.
"The older members seem to like the karaoke as much as the younger ones. It can be pretty hard on the ears sometimes."
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/EdmontonSun/News/2004/11/05/701342.html
Smoking bylaw to be touched up
By Dustin Walker Monday November 08, 2004
Hinton Parklander — Town council may do some tweaking to the proposed amendment to the smoking bylaw before they put the legislation into affect.
Although council voted to endorse the amended bylaw in principal, the more technical details on implementing it will first be looked at by administration.
If passed, the amendment would see a complete smoking ban in restaurants during the hours that minors are served. A recent non-binding plebiscite during the municipal election saw just over 61 per cent of voters supporting the change.
But Dino Brown and Clare Kovacs, owner/operators of Masters Lounge, say that the amendment, as written, is flawed.
“It’s my feeling and opinion that no business owner should have to make the change council is forcing us to do,” said Kovacs as she addressed council at the Nov. 2 meeting.
She went on to re-cap concerns voiced previously that the description of restaurants in the amendment was too broad, and that the legislation didn’t adequately address patios and open decks.
“This is something again that is vague and council should discuss it before they vote on it,” she said. “I think there are a few flaws in how things are presented.”
Council has now referred the bylaw to administration to look at implementation concerns and to see if they are fully addressed in the draft of the bylaw. If administration feels the concerns are not addressed, the bylaw will be changed and brought back to council for consideration.
“I think we’re on the right track with that,” said Coun. Judy Blakely.
“If we’re going to do it, let’s make sure it’s done right,” added Coun. Rick Armstrong.
Also, an additional motion was passed stating that the amended bylaw would be in effect for the first quarter of next year.
“I think it’s responsible for us to put a time frame around this,” said Mayor Glenn Taylor.
http://www.hintonparklander.com/story.php?id=126018
MONTREAL - Claiming it is the victim of "abusive conduct," tobacco maker JTI-Macdonald Corp. has sued the government of Quebec for driving it into bankruptcy protection with a $1.36-billion tax bill three months ago.
"The [Revenue] Minister acted arbitrarily and for improper considerations for the politically expedient purpose of crushing JTI-Macdonald financially and make it virtually impossible for [the firm] to defend the [tax bill]," JTI said in a motion filed with Quebec Superior Court.
Quebec obtained a court judgment on Aug. 10 in favour of its tax assessment. It had alleged the firm -- the Canadian subsidiary of Japan Tobacco Inc. and Canada's oldest tobacco maker -- owed the province for cigarettes exported duty-free to the United States and then smuggled back to Canada through the Cornwall, Ont., area in the 1990s. Two weeks later the firm filed for creditor protection in Ontario after Quebec began seizing cash from its customers.
"The chilling reality," the suit contends, "is that the Minister unilaterally decided [JTI] was guilty of smuggling ... on no evidence whatsoever, not even on a preliminary investigation, but rather ... mere suspicions."
JTI seeks $2-million it alleges Quebec seized before it filed under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act, as well as tax credits. It claims Quebec and its revenue ministers flouted due process, basing their case on "mere unproven and contested allegations of others" that are the basis of court actions against it elsewhere. A civil action by the Canadian government in the United States was dismissed by its Supreme Court in 2002. Criminal and civil actions against JTI are before the courts in Ontario.
The firm has denied all smuggling allegations, none of which has been proven in court.
A former salesman with its predecessor, RJR-Macdonald, has sued the firm, claiming he was an "unwitting dupe" in a conspiracy with smugglers. He pleaded guilty in 2000 to conspiring to defraud Ottawa and has provided information in cases against JTI.
"Rather than doing any serious work the minister embarked on a path to pre-determine JTI-Macdonald's guilt," JTI's suit alleges.
JTI claims Quebec's case is based on faulty assumptions and amendments to its tobacco law in 2000 that apply retroactively, extend the statute of limitations and put the burden of proof on it to show it wasn't involved in smuggling. It claims Quebec obtained its assessment without JTI having a chance to makes its case.
That is a violation of its constitutional rights, the company says, by denying it the benefit of due process and the assumption of innocence until proven guilty.
A spokeswoman for Quebec Revenue Minister Lawrence Bergman said he wouldn't comment because the matter is before the courts. In August, he said the province's "dossier is well-documented" and said "this is money which ... belongs to the state."
JTI sies Quebec gov't
Smoking ban ignites debate at Legions
Janis Leering: The Mirror
Ken Cooper doesn't think it's fair for the government to enforce a smoking ban at the local Legion.Cooper, a memmber of Penetanguishene Royal Canadian Legion, doesn't think smokers should be shut out of enjoying a puff inside the club.
"There is a separate room for smokers at the Legion in Stayner, and that would be OK, but I don't think there should be a ban entirely," said Cooper. "They would lose a lot of members here if the government did that."
He used the example of the Elmvale Legion, which is totally smoke-free, and said they lost some members because of the ban.
Cooper, who has been a smoker for 40 years, said during the First and Second World Wars, cigarettes were rationed out to soldiers, as a pleasure in life, and that shouldn't be taken away, especially for people who have smoked all their life."
Earlier this week, Health Minister George Smitherman suggested creating the ban at private clubs, along with looking closer at bar patios, where patrons can smoke.
"We're going to introduce a 100-per-cent ban on smoking in public and workplaces," Smitherman said outside a Liberal caucus meeting. "The dangers of second-hand smoke do not know boundaries."
But if the province decides to target the Royal Canadian Legions, the one in Penetanguishene would be the only local bar where smoking is banned, because residents can still smoke at other bars in town.
Art Lizotte may not be a smoker now, but he said there's no point in complaining about the province's idea to ban smoking at Royal Canadian Legions.
Lizotte, a member of the Legion in Penetanguishene, said he doesn't care if smoking is banned at the club. "The government is going to do what it wants to do, whether we say no, or not," said Lizotte.
He said it is fair for the government to make the ban, even though there is no municipal bylaw to restrict smoking at other bars in town.
Lizotte, a former police officer, said he was a heavy smoker until he was criticized by coworkers, and that was back when it only cost 45 cents for a large package of cigarettes.
Fellow Legion member, Joe Piercey, has been a non-smoker for the past 13 months, after smoking for more than 60 years, and said he doesn't think there should be a ban.
"My friends come in here, and half of them smoke, but that's their privilege," he said.
"I don't want the government to ban smoking here."
Coun. John O'Hara doesn't agree the province should enforce a ban at the Legions, and he believed vets would have had more consideration. "I can see the dance hall part of our Legion maybe, but the vets are members, and I thought there would be some consideration for them," said O'Hara. "It would be the bingo halls, and Legions, but maybe if we had a closed-door policy, where you need a key to get in, you could smoke there."
Penetanguishene councillors didn't pass a municipal ban last year because they felt the responsibility lied in the government's hands. Other North Simcoe municipalities did pass a ban, however, which has been in effect for more than a year.
The ban includes the Legion in Midland, and Bert Reynolds,public relations officer at the Royal Canadian Legion in Penetanguishene, said some people have switched their membership so they can still smoke indoors.
"We have all kinds of members who are transferring from the Midland Legion, but I hope the government goes non-smoking."
He said only 30 per cent of the population smoke in the area, and the Legions should cater to the majority, not the minority, and was looking forward to the government's decision on the matter.
The Legions in Waubaushene, Victoria Harbour, and Port McNicoll all still allow smoking in their clubs.
Rod Irvine, president of the Elmvale Legion, said it has been smoke-free for more than a year, and is working out well now.
"We lost some members in the beginning, but they are coming back, because they accept that's the way it is," he said.
The Legion became smoke-free when the municipality passed a bylaw, and Irvine said sometimes visitors have difficulty, but they also have to respect the law, and are willing to go outside to smoke.
http://www.simcoe.com/sc/midland/story/2326433p-2694084c.html
Citing customer complaints, Beaver House bucks trend, rescinds non-smoking policy -PA, USA
By AARON APPLEGATEPocono Record Writer
Evelyn Seiple finished a plate of shrimp scampi, flipped open a pack of Marlboros and lit up.
Seiple, 71, was happy to be back at one of her favorite restaurants, the Beaver House in Stroudsburg.
The seafood and steak house near Stroud Mall went completely smoke-free five months ago, but recently reversed course after smokers vehemently complained.
"When I heard about the change, I said, 'Fantastic,'" said Seiple, a retired nurse. "That was the big incentive to come back."
Beaver House owner Rick Michel is hoping more smokers will make the same decision. He said his five-month smoke-free experiment was a disaster.
"It's economics when you come right down to it," Michel said. "We had more smoking customers than we realized."
At a time when more and more restaurants are going smoke-free, the Beaver House's return to smoking is an odd reversal.
The move shocked anti-smoking advocates who months earlier had worked with Michel to rid the restaurant of smoking.
"I was like, oh my gosh, you're kidding," said Lisa Wing, a Chronic Disease Tobacco Prevention educator with the Monroe County Cooperative Extension.
The change was even more galling because Wing had helped the Beaver House in April get a $1,400 state grant through the Carbon Monroe Pike Drug and Alcohol Commission. The grant money was used for advertising the restaurant's new smoke-free status.
"We're very disappointed when we heard," said Patty Fascio, the tobacco program director for the drug and alcohol commission. "We never expected there would be a problem with it."
Fascio said there are no provisions in the grant to get the money back.
Today, advertisements for the Beaver House carry the exact opposite message from the state-subsidized messages five months ago.
"After a trial period of 100% No Smoking, we didn't realize we were offending so many of our loyal customers who are smokers," the restaurant's latest ads say. "To all of our smokers, 'we are sorry.' We now have a special dining area for you that is separated from non-smokers, so no one will be offended."
Anti-smoking advocates blame the Beaver House experience on Pennsylvania's "Clean Indoor Air Law," which they say doesn't go far enough because it doesn't ban smoking in restaurants and bars. Doing that, they say, would keep restaurant owners from losing smoking customers because every place would be smoke-free.
"That would make it a level playing ground for everyone," Fascio said.
An outright smoking ban has gained political supporters. State Sen. Stuart Greenleaf, R-12, who represents Montgomery County, in August introduced a bill — as he's done every year for the last 10 years — to ban smoking in all restaurants and bars.
Greenleaf wants Pennsylvania to join California, Delaware, New York, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts and Rhode Island as a state that bans smoking in all restaurants and bars.
While the bill sits in the Senate's Health and Public Welfare committee, opponents are making sure their voices are heard.
"The fact is the government shouldn't be mandating what a business offers their customers," said Patrick Conway, CEO of the Pennsylvania Restaurant Association, which strongly opposed a smoking ban. "The marketplace is responsible for that. A ban on smoking would just be a government mandate to regulate social behavior."
Much of the smoking debate centers on whether going smoke-free hurts or helps businesses, a question to which there is no clear answer.
Patrick Mullally, owner of Dansbury Depot in East Stroudsburg, which went smoke-free earlier this year, said business is booming.
"I've gained customers, and every day somebody congratulates me on it," he said.
Success stories like Dansbury Depot are often cited by non-smoking
advocates who say employers will reap other benefits by going smoke-free, such as a healthier work force that is sick less often.
But Conway at the restaurant association said it's crucial that business owners, and by extension their customers, have a choice.
"We're in the hospitality business, and restaurants stay in business by offering customers the choices they want. It's as simple as that," he said.
The Evelyn Seiples of the world will likely agree.
As Evelyn's son, Steve, said during their meal at the Beaver House, "Where we go is dictated by where she can smoke."
http://www.poconorecord.com/local/lc103104.htm
State Healthcare Proposal -KS, USA
Released Stephanie Wurtz
Over 300,000 Kansans are uninsured, the majority of them in households where someone is employed full-time.
One Topeka pediatrician says he's frequently dealing with patients that can't afford necessary care. Doctor Dennis Cooley deals with the healthcare crisis on a daily basis.
"We'll have prescriptions we write they can't afford; we'll suggest they do some type of treatment and they just can't afford it!" Cooley says.
Cooley and many doctors statewide hope the governor's healthcare plan will create solutions for these problems. The plan cuts administrative costs by transferring all healthcare programs to one place, a newly-created Health Care Authority.
The state will also work with pharmacies to develop an improved prescription drug plan.
"Kansans should also be able to afford the life-saving drugs they need," says Governor Sebelius.
Democrat Sebelius teamed with Republican State Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger to develop the plan. Praeger says it provides more affordable options for small businesses.
"A plan that would make the difference for working Kansans between having a plan and going without," Praeger says.
Sebelius says if healthcare is more affordable, people will be able to get to the doctor more often.
Doctor Cooley thinks that's a step in the right direction.
"If we can decrease obesity and smoking, healthcare costs will go down," Cooley says.
One of the more controversial parts of the plan is how it would be funded. The governor proposes a fifty-cent increase in the cigarette tax.
Of course all of this would have to first be approved by the legislature.
http://www.wibw.com/home/headlines/1173911.html
Legislators chase after elusive school funding amount-OR, USA
By JULIA SILVERMAN
PORTLAND, Ore. - The legislative session is still two months away, but Salem's favorite parlor guessing game - how much the state will spend on public schools for the next biennium - is already in full swing.
Will it even budge from its current $4.9 billion, the level it has been at since 1999? Will it rise to the more optimistic figure of $5.4 billion that some school advocates say is required to account for inflation, rising health care costs, and growing PERS costs? Or will the chips fall somewhere in between?
A final answer could be months away, but some clues have emerged during the early jockeying over K-12 school funding, which at 45 percent is the largest piece of the state budget pie.
One thing does seem clear: there's very little momentum behind asking voters to weigh in on a temporary income tax hike for schools, after two failed efforts in 2003 and 2004.
"At this point, we are not hearing either the Democrats in the Senate or the Republicans in the House or the governor talking about new tax revenue," said Chuck Bennett, a lobbyist for the Confederation of Oregon School Administrators.
A few revenue-raising options, from upping the cigarette tax to raising the corporate minimum tax to boosting the funding that can be raised under local option levies, are being floated by school advocates and may find a foothold.
But there's far more bipartisan support for finding ways to make cuts within the existing budget, something that could be tough for schools that have been through several years of cutbacks.
"How can we identify ways to redirect dollars so that we have more to spend on classroom instruction?" asked State Sen. Frank Morse, R-Albany, who is participating in a working group studying ways to do just that.
Gov. Ted Kulongoski is backing ways to centralize business and administrative services, like payrolls and health insurance coverage, to reduce redundancies, said James Sager, his education adviser.
And there's also some interest in modifying the Education Service District (ESD) system, cooperatives that provide specialized services to groups of schools, like special education teachers, technology support and distance learning programs.
"There may be a modified system where some of the larger districts can provide some of the services for the smaller districts," said State Sen. Bill Morrissette, D-Springfield. "That is an area that we are going to be looking at."
Once again, education funding will find itself vying with public safety and health, the other two big-ticket items that gobble up large chunks of state funding.
And just like the previous session, there promises to be a big gap in the amount of money needed to maintain services and what's actually coming into the general fund from income taxes and lottery revenue.
Estimates of the gap range from $600 million to $1.2 billion, with money coming in during the 2005-2007 biennium projected to be around $11.8 billion. And most of the one-time sources of money used to plug holes in previous budgets are now tapped out.
The first definitive shot in the debate over school funding will be fired when the governor releases his proposed budget, due on Dec. 1.
Sager said his office has considered everything from holding school funding to the $4.9 billion level to bringing it to the $5.3 billion amount; others familiar with the budget process say the governor's proposal for school funding so far has hovered around an even $5 billion.
Sager said the governor's budget will be based on current revenue projections, and a series of priorities, instead of simply building on existing programs.
"We have to target the dollars based on his principles, of where he feels it will do the most good for Oregonians," Sager said.
In a monthly newsletter, State School Superintendent Susan Castillo signaled that the governor would not be proposing a significant hike for schools.
She wrote of a recent meeting with Kulongoski, "He said that we are facing an $800 million shortfall in the coming biennium, and that additional funding for schools will be hard to find.
In fact, he said that it may be difficult to maintain the current level of funding, given the competing priorities of public safety and vital human services."
Morissette acknowledged that even with the state Senate under Democratic control - traditional allies of the Oregon Education Association and other schools groups - school funding is in for another battle.
"We will have to look very hard to continue to provide the same level of funding for education," he said. "We have a huge backload of programs to fill. To say we are going to put significantly more money into education is not particularly realistic."
http://www.katu.com/education/story.asp?ID=72507
Problems with smoking ban -UK
TOMORROW, Jack McConnell, the First Minister, is set to add a smoking ban to the Public Health Bill which the Executive will place before the Scottish Parliament next week. The case for action is powerful. Smoking is Scotland’s dirtiest - and deadliest - habit. As the BMA points out, smoking-related illness kills 13,000 Scots and accounts for 35,000 hospital admissions every year. The case for legislation could not be stronger.
But the Executive has two issues to weigh carefully. The first, if the ban is to include all pubs and public covered spaces, is enforceability. While there is widespread support for a smoking ban in restaurants, enforcing a ban in every pub in Scotland (and every club, as this would create a huge loophole) would require public co-operation to succeed. But how would a reasonable person react to the physical enforcement of a law that would criminalise and punish with a £3,600 fine a pipe-smoking pensioner in a pub? The problem of such a wide ban carrying such a heavy fine is that it may provoke defiance, making even a partial ban difficult to uphold.
Then there is the precedent such legislation would set for its intrusiveness and its denial of choice to all commercial premises across the land. Better, surely, to go for a ban in restaurants which the public would support, and consider wider legislation at a later date once the principle has been established.
http://news.scotsman.com/opinion.cfm?id=1291952004
Renewed bid to ban smoking -UK
CAMPAIGNERS launched last-ditch efforts today to persuade the Government to ban smoking in public places in its forthcoming public health White Paper.
The British Medical Association (BMA) has published a report chronicling individual doctors' experiences of treating non-smoking patients who have developed cancer and other health problems due to tobacco.
It came as the Scottish Executive prepared to make its own judgment this week on the future of smoking in public places, such as restaurants, pubs and offices.
Health Secretary John Reid has so far appeared reluctant to follow the route of introducing a nationwide public smoking ban like that in Ireland, saying England had to find its own way of tackling the problem.
Last week reports suggested that smoking could be banned in pubs, restaurants and offices unless they met strict licensing conditions such as protecting children and providing proper ventilation.
BMA
Today the BMA called on Dr Reid to set a date to ban smoking in all workplaces in efforts to save the lives of staff.
It is estimated that at least 1,000 a year die from the effects of passive smoking.
The BMA has long said that the biggest single step governments could take to improve public health was to take nationwide action and ban smoking in enclosed workplaces.
Their report - The Human Cost of Tobacco - includes 70 cases across the UK where doctors have dealt with patients made ill by second-hand smoke.
One doctor described three life-long non-smoking patients treated for inoperable lung cancer in the last two years.
"The biopsies showed the type of lung cancer only seen in smokers, and all three worked in public places where they were heavily exposed to secondary cigarette smoke.
"All three died within weeks of diagnosis," the doctor said.
Another doctor described a 34-year-old pub landlady who suffered a series of breathing difficulties due to working in a smoky environment.
"She now needs regular inhaled drugs including steroids to control her symptoms.
"She herself has never smoked," the doctor said.
Children are also shown to suffer in the report, with cases of severe asthma, low birth-weight babies and pregnancy problems all blamed on passive smoking.
Difficult
BMA chairman James Johnson set Dr Reid a challenge to put an end to smoking in the workplace.
"There is no doubt that giving up smoking can be extremely difficult - like any addiction kicking the habit is no easy task.
"When smokers decide to quit they are often advised to set a date, bin the fags and then just do it.
"Support from a doctor or health professional during this time can be invaluable," Mr Johnson said.
"I am going to give the same advice to John Reid.
"In the forthcoming White Paper for England, he should set a date for banning smoking in all enclosed public places, this will give the bars and restaurants time to bin their ash-trays and then these workplaces will just have to abide by the law.
"John Reid already has the support of the medical profession."
The long-awaited Public Health White Paper for England is due to be published later this month.
Simon Clark, director of the smokers' lobby group Forest, said the BMA report examples were "anecdotes masquerading as scientific evidence".
"There is no conclusive proof that passive smoking kills or seriously harms people."
He added: "There is no justification for a ban on smoking in all public places."
Conservative Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said: "Like much of Labour's public health policy, the smoking ban is riddled with inconsistencies."
http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/news/s/136/136238_renewed_bid_to_ban_smoking.html
New Drug Could Help You Quit Smoking and Lose Weight
Dr. Kim Mulvihill Reporting Nov. 9, 2004
Big news today from the annual American Heart Association meeting held this week in New Orleans. A new drug just might help you quit smoking AND fight the battle of the bulge.
The drug is called Accomplia. It's manufactured by the newly merged French company Sanofi-Aventis, and company officials say this could be their biggest product yet.
Like many smokers, Bob Berckman has tried to quit many times. This time he found it easy.
Bob Berckman, Study Participants: "There was no side effects, no jitters or anything like that. It was, it was really very smooth."
Bob was part of a clinical study testing the new drug Accomplia. It aims to block the brain's 'pleasure center' and interfere with cravings. That's why it's been tested not only for smoking cessation, but also weight loss.
Dr. Robert Anthenelli, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine: "I think it's really important to remember that cigarette smoking and obesity are the leading causes of death in the United States."
The study tracked more than 3,000 volunteers and found people not only lost weight, but kept it off for two years. Participants don't know yet whether they were taking the drug or a placebo, but Bob thinks he got the real deal -- he quit smoking and lost eight pounds.
Bob Berckman "Typically in the past when I tried to quit I, I definitely became a lot, a lot more hungry."
The study found participants taking the higher of two doses lost five-percent of their initial body weight. A third lost more than 10-percent.
http://tv.ksl.com/index.php?nid=44&sid=131715
Posted at 11:55 pm by looped_ca
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