Tobacco News

Southborough – Teen smoking is a bad thing. We all know it. And Southborough is taking another step to prevent it.
The Southborough Board of Health held a public hearing on a proposed ban on the sale of all tobacco products in Southborough pharmacies Dec. 15. The Board of Health members: Dr. Louis Fazen (Chair), nurses Nancy Sacco and Mary Lou Woodford and Public Health Director Paul Pisinski oversee the office’s daily activities.
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Cigarette advertising significantly increases the odds that youngsters who see the ads will start smoking, but exposure to ads for other products does not, a new study shows.

The ads for other products such as cell phones and candies fail to trigger the same psychological mechanisms that make children take up the smoking habit, according to the study.
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Marin cities are not doing well when it comes to tobacco control policies, earning below a “D” grade on average, according to an American Lung Association report card issued Thursday.

“One might say there is room for improvement,” said Pam Granger, a spokeswoman for the association. “But there is some forward movement occurring in Marin.”

Overall grades — which were mostly the same as last year in Marin — were based on three categories: laws to encourage smoke-free outdoor air; smoke-free housing; and reduction in sales of tobacco products.
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On Jan. 1 of this year, Southwest Minnesota State implemented a policy for our campus to “go tobacco-free.” We joined 10 other campuses in our Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) System which are currently one hundred percent tobacco-free.

Several other campuses are in the process of adopting this tobacco-free policy.
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When Elliott Cain lived in California, staff at a marijuana dispensary there recommended a mild brand of marijuana that they said was effective at treating anxiety.

Cain, who had a doctor’s authorization to use marijuana as medicine, found it did just that, tamping down his anxiety without zonking him out.

But when he moved to Washington, medical marijuana was no longer an option. The only legal drugs he could access were prescription medicines that interfered with his sleep.
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Two things people say when they hear about research on smoking tobacco are: “Why do research on smoking? We all know it’s bad for you,” and “Smoking is just a bad habit. You can quit if you have enough willpower.” Now it turns out that a new study published in the The Journal of Neuroscience shows that those people who said, “smoking is a bad habit,” were partially right.
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Need yet another reason to kick the cigarette habit? If you can’t do it for yourself, do it for your kids.
I think we’re all aware by now of how dangerous cigarettes are to those who smoke them. And if you think just smoking one (or two, or three) a day is safe, you’re wrong. The U.S. Surgeon General released a report last month stating that even one cigarette — even one — is bad for your health.
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That ongoing message to smokers is being reinforced by the provincial government and many advocacy groups during National Non-Smoking Week.

Saskatchewan has one of the highest smoking rates in the country.

The Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey reported a smoking prevalence of 22.3 per cent in the province in 2009, compared with a national prevalence of 17.5 per cent.
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A group of teens in Schuylkill County spent Wednesday evening trying to help others kick the habit.

The group set up shop inside Friendly’s restaurant near Pottsville, selling sweet treats and handing out information about the dangers of smoking and using tobacco.

The Schuylkill Teens Kickin’ Nicotine Team and the Schuylkill County Tobacco-Free Youth Coalition teamed up for the night. Ream more »

This week across Canada local agencies united to encourage people butt out – their cigarettes, that is.

National Non-smoking Week was established in 1977 by the Canadian Council for Tobacco Control(CCTC). More than an awareness campaign, the week was designed to be more than billboards and posters. “We actually want to move people to action,” Bob Walsh, executive director of the CCTC said. Ream more »