The singer, who smokes up to 60 cigarettes a day, has already given up drugs and alcohol and now wants to kick another unhealthy habit.

Robbie – who was fined £60 for smoking onstage in Australia last week – is so desperate to quit nicotine he has even planned to visit a hypnotist on New Year’s Eve.

He said: “I want to give them up for good in 2007. Seeing a hypnotist on New Year’s Eve seems a good idea to me.”

The ‘Angels’ singer has made several attempts to give up cigarettes in the past including a fitness drive last summer.

However, Robbie gave into temptation after just a few weeks – because he was worried about piling on the pounds.

He admitted at the time: “I smoke loads and I really don’t want to anymore. But I’m terrified of giving up. I’m a fat bloke inside this body and the minute I stop smoking, I will put on weight.”

“Smoking ban chaos,” the Bild am Sonntag newspaper declared in a headline on Sunday and said there was discord between the states over smoking limits.

“Bavaria announces tough new rules but other states are banking on voluntary measures.”

Efforts to introduce a nationwide smoking ban collapsed last week as Germany’s justice and home affairs ministries questioned the constitutional basis for a ban in restaurants and schools, which would have brought Germany in line with the EU.

The decision followed six months of debate in the left-right grand coalition and was a blow for Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Instead, the country’s federal states will be responsible for their own rules on smoking, a habit which over a third of German adults continue to indulge despite the health risks.

Merkel will now attempt to get the states to agree to uniform regulations at a meeting on Wednesday, but opinions on a smoking ban in public places vary.

“After what happened in Berlin we will of course act in Bavaria in the interests of health,” Bavarian Premier Edmund Stoiber told the Bild am Sonntag. “That means there will be smoking bans in all public buildings and restaurants.”

Smokers visiting Munich, Bavaria’s capital, for the famous Oktoberfest would be spared, however. “There will be exceptions, such as the beer tent for example,” Stoiber said.

The states of Lower Saxony, Thuringia and Saarland are banking on voluntary solutions to the problem, wary of creating the impression of a “nanny” state. Smoking is a cherished sign of tolerance in Germany after a tobacco clampdown by the Nazis.

“The state should not get involved in every aspect of life and should not create bans where people should be taking responsibility for what they do in their free time,” said Christian Wulff, conservative premier of Lower Saxony.

Anti-smoking campaigners said the government had buckled under tobacco industry pressure by ditching a nationwide ban.

“The route chosen by the government is not suited to the uniform protection of non-smokers,” Social Democrat politician Carola Reimann told the Berliner Zeitung. Italy, France, Ireland and Britain have introduced or agreed to introduce restrictions.

Close to 140,000 Germans die each year from tobacco-related illnesses, but the government has little financial incentive to crack down as it collects billions of euros in tobacco taxes.

Source: Stuff.co.nz

About 19 percent of U.S. women smoke compared to 23 percent of men.

But women who choose to smoke must also face the health risks. Many smoking women have died and, unfortunately, many will continue to do so.

Since 1950, lung cancer death rates in U.S. women have increased 600 percent. And as of 1987, lung cancer has become the leading cause of cancer deaths in U.S. women.

The cancer now kills more than 72,000 women annually – more than the combined deaths from the two next-most-common cancer killers, tumors of the breast and colon.

Occasionally, nonsmoking women die from lung cancer. Such was the case of the recently deceased celebrity Dana Reeve, widow of actor Christopher Reeve. Factors that may contribute to cancer in these situations include family history, secondhand smoke exposure, environmental toxins and air pollution. But nearly nine out of 10 times, lung cancer occurs because at some point a woman smoked.

Currently, we’re at a crossroads. In terms of tobacco use and effects, women have nearly achieved gender equality with men. And at this juncture, I think it’s essential for all women to take a hard look at the costs.

Many health hazards

Besides lung cancer, a multitude of health problems threaten women who smoke. Research shows that females are more susceptible than males to a number of smoking-related illnesses.

Cancer: Women smokers have an increased risk of developing cancer of the cervix. Scientists have linked smoking to cancers of the mouth, throat, voice box, breast, pancreas, stomach, esophagus, bladder and kidney.

At any given age and smoking amount, women have a higher risk for lung cancer than men, according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. This might result from gender differences in hormones and metabolism, the researchers say.

Cardiovascular disease: Smoking is linked to a higher risk for coronary heart disease, heart attacks, strokes and hardening of the arteries.

Chronic lung disease: Death rates from chronic bronchitis and emphysema have increased among women in the past 30 years. More than 90 percent of these deaths are attributable to smoking.

Pregnancy effects: Smoking reduces fertility and the chances of conception. Stillbirths, newborn deaths, and sudden infant death syndrome occur more often in the children of mothers who smoke. Infants of smokers more often are born small for age, weighing less, and having poorer lung function.

Bone density: Smoking women usually have a lower bone density than nonsmokers. This places the smokers at higher risk for osteoporosis and hip fractures, especially after menopause.

Digestive tract: Smokers have an increased risk of peptic ulcers and Crohn’s disease.

Eye disease: Smoking is associated with a greater risk for cataracts.

Depression: Smokers are significantly more likely to become depressed than nonsmokers.

Since women are more vulnerable to some of smoking’s adverse effects, they’ve got more to gain from quitting. Ask your doctor about the many options available today to help you to stop smoking. After all, it’s your life. It’s your choice.

Source: Heraldnet

A NSW Health survey of more than 5000 school students aged 12 to 17 revealed 75 per cent of them believed seeing celebrities with cigarettes encouraged young people to start smoking.

The findings of the Australian Secondary School Alcohol and Drug survey, due for release in March next year, also show teenage smoking rates are at their lowest level in 20 years.

About 41,000 NSW students had smoked at least one cigarette in the previous week, with those who did saying they smoked an average of 22 cigarettes a week.

Frank Sartor, the minister assisting the Health Minister, said the research showed young people were more likely to start smoking before they turned 16.

“The survey reveals that more than half the students surveyed believed that smoking by celebrities encouraged young people to take up smoking,” Mr Sartor said.

They also indicate that advertising campaigns and graphic warnings on cigarette packets are helping to reduce smoking rates.

Professor Simon Chapman, of Sydney University’s public health faculty, said people in the public eye needed to be aware they were important role models for children.

“Just as we say cigarette advertising influences smoking, so does the image of somebody who is well known for being beautiful, interesting or talented,” he said.

Source: News.com.au

While recent maneuvering in Harrisburg could result in a setback, Gegaris remains optimistic. One domino is down. The rest have to follow.

“It’s long overdue,” the head of the Luzerne County Tobacco Free Coalition said of a smoking ban in Pennsylvania. “Now it’s just a matter of time.”

Years of wrangling over a smoking ban in Philadelphia’s public places, from bars and restaurants to sports stadiums and office buildings, finally ended two weeks ago as a smoking ban became law in the state’s largest city.

Allegheny County has tried to follow suit, approving a smoking ban in public places by 14-1 vote last week.

Proving the issue is not an easy one to tackle, though, Allegheny’s efforts may go for naught.

The Pennsylvania Senate has approved a raft of amendments to the state’s gambling law, among them a provision that would exempt casinos from local ordinances such as bans against smoking. The state House will consider the same amendments in coming days.

Uncertainty about what direction the legislature will take has Allegheny County’s chief executive, Dan Onorato, mulling a veto of his county’s smoking ban.

“The potential for having a casino exempt from our local smoking ban would create an unfair situation,” said Kevin Evanto, a spokesman for Onorato. Onorato has until Thursday to decide but he plans to meet with legislators in the interim, Evanto said.

Talk of smoking bans often results in highly-charged debates, as health advocates say such measures are needed to protect non-smokers and employees from the known dangers of second-hand smoke. Bar and restaurant association trade groups, generally, say smoking bans represent an intrusion of personal freedom and will result in a loss of business as smokers go elsewhere.

While there has been some shift in thinking among former opponents, the debate is far from settled.

The Pennsylvania Restaurant Association recently changed its mind and now openly supports statewide restrictions in the interests of restaurant workers’ health.

“It was a big decision for us because it was a change from our long-held position,” said Patrick Conway, the association’s chief executive.

The key, however, is that a ban must be uniform, he said.

“We think the right approach would be to have a statewide ban that’s comprehensive and at the same time ensures businesses are operating on a level playing field in terms of competitive situation,” Conway said. “That’s what we support.”

Excluding casinos from any smoking regulation goes against that belief.

State Sen. Stewart Greenleaf, R-Willow Grove, has been trying for a decade to get a new Clean Indoor Air Act approved in Pennsylvania that would abolish smoking in workplaces.

While he can’t say when it will happen, he thinks the timing is finally right.

“Public opinion is firmly behind it,” he said. “The polls are 70 to 80 percent in favor.”

And if Greenleaf has any say about it, casinos will not be carved out of the law.

New Jersey’s smoking ban exempted Atlantic City casinos. That created an unfair situation for other bars and restaurants in that state that had to comply, the Pennsylvania Tavern Association claimed in a position statement to state legislators.

“If it is truly about employee safety, are the employees of a casino not as important as the health of other employees?” asked Amy Christie, executive director of the association.

Christie’s group maintains its opposition to smoking bans, though, saying such bans hurt “mom and pop” business owners. If casinos will be exempted from smoking, Christie said, “Then I would certainly hope they would let the bars and restaurants that are adult establishments with adult clientele make adult decisions about the use of a legal product.”

Casinos in New York state were not spared from the state’s restrictions on smoking, and some say it has a noticeable effect.

“The conventional wisdom in the industry is there is a significant disadvantage to not having smoking available in a casino environment,” said Charles Degliomini, spokesman for Empire Resorts Mighty M Gaming in Monticello, N.Y. “That said, there are a lot of our patrons who are very appreciative of the fact we do host a smoke-free facility.”

Highlighting the impacts of the smoking bans, Degliomini said Indian casinos in Canada, which are on sovereign property, have seen an uptick in business since Canada snuffed out smoking. Empire Resorts is nearing a deal to operate an Indian casino for the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe in Monticello, meaning a Monticello casino may some day be able to permit patrons to smoke.

State Rep. Todd Eachus, D-Hazleton, was one of 14 members of the House Health and Human Services Committee to block moving a statewide ban on smoking to the House floor recently. The committee deadlocked 14-14.

While he knows he’s in the minority, Eachus said he remains concerned about personal rights. He supports an alternative proposal that would regulate smoking by creating licensed smoking establishments. Under the proposal, a bar or restaurant would have to pay $500 for a state license to offer smoking, post themselves conspicuously as a smoking establishment, and pay unemployment compensation claims for any employee who doesn’t want to work in a smoking environment.

“The reality of that was that many of us think there should be somewhere indoors where smokers would have the right to smoke,” he said. “(But) If a smoking ban wins the day, then it should be a 100 percent smoking ban.”

Source: Citizen’s Voice

In its Aug. 14 edition, Newsweek reporters Dan Ephron and Michael Isikoff uncovered a federal indictment against Imad Hammoud and other Lebanese Americans who allegedly would buy cigarettes in North Carolina where taxes are low and truck them to Michigan, where they’d sell them for a $10-per-carton profit. The federal agents said Hammoud, who has ties to Hezbollah, the terrorist group at war with Israel in Lebanon, would funnel cash from the illegal smokes scheme in Detroit to Hezbollah operatives in the Middle East.

The news magazine reported that Hammoud allegedly was running as much as $500,000 in cigarettes across state lines in 2002 – coincidentally, during Hezbollah’s successful military build-up in southern Lebanon.

While Hezbollah rockets have killed dozens of Israeli citizens, in part financed by the sale of cigarettes in Detroit, if the FBI is correct, the direct connection between cigarette smoking and mortality is very well-established.

Cigarette smoking causes lung cancer, heart attacks, emphysema and a host of other types of cancers.

Perhaps the health message is reaching Southern Californians, where the number of smokers has been steadily decreasing.

For instance, smoking among Los Angeles County residents reached an all-time low 14.6percent, according to the county’s Department of Public Health.

Yet, the number of Asian and Latino men are smoking at higher rates – affixed at 19.6percent and 16.6percent, respectively. Many Asian and Latino men smoke in their home countries, where taxes are lower and health data on tobacco use more scarce. They are bringing their unhealthful habits to these shores, often to local parks and public places where children play. This type of cultural vestige has no redeeming value.

That’s why we are supporting the targeting of Asian and Latino males, who smoke twice as much as their famale counterparts, by the county Department of Public Health and the San Gabriel-based Asian Youth Center.

Two fronts emerge.

One, the new countywide anti-smoking campaign or “cig-alert” helped by health groups and pharmacists as well. The county’s “It’s Quitting Time, L.A.!” campaign will try to convert 200,000 smokers by 2010, according to the county’s Tobacco Control and Prevention Program.

The Asian Youth Center has urged a crackdown on smoking in Rosemead parks, where group volunteers recently picked up 1,500 butts in a single afternoon amid playgrounds, ball fields and picnic areas.

Last, the the city of Rosemead responded by banning smoking in public parks, which went into effect Aug.11. We hope other cities move ahead with similar bans and health campaigns that protect the public’s lungs and help smokers of all ethnicities to kick the tobacco addiction.

Source: Whittier