Tobacco News

Smokers who successfully quit may enjoy yet another health benefit: improved cholesterol profiles. A boost in “good” cholesterol comes with quitting despite weight gain after putting out the last cigarette, hints a new study. If confirmed in future research, the finding could shed light on the strong, yet somewhat mysterious relationship between smoking and heart health. Up to 20 percent of heart disease deaths are currently blamed on smoking, but researchers haven’t yet had a clear understanding of what lies behind the effect.
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WITH WORRIES about the economy and stress over the Thanksgiving holiday, you may have forgotten that Nov. 18 was the Great American Smoke Out. This annual event encourages Americans who smoke and or use tobacco products to quit for a single day, with the hope that they will eventually quit for good.
Quitting for good is not only the healthiest thing to do, but the most intelligent, too. During the recent holiday, I had the displeasure of reminding a relative of the oh-so-obvious facts about the dangers of cigarette smoking.
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A research study in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health reveals the prevailing connection between mothers smoking during their pregnancy and law violations committed by their grown-up offspring. The Harvard School of Public Health in Boston conducted the studyunder researcher Angela D. Paradis and her co-workers examining data of 3,766 research participants. Ream more »

A federal law is restricting the words “light,” “low,” and “mild” from tobacco products now on the market, as health officials launch a campaign to inform smokers that there’s no such thing as a safe cigarette. Under the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, a tobacco company can’t use the words “light,” “low,” and “mild” on any cigarette products now on the market unless FDA has issued an order allowing it—and that hasn’t happened. Ream more »

Two lighters are lit. One is held to the end of a cigarette while the other is held to a piece of charcoal on top of a hookah. Both items are being lit to produce tobacco smoke.
We know tobacco causes multiple health problems, but is one method of smoking it safer than the other?
In an anonymous poll of FGCU students, cigarettes were deemed worse. Out of 35 students polled, 63.2 percent said they believed smoking a cigarette is safer than a 45-minute hookah session. Ream more »

MOSCOW — One woman said children as young as 10 working in the fields developed red rashes on their stomachs and necks as they harvested tobacco for use in cigarettes made by Philip Morris.
Another migrant laborer working in the tobacco fields in Kazakhstan said a farmer confiscated her identification papers and withheld pay to force her to continue working despite dismal conditions. Ream more »

BRUSSELS — Europe’s health commissioner said on Thursday he is working on proposals to tighten bloc-wide advertising and marketing constraints on tobacco products.Malta’s John Dalli said Brussels can neither legislate nor impose firm anti-smoking measures on European Union member states, but plans to revisit existing EU laws in order to make tobacco products “less attractive”. Read more

The cigarette was named some time in the 18th century: beggars in Seville began to pick from the ground the cigar ends left by the señoritos(“rich, young men”), wrapped the tobacco remains with paper and smoked them. A cigarette (French for”small cigar”) is a product consumed through smoking and manufactured out of cured and finely cut tobacco leaves and reconstituted tobacco, often combined with other additives, then rolled or stuffed into a paper-wrapped cylinder(generally less than 120 mm in length and 10 mm in diameter). Read more

“The South Carolina state legislature today took a major step to save lives and protect public health by overriding Governor Mark Sanford’s May 11 veto and passing a 50-cent tobacco tax increase. South Carolina has long held the rank of the lowest cigarette tax in the nation at seven cents and had not passed an increase since 1977. Today’s historic victory is a testament to the decade-long persistence of public health advocates in South Carolina who made the case that raising tobacco taxes is a proven method to protect public health by reducing smoking and preventing youth from starting the habit. Read more

Responding to the West Seattle Herald’s May 7 story “Experts Urge West Seattle families to communicate directly about drugs and alcohol,” long-time West Seattle resident, Bob Fox, wanted to weigh in with his years of fighting our tobacco-smoking culture and the powers behind it. A retired Boeing employee who with many positions including customer support, Fox tried, with some success, to change the corporate smoking culture in his work place. He recalled that at work the supervisor would announce several times a day it was time for a smoke break, and if an employee said he did not smoke, he was told to keep working. Read more