Research

Light smokers do not escape disease and death
According to a study in the journal Tobacco Control, smoking one to four cigarettes per day still causes disease and death. This small number of cigarettes smoked on a daily basis nearly triples the risk of dying from heart disease or lung cancer. Dr. Kjell Bjartveit and her colleagues of the National Health Screening Service in Oslo, Norway tracked the health and death rates of close to 43,000 men and women from the mid 1970s until 2002. All of them were in their 30s and 40s at the beginning of the study. At that time, they were screened for cardiovascular disease and diabetes. The impact appeared greatest among women. Women who smoked one to four cigarettes a day were nearly five times as likely to die of lung cancer, and men smoking this amount were almost three times as likely to die of the disease as their non-smoking peers. Click for more information.

Cigar smokers face additional risks
There is additional evidence that cigar smoking is not a safe alternative to cigarette smoking. The Vermont Quit Line offers statistics that should make smokers aware of the facts about cigar smoking. Cigar smokers are four to ten times more likely than nonsmokers to die from cancer of the mouth, larynx, and esophagus. In addition, lung cancer rates for cigar smokers are three times as high as those of nonsmokers. Click for more information.

Diabetes more likely among smokers
New evidence suggests that people who smoke are nearly three times as likely to develop diabetes than those who do not smoke, according to a study in the October 2005 issue of Diabetes Care. Previous studies only examined a connection between diabetics who smoke and fatal heart attacks. Click for more information.

Smokers have increased risk of developing macular degeneration
A WebMD Medical News reports that cigarette smokers have a two-to threefold increase in the risk of developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD). AMD is the most common cause of legal blindness in the people over the age of 55 and occurs in nearly one out of three people over the age of 75. In addition, researchers found that only about 1 in 10 smokers believed that smoking was related to a cause of blindness, while 9 out of 10 smokers knew that smoking was a major cause of lung cancer or heart disease. Click for more information.

Treating multiple health behavior risks a promising approach
Researchers applied stage-based expert systems, based on the Stages of Change health promotion theory, to reduce smoking, improve diet, decrease sun exposure, and prevent relapse from regular mammography, finding significant treatment effects for all four behaviors. Over 25% of intervention patients were in the action or maintenance stages for smoking. Click to view the abstract.

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Findings from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health released
The recently released 2004 National Survey on Drug Use and Health from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) shows encouraging signs related to tobacco use. Major results from the survey include

• Young adults aged 18 to 25 continued to have the highest rate of past month cigarette use (39.5 percent). The rate did not change significantly between 2002 and 2004. The rate of cigarette use among youths aged 12 to 17 declined from 13.0% in 2002 to 11.9 percent in 2004.
• 70.3 million Americans were current users of a tobacco product in 2004. This is 29.2% of the population aged 12 or older. 59.9 million (24.9%) smoked cigarettes, 13.7 million (5.7%) smoked cigars, 7.2 million (3.0%) used smokeless tobacco, and 1.8 million (0.8%) smoked tobacco in pipes.
• The rate of tobacco use declined between 2002 and 2004, from 30.4% to 29.2%, primarily due to a decline in cigarette use from 26.0% to 24.9%. The rate of cigar use remained steady, but smokeless tobacco use dropped from 3.3% to 3.0%.
• A higher proportion of males than females aged 12 or older smoked cigarettes in 2004 (27.7% vs. 22.3%). Among youths aged 12 to 17, however, girls (12.5%) were more likely than boys (11.3%) to smoke.
• Based on 2003 and 2004 data combined, 18.0% of pregnant women aged 15 to 44 smoked cigarettes in the past month compared with 30.0% of women in that age group who were not pregnant. However, among those aged 15 to 17, this pattern did
  not hold. The rate of cigarette smoking among pregnant women aged 15 to 17 was 26.0% compared with 19.6% among nonpregnant women of that age (not a statistically significant difference).
• In completely rural nonmetropolitan counties, current cigarette use among persons aged 12 or older declined from 31.8% in 2002 to 22.8% in 2004.
• Among the 93.4 million persons who had ever smoked cigarettes daily in their lifetime, nearly half (46.2%) had stopped smoking in 2004; that is, they did not smoke at all in the past 30 days. The remaining 53.8% were still current smokers.

  Click for more information.

American Cancer Society reports decline in six causes of death
Even though better treatments for chronic illnesses such as heart disease and
cancer have led to a drop in the U.S. death rate since 1970, Americans face increasing threats from obesity and smoking, according to a report by the American Cancer Society. The look at six leading causes of death found mortality rates over three decades declined for stroke, heart disease, accidents and cancer while the death rate from chronic lung disease doubled. An overall decline in cancer death rates since 1990 was credited to tobacco control efforts. Click for more information.

UPS agrees to stop cigarette delivery
The world's largest shipping carrier, UPS Inc., has announced that it will stop delivering cigarettes to individuals in the United States. The agreement is the latest in federal and state efforts tocombat the sale of under-taxed cigarette and to fight underage smoking. Earlier this year, DHL banned cigarette deliveries to individuals nationwide and the nation's largest credit card companies stopped processing payments for cigarette sales. The agreement with UPS leaves only the U.S. Postal Service among major carriers to continue to deliver cigarettes to individuals. Click for more information.

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STATE Policy-Tracking System Updated
The State Tobacco Activities Tracking and Evaluation (STATE) System has been updated to include a new page and several new and updated data measures. Click to access the STATE System.

September Tobacco Control Legal Consortium Legal Update available
The Tobacco Control Legal Consortium (TCLC) has released its September Legal Update. The issue includes items on the TCLC publication “There is No Constitutional Right to Smoke,” the Amicus Brief submitted by TCLC in the DOJ Case, recent significant cigarette lawsuits, a groundbreaking Massachusetts verdict upholding the eviction of condo tenants for smoking, and Vermont’s new requirement regarding “fire-safe” cigarettes. Click to access the newsletter.

“No If, Ands or Butts” Council of State Governments webconference materials
The Council of State Governments held a webconference on September 8th to learn from state legislators and other experts about the innovative strategies enabling some states to dramatically cut the number of smokers—and reduce the burden of smoking-related chronic diseases. Speakers included Dr. Corrine Husten (CDC), Dr. Ursula Bauer (Tobacco Control Program, New York State Department of Health), and Assemblyman Pete Grannis (NY). Click to access a transcript and slides from the webconference.

Ignite, anti-tobacco youth-run organization, up and running again
Ignite, an anti-tobacco youth-run non-profit organization, is up and running once again. Ignite empowers the youth of America (ages 13-24) to hold the tobacco industry accountable at every level by directing public officials to act responsibly. Ignite was founded by Katherine Klem, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids' 2002 National Youth Advocate of the Year. Ignite incorporated as a 501(c)(4) in July 2004 as a social welfare organization and has begun to establish affiliated chapters across the country. Click to access Ignite’s website.

Report on tobacco industry federal political contributions released
The tobacco industry made more than $1.1 million in political contributions to federal candidates, political parties and political committees so far in the 2005-2006 election cycle, according to an annual report issued by the Tobacco-Free Kids Action Fund and Common Cause. The report, Campaign Contributions by Tobacco Interests, details tobacco industry contributions and lobbying expenditures so far during the 2005-2006 election cycle, and is based on data released by the FEC as of August 2, 2005. Major findings include:

• Tobacco company PACs donated more than $623,000 directly to federal candidates, with 78 percent ($487,878) of the total donations going to Republican candidates and 22 percent ($135,500) going to Democratic candidates.
• Tobacco PACs have donated more than $492,000 to non-candidate committees, including Democratic and Republican party committees and leadership PACs established by individual members of Congress. Of the total, $366,128 (74 percent) went to the Republicans, $68,000 (14 percent) to the Democrats and $58,500 (12 percent) to non-party committees.
• The report's appendix details tobacco contributions to every current Member of Congress since January 1, 1997, and current challengers.

  Click to view the full report and to look up contributions to a specific Member.

Corporate Accountability International releases report on Big Tobacco's attempts to derail the global tobacco treaty
Corporate Accountability International, a membership organization instrumental in the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), has released a report entitled Big Tobacco's Attempts to Derail the Global Tobacco Treaty: Cases from Battleground Countries. The report discusses the current status of the global tobacco treaty and the tobacco industry's recent attempts to undermine the treaty process. Click for more information.

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Minnesota:
 
Northwest employees who smoke will have to pay fee
Minnesota-based Northwest Airlines plans to charge employees who smoke an additional fee for health insurance coverage. Northwest joins other companies, such as General Mills, who are using this strategy in order to decrease the staggering increases in health insurance costs for their employees. Click for more information.

New York:
 
Independent report finds New York's Tobacco Control Program is successful
Governor George E. Pataki today announced that the second annual independent evaluation of New York’s anti-smoking and tobacco control program demonstrates that smoking is on the decline in New York and that teenage smoking is being reduced at a pace that exceeds the national average. In addition, the Governor also announced that $5.8 million in new funding has been awarded to community-based organizations statewide to advance programs to counter pro-tobacco advertisements and help smokers quit. Click for more information on the 2005 Annual Independent Evaluation of New York’s Tobacco Control Program.

Utah:
 
Utah smoking rate decreases further
Utah has the lowest cigarette smoking rate in the U.S., according to a report compiled by the Utah Department of Health. A total of 29,000, or 25% of all smokers in Utah, have quit smoking since the state launched an aggressive anti-smoking campaign in 1999. The program was paid for with money from the master settlement between states and the tobacco industry in 1998. The state spends about $4 million of the approximate $35 million received annually from the settlement. The current smoking rate among adults is now 10.5, the lowest since 1984, when health officials began tracking smoking rates. Click for more information.

Oklahoma:
 
Report documents tobacco industry influence in Oklahoma
A new report documents the tobacco industry's political influence in Oklahoma gained through lobbying, campaign contributions, contributions to political parties and political caucuses, and gifts and entertainment events. Click to view a summary or order a hard copy.

Washington:
 
Washington State adult smoking rate continues to decline
Washington State Governor Christine Gregoire announced October 11 that the number of adult smokers in the state continues to drop since the launch of the Tobacco Prevention and Control Program in 2000. The overall drop in the adult smoking rate is 13 percent, which translates to about 130,000 fewer smokers in the state and will save $1.6 billion in future health care costs.
 
Washington’s general adult smoking rate has declined from 22.4 percent in 1999 to 19.5 percent in 2004, moving the state up in rank from 20th to ninth place among all states. If the current trend continues, the Tobacco Prevention and Control Program will be on track to reduce the adult smoking rate to 16.5 percent by 2010, a strategic goal determined at the outset of the program.
 
The Washington Department of Health uses a comprehensive survey called the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) to collect a variety of health-related information, including tobacco use. In 2003, BRFSS began surveying Spanish-speaking residents to include the state’s growing Latino population in health statistics. Using the more comprehensive survey data, the adult smoking rate in Washington is even lower at 19.2 percent.
 
For more information, contact Terry Reid at 360-236-3665 or terry.reid@doh.wa.gov.

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