Tobacco & Marijuana
Calif. classifies second-hand smoke a toxic risk
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A California environmental agency voted on Thursday to classify tobacco smoke as a “toxic air contaminant,” a first-in-the-nation move that could toughen state regulations on cigarette smoke.
The designation by California’s Air Resources Board starts a process that could lead to further smoking bans in a state that has often led the nation in health and ecological regulation.
Tobacco Industry Promoted “Ineffective” Ventilation Systems
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Newly released documents reveal that, despite knowing that ventilation and air filtration are ineffective at removing environmental tobacco smoke, British American Tobacco (BAT) promoted these technologies to the hospitality industry as viable options to smoking bans.
Writing in this week’s BMJ, researchers argue that a total ban on smoking in public places is the only way to protect all employees from environmental tobacco smoke.
Japan top court rejects appeal by former smokers
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Former smokers seeking damages from the government and a cigarette maker for illnesses they said were caused by their habit had their appeal rejected by Japan’s top court on Thursday.
The Supreme Court finalised decisions by lower courts rejecting claims in a suit that was originally filed in 1998 by six men, three of whom have since died, Kyodo news agency said.
Psychiatric patients who smoke
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An editorial in the January 2006 issue of the Psychiatric Bulletin reviews the evidence for the effectiveness of gene-based smoking cessation packages, and asks whether they are appropriate for psychiatric patients.
It is well known that the prevalence of smoking among psychiatric patients is far higher than in the general public (70% v. 30%). Smoking in schizophrenia and depression is thought in part to be an attempt to self-medicate symptoms of the illness.
Free booze makes homeless healthier: study
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Giving homeless alcoholics a regular supply of booze may improve their health and their behavior, according to a study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal on Tuesday.
Seventeen homeless adults, all with long and chronic histories of alcohol abuse, were allowed up to 15 glasses of wine or sherry a day—a glass an hour from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.—in the Ottawa-based program, which started in 2002 and is continuing.
College students not alone in dangerous drinking
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Though getting drunk is often seen as a traditional college pastime, other young adults, particularly men, have similarly high rates of potentially hazardous drinking, new research shows.
In a study of nearly 2,000 young adults who’d been followed since high school, researchers found that by the age of 24, both college graduates and those with no more than a high school diploma had comparably high rates of heavy drinking.
College students not alone in dangerous drinking
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Though getting drunk is often seen as a traditional college pastime, other young adults, particularly men, have similarly high rates of potentially hazardous drinking, new research shows.
In a study of nearly 2,000 young adults who’d been followed since high school, researchers found that by the age of 24, both college graduates and those with no more than a high school diploma had comparably high rates of heavy drinking.
New use for tobacco could save lives
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One acre of genetically engineered tobacco plants can produce enough anthrax vaccine to inoculate the entire U.S. population safely and inexpensively, a molecular biologist at the University of Central Florida said on Tuesday.
Professor Henry Daniell said his method, applied to other vaccines and scarce medicines, can eliminate shortages, reduce costs by as much as 80 percent and curb incidents of contamination, which is a problem in the traditional, fermentation production of vaccines.
England considers raising smoking age to 18
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The minimum age for buying tobacco in England could be raised to 18 from 16 under proposals being considered by the government, a Department of Health spokeswoman said on Sunday.
The change is not yet government policy and it would have to go to public consultation if it is included in a health bill currently being debated by parliament.
Heavy Drinking Falls with Age; Men and Smokers Slower
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BACKGROUND: Previous studies have suggested that people reduce their average alcohol consumption as they age. In the new study the researchers sought to determine whether the percentage of heavy drinkers—that is, men who have at least five drinks in one sitting and women who have at least four drinks — also reduced as they aged. This latest study was based on data from 14,127 participants, aged 25 to 74, in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Study, first administered between 1971 and 1974, with three follow-ups through 1992.
FINDINGS: While the researchers noted that heavy drinking declined with age, they found it fell more slowly among men compared with women and among smokers compared with non-smokers. A higher probability of heavy drinking was associated with being unmarried, having less than a high school education, an annual income below the median, and not living in the Southeastern United States. Heavy drinking also declined faster among those who got married or quit smoking between follow ups.
Drug effective in smoking cessation studies
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An experimental smoking cessation drug by Pfizer Inc. was more effective than GlaxoSmithKline Plc’s rival medication in important late-stage studies, although the contrast was far less pronounced in the follow-up period, researchers said on Tuesday.
The 12-week studies, which Pfizer is expected to use to seek approval of the drug, showed 44 percent of smokers using Pfizer’s varenicline were able to quit. That compared with 30 percent among those using Glaxo’s Zyban, also known by the chemical name bupropion, and just 17.7 percent in the placebo group, according to data presented at the American Heart Association annual scientific sessions.
Smoking a hookah can damage teeth
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Smoking a hookah also known as a water pipe is becoming an increasingly trendy menu item in Mediterranean restaurants, cafes and bars. People should be warned to “skip this course” according to a study that appeared in the November issue of the Journal of Periodontology.
Researchers found that the impact of water pipe smoking is largely the same magnitude as that of cigarette smoking. The prevalence of periodontal diseases was 30 percent in water pipe smokers, 24 percent in cigarette smokers and eight percent in non-smokers.
Exposure to movie smoking accounts for smoking initiation among over one-third of U.S. adolescents
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The first national study to look at the connection between smoking in movies and smoking initiation among adolescents shows that exposure to smoking in popular films is a primary risk factor in determining whether young people will start smoking.
The study by researchers from Dartmouth Medical School (DMS) and Norris Cotton Cancer Center (NCCC) appears in the November 7 issues of the journal, Pediatrics. The research, supported by the National Cancer Institute, suggests that exposure to movie smoking accounts for smoking initiation among over one-third of U.S. adolescents. It concludes that limiting exposure of young adolescents to movie smoking could have important public health implications.
Smokeless tobacco products are not necessarily a safe alternative to smoking
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According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly one-fourth of Americans are smokers. That’s more than 60 million people who are at increased for lung cancer, the leading cause of cancer-related deaths nationwide.
Despite the risks, many people have trouble kicking this addictive habit. As a result, health officials and doctors are trying to find less harmful alternatives to cigarette smoking. But some products, like smokeless tobacco, may not be effective replacements, according to research presented today during the American Association for Cancer Research’s 4th annual Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research meeting in Baltimore.
Narcotic use common in Crohn’s disease patients
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Chronic narcotic use is common in patients with Crohn’s disease, and is associated with increased disease activity and decreased quality of life.
Dr. Raymond K. Cross, of the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and colleagues examined the prevalence of narcotic use and contributing factors in a review of 291 patients with Crohn’s disease who were followed for 5 years. The results of the study are published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology.
