Second-hand smoke is unsafe at any dose. This is the message of a new campaign the Health Department launched today to highlight the hazards of environmental tobacco smoke and the importance of having a smoke-free home, especially for children. The developing lungs of young children are severely affected by second-hand smoke, and kids are easily exposed because they have higher breathing rates and little control over their environments. An estima ... Jump to full article >>

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Harvard researchers say insurers put profits over health More than a decade after Harvard researchers first revealed that life and health insurance companies were major investors in tobacco stocks – prompting calls upon them to divest – the insurance industry has yet to kick the habit, they say. A new article on insurance company holdings, published in today’s New England Journal of Medicine, shows that U.S., Canadian and U.K.-based ins ... Jump to full article >>

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A Randomized Trial Jean-François Etter, PhD, MPH; Philippe Huguelet, MD; Thomas V. Perneger, MD, PhD; Jacques Cornuz, MD Arch Intern Med. 2009;169(11):1028-1034. Background New ways of improving the efficacy of nicotine therapy need to be explored. We tested whether starting nicotine polacrilex gum treatment 4 weeks before the quit date improved smoking abstinence rates compared with starting treatment on the quit date. Methods An open rando ... Jump to full article >>

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Last week the state House passed House Bill 4377 to create smokefree workplaces, with exemptions for casinos and existing cigar bars. The bill is now before the Senate. But smokefree advocates are less than pleased. Past efforts to move forward to make Michigan workplaces smokefree had stalled over this particular sticking point, leaving Michigan one of only 13 states without a smoking ban in bars and restaurants. The new version sponsored by Rep ... Jump to full article >>

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Tue, May 26, 2009 (Reuters Health) — A new report provides both encouraging and discouraging data regarding the use of alcohol, cigarettes and illicit drugs by pregnant women and new mothers, according to a statement from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. According to national survey data, most women are paying attention to warnings about the da ... Jump to full article >>

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WASHINGTON (AP) — They’re the newest smoke-free tobacco products — dissolvable pellets or strips that don’t require users to chew or even spit. Sold in shiny plastic cases, the products melt in your mouth like breath mints. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company is test-marketing dissolvable products in three cities and says they are designed for adults. Some lawmakers disagree. They call the products tobacco candy and say they are designe ... Jump to full article >>

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