Burning Issues-Flitered Tips

Filtered Tips by Teresa Johnson, B.A.

		It’s where you live A University of California, San Diego School of Medicine study found that more than half of Korean and Chinese immigrant smokers who recently moved to California quit smoking. Social norms played a significant role in this dramatic change. [New Year’s Resolution: Quit Smoking? Move to California, Kim Reynolds, January 9, 2008]
NY youth smoking rates decrease Smoking rates for New York youth dropped to 8.5% in 2007 from 17.6 percent in 2001. Health officials attribute the decrease to the recent increases in cigarette taxes, public smoking ordinances, and public service announcements. The survey examined youth in public high schools from 9th through 12th grade. [Teenagers in the City Smoke Less, Reports Find, Anthony Ramirez, New York Times, January 3, 2008] Public Health in New York City, 2004-2006 New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
		Has the Shisha bar come to an end in France? Shisha owners fear the worst as smoking hookah in Shisha bars may be coming to an end! Throughout France a new smoking ordinance banning smoking in public places is now being enforced in thousands of restaurants, cafes, and bars. This could be the end to over 800 Shisha bars most of which are located in Paris. Smoking ban could spell the end for France's shisha bars Selim Saheb Ettaba, Yahoo News, December 27, 2007 [Update: Hookah Bars fight Smoking Ban, April 24, 2008]
		New smoking laws What do California and Nova Scotia? Beginning in January, both places will have banned smoking in cars with minors. The new laws passed due to health risks associated with secondhand smoke. Breaking the law will cost California motorists up to $100 in fines. [ Car Smoking Ban Among New California Laws, The Associated Press, December 28, 2007] [N.S. Leads the way, Vancouver Province, December 14, 2007]
Florida lawsuits The tobacco industry may not be out of the woods yet. In its recent decision to overturn a $145 billion class action lawsuit against the tobacco industry, the Florida Supreme Court has permitted smokers and their families to file individual lawsuits against the tobacco companies seeking compensation for negligence. Folks did just that, as thousands of new lawsuits were filed with the Florida state court by the January deadline. [Cigarette makers face flood of Florida lawsuits, Tom Brown, Reuters,January 11, 2008]
Mental illness and the smoking connection The link between mental illness and smoking are alarming! 1) 50-80% of people with mental illness smoke; 2) people with mental illness consume 44% of cigarettes sold in the U.S.; 3) people with mental illness smoke a high quantity of cigarettes, in some cases up to three packs a day. What is more alarming is that, until recently, mental health professionals have ignored smoking. Sound the alarm! Finally, mental health professionals realize that smoking can no longer be tolerated, supported or encouraged. Efforts by the mental health profession are now being made to help mentally ill people stop smoking. [A Hidden Epidemic, Steven Schroeder, November 18, 2007]
		Paperback Advertising: A Thing of the Past Back in the 1960s and 1970s paperback cigarette advertisement was the new frontier for the tobacco industry. Science fiction, mysteries novels and even some school books contained cigarette ads. Incredibly enough, the very first book containing these advertisements was the Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care, by Dr. Benjamin Spock. Paperback advertisement is a frontier long gone but its remnants in old paperbacks still remain. [Smoke This Book, Paul Collins, The New York Times]