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On September 22, federal lawmakers banned flavored cigarettes. The ban applies to the manufacturing, importing, marketing and distribution of candy-, fruit- and clove-flavored cigarettes. Federal authorities initiated the ban on these particular products because recent research has found that flavored cigarettes are particularly appealing to youth.

Dr. Lawrence R. Deyton, director of the Federal Drug Administration's (FDA's) Center for Tobacco Products, cites recent research studies which have found that 17-year-old smokers are three times as likely to use flavored cigarettes as smokers over the age of 25. "Candy- and fruit-flavored cigarettes are a gateway for many children and young adults to become regular tobacco users," he said.

The FDA also found that almost 90 percent of adult smokers start smoking as teenagers, and that the new ban may help stop the more than 3,600 young people who start smoking each day.

The ban does not apply to menthol-flavored cigarettes or flavored cigars, however the FDA is studying these products.

The FDA and other federal authorities are investigating efforts by makers of flavored cigarettes to side-step the new ban by making superficial changes to their products. In particular, the nation's top distributor of clove cigarettes -- California-based company Kretek International Inc. -- began rolling its clove cigarettes in tobacco rather than paper, making them more like small-sized cigars.

(Source: www.huffingtonpost.com)

Labels: cigarettes, teen smoking, smoking

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A new study in the September issue of the journal Pediatrics reports evidence that parents can negatively or positively influence whether their children become smokers. In particular, parents may play a large role in determining whether their adolescent children progress from experimenting with cigarettes in the eighth grade to daily smoking by the 12th grade.

The study included 270 adolescents who had begun smoking by the eighth grade but who were not yet daily smokers at that time. Of the participants, 156 (58 percent) became daily smokers by the 12th grade.

Min Jung Kim, a research scientist with the University of Washington's Social Development Research Group and lead author of the study, commented on the findings: "If parents smoke, teens have more access to cigarettes than teens who have non-smoking parents. A second preventive measure for smoking parents is to quit smoking themselves ... If parents really don't want their children to smoke they need to communicate that by establishing clear guidelines in their families about not smoking and discuss them with their school-age children."

(Source: insciences.org)

Labels: teen smoking, parents, smoking

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Smoking During Pregnancy Linked to Behavioral Problems

A study from the National Institute of Drug Abuse found that if a mother smoked during her pregnancy, her child was more likely to have behavioral problems if the child also had a certain gene variant.

Researchers at the Institute for Juvenile Research at the University of Illinois studied 176 young people, average age 15, and their mothers. If the gene variant was present and if the mother smoked during pregnancy, the child was more likely to be aggressive and violate rules. Girls tended to score high in perceiving hostility in other people.

About 16% of women smoke during pregnancy.

"This research provides a foundation for studies of the impact of interactions on brain development during pregnancy," said Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse.

Labels: smoking, pregnancy

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A new study from Brown University indicates that nicotine is not only addictive, but it may also interfere with dozens of cellular interactions in the body. The study, which is published in the Journal of Proteone Research, shows that nicotine may affect the body more extensively than previously thought. Nicotine appears to impact cell communication throughout the mammalian nervous system, and "opens several new lines of investigation" for possible treatments of smoking addiction and disease.

The study analyzed the cellular processes of brain tissue in mice. In particular, researchers studied a receptor (the alpha-7 receptor) in the brain where nicotine bonds with the surface of the cells when it enters the body. Researchers compared cellular processes in the brains of mice with the receptor and in mice without, and found that 55 different proteins interacted with the alpha-7 receptor. This finding indicates that the alpha-7 receptor may have many more functions in the body than previously known, and that the presence of nicotine may negatively affect each of these functions. (Sources: www.miller-mccune.com)

Labels: addiction, smoking, nicotine

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This week, a jury in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is in the process of determining whether cigarette maker Altria is responsible for the death of a 40-year chain-smoker who was helplessly addicted to nicotine. This case is the first of approximately 8,000 similar cases that are going to trial. In 2006, the Florida Supreme Court upheld a decision that tobacco companies knowingly sold dangerous products and hid the health risks of smoking; however, the Court threw out a $145 billion jury award for a class-action lawsuit. The Court said that each case must be proven individually.

Edward L. Sweda, Jr., attorney for the Tobacco Products Liability Project at Northeastern University Law School, commented on the proceedings: "It is highly likely that the tobacco companies will be forced to account for their decades-long, reprehensible history of corporate wrongdoing." (Sources: www.google.com/hostednews/ap)

Labels: death, liability, smoking

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A company called Smoking Everywhere has developed an electronic cigarette. The invention looks like a real cigarette, right down to the glowing red tip, but is smokeless, free of the harmful chemicals found in tobacco products, and delivers only one ingredient: pure liquid nicotine.

The battery powered unit is activated when the user inhales; the battery warms the liquid nicotine and a vapor of nicotine is released. The FDA has been prohibiting importation of the product since last summer, saying that the "e-cig" is an unapproved new drug because the product lacks scientific proof that it is safe or effective. Elicko Taieb, CEO of Smoking Everywhere, commented: "Our product is comparable to the nicotine patch except people still get the oral fixation, which they love."

(Sources: www.cnn.com)

Labels: cigarettes, smoking

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A new study from the Swiss Institute for the Prevention of Alcohol and Drug Problems indicates that teens are, on average, less likely to use marijuana and are spending less time out with friends. The study examined survey responses from over 93,000 15-year-olds in 31 European and North American countries. Researchers noted a decrease in marijuana use in most of the 31 countries, though a few countries did report increased levels of use. Countries showing the largest increases in use included England, Portugal, Switzerland, Slovenia, and Canada. Marijuana use also increased among 15-year-olds in Estonia, Lithuania, Malta, and among Russian girls.

The average number of nights spent out with friends decreased in most countries. In the United States, the rate fell slightly to two nights per week for both males and females. Significantly, researchers noted a link between more nights spent out and greater use of marijuana. The researchers hypothesize that parent disapproval of marijuana drives teens to use only when they are away from home. (Sources: www.redorbit.com)

Labels: pot, smoking

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