Smoking ban will save lives, improve health

The passage of a clean indoor air law for Kansas is a tribute to the majority of Kansans who have long asked for this public health measure to save lives and improve health in our state. Kansas legislators listened to the people of Kansas and voted to adopt a statewide law to protect workers and the public from the hazards of secondhand smoke in most indoor workplaces, eating and drinking establishments and recreational facilities.

Smoking Increases Risk of Aneurysm

The research presented at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference 2010.

Researchers reported on two new studies from the Familial Intracranial Aneurysm (FIA) project, a multinational collaboration funded by the National Institutes of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to study genetic and other risk factors in families with at least two members affected by intracranial aneurysm.

Man jailed after flouting English smoking ban

A pub landlord in England who failed to pay fines for deliberately flouting smoking ban laws was jailed yesterday.

He was described as ‘devastated’ by his wife today.

Nick Hogan, 43, from Chorley, Lancashire, was originally fined £3,000 and ordered to pay £7,136 in costs when he was found guilty of breaching the smoking ban.

The hearing, in January 2008, was told that on the day the ban came into force he organised a ‘mass light-up’ in his two pubs, The Swan and Barristers, both in Bolton, Greater Manchester.

Public place smoking ban revived

State Rep. Charlie Brown’s bid to ban smoking in all public places across Indiana has been revived.

The House of Representatives added the statewide smoking ban language Wednesday to a Senate bill dealing with public health laws.

The ban would apply to public places, enclosed areas of employment and all state-owned vehicles.

House lawmakers endorsed the bill on second reading, and a final vote could be taken today.

“Everyone in here has to know about the dreaded disease of second-hand smoke,” Brown, D-Gary, told his colleagues.

Your Health: Smoking top risk for heart disease

Harvard Medical School’s Healthbeat reports:

• Smoking is the top risk factor for heart disease. But for women on birth control pills, it increases the risk of stroke and heart attack even more.

• Less than one out of three Americans gets enough exercise, but women are even less active than men, especially in the 18 to 30 and over-65 age ranges.

• Women should especially beware of having high triglycerides and a waist over 35 inches, which greatly increase the risk of diabetes or a fatal heart attack.

State report: Most Nebraskans support smoking ban

Chief medical officer Joann Schaefer says Nebraskans recognize the harm of cigarette smoke and support the state’s recent ban on smoking in most public places.

Her comments came earlier this month as the state Department of Health and Human Services released a report detailing reaction to the ban.

Legislation would ban smoking on beach

Beach-going smokers may have to curb their habit outdoors, under proposals Trenton lawmakers discussed Thursday.

Members of a Senate committee on health, human services and senior citizens spent Thursday afternoon debating how a ban on smoking at beaches and parks might work.

They took up the issue as three separate bills arrived in committee. Taken together, the three would block smoking at most beaches, as well as parks and forests and even racetracks.

But legislators ultimately held the bills in order to amend and combine them, as they traded conflicting definitions of what areas might be covered.

Pass a true public smoking ban

Perhaps Wichita should take some pride in how much a House-proposed statewide public smoking ban resembles a 2008 city ordinance, which allows smoking, for a fee, if businesses prohibit patrons younger than 18 or build separately ventilated smoking rooms.

But as a statewide smoking ban, the House bill is a “fraud,” as Gov. Mark Parkinson put it when he vowed to veto the measure if it reaches his desk.

UAE health officials delay smoking ban

UAE health officials have delayed a national smoking ban until they have decided which government bodies will be responsible for its enforcement, according to reports.

Last month the Ministry of Health announced details of the new legislation, but yesterday an official said the public would be fully informed once the details had been finalised.

Auckland Recommends Ban on Outdoor Smoking

Auckland’s Regional Public Health Service are calling on the Government to increase tobacco tax and ban smoking in many outdoor public areas such as beaches, playgrounds, bus stops and outside buildings. The recommendations include increase tobacco tax by 5 per cent plus inflation per year, banning tobacco vending machines, licensing tobacco retailers. Dr. Andrew Lindsay, clinical leader of the health service’s alcohol and tobacco team told that 5000 deaths a year can be ascribed to smoking.