Be honest: Have you ever wondered about the long term effect a cigarette butt or growing tobacco have on the environment? You haven’t, right? - Well, if it makes you feel any better, I am a Smoking Cessation Specialist, and I have not been fully aware of ALL the consequences myself.

Please check out this amazing report I discovered today.

- Franc Tausch, Ph.D., CCHT

‘People don’t always think of cigarette butts as litter,’ says Ginette Unsworth, spokeswoman for Keep Britain Tidy. ‘Smokers who might not drop any other kind of litter drop cigarette ends because they don’t want to set a bin alight and because they think the ends will biodegrade. But they don’t and they can cause huge problems.’

Most smokers are under the impression that cigarette filters are made of cotton. Instead, they are made from packed fibres of cellulose acetate and take up to a decade to break down. Filters also trap formaldehyde, hydrogen cyanide and ‘tar’ - which is the residue of some of the 160 other chemicals in a cigarette.

All of this finds its way into the environment. Cigarette butts on the streets wash away into drains and rivers, and reach our oceans. Worldwide, they’re the most common item of beach litter. Last July, the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) teamed up with Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) and naturist campaigners in Brighton for the No Butts On The Beach! campaign, giving away pocket ashtrays on a naturist beach to highlight the issue. ‘We have documented cases where they’ve been found in the guts of whales, dolphins, seabirds, fish and turtles,’ says Emma Snowden, MCS litter projects co-ordinator.

‘Filters also absorb tar and chemicals that can leach into the water. Some experiments have shown that just one cigarette filter is toxic enough to kill water fleas in eight litres of water. That gives an idea of the potential impact it can have.’

Growing tobacco is also damaging. It’s a chemical-heavy process, using vast quantities of fertiliser, herbicides and pesticides, much of which washes away into the environment. The soil is commonly fumigated with methyl bromide, an ozone-depleting chemical, before seedlings are planted.

‘A lot of tobacco companies say they give farmers the best protection but that’s often not the case,’ says Amanda Sandford, research manager at Action on Smoking and Health (ASH).

Tobacco growing and curing processes are a major cause of deforestation, which, in turn, causes erosion. More tobacco crops also mean fewer food crops are being grown, says Sandford. ‘It’s a profitable crop for tobacco companies but not that profitable for farmers, because they tend to be caught in a system that tobacco companies impose on them. They don’t often make a decent living out of it.’

These issues might surprise smokers, Sandford suggests. ‘Many just see the effect of smoking as litter on the street,’ she says. ‘People might be less likely to smoke if they’re fully aware of the environmental, as well as the health, factors.’

For more information, go to http://cigarettelitter.org, Keep Britain Tidy, the MCS or ASH

Source: Metro Cafe

Tony Schwartz, one of the most influential people in the advertising industry, passed away in June. A few days ago, the Los Angeles Times ran an article on the man who created some off the earliest stop smoking or tobacco control ads.

 This particular paragraph really stuck with me.  (For the entire article click here)

- Franc Tausch

"I was the first one to do commercials for the American Cancer Society dealing with emotions rather than medical facts," Schwartz told the Washington Post in 1983. "They would want people not to smoke, and then do spots showing how your lungs were affected or this and that. I took a different approach. I showed kids playing in their parents’ clothing. You know, the boy and girl dressing up in their parents’ wedding clothes up in the attic, and then we have the announcer say, ‘Children learn by imitating their parents. Pause. Do you smoke cigarettes?’ "

Source: Los Angeles Times

More good news from yet another important study out of the UK:

400.000 British smokers quit smoking, and over 2 billion cigarettes less were smoked since the introduction of last year’s smoking ban in the UK. Researchers estimate that 40.000 lives will be saved there over the next 10 years.

- Franc Tausch, PhD, CCHT

The smoking ban in England, introduced a year ago, has dramatically increased the number of people giving up the habit, it is claimed.

A survey suggests more than 400,000 people quit smoking as a result of the smoking ban.
Researchers say this could potentially help save as many as 40,000 lives in the next 10 years.

Separate research suggests the ban may have helped people with lung disease stay out of hospital.

The ban on smoking in public places was designed principally to protect people from secondhand smoke.

However, as in Scotland, which introduced the ban a year earlier, there are signs that it is providing the motivation for people to try to give up.

A survey of 32,000 people, found that smoking fell by 5.5% in the nine months after the ban, compared with 1.6% in the previous nine months.

On the basis of this, it was estimated that in excess of 400,000 gave up as a direct result of the ban.

Professor Robert West, who carried out the research at the Health Behaviour Research Unit, said he had not expected such a dramatic impact.

"These figures show the largest fall in the number of smokers on record. The effect has been as large in all social groups - poor as well as rich."

Cancer Research UK, which funded the research, said that the momentum now needed to be maintained.

Source: BBC

Today I am thrilled to deliver some very exciting news:

The number of heart attacks in the UK has fallen dramatically -as much as 41%!!! - after the country’s smoking ban in public places started in July of 2007. Is that an awesome number, or what?! Read on.

- Franc Tausch, PhD, CCHT

The number of heart attacks has fallen dramatically since the ban on smoking in public places was introduced last year, latest figures reveal.

More than half of hospital trusts in England are treating fewer heart attacks since the ban came on July 1 last year.

Nearly six in ten [NHS trusts] are reporting a fall in the number of heart attack patients being admitted to emergency wards.

There were 1,384 fewer heart attacks across the county in the nine months after the legislation was introduced compared with the same period a year earlier. That translates to a three per cent fall across the country since the ban.

Some hospitals have seen the number of cases fall by 41 per cent since July 2007.

The figures, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, are the first available proof that the smoking ban has had a significant impact on health across England.

Experts believe the ban has triggered a drop in heart attacks due to both the number of people quitting and the reduction in passive smoking as fewer people are exposed to airborne toxins.

Source: Electronic Telegraph (UK)

The results of 3 powerful, major studies about the effect of smoking on your health and your survival were released this week. They were not related to each other, and conducted by different groups in different countries.

One dealt with statistics about heart failure and an early death (no surprise - it was not a pretty picture!), another one found that smoking can cause severe damage to your hearing, and then there was one that found serious links between smoking and memory loss.

Instead of scaring you with the frightening details of all 3 studies, let’s focus on the latter.

- Franc Tausch, PhD, CCHT

Smoking apparently presents an increased risk for memory loss in people at mid-life, a new study released Monday found.

The study by Severine Sabia and colleagues of France’s Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale reviewed data from 10,308 London-based civil servants age 35 to 55 who took part in a study between 1985 and 1988.

The researchers said that they found strong links between smoking and cognitive and memory problems later in life.

"First, smoking in middle age is associated with memory deficit and decline in reasoning abilities," they wrote in a report in the June 9 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine

"Second, long-term ex-smokers are less likely to have cognitive deficits in memory, vocabulary and verbal fluency.

"Third, giving up smoking in midlife is accompanied by improvement in other health behaviors.

"Fourth, our results … suggest that the association between smoking and cognition, even in late midlife, could be underestimated because of higher risk of death and non-participation in cognitive tests among smokers."

The authors stressed that "the results are important because individuals with cognitive impairment in midlife may progress to dementia at a faster rate."

Source: AFP

Most smokers realize that smoking may be killing them. However, many of these folks also believe that smoking a filtered cigarette will cause them less harm than smoking a nonfiltered cigarette.

They are -quite literally- gravely mistaken!

A filtered cigarette may potentially cause you even more harm than a nonfiltered one. And it certainly does NOT protect your health, and it does NOT keep you from inhaling the chemicals and poisons of a cigarette.

- Franc Tausch, PhD, CCHT

Why don’t filters work?

- Filters do not block all the bad chemicals in smoke.
- Filtered smoke feels milder on the throat, making it easier to take bigger and deeper puffs.
- Filters help block only the biggest tar particles while letting through the smaller bits of tar that can travel deeper into your lungs.

Filters are defective — and the companies know it. You may be inhaling filter fibers into your lungs.

- Most cigarette filters are made of the same material as camera film (cellulose acetate).
- Each individual filter is made of thousands of tiny fibers.
- The inside of the filter is painted white to make it appear clean.
- During smoking, these fibers can come off into your mouth and be inhaled into your lungs.

Charcoal filters are no better. If you smoke a cigarette with a charcoal filter, not only can you get fibers in your body, you can also get tiny bits of charcoal.

What cigarette manufacturers will not tell you:

Tobacco industry documents show that they have known about filter fiber fallout since at least the 1950s."Carbon particles were released from all cigarettes tested. In some studies, the particles released from cigarette filters were described as: "..too numerous to count." [Memo to Judy Nash from Nancy R. Ryan. Febuary 18, 1982. "Filter particle fallout." Bates No. 1000805035]

"He said when [a filter] plug is cut …there always remains a few loose, hard particles of filament. These loose, hard pieces of material are then sucked down into the lungs of the smoker." [Memo to Mr. O.P. McComas from Anne C. Stubing. May 1, 1957. (no title). Bates No. 2040015018-2040015020]

Don’t be fooled.
The filter on your cigarette may be causing you more harm than good.

Source: New York State Quit Site

The Federal Aviation Administration, FAA, bans the alleged smoking cessation drug for pilots and air traffic controllers, after an extremely disturbing report by the Institute For Safe Medication Practices.

Here is an important quote from the institute’s study:

"We have immediate safety concerns about the use of [Chantix] among persons operating aircraft, trains, buses and other vehicles, or in other settings where a lapse in alertness or motor control could lead to massive, serious injury".

Drug maker Pfizer reported worldwide sales of close to a billion dollars in 2007 for "Chantix"!!! Are you really surprised that the drug has not yet been taken off the market all together?

Please read my archived blogs on the controversy surrounding the alleged Stop Smoking pill "Chantix"  ("Champix" in Europe) here

- Franc Tausch, PhD, CCHT

The Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday banned pilots and air traffic controllers from using a popular anti-smoking drug after a study found that it had apparently contributed to auto accidents and other problems that posed risks to both users and others.

The drug, marketed as Chantix, has been hailed as an innovative treatment to help smokers quit. But a study by a medical safety group — also issued Wednesday — linked it to a variety of unusual and serious side effects, including seizures and loss of consciousness, and prompted the FAA to act, agency spokesman Les Dorr said.

The aviation agency had approved the drug last summer, before federal safety regulators began investigating reports of serious psychiatric problems, including suicidal behavior, sharp shifts in mood and vivid nighttime episodes some patients call "Chantix dreams."

A new warning came from a report by the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, based on an analysis of "adverse events" reported to the Food and Drug Administration.

"We have immediate safety concerns about the use of [Chantix] among persons operating aircraft, trains, buses and other vehicles, or in other settings where a lapse in alertness or motor control could lead to massive, serious injury," the study said.

Source: Los Angeles Times

The ‘Campaign For Tobacco-Free Kids’ has created "Kick Butts Day" - and it is tomorrow, April 2. If you are in any way working with kids or teenagers, please visit http://kickbuttsday.org to get ideas how you can help keep them from becoming smokers.

- Franc Tausch, PhD, CCHT

What’s Kick Butts Day? It’s a day for youth to stand out, speak up, and seize control in the fight against tobacco. How? By raising awareness about tobacco–how it harms our health and how Big Tobacco targets kids–and supporting strong tobacco control policies. Want to learn more?

If you’re a teacher, youth leader or health advocate planning a Kick Butts Day event in your community, use this Web site to get ideas for Kick Butts Day activities, to register your event so we can promote it for you, and to get materials and gear to make your events fun and memorable.

Are you ready? Get started!

Source: kickbuttsday.org

Do you believe that smoking is one of the few pleasures in your life? You may consider changing that belief, after reading what Dr. Iain Lang, of the Peninsula Medical School in England, concluded, after an extensive study with almost 10.000 smokers.

Dr. Lang and his team found that smokers actually experience lower levels of pleasure and life satisfaction compared with non-smokers. The difference was even more pronounced in smokers from lower socio-economic groups.

In other words: Smokin’ ain’t makin’ ya happy!

- Franc Tausch, PhD, CCHT

“We found no evidence to support the claim that smoking is associated with pleasure, either in people from lower socio-economic groups or in the general population. People may feel like they’re getting pleasure when they smoke a cigarette but in fact smokers are likely to be less happy overall - the pleasure they feel from having a smoke comes only because they’re addicted. These results show smoking doesn’t make you happy - in fact, it is associated with poorer overall quality of life. ”

Source: EurekAlert

I think these stats out of the UK are rather interesting: According to the British charity ‘No Smoking Day’, 40% of gays and lesbians there are smokers - in comparison to 23% male and 24% female straight folks who light up.