Drug addicts 'can quit smoking' with additional therapy

New research from the National Institute of Drug Abuse, a part of the National Institutes of Health, suggests that people who are addicted to cocaine or methamphetamine are able to quit cigarette smoking while being treated for their substance addictions, and that quitting will not hinder their treatment.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), cigarette smoking causes 1 in 5 deaths in the US every year. But the researchers say the highest death rate from smoking tobacco occurs in patients receiving treatment for substance abuse.
Figures from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) reveal that in 2008, 63% of people who had a substance abuse disorder in the past year reported current tobacco use, while tobacco use in the general population stood at 28%.
But the researchers note that the majority of programs treating substance abuse do not look at helping patients quit smoking as part of their treatment.Davidoff cigarettes.

Introduction of smoking cessation therapy

With this in mind, the researchers conducted a study in which patients being treated for cocaine and methamphetamine addiction were randomly assigned to treatment aimed at helping them stop smoking (smoking cessation therapy).
Their treatment involved weekly counseling sessions for a period of 10 weeks, during which time the patients received bupropion extended-release medication - a form of antidepressant.
From weeks 4 to 10, participants received nicotine inhalers alongside contingency management - a strategy that awarded prizes to subjects with the aim of encouraging them to stop smoking.
All participants underwent drug and carbon monoxide testing to measure the levels of these substances in their bodies during the 10-week study, and at a 3- and 6-month follow-up. They were also required to self-report their outcomes.

'Beneficial' for substance abuse patients

Results of the study, published in The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, revealed that patients who underwent smoking cessation therapy showed high smoking quit rates during substance abuse therapy and during the 3- and 6-month follow-up.
Furthermore, the researchers report that smoking cessation therapy did not interfere with patients' participation in substance abuse treatment.
Commenting on the findings, Dr. Nora D. Volkow, director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), says:

 

FDA analysis of cigarette warnings 'inadequate'

Canadian researchers claim that graphic images and warning labels on cigarette packaging do reduce smoking, suggesting the FDA has underestimated their significance.
The saying, "a picture is worth a thousand words" may sound like an advertising executive's mantra, but we often fall for the dream when sleek and glossy images allow us a glimpse of the "perfect world." But does the theory work in reverse?
A report, published in Tobacco Control, shows that when graphic warning labels were printed on cigarette packaging in Canada, smoking rates decreased between 12% and 20%.
The study authors say this challenges the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) June 2011 findings, claiming the analysis was "flawed."Continent cigarettes.
In August 2012, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit found that the FDA analysis "essentially concedes the agency lacks any evidence that the graphic warnings are likely to reduce smoking rates."
The researchers claim that the FDA significantly underestimated the impact of the warning labels and suggest that their use in the US could potentially lead to a decrease of between 5.3 and 8.6 million smokers. Researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Waterloo and the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research in Canada used statistical methods to compare smoking rates in Canada 9 years before and 9 years after the introduction of graphic warning labels.
Canada was the first country in the world to introduce these labels and therefore has more statistical data for measuring their impact than any other country.
In addition, Canada's labeling policy is closer to that of the FDA, meaning it is easier to extrapolate the findings from Canada to the US, especially when coupled with the facts that Canada is culturally and geographically similar.
The researchers claim that smoking rates in Canada fell sharply after graphic warnings were introduced, and they say this was greater than the difference in smoking rates in the US, where there was no change in printed warnings for same time period.
The potential reduction in smoking rates in the US is between 33 and 53 times greater than the FDA's estimate, they say.
Dr. Jidong Huang, lead author of the paper, comments:
"These findings are important for the ongoing initiative to introduce graphic warnings in the US. The original proposal by the FDA was successfully challenged by the tobacco industry, and the court cited the very low estimated impact on smoking rates as a factor in its judgment."

How cigarette packet warnings affect children

Graphic images don’t deter young smokers,” says BBC News, reporting that picture warnings depicting the dangers of smoking have little impact on underage smokers.
While the headline correctly reflects the latest findings, it presents a negative spin of research that found that the warnings appeared effective for those who’d never smoked and those who’d “experimented” with smoking.
Researchers surveyed children aged 11-16 in 2008 (when warnings on cigarette packets were text only) and a separate repeat sample in 2011 (after graphic images had been introduced).
Between 2008 and 2011, the proportion of children who noticed health warnings, looked closely at them and understood them did not change much. However, in 2011 recall of the three health warnings associated with the pictures increased. The proportion of all children who thought about health warnings often, and the proportions who thought the images could put them off smoking or make them less likely to smoke also increased.
However, these positive effects seemed to be limited to never smokers or experimental smokers, with no difference in regular smokers as suggested by the headlines. An increased proportion of regular smokers reported hiding the pack to “escape” the health image.
This research suggests how changes in cigarette packaging may impact on the thoughts and perceptions of UK children. But while there are both positive and negative findings, the research can’t tell us whether the changes have made any difference to the numbers of children starting or quitting smoking.

Where did the story come from?

The study was carried out by researchers from the Centre for Tobacco Control Research at the University of Stirling and was funded by Cancer Research UK. The study was published in the peer-reviewed journal, Tobacco Control.
The news coverage of this study is generally representative, but has put a negative spin on the findings, ignoring the signs of some positive effects of the new images on cigarette packs.

What kind of research was this?

This was a repeat cross-sectional survey examining young people’s thoughts and understanding of the warnings on cigarette packets in 2008 and 2011.
Many countries now have pictorial warnings on the dangers of smoking on cigarette packs, and a few countries, including Canada and Australia, have these warnings covering three-quarters of the pack surface.
However, the European Union (EU) has set lower standards. EU law requires the written warnings that are required on cigarette packs to be one of two general warnings covering 30-35% of the pack front, and one of 14 specific warnings covering 40-50% of the reverse. In 2005, The European Commission also adopted 42 images that could be included on the back of packs. However, few member states have adopted them, and none have used warning images that cover at least half of the pack surface.
The current study has examined the impact of warnings upon children before and after the introduction of pictorial warnings to packs in the UK. In 2008, textual warnings appeared on 43% of the front and 53% of the back of the pack. In 2011, the warnings were the same, except that images supported the warning on the back of the pack.

Kobayashi apologises for smoking

Kamui Kobayashi has apologised after photographs emerged of him smoking a cigarette.

The former Toyota and Sauber driver, who is hoping to return to the grid, now races GT sports cars for Ferrari.
But his bid to return to the F1 grid was dealt a blow when the popular Japanese gossip magazine 'Friday' published photos of him walking on a street at night with an unidentified beauty and a cigarette.
Kobayashi, 27, admitted that his behaviour was "inappropriate for a sportsman".
"I sincerely apologise to those who gave me your support and all of my fans who were concerned," he is quoted as saying.
Kobayashi admitted that smoking was "a very thoughtless act" for someone "working towards returning to F1".
"I guarantee that this situation will not happen again," he promised.

Fighting against smoking tightened in Turkey

According to a new bill worked out by Turkey's Health Ministry, the fight against smoking will be even tighter, Sabah newspaper reported.
According to the new bill, smoking will be prohibited in children's parks and in the yards of mosques and hospitals.
The new bill also envisages a ban on the sale of cigarettes at a distance of 100 metres from schools and mosques, as well as the allocation of special smoking areas in open premises of cafe and restaurants and a ban on smoking at the entrance of shopping centres.

Candy-flavoured tobacco products enticing Canadian students to take up smoking, survey says

More than half of Canadian high school students say they’ve tried smoking flavoured tobacco products within the past month, new nationwide data suggests.
The Canadian Cancer Society and provincial organizations across the country are calling on health officials to ban these products for young smokers that come in bright packaging and flavours such as watermelon, chocolate or strawberry.

In the past 30 days, 52 per cent of high schoolers from grade 9 to grade 12 tried these products. That’s about 169,300 teens.
“There’s a series of flavoured tobacco products that are widely available and popular among youth and that are a big concern to us,” Rob Cunningham, a senior policy analyst with the Canadian Cancer Society, told Global News.
“These flavours can lead to kids becoming addicted. We need to do everything we can to reduce underage tobacco use,” he said.

They’re products like water pipe tobacco, smokeless tobacco, and menthol cigarettes. Right now, federal laws ban flavoured cigarettes except for menthol and blunt wraps and cigarillos, which are cigars weighing 1.4 grams or less. But tobacco companies have managed to find a loophole with cigarillos – instead, they produce flavoured cigars that are 1.5 grams or so.
“Menthol soothes the throat and reduces the harshness of cigarette smoke for youth who are experimenting,” Cunningham said.
Point the products out to adults and they won’t recognize them, he suggested. But kids are familiar with the flavoured tobacco products, which are readily available in convenience stores.
Some 32 per cent of teens tried menthol cigarettes in the past month – that product makes up only four per cent of cigarettes smoked.
This data from the Youth Smoking Survey revealed that 14 per cent of high school students smoked cigarettes in the past 30 days, 20 per cent had used a tobacco product and 10 per cent used a flavoured product in the past month.
The rates are within the same range across Canada – it was the highest in Quebec with 59 per cent of high schoolers trying flavoured tobacco in the past month and lowest in Ontario at 46 per cent.
Jurisdictions across the country released their individual provincial rates Monday.
Cunningham said he hopes health officials will follow in the footsteps of other jurisdictions that have banned these products.
In New York City, all flavoured tobacco products are banned outright, except for menthol. It’s the same in Rhode Island, he said.
Meanwhile the European Union is working on banning menthol-flavoured tobacco products.

State Officials Look to Curb Underage Smoking

According to a new report, 90 percent of smokers started the habit before they turned 18. A new Nevada law targets underage tobacco users.
It's against the law in Nevada for anyone under 18 to buy a tobacco product, but it's not against the law for minors to use tobacco products.
In June, Governor Brian Sandoval signed Senate Bill 177 into law. The law grants county commissions in Nevada authority to adopt ordinances that prohibit minors from using tobacco products.
The law also gives county commissioners authority to determine penalties for violators of the law. Clark County officials say they decided not to pursue penalties, because they didn't want to put kids in the justice system for smoking.
The only enforcement in place in Clark County falls the under Clark County School District. CCSD bans smoking anywhere on campus. It doesn't matter if you are in a student's car, at the football or baseball field or even in the bathroom.
The first offense is a warning. Students are searched, tobacco items are taken and the student is written up. Chaparral High School Principal David Wilson described the procedure following a second violation.
"The second time we have an issue, we're going to follow the same procedures except the parent will be called in to have a conversation with the student with an understanding that the consequences will be significantly more severe if the student continues with those behaviors," he said.
Wilson says a student would face suspension for the third offense. With so many other threats facing schools these days (i.e., drugs, gangs, bullies), Wilson admits educators don't actively hunt for smokers.
So, students should take personal responsibility and heed the warnings about the effects of nicotine and tar.
One popular alternative is electronic cigarettes or e-cigarettes. A growing number of minors are finding ways to buy e-cigarettes.
Pink Spot Vapors owner Penn Elletson says he prohibits minors from buying e-cigarettes at his store. Still, he says business is booming. One year ago, Elletson said he had five employees and one location. Today, he has 50 employees between two stores.
"It addresses the triggers of smoking. It's the patch, the gum, all the other things that give you nicotine, which is the only thing your body craves in a cigarette, but it also gives you the hand in mouth oral fixation, the vapor production, the throat hit, all the triggers that go along with smoking," he said.
An electronic cigarette includes four pieces: a container, a lithium ion battery, a flavored vapor and a mouth piece. Some e-cigarettes release nicotine, while others release flavored vapors. The user can control the output level.
Because the CDC shows underage smokers are increasingly using the devices, 40 attorneys general - including Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez-Masto - are urging the federal government to regulate e-cigarettes.
The FDA currently lacks regulatory authority over e-cigarettes unless the products claim to offer therapeutic benefits.