The small town of Westminster, Massachusetts (population 7300) is considering banning the sale of all products containing nicotine within its city limits. PBS reports the town’s health board has put forward a proposal, with the three member board to make a decision in late December. If the proposal is adopted, products purchased elsewhere would still be allowed to […]
Tasmania: Legislation drafted to implement a Tobacco Free Generation
Kathryn Barnsley Breathe Well, Centre of Research Excellence for Chronic Respiratory Disease and Lung Ageing, University of Tasmania In 2012 we reported that Tasmania was leading the way towards an endgame for smoking, by developing mechanisms for implementing the Tobacco Free Generation proposal (TFG). Those who are familiar with the Tobacco Free Generation proposal by […]
India: Powerful ‘Voice of Tobacco Victims’ campaign wins BMJ health advocacy award
Pankaj Chaturvedi, Prakash C Gupta, Sanjay Seth, Ashima Sarin Voice of Tobacco Victims Voice of Tobacco Victims Campaign (VOTV) was launched on 31st May 2009 by a dozen cancer survivors of Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai under the leadership of Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi. The campaign aims to make Tobacco Victims (cancer survivors and their relatives) […]
Non-smokers exposed to three times above safe levels of particles when living with smokers
Non-smokers who live in a house with smokers are exposed to three times the officially recommend safe levels of damaging air particles, according to a study published online in the journal Tobacco Control. Living with smokers is the same as living in smoke-free homes in heavily polluted cities such as Beijing or London, found researchers […]
Indonesia: court upholds tobacco tax to fund health
Abdillah Ahsan Faculty of Economics, University of Indonesia Good news on tobacco control from Indonesia is rare. Recently, however there was a victory in the area of tobacco tax. On 1 January 2014, Law No. 28 of 2009 on regional taxes was introduced, which allows local provinces in Indonesia to charge a local tax to […]
New Zealand: Dirty Politics raises conflict of interest concerns
Nathan Cowie, MPH. Cowie Research and Communications Disclosure: The author has previously undertaken paid employment for Centre for Tobacco Control Research, University of Auckland, and Action on Smoking and Health New Zealand. Investigative journalist Nicky Hager released a book in August 2014 on the seamier side of New Zealand politics. Dirty Politics: How attack politics […]
Canada: What were they smoking? Experts want health on tobacco litigation agenda
Garfield Mahood President, Campaign for Justice on Tobacco Fraud In the early 1980’s, Canada had one of the globe’s highest rates of per capita tobacco consumption. But in less than two decades, in response to aggressive campaigning by health NGOs, Canada experienced arguably the largest decline in use anywhere. Gains were made on many […]
Is it better to be a thin smoker or a fat ex-smoker?
Weight gain when quitting smoking is a common concern, particularly amongst women. The increased attention of excess weight impacting on health suggests that some smokers may feel they are not achieving any net health benefits from quitting smoking if they gain weight once they stop smoking. In this podcast I talk to Prof Siahpush about […]
The Netherlands: Dutch government sued over WHO FCTC violations
This post was originally published by The Youth Smoking Prevention Foundation. It is republished here with full permission. The Youth Smoking Prevention Foundation is taking the Kingdom of the Netherlands to court to end the structural and excessive influence exerted by the tobacco lobby on government anti-smoking policies. The Foundation is calling on the Dutch […]
Germany: Pre-schools and Cigarette Vending Machines
by Raoul A. Walsh, Phd Depending on the type of national regulation, cigarette vending machines pose serious problems for tobacco control including: increasing cigarette availability, facilitating smoking relapse, providing cigarette access points for children and other non-smokers, normalizing cigarette purchases , and serving as a promotional tool for the tobacco industry. There is a wide […]