As people continue to explore the amazing ways of quitting smoking then it is imperative that they also look at the possibilities of changing their lifestyle. Of course there is a possibility that some of the advice that is given will not work but the person should be on the lookout for new developments. For example some people claim that multivitamin treatments help them to keep healthy and avoid smoke. That is a matter of personal choice and preferences. Here are a few pointers:

• Honesty is the best policy: An honest assessment of the journey that the person has taken and the vulnerability that they face might be the best way of ensuring that they do not give up on the journey. Knowing that smoking is bad is just the beginning of the battle. The next phase of the battle is to ensure that the person can effectively quit the habit in time. Honesty will help you to deal with the down times when nothing seems to work.
• Read about the consequences of smoking: Some people do not realize the gravity of the situation that they are in. It takes them time to fully understand that the smoke will kill them if nothing is done. That is where it is imperative that they take the time to look at the different elements that make this habit toxic. A few films showing the symptoms of lung cancer might wake you up.
• Complement the nicotine patches: It is important not to concentrate on just one strategy. It might fail and the person will have nowhere to run. It is better to complement the strategies with different elements so that if one fails there is always an alternative. The patches might be complemented by therapy. Of course it is imperative that the patient does not take an overdose of the patches.
• Hypnosis might not work: Some people say that hypnosis works for them while others say that it is not thing but a waste of time. It is important that the person is able to make the right distinctions and not fall into the trap of just taking up smoking for the sake of it. They also have to think about the down time when there will be no therapist to hold their hand. That is when quitting becomes a real challenge. They should be prepared for the good times and the bad times.

The risk of secondhand smoking is also high with 67.6 percent of the adults exposed to the risk at home and 49.0 percent at the workplace. The highest rate of secondhand smoking was found at cafes, wine and tea shops (92.6 percent), followed by restaurants (84.9 percent) and universities (54.5 percent).

The figures were released at a workshop in Hanoi on October 27 where the Ministry of Health released the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) result related to Vietnam.

Deputy Health Minister Nguyen Thi Xuyen said tobacco is the cause of 25 potentially fatal diseases. She quoted the World Health Organisation (WHO) as estimating that unless Vietnam takes prompt measures to control the trend, up to 10 percent of national deaths will be of tobacco-related diseases in 2020. Under the GATS survey conducted by WHO in 2010, in addition to male smoking, 1.4 percent of Vietnamese women smoke.

Up to 81.8 percent of smokers in Vietnam smoke daily and 26.9 percent use traditional tobacco pipes. The ages for beginners average 19.8 years for men, 23.6 for women and 19.9 in general.
Of the 9,925 respondents aged 15 years old and upwards, 29.3 percent of smokers said they had quit the habit while 67.5 percent of current smokers said they are thinking of quitting smoking one day in the future. As many as 71.3 percent of respondents indicate support for the policy on tax increases for cigarettes.

Mass media warnings on the risks caused by tobacco have caught public attention, according to 91.6 percent of respondents. Vietnam has been advised to strictly prohibit smoking in public places and increase taxes on cigarettes. Bans on relevant advertisements, trade promotions and any kinds of financial support by tobacco companies should also be tightened. The country has also been urged to intensify investment in detoxification services for smokers.

There is no doubt that smoking is an anti social activity. It elevates the personal wishes of the individual above the concerns of the community to maintain some sort of healthy environment for all. The people that insist on smoking are doing a disservice to the other people that live with them as well as the general public. It is not a habit that is to be tolerated easily. The amazing ways to quit smoking might be the best way of ensuring that the person avoids some of the health risks that have been associated with the habit in the past. Of course it is possible that the individual will make the choice to continue smoking. In that way they will need to spend time dealing with the health repercussions of the habit. For example they might need to find ways to treat mouth ulcers or even cancer.

Killing the smoking habit

• Some people will voluntarily give up smoking when something really terrible happens. They will then realize the kind of vulnerability that they are playing with. For example there have been incidents where the individual has had a heart attack at the time of smoking so that they are compelled to think of ways of stopping the habit with immediate effect.
• Smoking has long been accepted to be a bad habit and therefore it is imperative that people take the time to see whether it can be avoided. There are some booster foods such as ginger and garlic which help to get rid of the smoke bug. Whenever the quitter feels like smoking then it is a good idea to brush the teeth because it keeps the mouth occupied with a clean feeling rather than the smoke.
• Some people find that making a bet will help them to keep on the straight and narrow when it comes to smoking. They might even start to talk about their experiences on a blog or a FaceBook page. A public announcement will make it very difficult for the person to go back on their promises to quit smoking.
• It might pay to keep away from the places where smokers are likely to congregate. That means that you are keeping the temptation at bay and giving yourself the best chance to beat the habit. It is also the means that will ensure that you can continue to enjoy a healthy lifestyle.

The Delaware County Health Board has asked its attorney to draft a comprehensive ordinance that would ban smoking countywide.

County commissioners approved a smoking ban four years ago but excluded bars, truck stops along Interstate 69 and bingo halls that became private clubs that bingo players could join.

Cecilia Williams of the Tobacco Free Coalition of Delaware County tells The Star Press that she thinks the commissioners would enact a comprehensive ban if there were enough public support.

Source: Chicago Tribune

There are amazing ways to quit smoking safely. Some of these ways might include unorthodox solutions. The health market is constantly coming up with ideas that are meant to ensure that people can give up smoking with minimum fuss. Of course some of the schemes are not as straightforward as would be ideal. However they do offer the opportunity for people to change their lifestyle for the better. For example there is the anti chewing tobacco that is beginning to increase its fans through publicity as well as the real results that it has been able to show.

First of all there has to be recognition that people wish to stop smoking on a permanent basis. The schemes that stop and start all the time will never be able to get the best out for the individuals. Of course this is a long and tedious process. Many people are likely to fall before they even start. Nevertheless it offers opportunities for a change in lifestyle. It also opens up the doors on the things that people can do in order to change the way that smoking affects them. In due course it might turn out that people can quit smoking at the drop of a hat.

Issues to help stop smoking

• First of all the person has to set a definite date for quitting. Without a definite timescale for quitting everything becomes haphazard in its approach.
• It is important to tell the people around that you are quitting because they will help to keep you on track if you are beginning to backslide. They will also provide you with support during the difficult times when it would appear that the whole thing is not going to work.
• You should take the time to liaise with these people so that they can help you with the smoking addiction.

It is important that the process of giving up smoking is taken very seriously. It is not a walk in the park and the individual might have to make certain sacrifices in order to get to the summit of their objectives. The temptations such as cigarettes that are lying around should be removed. This is because they will eventually overcome any resistance to the habit and the person will go back to their old ways. This might have catastrophic consequences for their general health. The local doctor might also be able to provide some bespoke support.

Some industry players are, however, concerned that a vigorous fight-back by the sector will be counter-productive, attracting international attention to the issue.

Last week, Kenya’s capital Nairobi became the latest urban area to outlaw public smoking, following in the footsteps of the smaller municipalities of Nakuru, Kangundo and Mombasa. Nakuru, Kenya’s fourth largest city, pioneered the bans three months ago.

Other Kenyan cities expected to pass smoking curbs in the next two weeks include Eldoret and Kisumu. Uganda’s tobacco control lobby welcomed the Kenyan bans, pointing out that they were in line with those in such cities as New York, London and Dublin.

“The Environmental Action Network (TEAN) highly commends the city and municipal councils of Nairobi, Mombasa, Kangundo and Nakuru for their recent by-laws to ban smoking in public places,” said the organisation’s spokesperson Phillip Karugaba last week. “The new bans are in line with the fact that Kenya was the first country in the region to ratify the World Health Organisation’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).”

Kenya ratified the FCTC in June 2004, while Tanzania and Uganda ratified this year, in April and June respectively.

According to the city of Nairobi ban, those found smoking in public areas, including the streets, will face a fine of Ksh2,000 ($30) or a six-month jail term for a first offender and Ksh3,000 ($45) or a nine-month jail term for a repeat offender. Within 24 hours of announcing the ban on Tuesday, 10 offenders were arrested and fined a total of Ksh20,000 ($300), sparking protests from the tobacco industry.

“This all-encompassing ban on smoking is unconstitutional and is without due regard to the right of smokers,” said Mastermind Tobacco Ltd spokesman John Kirimania. “By approving these by-laws, the Local Government Minister and the respective town clerks have misdirected themselves.”

Those sentiments were supported by BAT Kenya, the country’s largest tobacco company with a turnover of Ksh12.1 billion ($178 million) and a pre-tax profit of Ksh1.8 billion ($26.5 million) in the last financial year.

Between themselves, Kenya’s tobacco companies sell an estimated 7 billion cigarettes to a market that Ministry of Health officials say includes an estimated one million minors. The ministry says that it spends more than the estimated Ksh7 billion ($103 million) the tobacco industry pays in compounded taxes to “mop up” the health effects of smoking.

The bans by the Kenyan town and city councils are the second prong of a strategy devised by the country’s tobacco control activists, who have long complained that the enactment of national control legislation has been blocked by vested interests for more than six years.

As a result, Kenya’s Tobacco control Bill has been published every year since 2001, but has always lapsed and never been passed into law. Last week, however, the Bill went through its second reading and indications are that it will be passed before parliament goes on recess in August.

Source: Nation Media

“I was developing a project for a studio, and the character was this totally messed-up guy. He was in his mid- to late 20s; he frequented whores; he took an enormous amount of Ecstasy, and in many, many scenes he would smoke.

“Well, the studio was obsessed with him not smoking. And I used to say, `The guy’s doing all these other crazy things, you’re worried about him smoking?’”

Very worried.

Last week, the Motion Picture Association of America announced that cigarettes will now be a factor in movie ratings. In a statement, the body responsible for those parental advisories – the PGs, PG-13s, Rs and NC-17s accorded for scenes of sex and violence, for profanity, drinking and drugs – noted that “depictions that glamorize smoking or movies that feature pervasive smoking outside of a historic or other mitigating context may receive a higher rating.”

Fine, smoking kills. Studies from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have linked movies to teen smoking, and health organisations, youth advocacy groups and outfits like Morality in Media have long lobbied Hollywood to kick those butts off screen. (Morality in Media wants any film featuring a lit cigarette to get an automatic R.)

“Think about it,” wrote consumer advocate and activist Ralph Nader in a Tobacco and Hollywood editorial. “The movies are glamorous, and they portray smoking as glamorous, whether or not it is a good guy or bad guy lighting a cigarette.”

With that kind of logic, it was only a matter of time before Hollywood officially ceded.

“Smoking is increasingly an unacceptable behavior in our society,” Dan Glickman, president of the MPAA, said in his statement last week. “No parent wants their child to take up the habit. The appropriate response of the rating system is to give more information to parents on this issue.”

OK. But where is all this going? What’s next – an R rating for a scene of grade-schoolers scarfing trans-fat doughnuts? What about a movie that offends vegans – stars chomping on meat, wearing mink, stopping the Mr. Softee truck for a vanilla cone? And who’s going to protect the moviegoing public from all the other potentially destructive, addictive activities “glamourised” in the movies?

Source: The Star

Warren Custis of the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) in Salisbury says bars and restaurants will miss out on a major part of their business.

“It’s wrong to try to tell someone where to smoke at,” said Custis.

Custis also mentions that businesses spend lots of money installing smoke eaters. This device sucks up the smoke when its in the air allowing for separate smoking and non-smoking sections.

“Restaurants and bars have them, now it’s useless,” said Custis.

“They tell me they’re expensive to run, some places run them and some don’t,” said Don Kersey.

The statewide smoking ban includes bars, restaurants, and private clubs. Lawmakers tentatively agreed to the ban last week, a formal agreement may be reached Monday. The bill then heads to Governor Martin O’Malley, who plans to sign it.

Maryland would join Washington D.C. and Delaware with statewide smoking bans.

Source: WBOC

Vince Rennich, a table games supervisor, doesn’t buy the argument that his dismissal was part of a larger staff reduction as the new owners reorganize the property.

“They threw me under the bus,” the Somers Point man said Monday. “They took the opportunity to get rid of me.”

A Tropicana spokeswoman declined comment on the reason behind the layoff. But since Columbia Entertainment took over for Aztar Corp., a couple hundred employees have been let go.

“This is not an easy thing. We’re sensitive to the people who work here,” said Tropicana president and CEO Fred Buro The casino offered a six-week severance package, Rennich, 49, said.

Rennich sued the Tropicana last summer, alleging failure to protect employees against secondhand smoke on the casino floor. Rennich, a nonsmoker, was diagnosed with lung cancer two years ago and had part of his lung removed.

Rennich said he never saw the firing coming.

“I didn’t think they had the nerve to do it,” he said. “How can you do that to someone. I’m devastated. I have no job, no benefits. Health insurance will cost me $800 month. Who’ll hire a guy with lung cancer who is suing the casino industry?”

He also ruled out going to court to get his job back at the Tropicana “I don’t want them if they don’t want me,” he said.

Rennich said he will continue the fight for a full smoking ban on the casino floor. “This is not about me. It’s what’s happening in Atlantic City. It’s not OK for us to die.”

Last year, the state enacted a smoking ban, but exempted the casinos for fear of an economic downturn. Atlantic City council introduced its own ordinance to close the loophole, but last month backed off, approving an amendment to permit separate smoking areas on 25 percent of the casino floor. Plans for the separation must be submitted to the state Department of Community Affairs by mid-September, five months after the ordinance takes affect April 15.

The state has since revisited the exemption. Last week, the Senate Health Committee approved a measure to ban smoking on the gaming floor. Rennich testified at the hearing.

Tropicana’s Buro last week said the casinos would likely go smoke-free by installing gaming-free smoking lounges.

“That seems to be the most practical way,” he said.

Rennich supports the move. “We pitched that idea to them. This is all about worker’s safety. We’re not trying to get people to stop smoking. But no one should have to die to earn a paycheck,” he said.

Source: Courier Post

Nearly six out of 10 people do not know when the restrictions come into force, according to trade magazine The Publican.

A survey of nearly 1,000 people found 41 per cent thought smoking would still be allowed in private members’ clubs. And 19 per cent believed the ban would not apply to pubs which did not serve food.

The ban comes into force on April 2 in Wales, April 30 in Northern Ireland and July 1 in England.

The ban will affect virtually all enclosed workplaces and public places, including pubs, restaurants and membership clubs.

The ban is likely to have some positive benefits for the pub trade, the survey showed. One third of the non-smokers questioned expected to visit pubs more often as a result. Some 37 per cent of all respondents – and 51 per cent of non-smokers – were more likely to eat in a pub.

Daniel Pearce, deputy editor of The Publican, said: “There is an urgent need for more information otherwise pubs will have to face up to unhappy customers when they discover they can no longer smoke in their local.”

Source: The Bolton News

Anti-smoking forces are lining up against the tobacco industry and some restaurant owners, with lobbyists from both sides seeking to win over lawmakers.

“We’ve got a lot of national resources that are focusing on this,” said Sen. Rodney Ellis, a Houston Democrat who proposed the legislation. “Texas is a trendsetter state on so many issues.”

Sixteen states, including California and New York, already have comprehensive smoking bans; 13 others are considering them. Houston, Austin, El Paso and other Texas cities already have comprehensive smoking bans.

Ellis’ proposal is aimed at eliminating secondhand smoke in indoor public places. It would ban smoking in government offices, private workplaces, restaurants, bars and the seating area of outdoor entertainment events. It also would prohibit smoking within 15 feet of the entrances to those places. The bill proposes a fine of up to $500 for violating the ban.

The bill, which was filed Tuesday, must survive legislative committees before facing a vote from lawmakers during the legislative session, which ends May 28.

Smoke-Free Texas, a coalition of the American Cancer Society, American Lung Association, American Heart Association and Texas PTA, is pushing the measure.

The American Cancer Society and the American Cancer Society High Plains Division, which sponsored the poll, have 11 lobbyists for the legislative session, according to the Texas Ethics Commission.

Leading opposition to the ban is tobacco giant Philip Morris USA Inc. Spokesman David Sutton said the company advocates helping people avoid secondhand smoke in public places, but wants business owners to have flexibility in accommodating them.

There are ways to protect nonsmokers short of a complete ban, he said, such as separate rooms for smokers and high-quality ventilation.

“Total bans on indoor smoking fail to respect the comfort and choices of both smoking and nonsmoking adults,” he said.

The Texas Restaurant Association also figures to be a major player in the debate.

“Increasingly we see that cities are adopting bans,” said executive director Richie Jackson. “We have some concerns. One is, we want a level playing field — if you’re going to ban smoking in restaurant bars that you don’t allow smoking in bars. That’s an ongoing equity issue with us.”

Joining a throng of health officials to promote the legislation were Dallas restaurant owner and executive chef Kent Rathbun and Austin-based blues musician Marcia Ball.

Ball, a former smoker, said while smokers can make their own choices about whether to light up, waiters, entertainers and non-smoking patrons don’t have a choice about breathing secondhand smoke if it’s in the air. Customers won’t stop going to bars and restaurants if they can’t smoke inside, she said.

“They, we, can adapt,” she said

Source: Am New York

The state is to aid would-be quitters by handing out coupons for the purchase of Nicotine patches and chewing gum.

Helplines which advise smokers on how to give up have seen business boom.

” I would say the number of calls we get has doubled. Around 500 calls come in per day – 300
asking for help in how to beat the addiction and around 200 for information concerning the new law. Most people appear to be coming to terms with the new reality,” said a spokesperson for the helpline.

A key question is whether the authorities will enforce the ban.

In 1991 France introduced a reform ordering restaurants and bars to set up smoking and non-smoking areas and this is widely ignored.

A series of fines will act as the stick with individual puffers facing a 68 euro fine. Those in charge of the business or building will be slapped with a 135 euro fine going up to 750 euros for repeat offences.

This makes the 22-year-old a natural choice to be one of the public faces of an eight-week advertising campaign launched today by the Calgary Health Region to help young adults butt out.

“The anti-smoking campaign … has been a huge influence on my decision,” said Black Horse during the program’s launch at Theatre Calgary.

The program features Black Horse and other young people in a series of public service announcements, posters and transit ads that highlight the challenges of nicotine addiction.

The almost $400,000 campaign targets Aboriginals, post-secondary students and tradespeople in the 18-24 age group.

The message is timely, said Susan Mide Kiss, CHR tobacco reduction project coordinator, given a steady increase in the number of young people taking up the habit.

“Smoking rates among the young adult population are rising, about 27% in the last year, while rates in Aboriginal communities are even higher,” she said.

“We want to support young adults who want to reduce or quit tobacco use.”

Mide Kiss added the beginning yesterday of National Non-Smoking Week and Calgary’s new smoking bylaw help to stimulate awareness about the dangers of smoking, the leading cause of preventable illness and disease in the Calgary area.

The smoking bylaw, which faces a court challenge Feb. 8 by 35 local bar and restaurant owners, could actually help curtail the cravings of smokers, said Linette Soldan, community services coordinator with the Canadian Cancer Society’s Alberta and North West Territories branch.

“Statistics show these bylaws help smokers either reduce their amount or look at quitting altogether,” she said.

Source: Calgary Sun

The Liberals say it’s not a double standard to allow casinos in Windsor and Niagara Falls to build shelters for smokers even though bars and restaurants cannot. Health Promotion Minister Jim Watson says casinos can build smoking shelters because their primary business is gambling, not serving food and alcohol.

But critics say the casinos are in the hospitality industry, just like bars and restaurants, and should not be allowed the advantage of smoking enclosures.

Michael Perley of the Ontario Coalition for Action on Tobacco says casinos serve food and drinks as a major inducement to attract patrons, just like bars and restaurants.

The opposition parties accuse the Liberal government of trying to protect its own dwindling casino revenues at the expense of the private competition. A tobacco-industry funded lobby group says the government should let restaurants and bars construct smoking shelters to level the playing field with the casinos.

Source: TB Source

The prospect — an imminent reality — raises a question that smoker and philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre might have enjoyed contemplating: Will France still be France without widespread smoking in public?

A new ban on smoking in French offices and other public buildings begins next month and will ensnare bars, cafes, restaurants, hotels and casinos from 2008 onward.

France is following the lead of other European countries such as Ireland, Italy or Spain. But cigarettes for many remain as much a part of the French art of living as wine and fatty foods.

“It’s very worrisome,” award-winning author and smoker Maurice Druon said of the ban. “For four centuries, tobacco was a wonderful thing. … It was said to be the ‘holy herb,’ and now it’s been decreed as horrifying.”

Source: Det News