Ciggyfree Blog & Gov Alert

The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids has launched a new anti-Camel No. 9  web site:

Features:
-A petition asking editors of women’s magazines to stop running ALL cigarette ads
-Fact sheets about women, smoking and health
-Media coverage of Camel No. 9
-Image gallery of Camel No. 9 magazine ads, postcard promotions and novelty items
-Message board to share ideas
-Resources page

Visit them on the web at CancerNo9.com

West Virginia health officials have launched a tobacco-free pregnancy initiative meant to stomp out smoking among pregnant women.

The seven-month media campaign, which was kicked off Tuesday, includes television, radio, billboard and newspaper advertisements. The campaign is called the “Power to quit is inside you.” It will encourage pregnant women to call the state’s tobacco “quitline,” which offers free smoking cessation coaching.

According to the state Health Statistics Center, more than 27 percent of West Virginia women smoked during pregnancy last year. That’s the highest rate in the nation.

The state Division of Tobacco Prevention also plans to distribute fact sheets, brochures and posters to doctors’ offices across the state.

Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage, still births, and low-birth weight and premature babies. Children born to mothers who smoke also are more likely to die from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

Source: AP

Today when I was out and about town I witnessed an individual standing near an ashtray attempting to get a few last puffs off her cigarette. The location of the ashtray was approximately twenty feet away from the door of a local business, and the smoker was in compliance regarding the location of where she could smoke.

Nearby I heard another lady dramatically coughing while turning her nose up in disgust and obviously intolerant of the situation. I overheard her teenage daughter sarcastically retort, “Who are you to speak? You smoked at home for twelve years!”

Most smokers do want to quit smoking. That this is not always an easy task can be attributed to the fact that dependence plays an important role. Nicotine dependence meets all criteria of addiction. The use is compulsive, it is hard to quit even when there is clear damage, withdrawal symptoms appear when stopping, and there is always a risk of falling back when trying to quit a chronic behavior. Smoking dependence fits the criteria given in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders system, version IV (DSM IV), 1 grading dependence and addiction to a substance.

I want to tell this lady to drop the smoking Nazi bullshit and get angry with the tobacco industry and those who knowingly support it. I would also like to tell her to get proactive with local/global legislation and tobacco education because she will catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. If tobacco education is free and accessible then generations of nicotine addicts and their children will be able to become reeducated.

 Whyquit sums it up quite elegantly: Education Destroys Dependency Ignorance.

~robbster

Ideally, tobacco should be outlawed. But as long as people continue to use the deadly stuff, those who harvest it for the great profit of tobacco companies deserve far better than the miserable pay and working conditions imposed on them.

“Miserable” is not an exaggeration. Consider North Carolina, the country’s leading tobacco producer. The state’s $500 million-a-year crop is harvested by more than 25,000 workers, most of them Mexican immigrants. Some are documented “guest workers,” some undocumented. Some are as young as 12, as state law allows.

The harvesters make at most about $7 an hour or about $7,100 a year for dangerous, backbreaking work. Most work for growers who do not provide health-care benefits and are exempt from the law that requires workers’ compensation payments for employees who are hurt on the job.
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It’s the big four - breast, colon, prostate and lung cancer - that you always hear about at community fundraising events. But there are thousands of people suffering from cancers that are often much more deadly and get far less research funding.

Pancreatic cancer is a great example of this phenomenon. It’s as common as leukemia, yet most people couldn’t tell you much about it. The disease also has a higher fatality rate than all other cancers - 99 percent, which means just 380 of the 32,180 people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the United States this year will survive.
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Formaldehyde is known as a human carcinogen (cancer-causing substance) by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, and as a human carcinogen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency(EPA). Formaldehyde in sidestream cigarette smoke is evident in concentrations of up to three times above occupational limits, which readily accounts for eye and nasal irritation.

Formaldehyde is also found in embalming fluids used to preserve bodies and lab specimins. That frog in the jar at school is floating in formaldehyde.

The tobacco industry uses formaldehyde in order to preserve tobacco moisture. Yummy.

Source: Smoke Free Home

 COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - A local musician and anti-smoking activist died Wednesday evening after a long battle with lung cancer, according to his family.Chris Conner was a member of the Midlands band Sourwood Honey, and was diagnosed with lung cancer earlier this year.

Chris was a smoker for 16 years and quit two years before becoming ill.

Let’s be clear. The evidence is in, and cigarette smoking is drug addiction, not sin.  Big Tobacco is a legalized pusher and they are targeting your children, the next generation of addicts.

Our hospitals, nursing homes and morgues are full of their victims from cancer and cardio-vascular disease. And we subsidize it all from our own wallets with higher insurance premiums, higher taxes for Medicaid, Medicare and disability payments. Businesses subsidize tobacco addiction with lost productivity from sick and dying workers.

So let’s not fool ourselves. The Big Tobacco drug pusher has bought protection from Republican politicians and from you, the public.

So let’s not fool ourselves with arguments about fairness for the nicotine addict and the constitution. We lost, children lost and the drug pusher won.

– Bill Ryan, Salem Statesman Journal

This is only a portion of our site traffic this year…we are indeed humbled! We hope that your visit here will be helpful and educational. If you have questions please do not hesitate to click on our contact link. Myriad thanks goes to our hosting service www.midphase.com and to all of YOU!

:::OOHRAH:::
~Ciggyfree Administration

Cigarette smoking may be a risk factor for rectal– but not colon–cancer. The evidence linking cigarette smoking and colorectal cancer risk has been inconsistent.

Electra Paskett, Ph.D., of Ohio State University in Columbus and colleagues investigated the association between smoking history and colorectal cancer among nearly 147,000 participants in the Women’s Health Initiative.

After an average follow-up of about 8 years, 1,242 women were diagnosed with colorectal cancer. Increased colorectal cancer incidence was associated with more cigarettes smoked per day, more years as a smoker, and older age when the women quit smoking.

Current smokers were at an increased risk for rectal cancer, but not colon cancer, compared with never smokers. Secondhand exposure to cigarette smoke was not associated with either cancer.

“Our data add to the extensive evidence indicating that preventing smoking initiation and decreasing the duration of smoking might reduce colorectal cancer risk,” the authors write.

This research was published recently in the Journal of The National Cancer Institute.

Journal of the National Cancer Institute (2007, November 14). Smoking is Associated with Rectal Cancer. ScienceDaily. Retrieved November 15, 2007, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2007/11/071113165642.htm

Individual brain chemistry and genes could be the key to understanding why some people become addicted to nicotine, University of Colorado at Boulder researchers say.

The depth of a person’s addiction to nicotine appears to depend on his or her unique internal chemistry and genetic make-up,  said lead author Jerry Stitzel, an assistant professor in CU-Boulder’s department of integrative physiology and researcher with CU-Boulder’s Institute for Behavioral Genetics.

It’s also why the chemical compound’s effects appear to diminish at night, said Stitzel, who presented his team’s findings in San Diego last week during the Neuroscience 2007, an annual scientific meeting.
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Tobacco-related deaths are expected to double to 10 million a year by 2030, with most fatalities in developing countries, says a senior World Lung Foundation (WLF) official.

Judith Longstaff Mackay, a senior policy adviser to the World Health Organisation, said cigarette markets were shrinking in advanced economies, but growing in developing states.

“There’s about three million TB [tuberculosis] deaths a year, and five million deaths a year from tobacco,” said Mackay. “By 2030, that will be closer to 10 million, they’ll be doubling… and the major burden is on developing countries.”

Smoking is a major cause of cancer of the lung, throat and bladder. Despite proof of the health risks, Mackay said more people were lighting up worldwide, with 1.64 billion smokers expected by 2030, from 1.3 billion today.

The American Cancer Society labels China a “ticking time bomb” with about 320 million smokers.

According to the 2006 edition of The Tobacco Atlas, published by the society, the four countries with the highest number of male smokers (who are the majority of the world’s smokers) were China, Yemen, Djibouti and Cambodia.

New Zealand Herald

Abstract:  Cigarettes have been socially engineered to become potent symbols. Therefore, they need to be understood as cultural products invested with cognitive and emotional salience as well as nicotine delivery devices engineered to create a population of dependent users. In this paper, we look at the symbolism of cigarettes, but unlike many researchers examining this topic, we attend as much to what tobacco users do with cigarettes as to what smoking means to them cognitively. Based on interviews with low-level smokers conducted on two college campuses, we suggest that students use tobacco in order to accomplish interactional goals and to structure social time and space that would otherwise be ambiguously defined. By conceptualizing this structuring activity as play, we gain valuable insights into early stages and trajectories of tobacco use among college students. Our conceptualization of smoking as play is not meant to trivialize low-level tobacco use. Much the opposite, we caution that the contexts in which low-level smoking takes place and the utility functions of such smoking must be taken seriously by researchers in light of current increases in tobacco use among college students.

Continue reading the original paper here

From: Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry
An International Journal of Comparative Cross-Cultural Research

[UMHS-Press Release] Smokers are more likely to have unrealistic body image & eating problems, and women who had weight problems as girls are more likely to start smoking early.

Is a fear of getting fatter partly to blame for the fact that nearly one in five American women still smokes, and many don’t try to quit?

Although there are many possible reasons for the stubborn persistence of smoking, fear of weight gain is high on the list for many women, says a University of Michigan Health System researcher who has devoted much of her career to studying this issue.

Although there are many possible reasons for the stubborn persistence of smoking, fear of weight gain is high on the list for many women, says a University of Michigan Health System researcher who has devoted much of her career to studying this issue.

Several years ago, she and her team reported that 75 percent of all women smokers say they would be unwilling to gain more than five pounds if they were to quit smoking, and nearly half said they would not tolerate any weight gain. In fact, many women started smoking in the first place because they thought it might help them stay slim.

Now, new U-M research findings published in the October issue of Addictive Behaviors show that women who smoke tend to be further from their ideal body image, and more prone to dieting and binging, than those who don’t smoke.
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Individual brain chemistry and genes could be key to understanding why some people become addicted to nicotine and why the chemical compound’s effects appear to diminish at night, University of Colorado at Boulder researchers say.

“The depth of a person’s addiction to nicotine appears to depend on his or her unique internal chemistry and genetic make-up,” said lead author Jerry Stitzel, an assistant professor in CU-Boulder’s department of integrative physiology and researcher with CU-Boulder’s Institute for Behavioral Genetics.

He and his team set out to evaluate the effects of nicotine over the course of a day by examining mice that could make and “recognize” melatonin, a powerful hormone and antioxidant, and others that could not. Scientists believe that melatonin, which is produced by darkness, tells our bodies when to sleep.
The CU researchers found that the reduced effects of nicotine at night were dependent on the mice’s genetic make-up and whether their brains and bodies were able to recognize melatonin. They also found that the daytime effects of nicotine were greatest when levels of the stress hormone corticosterone were high.
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Statement of William V. Corr, Executive Director, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

WASHINGTON, Nov. 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — By telling $12 million
worth of lies, the Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds tobacco companies have
again protected their profits at the expense of children by defeating a
ballot initiative to increase Oregon’s cigarette tax and fund health care
for children. The tobacco companies will profit by selling more cigarettes,
while Oregonians will pay a terrible price with more kids addicted to
tobacco, more lives lost and more kids without health care.

Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds opposed this initiative because they
know that increasing the cigarette tax is one of the most effective ways to
reduce smoking, especially among children, and they also know that the
public strongly supports increasing the cigarette tax. These tobacco
companies knew they couldn’t win by arguing against the cigarette tax
increase, so they spent a record $12 million to change the subject and
deceive the voters of Oregon. In fact, the tobacco companies made this
election about anything but the cigarette tax increase, which is the one
issue they truly cared about.

Throughout the campaign, media reports regularly exposed the industry’s
deceptive tactics, including the creation of an industry-funded front group
– Oregonians Against the Blank Check; RJR’s distribution of a mass-mailed
letter that appeared to come from a first-grade teacher but was mailed from
the office of the company’s lobbyist; and false claims in TV ads. The
tobacco companies’ ads falsely claimed that the money raised would not be
spent on children’s health care and manufactured controversy about amending
the Oregon Constitution despite the fact it has similarly been amended many
times (and the tobacco companies themselves have proposed constitutional
amendments in other states). The $12 million spent by Philip Morris and
R.J. Reynolds more than doubled the previous record for an Oregon ballot
initiative and was nearly four times what proponents of the initiative
spent.
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Measure 50 would have raised the tax on a pack of cigarettes by 85 cents to pay for children’s health care and other programs in Oregon.

Don’t let this small failure for the health of Oregon’s children lead you to believe that BIG TOBBACO will always win — there will always be sites like Ciggyfree to point out how BIG TOBACCO poisons our beings, our land, our air, rewires our brains,  and reduces the quality of all human life on our planet — all for the sake of padding the selfish coffers of THEIR corporate greed.

Shame on YOU BIG TOBACCO and shame on those who support BIG TOBACCO.

You are all a bunch of MURDERERS…

~robbster

When you’re a smoker, especially in California, which boasts the second-lowest number of adult smokers in the country next to Utah, very few sweet voices greet you throughout your day. Most people just want to get away from you. There’s no smoking indoors in public places or outside in parks or playgrounds. In some cities, like in Oakland, you can’t smoke in ATM lines or at bus stops. And in Belmont, smokers soon will not be allowed to smoke inside their own apartment or condominium.

So maybe there’s no time like the present to quit.

And if you do try, as thousands of Americans will Nov. 15 during the Great American Smokeout, you will hear one friendly voice on the other end of the line at 1-800-NO-BUTTS (1-800-662-8887), the California Smokers’ Helpline.
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AN AUSTRALIAN adviser to the World Health Organisation has warned the ingredients of strawberry jam face tougher regulation than the deadly contents of cigarettes and has urged the Federal Government to act immediately.

A leading international expert on the health impacts of tobacco smoke, Dr Nigel Gray said he was disgusted that carcinogens in cigarettes remained unregulated, despite killing about 15,000 Australians each year.

“Controls apply to almost every marketed product from the amount of rat droppings permitted in wheat, to the amount of fat allowed in sausages and even the amount of mint allowed in nicotine replacement therapy,” Dr Gray said in an editorial published in the Medical Journal of Australia yesterday.

“It seems astonishing that the federal minister for drug and alcohol policy recently rejected claims that a new tobacco product (a ‘heatbar’, which heats but does not burn tobacco) should be subject to regulation and said there were no plans to even investigate the product.”

In June, The Age revealed that tobacco giant Philip Morris had secret plans to launch Australia’s first hand-held electronic smoking device.
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Mark Twain said, “Quitting smoking is easy. I’ve done it hundreds of times.” If you smoke, the American Cancer Society invites you to quit one more time, if only for 24 hours, during the Great American Smokeout, GASO, Nov. 15.

GASO has been going on nationally since 1977, and that’s all there is to it: for just one day, don’t smoke.

Is it really worthwhile to quit just for one day? Edwina “Eddie” Reeves, certified tobacco treatment specialist at CHINS, says, “People who quit during the Great American Smokeout are winners because they learn that they can do without the nicotine. If they quit for one day they prove to themselves that they have the power over the nicotine.”

Twain also said, “It has always been my rule never to smoke when asleep.” By following Twain’s simple rule you can easily handle one-third of the 24 hours. Only 16 hours to go!
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Big Tobacco is sweating this one out after poison-nicotine profits supply $12 millions for subverting Oregon voters. That old cliche “The nation’s eyes are on you”  is quite literally true for Tuesday’s vote.  Big Tobacco has been forced to wreak out the largest bribe-run of political-ad monies in Oregon’s history, with $12 millions already spent.

Campaign contributions alone may have set up this sequence by providing confrontation within the Legislature, but true-decision still remains right where it should be - with the citizens themselves.

Right or wrong, Oregon’s response may well shape up first the Congressional action on SCHIP –national children’s health insurance– and then foreshadow final action for universal health insurance in this nation, too.

What we DO, here-and-now, will then have strong impact on upcoming rapid decisions for universal health care at the two basic-levels/demanded very soon.

Oregon may very literally lead the nation on this consummately consequential vote.

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The Match Test

Light a match in a draft-free room, let it burn halfway, hold it 6 inches from your mouth, and try to blow it out with your mouth wide open. If you can’t, your lungs may not be in the best condition.

Measure Your Chest

Measure your chest at rest. Men should measure the chest around the nipples; women should measure just under the breasts.

Take a full breath and measure again while holding the breath. The second measurement should be at least 1.5 inches more than the first one. If your chest expands less than 1.5 inches with a deep breath, your lungs may be weak and you should see your doctor.
Time Your Exhalation

Take a deep breath, then time yourself while you exhale it as fast as possible. Time only the exhalation, not the inhalation. If it takes longer than 3 to 4 seconds to exhale, you may have a lung disorder and should see your doctor.
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Smokers can add a new health risk to the ever-growing list of hazards posed by their habit: the unsightly and often painful skin condition known as psoriasis.

American and Canadian investigators who analyzed data from the long-running Nurses Health Study find smoking increases the risk of psoriasis by 78 percent when compared to never smoking. The link is long-lasting too. Former smokers have a 37 percent higher risk overall, and the risk doesn’t decline until 20 years after a person kicks the habit.

Heavier smokers fare worse than lighter smokers too. In the study, psoriasis risk went up with the number of “pack-years” smoked. A pack-year is defined as smoking 20 cigarettes per day for one year.

Even exposure to secondhand smoke appeared to increase the danger, with a higher risk seen for study participants who were exposed to smoke while their mothers were pregnant or when they were children.

“These findings, along with well-established hazardous health effects of smoking, provide clear incentives for smoking cessation in those at risk for and suffering from psoriasis,” study author Hyon K. Choi, M.D., Dr.P.H., was quoted as saying. “Beyond the potential effect on psoriasis, smoking cessation would lead to a better overall clinical outcome in psoriasis patients, who often suffer co-morbidities related to smoking.”

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.

SOURCE: The American Journal of Medicine, published October 29, 2007

Tobacco users are accustomed to having certain levels of nicotine in their bodies. Because of its addictive qualities, when a person quits using tobacco, nicotine cravings are likely.

Tobacco users are accustomed to having certain levels of nicotine in their bodies. Because of its addictive qualities, when a person quits using tobacco, nicotine cravings are likely.

A new feature on MayoClinic.com provides users with 20 ways to bust nicotine cravings. Sample tips — which can help users overcome the urge to smoke and ultimately quit smoking for good — include:

• Move. Do deep knee bends, run in place or climb the stairs. A few minutes of brisk activity may stop a nicotine craving.
• Replace. Try a stop-smoking product instead of a cigarette. Some types of nicotine replacement therapy — including patches, gum and lozenges — are available over-the-counter. Nicotine nasal spray and the nicotine inhaler are available by prescription.
• Call for reinforcements. Team up with a partner who doesn’t smoke for a quick chat or brisk walk.
• Drink up. Sip a glass of ice water slowly. When the water is gone, suck on the ice cubes.
• Clean the closet. Discard any clothes yellowed by cigarette smoke or damaged with cigarette burns.

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