Licence for smokers

SMOKERS should be made to carry a smart card to buy cigarettes, cancer experts say. In a move backed by Tasmania's Cancer Council, two academics are pushing for the card in a bid to reduce smoking rates. Roger Magnusson, of the University of Sydney's Law School, and David Currow, of the Cancer Institute NSW, say it would cut teenage smoking rates. Retailers would have to check the smart card licence to verify every pack sold is bought by an adult, the authors write in today's Medical Journal of Australia. Professor Magnusson and Professor Currow say the card could collect data smokers could use to help them quit. Cancer Council of Tasmania chief executive Penny Egan said yesterday any move that could reduce the state's high smoking rate was worth considering. Noting Tasmania had the country's highest smoking rate, Ms Egan said: "Quitting smoking is of the most important things an individual can do to reduce the risk of cancer." Tasmanian Health Minister Michelle O'Byrne is considering banning smoking for people born after 2000. A motion supporting the ban, based on an idea floated in the Mercury in May last year by Jon Berrick from the National University of Singapore, has passed the Upper House. Despite smoking being banned for those under 18, the 2010 National Drug Strategy Household Survey found 31 per cent of the tobacco smoked by adolescents was bought from retailers or online. More info about cigarettes click here.

Anti-smoking laws ‘unrealistic’

Cape Town - Township tavern owners have rejected the government’s latest anti-smoking regulations as unrealistic, including the ban on lighting up within 10m of building entrances.

“Ten metres from my place would be over the road and in somebody else’s yard,” says David Sawula, owner of Gugulethu’s popular Popza’s Place.

“A lot of the places in our township will face the same problem because of the density and overcrowding,” Sawula said.

The Health Department regulation states: “Pollution from tobacco smoke will be further reduced by restricting smoking in certain outdoor areas. Smoking will be moved away from entrances to buildings and smoking will be restricted in sports stadia, railway platforms, bus stops, alfresco dining areas, etc.”

 

Sawula, a member of the Township Liquor Industry Association (Tolia), said Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi’s attempt to push through the regulations would also lead to a loss of jobs.

Celebrity Activists Who Have Smoked Pot: Morgan Freeman, Oliver Stone And More

As the movement to legalize marijuana gains traction, some environmental activists and celebrities are throwing in their support for legalization, while others have simply admitted to using pot at some point in their lives.
Many celebrities and politicians have publicly come forward as either current or reformed pot smokers. There are some, like Paul McCartney, who have reportedly left those days behind them. At the age of 69, McCartney told Rolling Stone that he smoked his share already. "Enough's enough," he said. On the other end of the spectrum are those still rolling, like famous director Oliver Stone. “It can be done legally, safely, healthy,” Stone insisted in a recent Associated Press interview.

48 hours after ending Tobacco use, health benefits begin

“Within 48 hours of quitting smoking, health benefits begin,” said Dr. Steven Leers, a member of the Society for Vascular Surgery. “Blood pressure decreases. Pulse rate drops. The body temperature of hands and feet increases. Carbon monoxide levels in the blood return to normal. The chance of a heart attack decreases. Nerve endings regrow. There’s an increase in the ability to taste and smell.”
Dr. Leers is an advocate for not smoking cigarette or other products. Research has linked smoking to cancer, vascular disease, stroke and lung disease.
“As a vascular surgeon, I’ve seen the damage done to veins and arteries from tobacco use,” said Dr. Leers. “Nicotine speeds up the heart and causes the body to release fat and cholesterol into the blood. All of these are related to vascular disease.”
In addition, smoking accelerates the hardening and narrowing of arteries. Smokers are two to four times more likely to develop blood clots.

Celebrities & Gun Control: Hollywood Weighs In On Newtown Shooting

CIGARETTE displays will be banned in large retailers from April, after the Scottish Government won a landmark ruling against Imperial Tobacco in the Supreme Court.

• Ban comes into force in larger shops from April
• Imperial Tobacco admits defeat in appeal process
• Vending machine ban will also come into force
Judges unanimously rejected the company’s appeal, which had previously failed twice at the Court of Session, saying it was a health, rather than a 
consumer, issue.
The display ban will come into force in large shops from April, although smaller ones will have until 2015 to make the necessary changes.
Imperial Tobacco also lost its appeal against a vending machine ban, which will come into effect in spring, with a four-month implementation period starting in the new year.
The world’s fourth-largest cigarette group admitted it had exhausted all possible routes of appeal, which means there is nothing now standing in the way of the ban.

Basuki Feels ‘Ashamed’ of City’s No-Smoking Awards

Jakarta Deputy Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama said on Wednesday that he felt “ashamed” after receiving four awards from the Environment Ministry for no-smoking policies in city buildings. “The awards made me ashamed, because we have to admit we are still so far behind on environmental issues,” Basuki said. “But if we start today to do the right things to create the new Jakarta, I believe in just one or two decades the environmentally friendly Jakarta is no longer a dream.”

Objective Study Finds ‘No Justification’ for Banning E-Cigarettes Indoors, in Public Places

Good news for the vaping community! A new study, produced by the environmental health consulting firm CHANGE LLC, claims that the secondhand risks from e-cigarette vapors are minuscule, and we should all just be chill about co-workers using them in the office.

Study abstract:
Comparisons of pollutant concentrations were made between e-cigarette vapor and tobacco smoke samples. Pollutants included VOCs, carbonyls, PAHs, nicotine, TSNAs, and glycols. From these results, risk analyses were conducted based on dilution into a 40 m3 room and standard toxicological data. Non-cancer risk analysis revealed “No Significant Risk” of harm to human health for vapor samples from e-liquids (A-D).
Before we get too excited, the study was contracted for $100,000 by the National Vapers Club from solicited donations at Vaping Expos. And “non-cancer risk analysis” is sort of a shady term: does that mean that checking for the risk of cancer in secondhand vapors wasn’t a factor in the study?