The General History of the Hookah

The Hookah was first created to elevate peoples' states of mind. Although born in India, this device spread to the countries of the Near East, Far East, the Arab world, Persia, East Africa, and all the way to the Ottoman Empire. With the discovery of Tobacco, the original form of the hookah evolved, and its uses changed so that it became a device synonymous with pleasurable smoking experiences.
The Hooka’s Indian Roots
The hookah is also known today as the water pipe, the Shisha or the hubbly-bubbly. It was originally used in India to extract the medicinal value contained in plant seeds.
The Hooka in Different Forms
The hooka in its original and simplest of forms was made from a coconut shell base, also known as the narci. This coconut shell was hollowed, and a straw was placed inside it for the purposes of inhaling substances placed in the shell�s core. After some years the device reached Egypt, and it was in Egypt that the Egyptians changed its form further by replacing the coconut shell with a gourd.
Upon reaching the Persian peninsula, the Persians developed the hookah even further, bringing it closer to its modern form. They substituted the straw originally used by the Indians, with a soft and more flexible hose, making the hookah more practical and easier to handle.
These changes came in time with the region’s first introduction to Tobacco. Seeing the newly discovered substance in a whole new light due to the more relaxing effects it provides, the Persians experimented with the possibility of inhaling it using the Hookah. With this idea in mind, it was soon discovered that the hookah device needed to evolve from its original form so as to satisfy this purpose. A bronze tray, known at the time as "Ser" was placed above the hookah’s body to hold the tobacco. The type of Tobacco popular amongst the Persians at the time was known as tambeki. In Syria and Yemen, the Hookah was developed even further so that it took on the form of a long wooden head, an iron stand and a hose sewn from thick cloth.
The first Hookah bar in the Ottoman region was opened in 1554 by a gentleman named Hakem from Aleppo and his partner, a nobleman by the name of Hems from Damascus. This first bar laid the foundations for many others to follow. Hookah bars at the time were places where people of high social standing met.
During the 17th century, the Ottomans changed the hookah into a more practical smoking device. Above the "head" they placed a bowl of baked clay and they also added to it a mouthpiece that connected the hose to the smoker�s mouth. The Hooka at the time had a body of glass, crystal, rock-crystal, porcelain and even silver, a head of brass and silver, and a pipe holder decorated with carvings depicting scenes from nature.
Because the ever so popular Hookah had a base made of glass, it was only natural for the glass making industry to also flourish in popularity. It was in the 19th Century and during the reign of Selim III that a man by the name of Mehmet Dede set up a workshop in Beykoz, a place where the famous Beykoz glassware was made. After setting up a series of workshops in that area, a glass factory was soon established in 1899. The local factory however was unable to compete with the glassware imported from Europe at the time and it soon closed down. The first glass factory in the modern sense was established upon the orders of Atatrk in 1934 during the Republic period, and it was then that the prettiest hookahs in history were made.
The Hookah Today
Hookahs are still used today, but are seen as the more pleasurable form of smoking only employed as a pass time in coffee houses across the region.

Tobacco marketing and teen smoking

Every year the tobacco industry spends literally, billions of dollars on promotion, sponsorship and advertising. Tobacco advertising increases tobacco consumption which in turn kills people. Teens are at especially high risk of starting to smoke product advertisements and viewing such ads alone is guaranteed to start more youths on this deadly habit. 

Authors of a new study published online this week in the Pediatrics journal state: 

"Our results support the notion of a content-related effect of cigarette advertisements and underlines the specificity of the relationship between tobacco marketing and teen smoking; exposure to cigarette advertisements, but not other advertisements, is associated with smoking initiation."

Scientists from Institute for Therapy and Health Research in Kiel, Germany, and colleagues examined the results from a longitudinal survey of 2,102 adolescents aged 10 to 17 who had never smoked. After exposure to advertisements for six brands of cigarettes and eight commercial products at different frequencies, it was revealed that 13% of adolescents had started to smoke after nine months time. 

Most smokers take up smoking before the age of 18. Children whose parents or siblings smoke are around three times more likely to smoke than children living in non-smoking households. 

Although around 60% of teenagers report that they have never smoked, among those who do experiment with smoking many become addicted to nicotine and continue to smoke as adults. 

The effectiveness of youth-focused health education is limited and at best appears to delay the age of starting to smoke. It appears that the best way of reducing youth smoking is to have comprehensive tobacco control policies in place that apply to the whole population. 

Exposure to other advertisements, for products, such as sweets, clothes, and mobile telephones, did not predict smoking initiation. High exposure to cigarette advertising remained a significant predictor of smoking initiation even after controlling for other factors. 

The study's authors continue: 

"The study results support the notion of a content-related effect of cigarette advertisements and underline the specificity of the relationship between tobacco marketing and teen smoking initiation."

Tobacco companies such as British American Tobacco and Philip Morris have adopted a public posture of opposition to teenage smoking and even funded anti-smoking initiatives for teenagers. But an investigation by the Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) which is based in the United Kingdom, and The Cancer Research Campaign, has revealed that this is no more than a public relations strategy. The purpose is to fend off meaningful restrictions on tobacco advertising and gain PR advantage, while proposing only measures that are unlikely to reduce youth smoking and likely make it more attractive by positioning cigarettes as an adult product and smoking as rebellious. 

Virtually all tobacco advertising is now illegal in the UK and many other countries. The Tobacco Advertising & Promotion Act 2002 came into force in November 2002 in the UK, with most advertising ending on 14th February 2003 and a gradual fade out for the rest by July 2005. 

Since the implementation of the final stage of the tobacco advertising ban in 2005, ASH has carefully monitored the situation to try and stop any direct or indirect breaches of the law. 

Tobacco companies have concentrated sponsorship on successful, high-profile sports in order to ensure maximum coverage for their products. These sports are extremely attractive to sponsors and other companies have gradually replaced sponsorship from tobacco companies without difficulty. Even Formula One, the sport most reliant on tobacco, announced in 1998 that it would replace its tobacco sponsorship within four years. 

Tobacco is a unique consumer product as there is no safe level of use and half of all life-long smokers die prematurely from smoking-related diseases. Despite the harm caused by smoking, tobacco products are largely unregulated while medicinal nicotine used as an aid to stop smoking is very tightly controlled. 

NATO, NYACS and Manufacturers Sue New York City

NATO, the New York Association of Convenience Stores (NYACS), the Bodega Association of the United States, along with Lorillard Tobacco Company, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Inc., American Snuff Company, Philip Morris USA Inc., U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Brands Inc., and John Middleton Company have filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York seeking preliminary and permanent injunctions against the enforcement of several provisions of a tobacco-related ordinance adopted on October 30, 2013 by the New York City Council and which goes into effect on March 19, 2014.Glamour Super Slims Lilac
The ordinance provisions that are the subject of the litigation are those sections that restrict cigarette and tobacco product coupons and other promotional price discounts (such as buy one, get one free) on tobacco products. As set out in the lawsuit, the ban on cigarette and tobacco product coupons and promotional price discounts raise serious federal and state constitutional questions while also being pre-empted by federal and state laws.
Specifically, the lawsuit seeks a judgment declaring, among other things, that (1) the ban on coupons, multi-package discounts and promotionally priced tobacco products are an unconstitutional restriction of free speech, violating the United States Constitution and the New York State Constitution, and (2) the ordinance provisions are pre-empted by both federal law and New York State law.
The lawsuit claims that these sections of the ordinance are unconstitutional because they restrict a retailer from redeeming cigarette and tobacco product coupons and from communicating to adult consumers that a particular tobacco product price is a promotional discount. The lawsuit also claims that these sections are pre-empted not only by the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act, which prohibits states and localities from enacting restrictions on the advertising and promoting of cigarettes, but also by New York State law, which already regulates tobacco product coupons.

CVS' no-cigarette policy long overdue, Northampton market owner says

It wasn’t a marketing study or Health Department sting that made Richard E. Cooper stop selling Marlboros, Winstons, Camels, Viceroys and dozens of other cigarette brands at his two stores.
It was a question posed by Rebecca Cooper, his then-5-year-old daughter.
“Why do you even sell cigarettes? They’re bad for people,” the youngest Cooper asked in May 2000 after one of Cooper’s clerks had been cited for selling cigarettes to a minor.
As CVS prepares to end cigarettes sales nationwide in October and other pharmacy chains face pressure to follow suit, Cooper’s experience shows that retailers can swear off tobacco sales without driving away customers.

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More than a decade before CVS, the nation’s second-largest pharmacy chain with 7,600 stores, decided to opt out of the tobacco market, Cooper was selling 121 varieties of cigarettes at Cooper’s Corner in Florence and the State Street Fruit Store, Deli, Wines & Spirits in downtown Northampton.
Business was good – about $36,000 a year between the two stores – but not without hassles. Despite training and warnings, store clerks were caught five times selling cigarettes to customers under 18, leading to fines and license suspensions from the city’s Board of Health.
The fifth time, in May 2000, turned out to be the last time, Cooper recalled Wednesday.
Within hours of learning about the latest violation, an exasperated Cooper was eating dinner at a Chinese restaurant with his wife and daughter, grousing about how mistakes by store clerks were hurting the stores' reputation.
“That’s when my daughter asked why we were selling them (cigarettes) to begin with; when I explained that we sold things that we didn’t use ourselves, she said, 'but they make people sick.' "
A few days later, Cooper showed up at a Board of Health hearing and turned in both licenses. “I don’t want to be part of the problem,” he told board members.

To his surprise, business at Coopers and the State Street Fruit Store improved in the next few weeks, even after the leftover cigarette inventory had been crushed and thrown into dumpsters behind the two stores.

Everyone knows it can be hard to stop smoking.

Everyone knows it can be hard to stop smoking. After all, the nicotine in cigarettes is a powerfully addictive drug. But with the right approach, you can do it. Millions of Americans have kicked the smoking habit by following some key steps, like lining up support from friends and planning ahead how they'll respond to cravings.

This personal planning tool helps you think through your approach. As you work through the planner, you'll see examples of some of the things other people did to stop smoking. When you're finished, you can print a goal sheet to guide and inspire you.
Stopping smoking takes daily awareness. You're replacing your smoking habit with a new, nonsmoking habit — and reprogramming your brain like that takes time. You'll need patience and, yes, willpower. So take it one day at a time. Look at your goal sheet every day and remind yourself of the reasons why you want to stop. Review the things that can trip you up so you can be prepared to take them on them during the day.
Did you forget and light up? Forgive yourself and get back on track. Did you get through a difficult situation without smoking? Congratulate yourself. It's a real achievement to stop smoking. When you reach your goal, you won't just be healthier. You'll also know a bit more about yourself — like the fact that you're strong enough to meet a really tough challenge.

China, world's leading tobacco user, moves to ban indoor public smoking

China, the world's largest tobacco consumer, is aiming to ban indoor smoking in public areas by the end of the year.

About one in three cigarettes smoked in the world is in China, according to the World Health Organization. And more than half of Chinese men smoke, according to the Global Adult Tobacco Survey in 2010.

Although the nation's health ministry issued guidelines in 2011 to ban smoking in places like hotels and restaurants, they haven't been "strictly enforced," according to Xinhua, China's state-run news agency.

The China's National Health and Family Commission is now working on a tobacco control law with clear punishments, according to Xinhua. Classic Blue

China's smoking habit

The country's health authorities estimate over a million deaths from tobacco-related diseases every year. The WHO warns that if tobacco use is not decreased in China, these deaths will increase to 3 million by 2050.

Last month, Chinese government officials were told not to smoke in public places such as hospitals, public transport or schools to set a good example for the public.

The latest moves by the Chinese government on tobacco are "hopeful," said Dr. Judith Mackay, the senior adviser at the World Lung Foundation, who examines tobacco issues in China.

About 32 Chinese cities have passed their own rules to restrict public smoking, she added.

"China stands on its own in the magnitude of the problem," said Mackay. "Unless there is change in China, we won't proceed further in reducing the tobacco epidemic in the world."

Tobacco use in China has far-reaching consequences, she said.

"This isn't a health problem. It's a huge economic problem. There's all these things ranging from medical and health care costs, the costs to the families and there's the cost of secondhand smoke."

NY State’s Stop Smoking-Cessation Efforts Gets Low Marks

A national coalition of anti-smoking advocates has ranked New York 21st among states in funding for smoking cessation programs. The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids this month also included New York among states it said broke promises to use all or most of the money from the historic tobacco company settlement 15 years ago to combat smoking. The group, funded by cancer and anti-smoking charities, reported this month that New York is spending about $40 million a year on tobacco prevention programs after annual declines during much of the last decade. That spending is about 16 percent of the $254 million in yearly funding recommended for New York by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Horner said the program has seen deeper annual cuts than most areas of spending in recent years. He said the fund has declined from a high of $85 million under Gov. Eliot Spitzer in 2007 to just more than $39 million now.Donskoy tabak bright
Advocates for the program and others were encouraged earlier this month during Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s first broad comments about his 2014-15 executive budget proposal due in January. “There will not be cuts,” Cuomo said. He didn’t want to go into detail about things like anti-smoking money because the budget proposal is still being crafted. And avoiding cuts, even in an election year like 2014, will be difficult. Cuomo has kept state spending growth under 2 percent since he took office three years ago. But he has a built-in increase for education — as much as 5 percent for the 2014-15 fiscal year. In addition, the roughly $135 billion budget must address a projected $1.7 billion deficit and fund the governor’s plans for a $2 billion surplus, which he wants to use to subsidize cuts in local property taxes. Budget office spokesman Morris Peters said the growth of revenue in the state’s economic recovery compared with what was projected a year ago will build that surplus if fiscal discipline continues in spending and staffing. He said he couldn’t discuss a specific budget line such as one for smoking cessation programs. The Coalition for Tobacco-Free Kids report concludes that states are “penny-wise and pound-foolish” in underfunding prevention and cessation programs despite evidence that the TV ads, telephone quit lines, counseling and more all work to help smokers quit or to encourage youths not to start. The report says tobacco is blamed on 400,000 deaths a year nationwide and consumes $96 billion in health care spending annually. The report found that over 15 years, states have used just 2.3 percent of $390 billion in tobacco settlement money and tobacco taxes on programs to prevent smoking and other tobacco use. Much of the money went to states’ general funds and elsewhere. - See more at: http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/headlines-breaking-stories/207765/ny-states-stop-smoking-cessation-efforts-gets-low-marks.html#sthash.Jt6s8Cj3.dpuf