Massachusetts Prohibits Tobacco Sales at Drug Stores

This tourist-dependent Massachusetts town has banned the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products in drug stores. The prohibition was voted unanimously by the board of health, effective Sept. 1, or two months before Halloween, when visitors flock here for the annual celebration tied to the 17th century Salem witch trials. Dr. Barbara Poremba, head of the board, said the ban applies to chain pharmacies such as CVS, Walgreens and Walmart as well as locally-owned drug stores. She said banning tobacco sales at pharmacies makes sense when you consider they are key to a community's health care delivery system. "We weren't looking to be punitive," she said.

Chinese Smokers Face High Fines

The WHO blames the Chinese authorities for the failure of the global anti-smoking campaign. According to the report of the Chinese Healthcare ministry, one million people die in China of diseases caused by smoking annually. The total number of smokers in China is 350 million people which is almost twice the number of the population of Russia, and three times as many as the population of Mexico. China is also the global leader in terms of the number of passive smokers, whose number exceeds 700 million people. The anti-tobacco campaign has been on for more than a year in China. Smoking is restricted in public places and those who break the rules face high fines. But the campaign is very inefficient. By the way, in the 17th century China also fought smokers – in those times they were simply beheaded. The WHO forecasts that by 2025 annually 3 million people will die in China of diseases caused by smoking. The explanation is simple – despite the economic boom China is still a developing country, first of all in terms of level of living and people’s attitude towards their health, the general director of the Tabakprom association of tobacco producers Vadim Zhelnin says.

Indifference to Smoking Warnings

Recently the World Health Organization (WHO) announced tobacco industry interference as the theme for World No Tobacco Day this year to focus on the industry’s increasingly aggressive efforts to undermine public health efforts across the world. This global discourse warrants an assessment of the industry’s role in India’s tobacco control and larger public health movement. Every year, tobacco use causes one million deaths in India and the industry spends millions of rupees on clandestine marketing and advertising tactics to recruit new users, particularly the youth.

Tobacco Control Efforts Among Smoking Women

A new study comparing lung cancer death rates among women by year of birth shows dramatic differences in trends between states, likely reflecting the success or failure of tobacco control efforts. The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, finds that while lung cancer death rates declined continuously by birth year for women born after the 1950s in California, rates in other states declined less quickly or even increased. In some southern states, lung cancer death rates among women born in the 1960s were approximately double those of women born in the 1930s.

Tobacco Use Not Permited in Sparta

Smokers may have to find another place to light up because Sparta is considering a tobacco ban on township property. Ordinance 12-08 to prohibit smoking, tobacco use or tobacco-related products on township property was unanimously introduced in May. The ordinance was scheduled for a public hearing and final vote Tuesday night, but the Township Council's meeting was rescheduled to Thursday at 7:30 p.m. "Tobacco has no place at our parks and ball fields,"

Tobacco Companies Love French Movies

A public health advocacy group called the French League Against Cancer is taking advantage of World No Tobacco Day - today - to sound the alarm about “hidden advertising” for cigarettes. Tobacco advertising was outlawed in France in 1991. And yet cigarette manufacturers are still finding a way to get their products into mass media: French movies. According to the League, a recent survey found that "about 80% of the 180 movies included in the sample have scenes in which cigarettes brands and smokers are represented,” Le Parisien reports. More than 70% of these silver screen smokers are “honorable characters,” who could thus encourage young people to start smoking. Tobacco addiction is the leading cause of death in France. On average, French smokers take their first puff at 14.

Tobacco Products Sales Banned

A clause in Section 6 of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) prohibits sale of tobacco products within 100-metre radius of educational institutes, but there are several areas in the city where the rule is being defied. Even after complaints by some colleges, many stalls within this radius are openly selling items like cigarettes and gutkhas. However, most of the colleges are taking all necessary steps to ensure that students do not smoke on the campuses. Places like Fergusson College (FC) Road and Brihan Maharashtra College of Commerce (BMCC) Road have several shops and stalls selling tobacco products. The police department and Pune Municipal Corporation have not taken any action in spite of colleges sending letters to them to remove such stalls. So now the colleges are trying their best to control the menace at least on the campuses. FC principal Ravindra Pardeshi said, "We had written to the police department and PMC about a year ago, but did not get a reply and the stalls are still functioning. However, we have kept our campus completely smoke free.

Lack of Knowledge Kill a Lot of Smokers

Ignorance is a harsh word. But imagine reaching for that next cigarette until it kills you, without ever really understanding why. Imagine wanting to stop yet not knowing the only rule needed to succeed. And imagine never once investigating the truth as to how most ex-smokers quit. Half of adult smokers smoke themselves to death. More than five million smoking deaths annually, with one billion expected by century's end, why don't smokers take their self-destruction and slow suicide more seriously?