Smokers at Risk of Developing Lung Cancer

Here’s some good news for people at risk of developing lung cancer. An annual CT scan reduces the risk of heavy smokers dying of lung cancer by 20 percent and has the potential to save thousands of lives, according to the results of a large, government-funded study announced today.


Smoking Kiss and exposure to asbestos are risk factors that increase the likelihood of a person developing lung cancer and other respiratory diseases.

Loose asbestos fibers or asbestos dust breathed into the lungs also can cause mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lung, chest or abdomen, and asbestosis, a scarring of the lung.

Stricter Smoking Ban at Menlo Park

Menlo Park crept a step closer to expanding its smoking ordinance. After debating a few tweaks to the language and grilling the city attorney on how the ordinance would be enforced, the City Council voted 5-0 to introduce the new regulations at its Sept. 14 meeting.

Dry Spell Could Hurt the Quality of Tobacco Leaf

Within a span of weeks, the outlook for some Kentucky burley tobacco has soured amid worries that a dry spell could hurt the quality of leaf hanging in barns to cure before going to market.

In Henry County, where farming is the economic backbone and burley remains an important cash crop, some leaf is turning a yellowish color brought on by the drought that has stretched into curing season, said Steve Moore, the county's agricultural extension agent. The fear is tobacco companies won't have as much appetite for off-color tobacco.

The result could be lower prices at market, he said, unless timely rains salvage curing season.

Smoking Ban in Louisiana

Approximately 15 patrons, outfitted with a personal air quality monitor often concealed in a purse, casually ordered at restaurants and bars across Louisiana.

While the customers ate and socialized, the devices discreetly sucked air through a pump and past a laser, which measured the mass concentration of particles in the air.

Libs Accused of being Tobacco Protector

An advertising campaign against Labor's plan to force cigarettes to be sold in plain packets from mid-2012 will be launched on Thursday by newsagents, convenience stores and service stations.
The ad blitz by the Alliance of Australian Retailers, which will include TV commercials from Sunday, is funded 100 per cent by the country's three cigarette manufacturers.
Health Minister Nicola Roxon, who claims the Liberal Party could be behind the $5 million campaign, said Mr Abbott was looking like the "Marlboro man".

FDA Tobacco Takeover Slow

A year after a new law put tobacco regulation in the hands of the Food and Drug Administration, one thing is clear: It will likely be years before any of the most aggressive steps to reduce deaths from smoking Marlboro might happen.

When President Barack Obama signed the bill into law last June, anti-tobacco advocates suggested it could lead to a reduction in nicotine levels, a ban on menthol cigarettes or other aggressive moves.

Asian Tobacco Growers Oppose Ban on Tobacco Flavours

Asian tobacco growers on Tuesday condemned the World Health Organization (WHO) for suggesting ingredients such as cloves and other flavours be banned from cigarettes like Kiss, Eva, Karelia and many other flavoured brands.
The International Tobacco Growers' Association (ITGA) said a ban would cost millions of jobs by eliminating the market for blended cigarettes, which account for about half of global sales.
"We urge all governments to reject the proposal to ban tobacco ingredients and to investigate other alternatives that can achieve public health goals while also protecting the millions of jobs that are dependent on tobacco growing," ITGA president Roger Quarles said at a tobacco conference in Jakarta.
ITGA and the Indonesian Tobacco Community Alliance (AMTI), representing four million growers across Asia, have formed an Asian lobby group to fight the WHO proposals.
AMTI chairman Soedaryanto said that, as the world's biggest producers of clove cigarettes, Indonesian tobacco growers stood to lose most from a ban.
"Some of these agricultural communities are already among the poorest in the country. No other crop currently exists that can provide similar economic benefits to those communities," he said.
Indonesia is the only country in Asia not to have ratified the WHO's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which sets policy recommendations and benchmarks for countries concerned about the health impacts of smoking.
Cigarette consumption in the Southeast Asian archipelago of some 240 million people soared 47 percent in the 1990s and about 400,000 Indonesians die every year due to tobacco-related illnesses, according to the WHO.
Indonesia's biggest cigarette manufacturer, PT HM Sampoerna, is an affiliate of Philip Morris International.
The government in Jakarta has failed to regulate the tobacco industry, which pays more than six million dollars a year in excise taxes alone even though cigarette prices remain among the lowest in the world.