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

A review team told Gov. Ted Strickland that the new state law banning indoor smoking is among the five most controversial regulations in the prison system. Though a ban has been in place since November 2005, some question how widely it is being enforced.

About 70 percent of Ohio’s 48,500 inmates and an unknown percent of the department’s 14,400 staff smoke. That’s compared to 20.9 percent of American adults.

For years, prison officials resisted going smoke-free, saying it could result in unrest and turn tobacco into contraband. Ironically, smoking has been prohibited on death row. The 2005 ban on indoor smoking mirrors the new state law that took effect Dec. 7.

Prisons spokeswoman Andrea Dean said the new policy hasn’t led to increased violence. But the smoking ban has been haphazardly enforced, said Attorney David Singleton, executive director of the Ohio Justice and Policy Center, a legal clinic in Cincinnati.

“It may not be going over well with prisoners because a lot of prisoners like to smoke. But there needs to be a way to protect those prisoners who don’t want to be around second-hand smoke,” Singleton said. “In fact, we are contemplating litigating the lack of enforcement of the smoking ban within the prisons.”

The argument in such a case: second-hand smoke exposure is cruel and unusual punishment.

“They cannot be deliberately indifferent to a serious medical needs,” Singleton said. That argument has been used with mixed results in other states.

Some prisoners have complained about the smoking, but fear retaliation if they snitch on guards or fellow inmates, said Singleton and SmokeFreeOhio, an anti-smoking coalition that campaigned for the new state law.

Dean said the department received 32 inmate grievances regarding smoking in 2005 and 55 in 2006.

“If an inmate is really having a problem, it is addressed,” she said.

Tracy Sabetta of the SmokeFreeOhio, which campaigned for the state law, said “We hear from inmates on a fairly regular basis that the (prison smoking policy) is not being enforced in their particular facilities. I get complaints from all across the state. And there is fear of retribution. They don’t feel they can go to the wardens or supervisors.”

Source: Dayton Daily

Dad-of-one John Smith was sheltering from the rain in a doorway yards from an official smoking bay when he was caught.

Bosses at the Michelin Tyres factory, in Dundee, sacked the 35-year-old on the spot for gross misconduct.

But tyre technician John, who worked for Michelin for more than 12 years, says the firm, who recently made 100 employees redundant, took advantage of his offence to cut more costs.

He said: “My backside didn’t touch the floor after I was caught.

“But I would have been let off with a caution if this happened a couple of years ago. The company were letting a lot of the workforce go and they saw an opportunity to get rid of me for free.”

John, whose appeal against the decision was rejected, added: “It was pouring with rain and the smoking bay, which was a couple of paces away, wasn’t covered so I was standing in a doorway to stay dry.

“I couldn’t believe it when I was hauled in front of the management. I worked for Michelin for over 12 years and know how important fire regulations are in a tyre factory and I would never take risks.”

John, who has a 10-year-old daughter, is worried his pension and benefits rights will be affected because he was dismissed.

And after last week’s 650 job losses at Dundee’s NCR factory, he knows that competition for work in the city will be high.

Michelin, who are one of the city’s largest employers, revealed plans for “significant investments” to secure the plant’s long-term future last year – but at a cost of 10 per cent of jobs.

Yesterday, a company spokesman refused to discuss the details of John’s case.

He said: “Smoking regulations in the Michelin tyre factory are very robust for obvious reasons.

“There are signs throughout the plant outlining the rules and we have specific smoking bays for our workers to use.”

In August last year, machine operator Malcolm Muirhead was sacked for having a cigarette outside a paper mill.

The 39-year-old was outside the Tullis Russell building in Markinch, Fife, next to a heating unit when he was caught.

The dad-of-one claimed he had to smoke there because he was not allowed to leave the grounds during his breaks.

Malcolm, who has smoked for 22 years, said: “This is a very draconian way to deal with smokers.”

Source: Daily Record

The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) is due to announce today that it has approved Champix after clinical trials showed that nearly half of smokers given the drug were able to give up their habit.

The decision has been welcomed by charities and medical experts who yesterday described Champix as a significant step forward in the therapies made available for British smokers. It puts Scotland ahead of England, where guidance on the use of the drug is due to be published later this year.
continued…

Unlike nicotine replacement therapies (NRTs) such as patches, which release nicotine into the blood, Champix, whose technical name is varenicline tartrate, provides relief from withdrawal symptoms by sending a neurological signal to nicotine receptors in the brain.

By stimulating these receptors, smokers are provided with relief from their cravings. However, the drug also partially blocks the same receptors, ensuring that if a patient relapses they will not receive the same level of pleasure from smoking a cigarette.

Steve Crone, chief executive of Quit, a charity which helps people give up smoking, welcomed the SMC’s decision.

He said: “Varenicline will give Scottish smokers more choice from a good range of clinically proven treatments. Using varenicline and getting the right support could significantly increase a smoker’s odds of successfully quitting.”

Champix is the second non-nicotine drug to be licensed as a therapy for smokers in the UK. Its predecessor, Zyban, which was licensed in June 2000, was designed as an anti-depressant.

It is thought to work by regulating the brain chemicals dopamine and noradrenaline, which are believed to be linked to cigarette addiction and has been claimed to be twice as effective as NRT therapies in helping people to give up.

However, Champix has proved more effective and less likely to produce adverse side effects than its predecessor.

As part of its assessment of Champix, the SMC used data from two studies which involved more than 2000 smokers. It studied three groups who were given Champix, Zyban and a placebo.

Among the patients given Champix, which is administered as a tablet, 44% were able to give up smoking, compared with 30% of those given Zyban and 18% of those given a placebo. After 12 weeks, smokers taking the new drug had four times greater odds of stopping smoking than those on a placebo and two times greater odds of stopping than those on Zyban, the studies found. Clinical trials have also found that, among 4000 smokers who were treated with the drug, the number of treatments that had to be discontinued due to adverse effects was similar to those treated with a placebo.

Dr Alex Bobak, a London-based GP and expert on quitting smoking who has been involved in trials of Champix, said he had found the drug effective with patients who wanted to give up smoking.

“It is the first drug that has been designed for the purpose of giving up smoking. I have trialled it with patients and have certainly found it extremely helpful,” he said.

“One of the big differences from Zyban is that it is much better tolerated, there are much fewer side-effects. I’m very excited about using it.”

A spokesman for Ash Scotland, which campaigns against smoking, said: “We would welcome the introduction of any properly tested and licensed treatment that can help Scotland’s smokers to quit.

“There is a huge challenge in Scotland, where around 13,000 people die every year because of tobacco use.”

Source: The Herald

Although similar statewide measures have been adopted in Arkansas and Louisiana, Bangor is the first city to adopt such an ordinance, which goes into effect next week.

Violators of the newly approved law face a $50 fine, which applies to any motor vehicle on any public roads within the city confines.

Supporters of the newly enacted ordinance argue that children need the legislation to help protect themselves from the adverse health effects of second-hand smoke. However, opponents of the measure argue that the law detracts the police department from more important issues and is an unnecessary government intrusion into people’s lives.

The long-time smoker jokes the ban has overturned one of the traditions of the century-old Kowloon Cricket Club he belongs to.

“They really hit us on the head when they let women in here,” he quips, a plastic nicotine inhaler between his lips.

“But this is almost as bad as that,” he adds before cueing a shot in the club’s once smoky snooker den.

Unlike France, which will allow smokers to ease into the new year before implementing a partial smoking ban in February, Hong Kong’s ban came into effect at midnight on New Year’s eve.

The new laws bring Hong Kong, a city of seven million, in line with places like Ireland, New York and California, by banning smoking in offices, restaurants, most parks and beaches.

So far, implementation seems to have been smooth, with the government’s team of enforcement inspectors only prosecuting seven violators since last week.

While some of the city’s restaurants and “cha chan teng”, or hole-in-the-wall eateries, have begrudged the dip in business from the ban, others showed signs of embracing change.

“There’s been no effect on our business,” said Wong Sing-fan, the bespectacled boss of the 56-year-old Mido cafe in Yaumatei, as she stood behind her cash register. “I welcome the ban.”

Across the harbour in the raucous Red Box Karaoke lounge in the teeming Causeway Bay district, managing director Anthony Lock said business had fallen up to 20 percent on the first weekend after the ban, with clients consuming less and leaving earlier.

But for regular karaoke crooners like John Chan, the ban was something to savour whilst belting out the latest Canto-pop hits.

“It’s super, I don’t have to smell like cigarettes all day.”

Violators face fines of up to HK$5,000 (330 pounds) after a court summons, though the government says spot fines could be introduced within 18 months.

The government has proclaimed the smoking ban a success so far, but critics say it has instead forced smokers onto busy streets where smoking is still allowed, and to other spots where enforcement is problematic, such as in stairways and toilets.

“Now, if we need a smoke, we go out. We run in and out of buildings all day,” said Ah Chun, a teenager who was lighting up with five friends on a crowded shopping street.

The ban is also not absolute, with over 800 bars, saunas, nightclubs and mahjong parlours granted exemptions till mid-2009.

Anti-smoking advocates are hopeful the Hong Kong’s ban will set a precedent for tougher smoking laws in China, which has 350 million smokers, more than any other country.

Esther Ng, a social smoker and reveller at the Lan Kwai Fong nightlife hub, complains the ban will not resolve one of Hong Kong’s most pressing problems — the pollution which the University of Hong Kong estimates kills 1,600 people a year and costs $HK21.2 billion.

“Having the ban’s one thing. But what the government really needs to do is sort out the air pollution,” she says. “That’s what’s really killing us.”

Source: Scotsman.com

Besides the cost of buying cigarettes themselves, you’re probably spending more money on life insurance than a non-smoker. “On average, you’re paying close to a thousand dollars more per year… if you have a half million dollar policy, which a lot of people have,” says Hennessey. But, the moment you stop smoking, your premium will go down.

Life insurance isn’t the only thing that may cost you more: your health insurance costs will go up too. Smokers pay, on average, close to five hundred dollars more each year than non-smokers. “That’s understandable,” says Hennessey. “Nobody wants to pay down the line – the risks of lung cancer, emphysema, diabetes, all the problems that are associated with smoking.” Because smokers are at a higher risk for these and other diseases, health insurance companies charge them more to cover costs that may crop up later in life.

Smokers can lose money when it comes to their cars as well. Car resale values go down by almost two-thousand dollars if the car was owned by a smoker. “It’s [money] you lose simply because of the smoke in the car, the wear and tear that comes from the cigarette burns,” says Hennessey. “I tell a lot of people to lease a car rather than buy. You cannot lease a car if you’re a smoker because those burns will kill you when you go to bring it back in and you can never get the smell out.”

So when it comes to making your New Year’s resolutions, this year, consider quitting smoking. It may be a good move health-wise, but it doesn’t hurt financially either.

Source: CBS News

Kumar Mangat, the producer of “No Smoking,” told the Mumbai Mirror newspaper that he has hired a cameraman to catch offenders in action.

“Many people try to smoke on the sly, so I have told my cameraman to be very alert at all times,” said Mangat. “Sometimes when caught the offenders protest that 500 rupees (US$11) is too high an amount,” the daily quoted Mangat as saying.

However, he insists they pay up and plans to donate 112,000 rupees (US$2,488; euro1,874.91) collected over the past two months to a cancer hospital.

The movie is about a chain smoker, played by Bollywood heartthrob John Abraham, who undergoes rehab to help him stop smoking and save his marriage.

Abraham has quit smoking and has not been caught cheating, he said.

Among those recently fined was upcoming actor Ranvir Shorey.

“I think this fine is a bit heavy on the pocket, but it’s done in good spirit,” Shorey told the newspaper. “Anyway I’m trying to quit smoking, so I think this should help.”

Source: AP