Smoking During Pregnancy Increased

The percentage of women who smoke while pregnant has gone up in some Northern Kentucky counties even though the rates are falling across the state and nationwide. Between 2005 and 2009, the percentage of women who smoke while pregnant increased from 34 percent to 39 percent in Grant County and from 18 percent to 19 percent in Boone County. Among the counties served by the Northern Kentucky Independent District Health Department, only Campbell County showed a decrease during the reporting period, from 32 percent to 24 percent. In Kenton County, the percentage remained the same, at 30 percent. The risks of smoking during pregnancy are well-documented. Premature delivery, low birth weight and higher incidence of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome are just some of the dangers linked to smoking while pregnant.

Warning on Cigarettes Packs

Cigarette packets in India are all set to carry new anti-tobacco pictorial warning from Thailand. The new pictorial warning, which is faceless, will be notified by the Ministry of Health as a replacement for the controversial old one that bore the image of English footballer John Terry. The Government of Thailand, which owns the copyright for the said warning, has permitted India to use these on cigarette products being marketed in India.

No Smoking Warnings, U.S. Smoking Rate

The United States Government is starting a major new effort to cut the country's smoking rate by showing graphic images of people who have sustained life-altering health problems after smoking for years. The U.S. smoking rate peaked at more than 40 percent of the adult population in the mid-1960s, but government health officials say the rates have stagnated at about 20 percent in the last decade, a rate substantially lower than in some European and Asian countries, but still higher than in other places. One recent study showed that one out of four high school seniors in the country is a regular cigarette smoker, a rate the government described as a “pediatric epidemic.”

Cigarettes and Alcohol, Irish Teens

In the 12 months prior to a European-wide survey, just 14 per cent of Irish teens had used cannabis, down from 33 per cent 17 years earlier. The comprehensive research by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction also found that just 19 per cent of 15 and 16-year-olds in Ireland had ever used any illicit drugs. This was down from 37 per cent in 1995. Ireland was one of only a few countries where the proportion was lower last year than in the first survey of the the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (EPSAD) in 1995. The UK was the other nation to see a significant decrease in the lifetime use of cannabis. In Ireland, only one in ten boys had used cannabis, with that dropping to just one in 20 when examining the use of the substance by girls in the 30 days prior to the survey.

Suit Against Tobacco Companies

A federal jury in Florida has ruled against a family that had been among thousands of plaintiffs in a class-action suit against tobacco companies. The case had been brought by Anita Young McCray, representing the estate of her father, Mercedia Wilbert Walker. McCray is one of about 8,000 plaintiffs who had filed lawsuits against the tobacco industry following a Florida Supreme Court ruling in 2006 that de-certified a $145 billion jury's award in a class-action suit, The (Jacksonville) Florida Times-Union reported. The Supreme Court allowed the plaintiffs to file individual suits using factual findings from the jury's 2000 verdict. Less than a month ago, a jury ruled in favor of the tobacco industry in the first case from the class-action ruling tried at the federal level.

Smokers in South Korea Highest Smoking Rates

After decades of indifference, big businesses and the government are turning up the heat on smokers in South Korea, a nation with one of the developed world’s highest male smoking rates. Some firms are pressing workers to kick the habit or miss out on promotion and the health ministry will toughen warnings on cigarette packs. Seoul council plans eventually to make one fifth of the city’s total area smoke-free. Even the military is getting in on the act: army draftees undergoing basic training will get advice from a clinic on ways to quit. But successive national governments — fearful of an electoral backlash — have held back from raising the tax on cigarettes. Some 44.3 percent of South Korean men smoked in 2009, according to the latest available data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). This compares to an average among all member nations of 26.5 percent for men. The smoking rate among Korean women is low due to social taboos.

Anti-Smoking Legislation in Nigeria

At 27, Lanre Lawal seemed to have a bright future. He had distinguished himself as a fine student with a degree in civil engineering. For the young man from Osun state in southwestern Nigeria, a promising job with a good income was almost certain. But Lanre’s joy was short lived. One day he slumped to the floor and was rushed to the hospital. That was in 2007. He died three months later from lung cancer. Peter Oguns, Lawal's childhood friend, said Lawal had been a regular smoker since their secondary school years.