State

Institute of Medicine (IOM) tobacco website
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) recently launched a website with information for community coalitions looking to implement the recommendations from the 2007 IOM report Ending the Tobacco Problem: A Blueprint for the Nation. The website further explains the recommendations that are most relevant to community coalitions and provides examples of organizations that have applied those recommendations to their unique circumstances. The website was developed using funds provided to the IOM by the American Legacy Foundation. Click here to visit the website.

Arkansas health official says anti-smoking programs working (AR)
The director of the Arkansas Department of Health recently reported that thousands of teenagers have reported either quitting smoking or not starting to smoke at all since the state started funding anti-smoking programs in Arkansas ten years ago. Since ten years ago, it has been reported that 21,500 fewer high school students and nearly 92,400 fewer adults smoke. Since a ballot initiative in 2000 that limited spending of the state tobacco settlement to health-related purposes, state tobacco control programs have received $446 million in funding from the settlement. Read more here.

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International

2009 edition of the Tobacco Atlas: Tobacco seen killing 6 million people next year
The World Lung Foundation and the American Lung Association launched the third edition of the Tobacco Atlas in August. The Tobacco Atlas offers data and trends relating to the global tobacco epidemic. The report is available as an interactive online tool with information on the history of tobacco, prevalence of tobacco use, youth, secondhand smoke, economics, health education, cessation, and the future of the epidemic. According to the report, tobacco use costs the global economy $500 billion a year in direct medical expenses, lost productivity and environmental harm. Click here to read data highlights from the Tobacco Atlas. Click here to access the Tobacco Atlas online, or to request a free copy.

Overall smoking rates about the same, decline seen among women 25 and up: StatsCan (Canada)
A new report from Statistics Canada shows that the smoking rate for women aged 25 and older declined to 15% last year compared to 18% in 2007. Overall, 18% of Canadians reported being smokers, a rate that has remained roughly the same since 2005. Contraband cigarettes have been blamed for the slowing decline in smoking rates because these products sell for 80-90% less than retail prices. Read more about what the new data suggests here.

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