National

Nicotine and Tobacco Research Supplement on Menthol Cigarettes: Moving Toward a Broader Definition of Harm
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Office on Smoking and Health and Legacy are pleased to announce the publication of a special supplemental issue of Nicotine and Tobacco Research entitled “Menthol Cigarettes: Moving Toward a Broader Definition of Harm.” This supplement was published on December 21, 2010, and contains some of the proceedings from the Second Conference on Menthol Cigarettes that took place in Washington, D.C., on October 19–20, 2009. Overall findings from this supplement present a broader public health definition for the harmful effects of menthol cigarettes. Click here to access the journal supplement.

Group praises U.S. strides in tobacco control
On January 20, the American Lung Association released its annual State of Tobacco Control report, which assesses progress on tobacco control policies at the federal and state level. The 2010 report lauded the federal government for starting to implement FDA regulations, passing healthcare reform legislation, and focusing on tobacco cessation and prevention strategies at the Department of Health and Human Services. However, the report gave a starker picture of tobacco control at the state level. The report assessed five aspects of tobacco prevention and control: program funding, cessation treatment, state cigarette taxes, quitlines, and smokefree air laws. Only five states received passing grades in all assessments, and eight states received all "F's." Forty states and the District of Columbia received failing grades for their lack of financial investment in comprehensive tobacco control programs. Click here to read more, or click here to visit the State of Tobacco Control website.

Smokers who are also using smokeless tobacco products in the US: a national assessment of characteristics, behaviors and beliefs of 'dual users'
Data from the nationally representative ConsumerStyles survey were used to determine the prevalence of cigarette smoking, use of smokeless tobacco, and dual tobacco use, as well as participants’ quitting intentions, beliefs about the harms of tobacco, beliefs about how to quit smoking effectively, and use of smokeless tobacco for smoking cessation. The results showed that 17.8% of respondents smoked cigarettes only, 1.6% used smokeless tobacco only, and 1.1% were dual users. Dual users were more likely to be 18-24 years old, male, Hispanic, and have a lower income; the majority of them (67.7%) reported using smokeless tobacco in places where they could not smoke and 42.3% reported never intending to quit using tobacco. While only representing a small segment of the population that used tobacco, the findings show that there is a need for tobacco cessation efforts targeting dual users. Click here to read abstract of the article, which was published in Tobacco Control.

Pregnant women often deny smoking
A new study in the American Journal of Epidemiology suggests that nearly a quarter of pregnant women who smoke do not disclose their true smoking status on questionnaires. Researchers used data from the 1999-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) to assess self-reported smoking status and serum cotinine levels among 994 pregnant and 3,203 nonpregnant women aged 20 to 44. They found that of the 13.0% of pregnant women with cotinine levels indicating active smoking, 22.9% had denied being smokers, compared to the 9.2% nonpregnant smokers that denied being smokers. Pregnant smokers who denied smoking tended to be young (aged 20 to 24); nonpregnant smokers who denied smoking were more likely to be Mexican-American and non-Hispanic black. These results indicate that research and surveillance systems that rely upon self-reported smoking status may get inaccurate information about smoking prevalence, particularly among pregnant women. Click here to read more, or read the study abstract.

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International

Report: Smoking industry harming economic health (China)
A new report, Tobacco Control and the Future of China, shows that lost productivity and other costs associated with smoking will harm China’s economic growth in the long run, despite the state-owned tobacco industry’s contributions to the economy. The report compiles information and research from sixty experts seeking to quantify the financial burdens of smoking in China. Economic analyses showed that it cost $9.3 billion more to treat smoking-related illness and pollution than the tobacco industry created in jobs and profits, and that the economic potential of China could be diminished because of medical costs and lost productivity if steps are not taken to reduce tobacco use. Additionally, the report shows a conflict of interest between the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration and measures stipulated by the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which has undermined the government’s ability to successfully implement tobacco control policy. China is the world’s largest producer and consumer of tobacco, with over 300 million smokers in the country. Read more here.

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