News dall’estero_31 luglio 2018
Convenience Store, 30/07/2018
Warwickshire: Illicit tobacco factory disguised as potato farm
A large illicit tobacco factory has been discovered on a farm in Warwickshire, with the farm being disguised as a potato processing business. Nearly 7 tonnes of illicit tobacco was found hidden in hundreds of potato bags. A cutting machine, counterfeit packaging and over 10,000 cigarettes were seized.
Teeside Live, 30 /07/2018
Stockton: E-cigarettes are making a difference in the fight to cut smoking
Encouraging the use of e-cigarettes to reduce the number of smokers in Stockton has been defended amid an agreement to fund services helping people kick the habit until 2020. Both Stockton and Hartlepool Councils have held a joint contract with North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust to fund stop smoking services. Councillor Jim Beall, Stockton’s cabinet member for adult social care and health, told panellists at a meeting on Thursday how the council’s “targeted approach” had reaped rewards so far and praised the role e-cigarettes had played. He said: “The good news is smoking figures are coming down through medication and e-cigarettes – that’s something to celebrate.”
https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/health/how-e-cigarettes-making-difference-14965395
Helensburgh Advertiser, 31/07/2018
Scotland: More 18-24 year old girls than boys smoking in Argyll and Bute
Teenage girls in Argyll and Bute are to be the focus of a renewed drive to cut down on smoking in the area. The move follows a recent report that found smoking rates were higher among young women aged 18-24 than among young men of the same age, in Argyll and Bute. Argyll and Bute’s Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) is now set to repeat its programme aimed at mid-secondary school pupils to discourage them from smoking. It will also continue its projects for younger secondary pupils, along with those in the late stage of primary school, on the dangers of tobacco. A spokesperson for the HSCP said: “Within the 18 to 24 years old age group [in Argyll and Bute], the most recent report in 2015 reveals 24% of females smoke compared to 18% of males.”
BBC News, 30/07/2018
Health inequalities lead to striking differences in life expectancy between the rich and poor in England
The life expectancy gap between rich and poor people in England has been widening for nearly two decades. Stockton-on-Tees is the town with England’s biggest gap in life expectancy. In Stockton-on-Tees, those living in the wealthier areas can expect to live as much as 18 years longer than those in the more deprived parts of the town. Nationally, on average, a boy born in one of the most affluent areas of England will outlive one born in one of the poorest parts by 8.4 years. Smoking rates are typically much higher in more deprived groups, something that exacerbates the differences in life expectancy.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-44985650
Medical Xpress, 30/07/2018
USA: Study suggests residential smoking bans will help more low-income smokers quit
Enforcing residential bans on smoking could help large numbers of low-income people quit smoking, according to an analysis of federally funded national surveys by a California research team. The finding comes as public housing authorities across the country face a July 31st deadline from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to implement indoor no-smoking policies. The study analyses data from the National Cancer Institute funded Tobacco Use Supplement to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey—which asked about smoking habits, whether people allowed smoking in their homes, and whether they were able to quit—over a 10-year period from 2002 to 2011. It found that, while low-income smokers were significantly less likely to live in smokefree homes, those who did live in such homes were much more likely to be successful quitters. Implementing smokefree policies in low-income housing is one way to increase the number of smokefree homes, and the authors said this has the potential to affect a large group of vulnerable people.
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-07-residential-low-income-smokers.html
Eureka Alert, 28/07/2018
USA: Study finds smokers who use e-cigarettes are at equal risk of oral cancer as those who only smoke
Scientists at the University of California, San Francisco discovered dual-users of e-cigarettes and tobacco may not be at less risk from cancers of the throat and mouth than they were when they were only smoking cigarettes. Researchers looked at markers of overall nicotine intake, and levels of a group of carcinogens called tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs). When they measured these in the urine of some 49,000 Americans who smoke, use smokeless tobacco and non-smokers, they found that there were more similarities between users of smokeless tobacco and smokers than between the former and non-smokers. However, those only using e-cigarettes were found to have lower levels of the two chemicals associated with oral and lung cancers. It was only dual-users of tobacco (including smokeless products) and e-cigarettes who had a similar risk for these cancers.
