Two-thirds of kids know cigarette brands in developing nations

More than two-thirds of young children in developing nations could identify at least one cigarette brand logo, according to a U.S. study that examined the reach of tobacco marketing to five and six year olds in countries where adult smoking rates are the highest.

Researchers from the University of Maryland School of Public Health and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health worked one-on-one with five and six year olds in Brazil, China, India, Nigeria, Pakistan and Russia, asking them to match pictures of different products with their corresponding cigarette logos. In China, where roughly 71 percent of households with participating children had a tobacco user, 86 percent of children could identify at least one cigarette brand logo, the researchers reported in the journal Pediatrics.
Pakistan had the second highest percentage, with 84 percent of children capable of identifying at least one cigarette brand logo. Russia ranked last on the list with half of the participants able to identify any of the cigarette brand logos.
“(What surprised us most was) that children who were so young, five and six years old, were so familiar with tobacco logos,” Dina Borzekowski, lead author of the study and research professor in the University of Maryland, told Xinhua.
She said that even in households without smokers children could identify tobacco logos. This is because “not only do children see logos in their homes, the neighborhood stores where the children visit have very prominent tobacco advertisements,” Borzekowski said.
With five- and six-year-old children aware of domestic and international tobacco brands, there is a need to enforce stronger regulations for tobacco advertising,the researchers said.
Borzekowski and colleagues suggested changes including requiring larger graphic warning labels on cigarette packages. Additionally, they urged changes to limit children’s exposure to the point of sale of tobacco products, including establishing minimum distances between these retailers and places frequented by young children.
“We know that children who are more aware of smoking have more positive attitudes about smoking and are more likely to smoke,” Borzekowski said.
“If we want to reduce smoking, especially among young people, we need to lessen the prominence of tobacco brands in children’s lives. Better enforcement of existing laws should happen,” she added.

The Bulgarian Socialist Party will propose an amendment to the Health Act to allow smoking in stadiums and designated areas in airports.

The draft amendment has been signed by 8 Socialist deputies, reports dnevnik.bg.

If passed, the restrictions would also fall for night clubs, restaurants, cafes, bars, and casinos, provided they can designate special smoking areas.

The full smoking ban was introduced in June 2012 by the GERB government of former Prime Minister Boyko Borisov.

Spas Panchev, Deputy Chair of the parliamentary group of the Bulgarian Socialist Party, said last week that the full smoking ban in enclosed public places must be dropped before winter.

This sparked controversy and wide public debates on the issue. President Rosen Plevneliev threatened to veto the amendments if they are passed in Parliament.

- See more at: http://www.novinite.com/articles/154429/Bulgarian+Govt+Proposes+Further+Amendments+to+Smoking+Ban#sthash.9l4c2uqS.dpuf

Smoking in prisons: a human right or luxury health hazard?

A DECISION to ban smoking in jails across England and Wales has been described as a breach of human rights amid fears that it could spark riots.
Currently, inmates are allowed to smoke in their own cells and in some prison exercise yards but a total ban on smoking will be trialled in the south west next spring followed by a roll-out across all jails.
Richard Ford, home correspondent for The Times, warns that the ban could spark riots. "It has the potential to destabilise prisons, where being able to enjoy a cigarette helps prisoners through the boredom of their sentences," he says. "About 80 per cent of the 84,300 inmates smoke and tobacco is a valuable currency that is traded on the wings."
The rule change comes amid fears that the Prison Service could face compensation claims from prison officers who say they are victims of passive smoking.
Steve Gillan, general secretary of the Prison Officers' Association, has welcomed the move to have smoke-free prisons for his members but admits that introducing the ban will be difficult. "There is no pretending otherwise.
It could cause disturbances," he says. But he points out that it has been successful in Canada and in young offender institutions in England and Wales.
Andrew Neilson, from campaign charity The Howard League for Penal Reform, thinks a ban would be difficult to enforce when prisons are already going through "unprecedented" cuts to their budgets and staff resources.
"There may well be good intentions behind this policy proposal," he told BBC News. "But it will undoubtedly put a lot of pressure on jails which are already pretty stretched."
He added that there could be a short-term damaging effect on the mental health of prisoners "who are often very distressed".
On Radio 4's Today programme, John Humphrys said it could be a "brilliant" plan. "The idea that you can't smoke if you're a heavy smoker - that's a real deterrent to doing something that will land you in jail isn't it?"
But his guests disagreed. Ben Gunn, who spent 32 years in prison, said: "By and large, criminality isn't a rational, calculated choice, it's desperate people doing desperate acts."
Gunn - a self-confessed "50-a-day man" - describes it as a "purely vindictive, petty, small-minded policy". The only positive, he says, is that it might incense prisoners into thinking more politically - for example, forming a prisoners' union and having a greater say in penal reform.

Holy smoke - licence could be a drag

FIRST it was a $5 per pack tax rise. Now cancer experts want people to have to apply for a licence to smoke.
"This is terrible,'' said electrician Ryan O'Neill, 29.
The Darwin City tradesman said that it wasn't about cigarettes but about freedom.
"They're getting more controlling every single day,'' he said.
"They want to have us as little robots going along and paying our mortgages.
"We're all adults and we should be able to make our own choice as an adult.''

Professor Roger Magnusson, of the University of Sydney's Law School, and Professor David Currow, of the Cancer Institute of NSW, say a smart-card licence would combat teenage smoking.
Retailers would have to check the licence before every sale to verify that every pack sold is purchased by an adult, the authors write in today's Medical Journal of Australia.

Plain packaging reduces allure of cigarettes

Scientists on Monday said they had evidence that plain packaging for cigarettes diminishes the appeal of smoking, as anti-tobacco campaigners suggest.
European countries are considering whether to follow Australia, which last year became the first country in the world to sell cigarettes in plain packets.
In Australia's case, the cigarettes are sold in identical olive-green packets bearing the same typeface, in addition to health warnings.

Celebrities smokers

Celebrities since other people have the same requires, the same enjoyment in daily life as well as bad habits. One of many bad habit that they share
with us is actually cigarette smoking. Celebrities are always in view of the public and their look could be the basic criteria that produce them popular
and also asked-for. Mostly, this concerns ladies. Well-known actresses and also singers and even governmental women spend a lot of their time and
generating to have the best appearance and to carry their own years well, discount cigarettes Glamour brand. The particular keep on different eating plans, deprive themselves via various
delicious food items, drinks, exhausting by themselves in sport health clubs, to be in good suit and look. They undergo this, but ignore the single
fact, that smoking damages their and look and cause premature aging.
20 years ago researches started that smoking dehydrates your skin layer, damages collagen along with destroy vitamin C, that accelerates skin
aging with 10-15 years. Which fact does not discourage smoking celebrities. They continue to have thousand of agents and keeping in
various diets, not thinking about getting rid of smoking.
Smoking among celebs is the main problem, that they can ignore and do not wish to quit. Why For starters, this is the question involving
their style. Kate Moss, the actual well-known super-model, may be found at any picture being with a cigarette and a elegant cellular phone.
Even the undeniable fact that she cant get pregnant due to the smoking couldnt help the girl to quit smoking. The girl just decreases the quantity of
the smoking cigarettes every day, from 30 to 15.
The key cause of disagreement between Brad Opening and his wife Jen Aniston had been smoking. Brad Opening finally quitted smoking, although Jen
Aniston continues doing this until eventually today.
Researches exposed the fact that smoking is a bit more psychological problem when compared with nicotine dependent 1. May be this may explain the
phenomenon of why do celebrity cigarette smokers are keeping with this harmful habit. They are generally on the public and the’ve strain work
routine. Whenever they go, what you do, they are followed by paparazzi. Celebrities will often have a stressful existence and that may
describe the fact what they please take a cigarette when they have at least one free minute. They can do not have any wish to give up this,
disregarding your warnings of medical issues caused by smoking. While Catherine Zeta-Jones was asked precisely why she quitted smoking, she replied
that she did not want her kids to find out that and to set her questions, european wholesale davidoff cigarettes. Your woman did not mention that the key reason why was the harm for that
health.
Ok, natural meats understand their hard life, full of stresses. Nevertheless, the experiments shown that celebrity smokers have an
relation to youth smoking charge increase. Teenagers are susceptible to emulate the stars, following their exciting life and functions.
The most common cigarette manufacturer among youth is actually Marlboro, as the most celebrities smoke this particular brand. Teenagers disregard the fact of
harmfulness, each of the warnings at the cig packs. They start to smoke cigarettes to imitate manners with their idols, which becomes a national
problem. Mostly, smoking cigarettes girls imitate their idols by smoking fashion. Even there exists an opinion, that smoking stars by
themselves started to be influenced by the charisma that is usually connected with cigarette smoking.
Thus, superstars as simple people might choose between health and smoking cigarettes. The only fact that makes a distinction between them
among others is that they should be much more responsible and take into consideration their influence on the rising generation.

Tobacco Brands Still Relentless on Advertising in Indonesia

Five-year-old Bayu was watching a movie on television. During the ad break, a barrage of cigarette ads streamed across the screen. Bayu was able to recognize the brand of each cigarette just by watching the commercials.
“They were funny. Those men were really funny and smart,” he said.
Bayu is also regulary exposed to cigarette branding while watching badminton on TV with his father, or while enjoying telecasts of music concerts. He has also seen ads created by a cigarette company that blatantly say “Don’t Quit” on their billboards, an advertising move it would be hard to mistake as having any other motive than to discourage smokers from kicking the habit.
World No Tobacco Day is celebrated worldwide today.
According to the World Health Organization, three of every four Indonesian children between the ages of 13 and 15 are exposed to cigarette ads on billboards and pro-tobacco messages at sporting events.
“In Indonesia, advertising, promotion and sponsorship went crazy after we passed the 2009 Health Law labeling tobacco an addictive substance,” says Kartono Muhammad, the head of the Tobacco Control Support Center at the Indonesian Health Experts Association (IAKMI).
“The tobacco industry has since been fighting fiercely to annul the regulation.”
According to data from research company Nielsen, Indonesian tobacco companies spent Rp 1.98 trillion ($202 million) in 2010 on cigarette advertisements.
“Our children first learn about cigarettes from ads, because even though wehave agreed that tobacco is an addictive substance, we have neglected to completely ban tobacco advertising,” Kartono says.
“It’s a double standard that we have banned alcohol advertising because alcohol is considered an addictive substance, but we allow advertising for cigarettes, which are also addictive. What makes cigarettes so special?”
Broadcast ban
“We are fighting for a total ban on cigarette ads, and to be honest it’s a very hard fight,” says Ezki Suyanto, the deputy chairwoman of the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI).
Under the 2002 Broadcasting Law, cigarette ads on television may only be aired after 9:30 p.m. However, Ezki says that cigarette companies use many other methods to promote their products before then.
“In the afternoon, while children are still watching TV, you can see cigarette logos diplayed at music and sporting events, which is a form of advertising,” she says.
She added that the KPI recently reprimanded a TV station that had aired a quiz sponsored by a cigarette company during the daytime. “They argued they didn’t air any ads, but merely displayed the logo in the background. I said that even if it had just been the company colors without the logo, the KPI still classified it as an ad.”
Ezki notes that Indonesia is the only country in the Southeast Asian region that still allows cigarette ads to be aired on TV.
“In our country, after 9 p.m. the TV stations still bombard their viewers with cigarette ads, with practically no other ads being aired,” she says.
She adds the KPI has been lobbying for new regulations to challenge the current broadcasting regulations.
“What we want is a total ban, but the resistence is tremendous,” she says, adding that the KPI has been heavily criticized by television stations and legislators.
“It’s very hard to convince legislators, but we stand firm. Television and radio stations have direct access to the public, and so they have a responsibility not to promote dangerous substances,” Ezki says.

A Smoking Ban in All Related Companies Rentals

In a move that may enrage those who enjoy a cigarette on their couch after work, but delight air-freshener-wielding neighbors, a major landlord has banned smoking in all of its apartments across the country.

As of this month, the Related Companies has decided that tenants can no longer light up in the 40,000 rental units it owns or manages. The edict, which builds on an effort that began for Related with a handful of its New York buildings in 2009, is meant to create healthier living conditions, company officials said.