Australian smokers are fuming over the ban on cigarette breaks

Smokers feel frustrated and offended by the recently approved federal ban on having cigarette breaks for Public Health Department personnel. And even officials admit the ban is too hard and impossible to enforce.
Beginning with February 1, smoking employees are prohibited from having cigarette breaks throughout work hours, in conformity with a directive distributed among employees on New Year’s Eve. The corresponding ordinance was introduced by Jane Halton, head of Australian Department of Public Health.

Under the memo, personnel will be allowed to light up only during lunch break, and within at least 50 feet from the entrance of the building. The authors of the ordinance claim their major objective is keeping the professional efficiency and reputation of the Ministry and improving employees’ health.

Anti-smoking advocates admit they believe such move will serve as a gateway for implementing a comprehensive ban on having smoking breaks among public employees.

However, public lawyers were not so optimistic about the ordinance. The vice head of National Council of Civil Liberties, Sam Stosur, named the memo heavy handed and draconian, while Peter Hill, president of TressCox Lawyers which deals with employment laws violations said the directive could be legally overturned in the nearest future.

The spokesperson for Jane Halton said the ordinance was drafted in compliance with Australian Labor Code and the offenders would be subjected to penalties in conformity with APS code of conduct. The directive has an additional provision, according to which employees that are willing to give up smoking voluntarily will be provided with all necessary support.

Before the new directive, New South Wales (NSW) employees of Public Health Department were permitted to have short-time smoking breaks, admitted Victoria Carrey, communications manager of the Public Service Association NSW. However, everyone knows that smoking is dangerous even for those who don’t smoke, so if one considers this measure excessive, he would better begin receiving help for treating his dependence instead of violating the ordinance, she added.

Action on Smoking and Health Australia executive director, Anne Jones admitted that this policy is very reasonable, but difficult to enforce. However, she believes that many smokers would follow it, being afraid of effect the violation of the ordinance could have on their careers.

At the same time, head of the Community and Public Sector Union, Jade Blake admitted that the ordinance has good objective, but the means of enforcing it are not fair. As an example, she cited a similar ban on cigarette breaks imposed last year at the federal Department of Innovation has resulted in intimidations by disciplinary action for those smokers who refused to quit their nasty habit on their own.

Dramatic Cuts in Anti-Smoking Programs

In conformity with the findings of a report by a coalition of anti-smoking organizations, state government are reducing the expenses on smoking prevention programs, despite generating higher-than-ever revenues from tobacco taxes and MSA payments, with the most significant lows recorded in New York State.

The recently revealed report, under the name “A Broken Promise to Our Children” declares that state legislatures had reduced expenditures by more than 15%. The report shows the states have laid out $567 million for anti-smoking campaigns in the last fiscal year.

This sum accounts for just 2.3 percent of the total revenues collected from taxes and settlement contributions which made up nearly $25 billion, as the report claims.

Vera Pearrow, spokesperson for American Lung Foundation stated that it is a rather ridiculous situation that such scanty part of revenues generated from tobacco products is actually used to prevent minors from taking up cigarettes and assist those smokers who are willing to give up.

In conformity with present federal legislation, the legislatures are not required to spend the generated money on smoking-related programs. At the same time, the nationwide statistics shows that state officials had to close a total budget deficit of $145 billion last year because of enormous revenue shortages.

In accordance with the report data, the revenues from tobacco industry have grown up essentially since the majority of state government implemented tax hikes to compensate huge deficits.

New York accounts for the most dramatic funding cut related to anti-smoking programs, cutting the expenditures by more than 30 percent, regardless of the fact that state health officials elaborated several effective cessation campaigns that contributed to a significant drop in the statewide smoking rates.

The annual report demonstrates that the only state that has not reduced funding of the anti-smoking programs and maintained the expenses at the level recommended by the Center for Disease Control is North Dakota.

David Paterson, NY State Governor acknowledged that State Finance Committee had to reduce the expenses on social programs in order to use the funds for the needs of general budget, which lacks $3 billion, the highest state budget deficit across the nation.

The spokesman for the Governor they had been literally obliged to reduce the funding of smoking-related programs because of the highest fiscal deficit that state has ever faced.

The spokesman also admitted that NY public health department has spent some $50 million on anti-smoking programs in spite of the severe holes in the state coffins. They have only reduced expenses on ads and promotion of cessation programs.

Nevertheless, the public health groups that authored the report declared that budget deficit is not a valid justification for cutting the expanses on smoking prevention programs, because the tobacco-related profits have raised.

In conformity with a nationwide CDC report, the adult smoking rate has added 1 percent and has stopped at approximately 21 percent. As regards teenage smoking rate decreased to 20 percent from last year’s 36 percents.

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Montana Smoking Ban Gives a Loophole for Hotels

Almost all public venues throughout Montana have become smoke-free when the Montana Clean Air Act was implemented last month; however, hotels got an exemption from the statewide measure. The legislation, introduced in 2005 and entered into effect two months ago, permits hotels to leave 35 percent rooms for the guests eager to smoke inside while the remaining 65 percent must become non-smoking.

When Richard Stewart became the owner of the Crazy Loop Motor Inn in Billings, he began to changes the rules right away. In just three months, he managed to make 40 percent of the rooms smoke-free. Today, the Crazy Loop has only 10 rooms where smoking is permitted, down from 50 just three years ago. Stewart admits he would be glad to make his entire premise smoke-free, however, since the hotel is eager to accommodate every visitor, he does not think the change is likely to happen.

The Montana Hoteliers Associations struggled to get a partial exemption from the anti-smoking law. “To my regret, I don’t believe that it would be workable in the nearest future. The switch to become an entirely non-smoking place, would hit the revenues of the Crazy Loop”, said Stewart. Of course, I would be glad to see the place smoke-free, but it just won’t bring the necessary amount of profit in this way.

The Crazy Loop is one of the majority of hotels across the state dealing with the latest anti-smoking law. The Montana State Department of Public Health admits that hotels can decide for themselves whether they would like to become completely non-smoking or provide accommodation for smokers. Victoria Hamilton, a senior manager for health education at the CCHD, acknowledged that the hotel owners should make their premises smoke free at their own will.

Hamilton said that the Department made an attempt to enforce that measure back in Spring, however, it has been hard to track since people are willing to light up on their balconies or in the parking. Therefore, the policy has not been a successful one this far. Although the majority of the hotels in the state still permit smoking in a small number of the rooms, there are places that had adopted their own strict anti-smoking rules long before the bill was implemented.

The data shows that several hotels had decided to become non-smoking in order to cut expenses on cleaning the smoking-related litter.

Smokers are fuming about the taste of fire-safe

Bill Peterson has been smoking Marlboro Reds for ten years, and during those years he truly enjoyed his smokes. But now, he has trouble getting used to the flavor of his favorite Marlboros. He says that the cigarettes now have a metal taste and make his tongue and throat itch.

“It has a different taste, and I don’t like that taste,” the 31-year-old accountant complained. “It tastes like a cheaper brand of poor quality.” A tobacco store manager who is now accustomed to such complaints told Peterson what was the problem.

So, Peterson found out that he was puffing on fire-safe cigarettes. Spreading across the country with a booming speed, the FSC are made to self-extinguish when are left burning and not used.

The principal aim is to prevent the ignitions that cause thousands of deadly residential fires annually because smokers forget to extinguish cigarettes or drop them on furniture or bedding.

Fire prevention groups struggled with tobacco companies for many years to demand the manufacture of fire-safe cigarettes in place of conventional ones, before the tobacco industry finally gave up.

So, with almost no bustle, all American states, excluding Wyoming, approved legislations demanding tobacco shops to sell fire-safe cigarettes only.

However, at the same time with the spread of FSC, many smokers started complaining about the bad taste of the new cigarettes. They have even launched an online site, collecting signatures to abolish fire-safe cigarette. Approximately 7.500 people have signed this petition.

Thousands smokers from different states wrote to tobacco companies that the new cigarettes cause cough, nausea, headaches, sore throat, and other adverse effects.

According to a research by Harvard Public Health Department, accomplished in 2005, fire-safe cigarettes contain up to 11 percent more carbon dioxide than traditional cigarettes. The FSC as well contained an increased amount of several additives that was not significant.

However, Philip Morris spokesman claimed that they had not put any chemicals in the fire-safe cigarettes.

The fire-safe cigarettes differ from conventional cigarettes only in the design of paper used to wrap tobacco. Fire-safe cigarettes contain two or three layers of less porous paper which contributes to self-extinguishing.

Philip Morris expects complete phasing out of traditional cigarettes by the first quarter of 2010, while major rival .J. Reynolds would stop the manufacture of traditional cigarettes even sooner.

However, as smoking rates keep falling, deaths in fires caused by tobacco products had been reduced significantly even before the FSC came to the market. According to statistics, in 1985, almost 2,000 people passed away in fires caused by smoking materials. In 2005, 800 deaths were registered.

When New York approved fire-safe cigarettes, becoming the first American state to do it, the number of cigarette-caused fires dropped dramatically: in 2003 there were 38 deadly residential fires across New York and only 24 fatal fires happened in 2007. So, looking on the example of New York, many states easily approved similar legislations.

Tokyo’s smokers – only venues make health advocates angry

Although Japan has prohibited smoking in the majority of indoor public areas, and even in most streets of the capital, still there is an isle of paradise for Tokyo smokers, called Café Tobacco.

Located in the center of Tokyo and filled with dense white tobacco smoke, ‘Cafe Tobacco’ provides shelter for numerous blue-collar employees from local office centers and other visitors seeking for a drag and a coffee.

“Today people think that smoking person is a villain and should be exorcized from the streets,” complained Masahiko Tonoguchi, a vice president of Towa Food Service Co, owner of Café Tobacco that opened is second café only for smokers in Tokyo last week and plans to launch similar venues in all major Japan cities.

Sitting under an air conditioner, which is constantly working to clean the air from thick smoke, Tonoguchi admitted that they wanted their Café Tobacco to become a refuge for local smokers who usually have nowhere to go to satisfy their need to have a puff.

Outside the Café Tobacco Outside hung a sign showing an amber cigar tip and saying that smoking inside is permitted, what prompted to drawing the attention of more than 500 customers each day, said Café’s manager Akiko Nakanuchi.

Puffing on his cigarette and drinking an ice-tea, Daito Takahashi, a 30-year-old manager, admitted he was delighted to get to know about the Café Tobacco.

“I believe it’s a success,” he exclaimed. “All the bars in this neighborhood prohibit smoking or have a small smoking section, that is always packed with people, eager to have a smoke and coffee break.”

He said that the café is a true refuge for smokers, since only here nobody glares at them accusing of all the sins. So the place has been a oasis for smokers where they can simply relax among other smokers, without any feeling of guiltiness for their unhealthy habit.

However, health groups and anti-smoking advocates are not happy with these smokers-only places.

Kosuke Morigami, a public health expert stated that cigarettes have been proven to be toxic and hazardous for health, so people should simply stop smoking for the sake of their health.

He said that there should not be such smoking-friendly places, but unfortunately, the Health department was not entitled to regulate individual property rights since it violates commercial laws.

The smoking rates in Japan have dropped in the previous years, but, nevertheless they are higher than in many other countries. Smokers account for 40 percent of all male population and 15 percent of women.

In 2002 government prohibited smoking in many public places, including educational facilities, shopping centers and hospitals, however there has been no-enforcement of these laws.

However, Tokyo City Council imposed their own anti-smoking legislation, banning smoking in public transport and even on the majority of streets, excluding specially designated smoking areas.

Japan Tobacco, a leading tobacco company in the country launched several campaigns to support smokers. Their latest campaign included “SmoCar”, a van, equipped with air conditioning system, driving around the city and permitting everybody who wants to have a puff, to stop it and smoke inside.

In 2008, the cigarettes sales in Jappan dropped by five percent, however still managed to generate almost 40 billion dollars.

Although cigarette packs have the same warning labels as in all other countries that signed WHO Tobacco Convention, they are less expensive than in other developed states, costing about 3 dollars per pack.