City official looking into smoking ban signs

Signs may soon be in place warning residents of a smoking ban at City of Bartlesville park facilities, according to interim Parks and Recreation Director Lisa Beeman.

An administrative policy to ban smoking within 50 feet of various city park facilities was approved by the Bartlesville Park Board in May.

Beeman said she has checked into getting signs and is going to be looking at the Parks and Recreation Department budget before ordering the signs.

"It's like 600, 700 dollars to get the signs done," Beeman said Monday. "But yes, there will be signs up and hopefully very soon."

The policy prohibits smoking within 50 feet around city-owned playgrounds, play courts, play fields and all bleachers and stands used by spectators at public events and within the fenced confines of a recreation facility or Doenges Memorial Park Stadium.

At the time of the policy's approval, smoking was already not permitted within the city's pool facilities or at the stadium.

Kids of smoking moms more likely to need mental health treatment

Need yet another reason to quit smoking? If you are pregnant, or thinking about getting pregnant, you know that cigarettes are incredibly harmful to your health and the health of your growing baby. Prenatal smoking has been linked to a host of physical ailments for babies such as delayed fetal growth, respiratory dysfunction and behavioral problems. But did you also know that smoking while pregnant can harm your child's mental health?

According to a new study, children born to mothers who smoked during pregnancy were more likely than those born to nonsmoking moms to take medications for mental disorders. The study, published in the Journal of Epidemiology, compared the mental health diagnoses of 187,000 children born between 1987 and 1989 in Finland and considered their mothers' smoking habits during pregnancy.

Not only did the researchers find a connection between prenatal smoking and the child's mental health treatment, but they also found that the more a mother smoked, the more her children used medications. Kids who were exposed to more than 10 cigarettes per day in the womb required longer continuous use of medications to treat mental disorders. Higher cigarette exposure was also linked to an increased use of multiple drugs by the same individual.

The most common prescriptions were for antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs.

School district to vote on banning smoking on all school properties

It might soon be easier for people to pack heat at the Palm Beach County School District's headquarters than it will be to break open a pack of Parliament Light 100s.

The Palm Beach County School Board will vote on two proposed policy updates at Wednesday's school board meeting governing where firearms will be allowed on school district property and where people can smoke.

The new tobacco policy, which would take effect Jan. 1, would ban all smoking or use of other tobacco products by anyone, including parents and employees, anywhere on any district-owned property or school-sanctioned event. Currently district policy allows adults to smoke outdoors at school campuses and other district properties if they are at least 50 feet away from a building exit, said Dianne Howard, district director of risk and benefit management.

Legislators earlier this year amended a state law to allow a complete ban of smoking anywhere on school district property. At least one major public school district, Orange County Public Schools, has already enforced the new ban.

"We're hoping some employees will find it more difficult to smoke and really buckle down on quitting," Howard said.

Earlier this year, the district created a tobacco surcharge for employees charging them an extra $50 per month for health insurance if they did not sign an affidavit swearing they did not use tobacco. Howard said 1,500 employees either said they did smoke or never returned any affidavit and were thus considered tobacco users and charged the extra $50.

Howard said banning smoking anywhere on campus also sets a good example for students if they don't see adults smoking at school.

Tony Hernandez, executive director of the Classroom Teachers Association union that represents roughly 12,000 teachers in the district, said he had not received any complaints from employees about the proposed smoking ban. With smoking being banned at restaurants, parks and many public places, Hernandez said he is not surprised to see the district banning it on school property.

"That's the way things are headed," he said.

Audrey Silk, of the New York City-based Citizens Lobbying Against Smoker Harassment smoking rights group, said banning smoking even outdoors on college campus has started to become more common . She called the move part of an ongoing effort by anti-smoking groups to try to slowly try to outlaw smoking e.

"They've been working on this, and I give them credit for it, for over 30 years," Silk said. "This is the point in their incrementalism that they are up to. They've reached the outdoors now."

The firearms update, which would take effect immediately, simply makes the district's weapons policy match a new state law that took effect Oct. 1. That law says local governments cannot make laws on where firearms can be carried that are more restrictive than state laws.

Current district policy prohibits possessing firearms or having them in a car on any school district property. State law specifically allows banning guns on school buses, at any "schools" defined as elementary, middle, high schools or career centers and bans guns at school board meetings.

Weapons will still be banned from those areas under the new district policy, said Elizabeth McBride, the school district's senior counsel.

But McBride said that under state law, certain facilities such as the Fulton-Holland Education Services Center on Forest Hill Boulevard, where district administrative offices are housed, are not considered "schools" and the district does not have the right to ban firearms there - except for during school board meetings.

The City of West Palm Beach went through a similar debate recently when Mayor Jeri Muoio received criticism from gun rights activists after she tried to ban firearms from city hall. Muoio eventually changed her ruling and allowed people to carry firearms in city hall.

Smoking similar to cystic fibrosis: Research

Smoking cigarettes is a lot like having cystic fibrosis when it comes to how it affects your lungs.

Cystic fibrosis is a life-threatening disease caused by the improper movement of salt and water in the cells lining the lungs. It causes a thick mucus to form in the lungs, where bacteria gets trapped. Those bacteria are able to thrive in the mucus, sometimes causing fatal infections.

That's also what happens to your lungs when you smoke cigarettes, according to new research from the Cystic Fibrosis/Pulmonary Research and Treatment Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The researchers tested cigarette smoke on human subjects and lab-grown cells in an attempt to find out how smoke affects a protein called CFTR, which helps keep the lungs hydrated. They found lungs exposed to cigarette smoke experience a 60% decrease in the essential protein.

They also exposed human lung cells to either cigarette smoke or clean air. The smokers' lungs showed significantly lower liquid levels than those exposed to air.

"We hope this study will highlight the importance of airway hydration in terms of lung health and that it will help provide a road map for the development of novel therapies for the treatment of smoking-related lung disease," said researcher Robert Tarran.

"But the bottom line remains: The most effective treatment for smoker's cough, or worse, is to quit smoking, now," noted Dr. Gerald Weissmann, editor-in-chief of The FASEB Journal, where the study appeared.

Numerical error downs Anti-Smoking Act

A numerical error in the text of the Tobacco Products Control Act of 2010 has effectively terminated the Ministry of Health and Social Services’ short term plans to implement strict anti-smoking legislation to protect society against the health hazards associated with smoking in public. Informanté has it on good authority that Section 2 of the Act makes provision for the appointment of “twelve” members of a Tobacco Products Control Committee, but Section 3 (1) of the Act states the total members to be “thirteen”.
The Chief of Health Programs in the Ministry of Health and Social Services, Brendon Maloboka, confirmed last week Friday that the Ministry will now rectify this oversight by means of an amendment to the Tobacco Products Control Act, but when this legal process will be completed remains unknown. Maloboka is also on record that the regulations to determine the practical and administrative application of the Act are also not yet finalised.
“I can’t tell. There are still many things. We are waiting for the regulations and related amendments,” Maloboka reacted when he was contacted by Informanté. When asked to be more specific with regard to amendments, Maloboka explained that the term “twelve” needs to be replaced by the term “thirteen” where references to the number of members of the Tobacco Products Control Committee appear. This was the only specific example he mentioned.
“We are busy through the legal department of the Ministry of Health and Social Services to draw up an amendment Act. Once completed it will be reviewed by the Ministry of Justice,” Maloboka explained. Only then can the Amendment Act be tabled in the National Assembly by Health Minister Richard Kamwi.

HPD identifies car in cigarette burglaries

The Hartselle Police Department has identified the owner of a Chevrolet Lumina that has been linked to three burglaries of Murphy USA gas station at Walmart this year.
Surveillance video from the gas station showed two unknown suspects driving a Chevrolet Lumina during three of the burglaries.

Police believe this vehicle is owned by Tanika Masha Banks, 31, from the Birmingham area. Banks is the registered owner of a blue 1997 Chevrolet Lumina bearing Alabama tag 1B37T41.

The Murphy USA gas station on U.S. 31 has been burglarized four times since December 2010. In all four incidents, the suspects stole large quantities of cigarettes from the business. The total loss for the business in is excess of $15,000.

Similar incidents have occurred at the Murphy USA in Arab. Cullman Police believes the same suspects may be responsible for a burglary of a tobacco store in its city.

Cigarette vending machines banned in England

The sale of tobacco from vending machines has been banned in England, with anyone caught selling cigarettes in machines facing a fine of £2,500.

The Department of Health said the ban had been introduced to prevent under-age sales to children and to support adults who were trying to quit.

The rest of the UK is expected to implement a similar ban next year.

Some pub landlords say it is a further threat to a livelihood that has already been damaged by the smoking ban.

But Cancer Research and the British Heart Foundation have welcomed the move.

According to the Department of Health, nearly all adult smokers started smoking before they turned 18.

'Unsupervised'
Of the children who regularly smoke, 11% buy their cigarettes from vending machines.

It is also estimated that 35 million cigarettes are sold illegally through vending machines to children every year.

Under the new rules, pub landlords will still be able to sell cigarettes from behind the bar but they must ensure all tobacco advertising on vending machines is removed. Any person found guilty of displaying cigarette adverts on a vending machine could face imprisonment for up to six months, a fine of £5,000, or both.

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said smoking was "one of the biggest and most stubborn challenges in public health", with more than eight million people in England still smoking, causing more than 80,000 deaths each year.

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When [smokers have] got to stand in the street and they can't even buy their cigarettes in the pub, then where is it left? There's no point in them going to a pub. ”

Bill Sharp
Pub landlord
He said: "Cigarette vending machines are often unsupervised, making it easy for children to purchase cigarettes from them.

"The ban on cigarette sales from vending machines will protect children by making cigarettes less accessible to them - we want to do everything we can to encourage young people not to start smoking in the first place."

Jo Butcher, the National Children's Bureau's programme director of health and wellbeing, welcomed the ban and said a person's lifetime smoking or non-smoking behaviour was "heavily influenced" by decisions in their adolescence.

"Children and young people tell us that external influences make it even more difficult for them to choose healthier lifestyles.

"It's essential that we create environments that improve health and tobacco legislation is an important part of public health protection and promotion," she said.

Protection
Charities have also welcomed the ban.

Betty McBride, director of policy and communications at the British Heart Foundation, said thousands of children at risk of this "deadly addiction" regularly got tobacco from vending machines, "which conveniently don't ask them to prove their age".

"These children are often blissfully unaware of the damage smoking does to their health and, by the time they realise, they're hooked.

"Scrapping these machines cuts off an easy source of tobacco for existing young smokers and makes it harder for a new generation to start.

"We're encouraging landlords to remove machines completely now so they - and any left-over branding - don't act as dusty old adverts for tobacco," she said.

Eileen Streets, director of tobacco control at the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation, said she hoped the ban would play a "significant part in stopping many children becoming the next generation of lung cancer victims".

Other measures
Jean King, of Cancer Research UK, added: "Tobacco kills half of all long-term users and is responsible for one in four cancer deaths.

"Cancer Research UK is determined to protect children from tobacco marketing and through our Out of Sight Out of Mind campaign we are continuing to work for legislation to introduce plain packaging for cigarettes."

But the British Beer and Pub Association described the ban as "an unnecessary measure".

A spokesman said the machines were there for the convenience of adult customers, and that the association did not believe they played a role in childhood smoking.

Although cigarettes can be sold by bar staff, the spokesman said many pubs would not opt to introduce that, as it raised issues about having a "high-value" item behind the bar and interfered with serving drinks.

One London pub landlord, Bill Sharp, said the ban was another "nail in the coffin" of his livelihood.

"I can understand them removing it from public places because that's a view, a health issue, call it what you will.

"But when [smokers have] got to stand in the street and they can't even buy their cigarettes in the pub, then where is it left? There's no point in them going to a pub. They going remove real ale from pubs next?"

Other measures to protect young people from the dangers of smoking are also on the way.

In April 2012, large retailers in England and Scotland will have to get rid of all tobacco displays. Small shops will be expected to comply from April 2015.

Wales and Northern Ireland plan to implement similar regulations.

The government is also due to begin a public consultation before the end of the year on whether to introduce plain packaging for cigarettes in order to lessen their marketing appeal to young people, help make health warnings more effective and help reduce the number of smokers.