Getting rid of indoor smoking in prisons is about as popular as replacing jelly-filled donuts with cold gruel in the chow hall.

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

A smoker was sacked having a fag break at the factory where he worked.

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 first drug designed to help smokers quit without the use of nicotine has been licensed for use in the Scottish NHS.

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.
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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

After the City Council voted 6-3 in favor of an anti-smoking measure, Bangor, Maine will become the first city to ban smoking in a motor vehicle when children under the age of 18 are present.

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.

John Greene is one of Hong Kong’s 800,000 or so smokers who’ve been grappling with a citywide smoking ban that came into effect this year.
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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