Tobacco firms fail to stop UK introduction of plain packaging
30 November 2016: Court of appeal rejects companies’ latest attempt to block rules that will force them to remove distinctive branding from packs. The latest attempt by tobacco companies to prevent the introduction of mandatory
Smoking harms not just your physical health, but your mental health too
24 November 2016: A middle-aged cigarette smoker who has smoked for decades is two to three times more likely to die early than someone similar who has never smoked. Tobacco smoking is well known to
China to introduce national smoking ban in public places
23 November 2016: SHANGHAI – A national regulation banning smoking in public places is expected to be issued by the end of this year, according to the National Health and Family Planning Commission. The regulation
Flavors influence appeal and use of most tobacco products, especially for youth
21 November 2016: Source:University of North Carolina Health Care System Summary:The impact of non-menthol tobacco flavors on consumers’ perceptions and tobacco use behaviors have been demonstrated in the results of a systematic review of 40
Reducing tobacco consumption, and giving growers an alternative crop
20 November 2016: India aims to reduce tobacco consumption by 30 per cent in the next three years, but it also needs to quickly promote the farming of alternate crops by tobacco growers, whose exports
Groups demand tobacco lobbyist stops claiming links
7 November 2016: Nestlé and World Bank request to be removed from website Nestlé and the World Bank are among a number of organisations to demand that a controversial lobby group for tobacco companies stops claiming links
Smoking ’causes hundreds of DNA changes’
3 November 2016: Smoking leaves an “archaeological record” of the hundreds of DNA mutations it causes, scientists have discovered. Having sequenced thousands of tumour genomes, they found a 20-a-day smoker would rack up an average
Exclusive – Tobacco treaty leaders propose barring delegates linked to state firms
3 November 2016: By Duff Wilson and Aditya Kalra | NEW YORK/NEW DELHI The leadership of a World Health Organization (WHO) treaty on tobacco control has proposed barring delegates with ties to state-owned tobacco firms
Uruguay: A giant leap to prevent tobacco-assisted suicide
25 October 2016: Tobacco is arguably one of the most significant threats to public health we have ever faced. Since the publication of the landmark U.S. Surgeon General’s Report on Tobacco and Health in 1964,
Over 100 organisations call upon governments to protect WHO FCTC from tobacco industry interference
2 November 2016: With a week left for inter-governmental meeting of global tobacco treaty (formally called World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control or WHO FCTC), 115 civil society organisations from India and several
Exclusive: India’s tobacco industry, government face off ahead of WHO conference
27 October 2016: India’s $11 billion tobacco industry has urged the government to take a softer line on tobacco control efforts when it hosts a WHO conference in New Delhi next month, but officials say
30% of Cancer Deaths Are Due to Smoking
24 October 2016: Smoking-related cancer death rates are highest in the South About a third of cancer deaths in American men and a quarter in women are linked to cigarette smoking, finds a new study
The Race to a Tobacco Endgame
25 October 2016: Correspondence toProfessor Ruth E Malone, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94118, USA; ruth.malone@ucsf.edu Accepted 5 October 2016 During the past month alone,
The real reason Big Tobacco is getting even bigger
21 October 2016: British American Tobacco said on Friday that it has offered to buy U.S. tobacco giant Reynolds American in a $47 billion deal that would create the world’s largest publicly traded tobacco company.
Asian Countries Declare War on Cigarettes
16 October 2016: Japan’s health minister Yasuhisa Shiozaki said that the government will step up measures against passive smoking while seeking public understanding ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, reported NHK on Friday.
Children of absent parents more likely to smoke and drink – study
11 October 2016 Research finds absence of parents in first seven years increases risk of offspring taking up smoking or alcohol Parental absence increases the risk of children drinking and smoking before they become teenagers,
Bath investigation lifts lid on big tobacco’s campaigning methods
11 October 2016 New research by academics at the University of Bath reveals the scale of lobbying against the introduction of plain packaging of cigarettes by bodies with links to the tobacco industry, and shows
Make warnings on cigarette packs scary, health groups say
4 October 2016 A lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal District Court in Boston aims to force the Food and Drug Administration to require cigarette packages to display images starkly depicting what tobacco can do to
Transparency, Yes. Interference, No.
5 September 2016 There was a time when public health discussions on tobacco were an extraordinarily open process. Government officials met a wide range of people and listened to their concerns and ideas as they
Thirdhand smoke lingers in the home long after smokers have quit
22 September 2016 Even when you quit smoking, residue left behind by cigarette smoke can stick to surfaces, penetrate deep into materials in your home and settle in for a long time to come. A
A Judge’s View of Tobacco Lobby: ‘Money Over Morality’
19 September 2016 To the Editor: Re “Tobacco Lobby Tries to Shield E-Cigarettes” (front page, Sept. 3): Not much has changed. Decades ago tobacco companies were advertising that cigarettes were good for you and that
Flavorings, higher voltage increase toxicity of e-cigs
19 September 2016 Roswell Park Cancer Institute scientists report that several flavorings added to electronic cigarettes impact the toxicity of the devices and that, among the tested flavors, strawberry was the most toxic. The researchers
Children Pay A Long-Term Price For Their Parents’ Smoking Habits
13 September 2016 (Reuters Health) – Breathing secondhand smoke during childhood can lead to long-term breathing and health problems and a shorter life expectancy, according to a new scientific statement from the American Heart Association.
‘Drab and ugly’ plain packaging for tobacco on the way after legislation passes
8 September 2016 Plain packaging for tobacco is on the way after legislation passed its final hurdle tonight. Associate Health Minister Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga took a large cigarette packet prop into Parliament’s debating chamber to
Finally in Japan, Health ministry urges smoking ban for restaurants
A health ministry panel on Wednesday called for a ban on smoking indoors in public spaces, including restaurants. In a report, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry linked passive smoking to a range of deadly
Vaping is ‘as bad as smoking cigarettes’ for damaging key blood vessels
30 August 2016 ‘E-cigarettes are less harmful than traditional cigarettes but they are not harmless,’ says professor Vaping damages key blood vessels in the heart in a similar way to normal cigarettes, heart experts have said.
Tobacco plain packaging law takes another step towards reality
24 August 2016 Plain packaging for cigarettes has taken another step towards reality, despite suggestions that manufacturers and retailers should be given more time to sell their old stock. The Smoke-free Environments (Tobacco Plain Packaging) Amendment
Shane Todd, of ‘Tips From Former Smokers’ campaign, dies
18 August 2016 (CNN)Shane Todd, a familiar face in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s well-known “Tips From Former Smokers” campaign, has died from complications of cancer. He was 49. Todd started smoking cigarettes
Scheme to help farmers shift from tobacco extended to 10 states
12 August 2016 NEW DELHI: Crop diversification programme has been extended to 10 states to encourage tobacco growing farmers to shift to alternative crops, the Lok Sabha was informed today. Production of flue cured virginia
Reject tobacco industry’s claims about tobacco taxes that increases tobacco smuggling
13 August 2016 ‘The tobacco industry is complicit in illegal trade. Smuggling is one of its business strategies.’ – WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan, once stated at the 16th World Conference on Tobacco or Health.According
Big Tobacco’s controversial, ailing crusade against plain packaging
6 August 2016 Three years ago, the government of Togo, which has a gross domestic product of $4 billion, received a letter from Philip Morris International, a tobacco giant which last year earned revenues of
The doctor who beat big tobacco
When Dr Bronwyn King discovered her pension fund was investing in the cigarette companies that were killing her cancer patients, she was staggered. And she knew she had to act 1 August 2016 On Good
China: Model quitter: President Xi Jinping’s decision to give up smoking deserves praise, WHO chief says
2 August 2016 A compliment from the World Health Organisation chief to President Xi Jinping for quitting smoking will be a boost to tobacco control efforts, now in a vital phase ahead of a national
India: ‘Smoking kills’ messages in films may go off screen, suggests Benegal panel
1 August 2016 Statutory “smoking kills” warnings on screen every time an actor lights up in a movie may be done away with, if the government accepts recommendations from a committee headed by director Shyam
Constitutional Court upholds smoking ban at all restaurants
21 July 2016 The Constitutional Court for the fourth time ruled that a smoking ban at all restaurants is constitutional, court and health officials said Thursday, rejecting arguments that it violates individuals’ rights to property
The problem with selling a lethal product: you just can’t get the staff
12 July 2016 Tobacco causes six million deaths a year, and big tobacco was recently described in a British high court judgment as an industry “which facilitates and furthers, quite deliberately, a health epidemic”. But
Phillip Morris loses tough-on-tobacco lawsuit in Uruguay
Latest updates 16 July 2016 http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/07/16/celebrating-common-sense The World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) ruled in favor of Uruguay on Friday in a suit filed by Philip Morris International seeking compensation for
North Korea, a smokers’ paradise, pushes populace to kick the habit
6 July 2016 North Korea, one of the last bastions of free, unhindered smoking, a country where just about every adult male can and does light up almost anywhere he pleases and where leader Kim Jong-un is
EU ends anti-smuggling deal with tobacco firm PMI
6 July 2016 The European Union is ending the anti-smuggling agreement it has with tobacco multinational Philip Morris International (PMI), sources confirmed to EUobserver. The European Commission has decided not to renew the deal after
Tobacco farmers in Prakasam district call it quits
26 June 2016 Many of them begin cultivation of sesame, green gram, and green manure crops in a big way There seems to be no end to the woes of tobacco growers in Prakasam district
New Zealand: Removal of point-of-sale tobacco displays working
5 July 2016 A new study led by University of Otago researchers suggests that July 2012 legislation that removed all point-of-sale tobacco displays from shops selling cigarettes has helped reduce smoking among New Zealand school
Taxing ‘public bads’ and investing in ‘public goods’: Constructive tax policies can help prevent harm and help promote progress
30 June 2016 To tax, or not to tax? That is the question that preoccupied a thought-provoking panel at a recent World Bank Group conference on “Winning the Tax Wars” – along with such pragmatic
New Zealand: Standardised tobacco packaging a step closer
1 July 2016 New Zealand Government Hon Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga Associate Minister of Health 30 June 2016 Media Statement Standardised tobacco packaging a step closer Associate Health Minister, Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga says the government has
Why raise tobacco tax
8 June 2016 Globally health advocates have been pressing their governments to raise tobacco taxes to reduce tobacco consumption, especially among young people. Tobacco industry also has argued that tobacco taxes need to be kept
Korea: Graphic warnings to be put on upper part of cigarette packets from December
14 June 2016 The government decided on Tuesday to mandate tobacco companies to place graphic images showing the harmful effects of smoking on the upper part of a cigarette packet starting from December. A revised
China tobacco sales fall for the first time in two decades
The amount of tobacco sold in China fell last year for the first time in more than 20 years, as a government health drive and rise in excise taxes began to take effect. China has long bucked the
Australia: People can’t stop laughing at this anti-plain packaging ad
7 June 2016 A US lobby group has released a volley of attack ads targeting Australia’s plain packaging laws complete with a dubious Australian accent and copious use of permanent markers that have left policy advisers and
Canada Liberal government plans plain tobacco packages; legal battle looming
30 May 2016 OTTAWA – A legal showdown appears to be looming as the federal government moves ahead with plans for plain packaging of tobacco products. Health Minister Jane Philpott is set to make an
UAE to scare smokers with gory pictures, higher taxes
The use of shocking images on cigarette packaging has been introduced in Australia. (Globedia) Raising taxes and changing the set of gory pictures on cigarette packs are among the steps that will soon be
Plain packaging & tobacco taxes: an antidote for manipulation and deception
31 May 2016 For 2016’s World No Tobacco Day, celebrated today, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Secretariat of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) are calling on countries to get ready