Stop Smoking Way

We’ll spare you the lecture. (Seriously, though. Stamp out that butt and flush the pack, already.) Tobacco use, namely cigarette smoking, is the chief cause of preventable death in the United States. Left unbridled, smoking could kill more than a billion people this century, according to the World Health Organization. That equals the number who would die if a Titanic sank every 24 minutes for the next 100 years, as former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop so starkly put it at a March press conference.

Most smokers already know that they can help preserve their health, hygiene and personal relationships by kicking the habit, and that holds true across the country.

But in strictly financial terms, smokers in Delaware stand to save the most cash by quitting. That’s because in Delaware, where a pack of cigarettes costs about $5.39, residents smoke more than in any other state–just over 185 packs per year. That comes out to $998.23 spent individually on smoking every year.

Puffing a cigarette at a park is already illegal in Belmont and unincorporated San Mateo County but the habit could soon earn you a ticket in Redwood City, too.

The city’s parks and recreation commission will consider on Wednesday recommending that the city make all of its 32 parks smoke-free.

City officials say smoking is already banned in parts of some parks because of laws that prohibit smoking within 20 feet of parks facilities or rest rooms and within 25 feet of any play area or sports field.

Groups that once fought on opposite sides of a proposed statewide smoking ban have united to oppose proposed changes to that ban.

Restaurant owners and anti-smoking groups, including the American Cancer Society, are fighting legislation in the Ohio House and Senate that would permit loopholes in the ban.

A Senate bill would allow smoking at certain family-owned businesses and private clubs while a House bill would exempt stand-alone bars from the ban.

The Ohio Restaurant Association says it wants a level playing field for all businesses.

Cancer society lobbyist John Hoctor says the bills if passed would open up smoking in thousands of businesses.

THE Government faces a major battle over its plans to ban the display of cigarettes in shops and remove the logos from cigarette packets.

Despite initial hints from David Cameron that he supported it, both the Tories and Liberal Democrats are now planning to block the move when it comes before Parliament on the grounds that it will have no effect on sales to children and will cost retailers thousands of pounds.

Ministers are also planning to ban vending machines in pubs and to stop manufacturers selling packs of ten – measures which a growing band of critics say are draconian.

The Tories said there was “no evidence” that banning the display of tobacco products in shops would help people stop smoking.

Shadow health minister Mike Penning said ending displays and removing branding and logos could drive local shops and newsagents out of business.

And he claimed banning packs of 10, in an attempt to make it too expensive for many children to smoke, could lead to some adults smoking more.

Mr Penning was speaking about a Government consultation on further measures to try and prevent a habit which kills 87,000 people each year in England alone.

A new UCLA School of Nursing study is the first to reveal the devastating consequences of smoking on the nursing profession. Published in the November-December edition of the journal Nursing Research, the findings describe smoking trends and death rates among U.S. nurses and emphasize the importance of supporting smoking cessation programs in the nursing field.

“Nurses witness firsthand how smoking devastates the health of their patients with cancer and respiratory and cardiovascular diseases,” said principal investigator Linda Sarna, D.N.Sc, a professor at the UCLA School of Nursing. “Yet nurses struggle with nicotine addiction like the rest of the 45 million smokers in America. We are concerned that nurses who smoke may be less apt to support tobacco-control programs or encourage their patients to quit.”

THREE hundred NSW hotels have applied to defer payment of $18.6 million tax on gambling machine revenue, which has plummeted since an indoor smoking ban was introduced last year.

A hardship scheme that was available only to registered clubs suffering more than a 15 per cent downturn in poker machine revenue was extended to pubs in September.

The Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing has approved 241 of the hotels’ deferral applications and rejected the rest.

America has seen a dip in the number of current smokers. According to health officials 43.3 million people, or a shade under one-fifth of the population were smokers in 2007. The figure stood at 20.8 percent in 2006.

In November 2000, America had set a goal 12 percent adult-smoking rate as a part of the Healthy People 2010 project. That goal still remains a distant dream.

Prior to this, the smoking rate practically remained unchanged. It was 20.9 percent in 2004, 20.9 percent in 2005 and 20.8 percent in 2006. Since it was the first time that the adult-smoking rate had come below the 20 percent threshold, the anti-smoking groups had reasons to cheer.

After a month of fresh air, smoking is once again allowed inside Atlantic City’s 11 casinos.

The City Council had passed a total smoking ban in April, but then the financial meltdown rocked the economy and led to even steeper declines at the casinos.

The council changed its mind at the last moment and agreed to repeal the smoking ban for at least a year, but couldn’t legally stop the no-smoking rules from taking effect on Oct. 15.

The ban expired a minute after midnight Sunday, and gamblers can now light up again.