Smokers urged to quit in the new year

Smokers in Lancashire are being encouraged to make quitting their new year’s resolution for 2014.
There are more than 207,000 smokers in the county and research has shown that two thirds of them want to stop. Lancashire County Council is supporting the national Smokefree Health Harms campaign, run by Public Health England.
County Councillor Azhar Ali, cabinet member for health and wellbeing, said: “Giving up smoking isn’t easy and people can get support through this campaign, their local pharmacy, or by phoning their stop smoking service.

Abu Dhabi Police urges motorists to gear up for ban on smoking

Abu Dhabi: Motorists and passengers have been urged to uphold the new law that prohibits smoking in private vehicles in the presence of children under the age of 12, the Higher Commission of Child Protection in the Ministry of Interior said today.

Although the ban will come into effect within six months from its date of issuance, that is January 21 2014, authorities are pushing parents and caretakers to gear up for the change or face a fine of Dh100,000 to Dh1 million.

Maj Gen Nasser Likhraibani Al Nuaimi, Secretary-General of the Office of Lieutenant General Shaikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, said that different sectors of society must come together to ensure the safety of the country’s children.

“The habit of smoking is a personal decision as long as it does not affect the health of those surrounding you. Protecting children is a responsibility that lies on the shoulders of all members of society, especially since the Ministry of Health is supporting this cause,” he added. Camel cigarettes.

The official also warned drivers that the habit of smoking occupies their mind and may divert their attention from focusing on the road, leading to traffic accidents.

Lieutenant Colonel Faisal Mohammad Al Shammari, Director of the Child Protection Centre at the Abu Dhabi Police General Headquarters, said that when adults smoke they are presenting a negative role model to their children as many teenagers who currently smoke learn this habit from their parents.

Earlier, Gulf News reported that a study carried out in Abu Dhabi showed that 28 per cent of children aged 15 years and younger are smokers, while 30 per cent of people aged 18 and above and are smokers.

The law also mandates that large warning labels be placed on cigarette products in order not to mislead their users. The labels can currently be seen on some packets in the capital. The fine will also be doubled in case violators repeat the offence.

Tobacco products cannot be displayed near items marketed for children, or sportswear, health, food and electronic products in stores. Tobacco products are also forbidden from being sold in locations that are 100 metres away from places of worship, and 15 metres away from kindergartens, schools, universities and colleges.

Cheap cigarettes hindering health agenda

Cheaper illegal cigarettes are hindering the government's health agenda of encouraging people to stop smoking.
The Confederation of Malaysian Tobacco Manufacturers (CMTM) chief executive Shahrul Abdullah said many of these illegal brands are sold at relatively low prices, far below the limits set by the government.
He said these cigarettes are easily available and is appealing to schoolchildren who can afford them.
"Schoolchildren are able to buy these illegal cigarettes for about RM3 per pack which is far below the tax threshold of RM4.80 set by the government," he added. Pall Mall cigarettes.
Shahrul said the Illegal Cigarettes Study (ICS) commissioned by CMTM and conducted this year between March to May, showed that even though the number of smuggled illegal cigarettes has declined from 2009 to this year, sales of local illegal brands have increased since the beginning of 2011.
"The top five illegal brands are Gudang Garam, John, Canyon, Era and League. The survey revealed that local illegal brands have increased to a total of 6.2% within a period of three years," said Shahrul
He believed that the illegal brands sold could even be more hazardous due to the lack of regulations that were being followed.
On clamping down on sales of illegal cigarettes, Shahrul said a holistic approach was needed.
"We need to look at better enforcement and making penalties more severe for starters," he said, adding smugglers will continue to be involved in the illegal trade as it was lucrative for them.
The ICS was carried out for a period of three months between March and May this year with a sample size of 44,000 consumed cigarette packets.

British American Tobacco stumbles into new e-cigarette row as advert appears on children's computer game

A tobacco giant has apologised after an advert for an electronic cigarette appeared in an online computer game aimed at children.

British American Tobacco, which owns Lucky Strike and Dunhill brands as well as Vype e-cigarettes, said the advert had been placed by mistake by a third party and was removed as soon as it knew of the problem.
BAT said: ‘We pulled all our online advertising while we investigated. We found that a third party used by one of our suppliers had not adhered to the full protocol required when placing Vype adverts.’ Glamour cigarettes.

Many employers have taken initiative to ban smoking in their workplaces in order to reduce second-hand smoke and to encourage their employees to stop smoking. A new study suggests that let alone prohibiting smoking habits at work will not ensure the reduction or quitting of smoking because smokers may be influenced by another smoker at home.
"De-normalizing smoking in any environment is likely to make it easier to be successful at quitting," Laurent Huber, MS, executive director of Action on Smoking and Health in Washington, DC, said in a news release. "This study demonstrates how important it is to ban smoking in all workplaces and public spaces."
Huber added, "People have a right to their health, and should not have to choose between a job and being able to breathe clean air."
For the study, researchers surveyed 627 current or former smokers. Researchers asked the participants if they worked with fellow smokers or lived with a smoker.
Researchers found that those who worked with smokers and lived with one increased the odds that the participant was a current smoker.
"Working with a smoker was linked to almost three times greater odds of smoking, whereas living with a smoker was linked to more than six-fold greater odds of smoking," reported the Health Behavior News Service. "For those people living with a smoker, their smoking was unrelated to whether or not their work colleagues smoked."
Lead author Carole K. Holahan, Ph.D., professor of kinesiology and health education at the University of Texas, Austin said, "Our findings suggest that worksite smoking interventions could be made more effective if they included a focus on educating workers' families about the health effects of smoking and the benefits of home smoking bans."

No Smoking In Vehicles With Kids.

A lawmaker wants to limit the use of tobacco products in motor vehicles in Michigan when children are present.

Legislation announced Wednesday by Democratic state Rep. Sam Singh of East Lansing would make it illegal for any tobacco product to be lit in a vehicle when a person under the age of 18 is inside.

As proposed, a violation could result in a $500 fine. Singh says he wants a yearlong grace period so people can get used to the change.

Singh told MLive.com that the bill would amend the Michigan Vehicle Code to make smoking in the presence of a minor a primary offense, meaning an officer could pull over a motorist if they spot a violation. A number of other states have similar laws.

Tobacco company Reynolds American 3Q profit up 9 percent on higher prices, lower legal costs

Reynolds American's third-quarter profit rose about 9 percent as higher prices and lower expenses from a legal settlement offset a decline in cigarette sales.
The nation's second-biggest tobacco company owns the Camel  cigarettes and Pall Mall brands. Reynolds American Inc. and other tobacco companies are also focusing on cigarette alternatives such as snuff, chewing tobacco and electronic cigarettes as tax hikes, smoking bans, health concerns and social stigma make the cigarette business tougher.
CEO Dan Delen said the company made progress in a highly competitive marketplace and a tough economic environment.
Its financial results matched Wall Street estimates. But its shares slipped 91 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $49.90 in midday trading.
Reynolds earned $457 million, or 84 cents per share, for the quarter ended September 30, up from $420 million, or 74 cents per share, a year ago. Adjusted earnings were 86 cents per share, matching Wall Street expectations, according to FactSet. That excludes a benefit from credits for disputed payments under the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement in which some cigarette makers are paying states for smoking-related health care costs.
Its revenue, excluding excise taxes, increased about 1 percent to $2.14 billion, also matching expectations.
The number of cigarettes sold by its R.J. Reynolds Tobacco subsidiary fell about 4 percent during the quarter to 16.7 billion. When adjusting for trade inventory changes, the company estimates that industry cigarette volumes fell 3.5 percent.
Volumes for Camel rose 4 percent and volumes for Pall Mall fell more than 2 percent. The brands now account for almost 70 percent of the company's total cigarette volume. Shipments of its other brands, which include Winston, Kool, Doral and Salem, fell about 13 percent.
Camel's market share increased 0.4 percentage points to 8.9 percent of the U.S. market, while Pall Mall's market share grew 0.3 percentage points to 8.9 percent. The company has promoted Pall Mall as a longer-lasting and more affordable cigarette as smokers weather the weak economy and high unemployment.
The number of Natural American Spirit cigarettes it sold grew nearly 22 percent to about 1 billion cigarettes.
Volume for its smokeless tobacco brands that include Grizzly and Kodiak rose 7 percent compared with a year ago. The brands had a 33.4 percent share of the U.S. retail market, which is tiny compared with cigarettes.
The company launched a revamped version of its Vuse-brand electronic cigarette in Colorado in July, with its sights set on expanding nationally. In a conference call with investors, Delen said early results of the test market are "significantly exceeding expectations," with the brand taking market-leading position in the state and seeing high levels of repeat purchase.
It's also moving ahead with its nicotine gum under the Zonnic brand, which is meant to help people stop smoking. In 2009, Reynolds bought the Swedish company Niconovum AB, which makes nicotine gum, pouches and spray products.

Youth say plain cigarette boxes will discourage smoking

A new survey claims that children are attracted to branded cigarette packaging

Young people say glamorous cigarette branding would encourage them to start smoking while plain packaging has the opposite effect.
A new survey of 15 and 16-year-olds also found that children believe that cigarettes communicate "fun" and "style" and make the smoker "look and feel better" about themselves.
The findings show that although the price of cigarettes, currently at €9.40 for a pack of 20, prevent teenagers from purchasing premium brands, appealing packaging has the power to generate buzz, provide the incentive to purchase and can communicate perceived benefits of smoking one brand over another.
Teenagers were shown cigarettes that are currently being sold on the Irish market and categorised them into rejected, acceptable and aspirational brands. Speaking about the super-slim cigarettes which come in lipstick-shaped boxes, one girl said: "They look really cool, I think they would look classy if you had them on the table".
The research was backed by the Irish Heart Foundation and Irish Cancer Society who support legislation that will make it illegal for cigarette companies to use colour, text and packet size to market cigarettes. The legislation could be enacted by early next year.
The HSE's National Office of Tobacco Control claims the tobacco industry needs to recruit 50 new smokers a day to replace those their products kill, or those who manage to quit.
Launching the research, Minister James Reilly said we must stop marketing "gimmicks" being used to "lure our children into a deadly addiction that will ultimately kill half of those who become addicted.
"It is not acceptable that a product that kills 5,200 Irish people every year is packaged in a slim, pink container that strongly resembles perfume or lipstick."
Chris Macey from the Irish Heart Foundation explained why some cigarette packaging is appealing to young people: