Tobacco News

A study claimed the specific gene known as “COMP-VAL” put teenagers in danger of developing psychosis if they regularly smoke cannabis. Scientists conducted experiments on cannabis exposure among adult and adolescent mice, with and without the “COMP-VAL” gene. They found the gene, and cannabis, affect the levels of the brain chemical dopamine, according to the study’s results, published in the scientific journal Neuropsychopharmacology. Ream more »

The latest survey from Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) has found that the number of young smokers in New Zealand has declined significantly in the last 10 years. The survey is being conducted, since 1999. It showed that currently only 5.6% of students aged 14 to 15 (year 10) smoked every day, compared to 15.6%, when the survey was started in the year 1999.

It also confirmed that almost 64% of the students did not experiment with smoking compared to 31.6% students in 1999. Ream more »

BEIJING, July 15 (Xinhuanet) — Recent reports and Internet video footage of a 2-year-old Indonesian boy’s smoking addiction have shocked many worldwide and now China has its own pint-sized puffer, a 3-year-old girl named Yawen.
Like her Indonesian counterpart, Yawen from Huizhou, Guangdong Province reportedly throws severe tantrums if deprived of a cig. Ream more »

You may have seen the disturbing video of a two-year-old Indonesian boy chain smoking on youtube.com. Well, CBS tracked down the child, and it turns out, he started puffing away when he was just 11 months old.
CBS tracked down the child on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia, in a small fishing village. When he was seen, reporters said he had a lit cigarette in-hand.
The parents of Aldi Suganda, Rizal and Diana, say the boy plays with toys just like any kid, but they found him smoking when he was just 11 months old at the local market, where they sell fish.
“He was being very fussy, always cried when we were there to sell. So we just let him play by himself. One day we followed him from behind and found him hanging out at a cigarette stall. Ream more »

We don’t have to wait until pigs fly to stop teen smoking. There are too many teens that smoke. You will learn about where teens get cigarettes, some reasons teens smoke, and if their parents influence them and how.
There are a lot of different ways teens can get cigarettes. Friends and family can give teens cigarettes. Most teens that smoke might buy cigarettes from friends and strangers. Teens can find a cigarette box with two or three cigarettes on the bus or on a street and even in a park. Cigarette boxes are everywhere.
Teens have different reasons why they smoke. Losing weight is a big reason teens smoke. Teens that smoke to lose weight are mostly girls. Lots of teens think smoking makes them look mature. A good amount of teens think rebellion is cool because they don’t feel like they are being controlled. Rebellion is not something to be proud of.
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Getting high off an herbal incense. It may sound bizarre, but doctors say more kids are doing it and ending up in the hospital because of it.

Six kids in the last two weeks have showed up in the Emergency Room in Munson Medical Center in Traverse City after smoking an incense known as K2.

The product is legal, but the Grand Traverse County Health Department says it’s not safe.

Teens think they will be getting a marijuana-type high but the health department says often times that’s not the case.
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Maine has been awarded a $750,000 federal grant to crack down on teen tobacco use.

The money will go to the Department of Health and Human Services through a contract with the Maine Attorney General’s Office. The agencies did not say how they will spend the money, although both federal and state laws prohibit tobacco sales to anyone under 18 and retailers must check IDs of anyone under 27.

Past efforts to reduce teen smoking in Maine appeared to help, but the trend recently reversed. The rate of smoking among Maine high school students reached a low of 14 percent in 2007, but increased to 18 percent in 2009, according to the state.
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The percentage of retailers who made illegal sales of tobacco to young people in the U.S. rose, for the first time in at least 13 years, amid state enforcement cutbacks, a federal study found.
About 10.9 percent of retailers inspected by state officials sold tobacco to customers under the age of 18 in the year ended Sept. 30, up from 9.9 percent a year earlier, according to a report released today by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. State budget cuts and fewer inspections contributed to the increase, the report said.
The Food and Drug Administration is implementing a law barring companies led by Altria Group Inc. and Reynolds American Inc. from marketing tobacco to young people. The law, signed by President Barack Obama last June, also bans retail sales of tobacco to minors. FDA rules, due to take effect June 22, will let the agency enter contracts with states to enforce the curbs. Ream more »

Utah teens take few risks when it comes to tobacco and alcohol. But they’re more likely than their national peers to have attempted suicide and tried illegal drugs, such as heroin. Fewer young Utahns are overweight.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday released results of its annual youth assessment. Teens in grades 9 to 12 were given an anonymous, self-administered survey.
No one knows how much sex Utah youth are having; Utah isn’t allowed to ask. Nationally, nearly half of youth said they have had sex.
Some highlights of the 2009 report:
Tobacco
As usual, Utah stands out for having low cigarette use compared to the national averages:
» 23.5 percent had ever tried smoking, compared to 46 percent nationally;
» 8.5 percent had smoked at least once in the month before the survey, compared to 19.5 percent.
But Utah teens who smoke are apparently more committed to the habit:
» 10 percent of the Utahns who had smoked at least once had smoked more than 10 a day, compared to 8 percent nationally.
» And 43 percent of Utah teen smokers had tried to quit, compared to 51 percent nationally.
Ream more »

The 1982 United States Surgeon General’s report in 1982 stated that “cigarette smoking is the major single cause of cancer mortality (death) in the United States.” This statement is as true today as it was in 1982. Read more