Ryan Baucom, the co-owner of a downtown Sarasota nightspot that caters to the 18-25 crowd, has turned to an old custom to attract young customers.

Results of the University of Florida hookah study, as published this month in the American Journal of Public Health.

Results: Four percent of middle school students and 11 percent of high school students reported ever having used a water pipe. Adolescent boys were significantly more likely than adolescent girls to use water pipes, and African American adolescents were significantly less likely than adolescents from other racial/ethnic backgrounds to do so. Those who indicated ever having tried cigarettes and those who reported positive attitudes toward the social nature of cigarette use were more likely to have tried water pipes.

Conclusions: Water pipe use appears to be widespread among middle and high school students. Further research is needed to assess the health risks associated with water pipe tobacco smoking as well as young people’s attitudes toward this form of tobacco use.

At The Box Social club, Baucom recently started renting out a hookah. Business is so good he plans to buy another.

“It’s becoming more and more popular,” he said.

In higher numbers than those who frequently smoke cigarettes, teenagers are trying hookahs: water pipes from the Middle East that use coals to burn flavored tobacco.

A new University of Florida study is among the first to to show that the popularity of hookahs is not limited to college bars and nightclubs, where they have proliferated over the past few years. Fifteen percent of Florida high school students said they tried smoking hookah, according to the Department of Health. That is up nearly 5 percentage points over two years ago.

“Most everybody I know has one,” said Ilona Davidovich, a senior at Riverview High whose friends organized a weekly “Hookah Tuesday” meeting at each other’s houses. “It’s something to do with your friends after school.”

Researchers say the trend’s foothold with teenagers threatens to undo progress made in the war on smoking by attracting new smokers at an age when most addiction first occurs.

Part of the problem is that many hookah smokers believe it is safer than smoking cigarettes. While public smoking campaigns address cigarettes, cigars and chewing tobacco, references to the new hookah trend are largely absent. And even in places where indoor smoking is banned, hookah cafes are exempt.

“Psychologically, people are rationalizing it,” said Dr. Brian Primack, a University of Pittsburgh medical professor who has studied hookah smoking for the last four years. “They say there’s no tar, but there is; it’s a product of burning stuff and inhaling it. They say the water is a filter; water is not a filter.”

About 40 percent of people who smoke hookah refuse to smoke cigarettes, according to several surveys.

But, although research on the effects of hookah smoking is ongoing, none of it points to hookahs being less harmful than cigarettes, Primack said.

One study estimated the amount of tar inhaled after a typical, hour-long, hookah session was equal to 36 cigarettes.

The World Health organization says the amount of smoke inhaled is equal to that of 100 cigarettes.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control points out that hookah smoking can cause the same cancers as cigarette smoking, and can be just as addictive.

Plus, inhaling from shared hoses has been shown to spread disease.

Yet some of the proponents do not seem aware of the health risk, or are ignoring it. Baucom, the co-owner of The Box Social, postures that hookahs present almost no health risk at all, despite the body of research showing otherwise.

“You can get the similar effects of smoking a cigarette but it’s not as bad for you and it doesn’t hurt your lungs,” said Baucom, 23. It’s like oxygen bars: it’s fun and different and social and you feel kind of exotic when you do it. I certainly don’t feel like I’m killing anybody by having it.”

Hookah pipes are usually ornate and have two to four hoses attached for sharing. The tobacco comes in flavors like mint, melon, mango, licorice. Inhaling, even for the first time, does not hurt or irritate the throat.

“People who are really against cigarettes and they think they’re cancer sticks, they don’t mind hookah,” said Tedi Doychinova, a senior at Riverview. “To them it’s not really a negative thing. Maybe it’s because of all the chemicals in cigarettes. This is just pure tobacco.”

Most hookah tobacco, called “shisha,” is imported and not regulated by the government, although minors are not allowed to purchase it. There are no warning labels. The packaging tends to refer to the unburned product and says, for example, there is no tar.

The University of Florida study showed that white male teenagers were the most likely to smoke hookah, and that African American teenagers were least likely.

Tracey Barnett, the lead researcher on the UF study, said she is planning future research to give insight into the misconceptions surrounding the health effects of hookah.

“That was the most fascinating thing to me,” Barnett said. “There is no safe way to use tobacco, and yet people think they have found it.”

The school nurse at North Port High said school health professionals are beginning to become aware of the problem. Her supervisor recently sent her a fact sheet on the dangers of hookah.

“We haven’t seen a lot of it here but I’m sure it’s coming,” said Denise Brislin. She has worked on getting students to stop smoking for years, and says the campaign has been successful partly because it has been able to brand smoking cigarettes as something dirty and unpleasant. The same message does not apply to hookah.

“The hookah pipe is very glamourous and sensual,” Brislin said. “It’s going to appeal to kids who wouldn’t put a cigarette in their mouths or don’t want to hide in the bathroom to grab a quick smoke.”
By Anna Scott, Heraldtribune
December 14, 2009

New research showing that thrill-seeking teenagers are especially susceptible to fruit-flavored cigarettes is in line with the recent ban on the sale of flavored cigarettes by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in September 2009. According to the FDA, the ban, authorized by the new Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, is part of a national effort by the FDA to reduce smoking, which is the leading preventable cause of death in America.

“We found that those teens who gravitate toward novel experiences were especially drawn to cigarettes described as having an appealing, sweet flavor, such as cherry,” says lead author Kenneth Manning with Colorado State University.

The study, published in the December issue of the journal Tobacco Control, was funded by the Substance Abuse Policy Research Program (SAPRP) of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Past research has found that high-sensation-seeking youth are more likely to smoke cigarettes than their low-sensation-seeking peers, Manning notes. But until now, no studies have looked at how novel, sweet-tasting cigarettes might impact this group of thrill seekers. The authors proposed that the influence of cigarette flavor descriptors lies in their ability to alter the “arousal potential” of a cigarette brand’s marketing communications (such as its packaging). Arousal potential refers to the degree to which a stimulus (like the description of a cigarette’s flavor) is capable of gaining attention and exciting the nervous system.

To test this theory, the researchers divided 253 high school students into two groups to evaluate three pictures of cigarette packages: Camel, American Spirit, and a fictitious brand, “Onyx.” The first group viewed packages that included traditional cigarette descriptions such as “domestic blend,” and the second group of teens viewed packages with the cigarettes described as “cherry.” Following exposure to each package, the study participants responded to several questions regarding the appeal of the brand (i.e., beliefs about how enjoyable it would be, overall evaluation, and trial intention).

To determine their sensation-seeking tendencies, the students responded to measures such as “I would like to explore strange places” and “I like friends who are exciting and unpredictable.”

Sensation-seeking varies over a continuum, explains Manning. “In our study, we essentially divided half of the students into the high group and the other half into the low group based on their overall sensation-seeking scores.”

Results indicated that the appeal of the brands across the belief, attitude, and trial intention measures depended on both the sensation-seeking tendency of the student and whether the student had viewed the brand packages with the traditional or sweet flavor descriptions. In particular, among students who were classified as high-sensation seekers, the cigarette brands were significantly more appealing to those exposed to the packages that included the sweet flavor descriptors than to those who had viewed the packages with the traditional descriptions.

This underscores a key point of the FDA ban — that flavors make cigarettes and other tobacco products more appealing to youth, and are created to attract and allure kids into lifelong addiction. “By enhancing the arousal potential associated with tobacco brands, sweet flavor descriptors boost the appeal of these products among high-sensation seekers,” the authors conclude.

The FDA encourages consumers to report continuing sales of flavored cigarettes through a special tobacco hotline (1-877-CTP-1373) and web site (www.fda.gov/flavoredtobacco).

Parents and consumers can learn more about the risks of flavored tobacco products at http://www.fda.gov/TobaccoProducts/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/FlavoredTobacco/ucm183196.htm.

The Substance Abuse Policy Research Program (www.saprp.org) of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funds research into policies related to alcohol, tobacco and illegal drugs.

Buenos Aires, – Argentina tops the list of countries that smoke the most in Latin America, consuming 1,014 cigarettes annually for every inhabitant over age 15, media reports said Sunday, citing a World Lung Foundation study.
Argentina is followed on the list by Paraguay, with annual consumption of 968 cigarettes, and Chile, with 909, while Peru has the lowest cigarette consumption in the region at 129 annually per inhabitant.

European countries, however, are the leaders in cigarette consumption, with Greece consuming 3,017 cigarettes annually for every inhabitant over age 15, followed by Slovenia, with 2,537, and Ukraine, with 2,526.

Argentina is the only Latin American country that did not sign the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control launched by the World Health Organization at the start of this decade, an agreement signed by only 16 countries around the world.

Signatories agreed to ban tobacco advertising, increase taxes on tobacco products and promote smoke-free environments.

Some 33 percent of the adult population, according to the health ministry study, smokes in Argentina, where 40,000 people die each year from smoking-related diseases.

LANSING, Mich. – Last week, the Michigan Legislature approved a statewide smoking ban that contains exemptions for Detroit casinos and cigar bars, the Associated Press reports. Gov. Jennifer Granholm will sign the bill. “It’s a terrific gift to Michigan,” she said.

All bars, restaurants and workplaces will be smoke-free starting next May. Exemptions include the Detroit casinos, tobacco shops, cigar bars, home offices and vehicles. Last year, the Michigan Senate had passed a bill with no exemptions but the House quashed it.

When the governor signs the bill, Michigan will become the 38th state to restrict smoking in public places, said state Sen. Ray Basham, who has been pushing for such a ban for years. “We’ve moved the ball down the court, and even scored a basket,” he said of the passage, adding that he favors a total smoking ban.

The Michigan Licensed Beverage Association opposed the bill because of the potential to put thousands out of work. “It’s our elected officials’ responsibility in this economic climate to pass legislation that helps all Michigan businesses, not just a few select business groups,” said executive director Lance Binoniemi.

In other tobacco news, Taiwan has plans to forbid walking and smoking at the same time in an effort to encourage a healthier and cleaner environment, AFP reports. The ban also would encompass smoking while driving a car or riding a motorbike. In January, Taiwan outlawed smoking in all indoor public places.

“We hope the new rules will prevent pedestrians, motorcycle riders and car drivers from throwing cigarette butts all over the place,” said an administration official. “It’s also for their own safety as smoking while driving is distracting.”

Attorneys for Wynn Las Vegas are seeking dismissal of a lawsuit claiming its casino workers are exposed to dangerous second-hand tobacco smoke.

In court papers filed Friday, Wynn’s attorneys argued:

–The suit appears to be part of a union campaign involving Wynn casino dealers.

–Wynn is in compliance with the Nevada Clean Indoor Air Act, which specifically allows smoking in casinos.

The lawsuit was filed Oct. 20 in federal court in Las Vegas by dealer and Transport Workers Union officer Kanie Kastroll.

The suit, filed by Chicago class-action lawsuit firm KamberEdelson LLC, seeks an order requiring Wynn “to take reasonable measures to protect its employees from second-hand smoke” and unspecified costs and attorney’s fees.

Kastroll claims in the lawsuit that exposure to smoke is causing eye irritation, coughing, sore throat, sneezing, shortness of breath, dizziness, wheezing, tightness in the chest, asthma, headache, nausea and ingestion of cancer-causing chemicals and toxins.

But after her lawsuit was filed, the Transport Workers Union Gaming Division issued a press release distancing itself from the lawsuit and praising Wynn Las Vegas for its efforts to reduce second-hand smoke.

The TWU Local 721 in 2007 won the right to represent some 1,100 dealers at Wynn and Caesars Palace, but has not yet signed contracts with either casino.

A similar smoking lawsuit was filed by KamberEdelson against Caesars Palace this year, but it was dismissed this month after KamberEdelson said unspecified “outside forces” interfered with its ability to represent the plaintiff, former dealer Tomo Stephens.

In the Wynn case, attorneys for the Las Vegas Strip resort with the law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP argued Friday: “The real basis for this action appears by all measures to be the pursuit of a political agenda.”

“Although not specifically disclosed in her pleading, plaintiff is the president of a local union who has fought for years to unionize a certain group of Wynn’s casino workers. In what appears to be either a retaliatory lashing out at the Wynn or an otherwise shameless grab for publicity, plaintiff has filed this action with no real causes of action under Nevada law, and no jurisdiction whatsoever for this court,” Wynn said in its filing.

“Plaintiff’s complaint reads more like a union rally speech than a legal pleading. Whether her baseless and inflammatory allegations are really designed to simply garner support and appreciation from the people plaintiff hopes to represent in her union is an obvious and fair question,” Wynn’s filing said.

The Wynn attorneys also asserted that with “the Nevada Legislature’s specific endorsement of Wynn’s conduct, Wynn has no duty to shield its employees from second-hand smoke and plaintiff’s claims must therefore fail.”

Wynn’s filing noted that the 2006 ballot measure creating the Nevada Clean Indoor Act, as codified by the Legislature, specifically exempts from regulation areas within casinos where loitering by minors is already prohibited.

“In essence, plaintiff asks this court to override the Nevada Legislature’s judgment on these very issues and judicially legislate how the gaming industry conducts its business,” Wynn’s response said.

Wynn’s attorneys also noted there’s debate in the scientific community about at what level second-hand smoke becomes dangerous and that it would be impossible to determine whether injuries associated with such smoke were sustained in a casino — or elsewhere.

“Due its ubiquitous nature, the court can never be certain about the source of any individual claimant’s exposure to second-hand smoke. Indeed, Wynn cannot control its employees’ exposure to tobacco smoke outside of the workplace. It may be true that many of its employees are exposed to second-hand smoke on a regular basis while at home or other places they frequent,” Wynn’s filing said.

The Wynn attorneys pointed out the Nevada federal court has dealt with proposed casino dealer second-hand smoke class-action lawsuits before.

In 2001, a proposed class-action involving four lawsuits filed in 1997 and 1998 was rejected when a judge found the dealers’ lawsuits were “replete with individual issues” rather than issues common to all the dealers. For instance, smoke levels vary by casino and employees in different areas of the same casino are likely subject to different levels of second-hand smoke.

The Wynn attorneys also said certifying the Kastroll lawsuit as a federal class-action would be impossible under the so-called home state controversy rule, which prohibits federal courts from considering class actions that involve disputes limited to a single state.

In this case, Wynn’s filing said, 99.56 percent of its 12,264 employees are Nevada residents. Kastroll’s suit seeks to represent all former, current and future non-smoking Wynn employees.

In other cases, plaintiffs have dealt with this home state controversy rule by transferring proposed class-actions to state courts.

The MPAA has embarrassed itself an untold number of times over the years for its prudish attitude toward sex and its wildly permissive attitude toward violence. But what’s it’s done to Nancy Meyers’ upcoming comedy, “It’s Complicated,” is perhaps the ratings board’s biggest boneheaded move yet.

Its_complicated_ver2 According to a story by my colleague, Steven Zeitchik, the MPAA has given Meyers’ fluffy comedy about a middle-aged love triangle an R rating because Meryl Streep and Steve Martin’s (who star in the film along with Alec Baldwin) characters are seen sharing a joint while on a date.

The problem, according to people involved with the board’s hearing on the issue, isn’t that the actors are seen smoking pot — it’s that the scene “features pot-smoking with no bad consequences.” Apparently, everything would’ve been fine if only the characters had been killed in a gory car crash because their reflexes were slightly impaired after sharing the joint, which surely would’ve served as a stern warning to kids not to ever touch the evil weed.

In other words, you can score a tidy amount of pot at hundreds of marijuana clinics across Los Angeles, but it you take a puff on a joint in a Hollywood movie, you immediately get walloped with an R rating, whether you’re a gangsta’ rapper like Snoop Dogg or a genial white-haired Oscar host like Steve Martin.

It’s another outrageous example of the lunatic priorities of the MPAA, which claims to serve the interests of parents but actually dances to its crazy drummer, happily handing out PG-13 ratings to unbelievably violent movies like “Terminator: Salvation” while whipping out the R rating at the first sign of a few naked breasts or, God forbid, an unsheathed penis.

The R rating for “It’s Complicated,” which hits theaters Christmas Day, is especially ludicrous. It would be one thing if we saw Kristin Stewart smoking weed in “The Twilight Saga: New Moon,” since the movie is right in the sweet spot for teens and tweeners. But if the MPAA is really sticking up for families everywhere, it hardly seems to be a parental concern that impressionable kids are going to be flocking to see a romantic comedy featuring actors who are — in the case of Streep and Martin — even older than some of their grandparents.

I’ve been ranting and raving about the MPAA’s nutty priorities for years without any discernible effect. I think it’s time that filmmakers and actors start sticking up for their peers, in this case Meyers, who is getting the shaft from the MPAA for a totally harmless comedy scene. Since George Clooney (and I mean this with no offense) seems to weigh in on every pressing foreign policy of the day, maybe he could spare a little interview time to take the MPAA to the woodshed, which might serve to embolden some of his more cautious brethren to speak out against an organization whose moral compass has clearly gone haywire.

Here’s the trailer for “It’s Complicated,” where you can actually see, toward the end, the giddy after-effects of Streep’s and Martin’s characters’ marijuana indulgence:

Legislation sponsored by Assemblywomen Connie Wagner and Joan Voss (both D-Bergen) to prohibit the sale of electronic cigarettes to minors and include e-cigarettes in the New Jersey Smoke Free Air Act received final legislative approval 38-0 Thursday by the Senate.

Wagner said she’s concerned e-cigarettes are being marketed to children because they offer flavors like chocolate, banana and strawberry and could serve as a gateway to real cigarette use.

“These are dangerous devices and I want to make sure our children are protected,” Wagner said. “I’m very concerned that young people who use these things will get hooked on the nicotine and eventually move onto the real thing, opening the door to a lifetime of expensive and debilitating health problems.”

E-cigarettes look like the real thing but don’t contain tobacco. They employ a metal tube with a battery that heats up a nicotine solution. Users breathe in the resulting vapor.

“Electronic cigarettes contain carcinogens and toxic chemicals, with one study even finding they use a toxic ingredient found in antifreeze,” Voss said. “We have every reason to be worried about the safety of these products that are easy for youngsters to buy and also contain no health warning like you find on real cigarettes.”

The legislation (A-4227/A-4228) would extend the state ban on the sale of tobacco products to those under 19 years of age to e-cigarettes and include e-cigarettes in the New Jersey Smoke Free Air Act, which prohibits smoking in indoor public places and workplaces.

The bill also was sponsored by Assemblywomen Nancy Munoz (R-Union), Mary Pat Angelini (R-Monmouth) and Assemblyman Paul Moriarty (D-Gloucester/Camden).

The legislation now heads to the governor.

A smoking ban was passed by the Michigan Legislature on December 10, but it will not include three Detroit casinos. Smoking will be allowed in these casinos due to the fact that tribal casinos are not affected by the smoking ban so the competition would be unfair if the Detroit casinos were banned from smoking.

The bill now goes to Democratic Governor Jennifer Granholm, who is expected to sign it. Once signed, the ban will take effect in May 2010. At that point the ban would make smoking in bars, restaurants and work places against the law.

Once the bill is signed, Michigan would become the 38th state to limit smoking in public places such as government buildings and bars and restaurants.

In 1998 the state of California encouraged other states such as New York to implement bans in their states. California’s smoking ban included a ban of smoking in bars, extending the statewide workplace smoking ban enacted in 1994. As of April 2009 there were 37 states with some form of smoking ban.

All of the states have differing regulations with some common denominators such as no smoking in office buildings or public places such as shopping malls. In California, more than 20 cities have smoking bans at parks or beaches.

There have been mixed feelings across the country as each state takes on the issue of smoking bans. Those who smoke feel that they are losing their rights and some have boycotted establishments that do not allow smoking. However, as more states incorporate the bans, it becomes more commonplace and less of an issue.

In the United States, smokers and hospitality businesses initially thought that businesses would suffer from smoking bans. In 2006 a review by the U.S. Surgeon General found that smoking bans were unlikely to harm businesses in practice, and that many restaurants and bars might see increased business.

More non-smokers felt comfortable going out to eat in a restaurant that was not filled with smoke when bans were in place. Bars did not suffer as much as they thought and accommodated smokers with sheltered outdoor smoking areas.

As a non-smoker, it’s difficult to see the opposition for the ban and easy to be excited about the fact that more states are banning smoking in public places — or ‘shared airspace’. However, there are arguments from smokers that are understandable due to the addictive nature of nicotine.

Electronic cigarettes have been making their way into the news and may be an option for those who really need to smoke in banned areas of the country. The health effects of using electronic cigarettes are currently unknown.

Some electronic cigarette companies claim that the harmful material produced by the combustion of tobacco in traditional cigarettes is not present in the atomized liquid of electronic cigarettes.

Once the Michigan law is signed, the closest state to Michigan without a smoking ban is Indiana.

Written by Cheryl Phillips
sources: wikipedia, FDA, Smokefreeworld.com

NEW YORK — The City of New York has accused several cigarette dealers on a Long Island Indian reservation of secretly defying a court order that was supposed to have shut them down.

The charge is the latest in a legal battle between New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and smoke shops on the Poospatuck Indian Reservation over the sale of millions of dollars in untaxed cigarettes.

In August, a federal judge ordered most of the largest shops on the reservation to stop selling untaxed packs to the general public, saying such sales were illegal, despite the state’s tolerance of the practice.

Publicly, the shops promised to abide by the ruling, but in a motion filed in federal court on Wednesday, lawyers for the city said three dealers quietly continued to do business through newly formed cigarette stores not covered by the court order.

“It shows contempt for the court’s authority,” said Eric Proshansky, an attorney for the city.

The tribe’s chief, Harry Wallace, didn’t immediately return a phone and e-mail message from The Associated Press on Thursday, but told Newsday that the allegations are false.

The city has asked U.S. District Court Judge Carol Amon for thousands of dollars in penalties against the three dealers.

Lawyers for two of the dealers declined comment. Richard Levitt, a lawyer who represents dealer Wayne Harris, wouldn’t discuss his client’s case in detail but said, “the evidence will show that he is not in contempt of the court’s order.”

In August, Amon ruled that the tribal shops’ longtime practice of selling cigarettes without collecting required state taxes was illegal.

She ordered eight shops to stop selling cigarettes to anyone who wasn’t enrolled in the tribe, and barred 11 people affiliated with those stores from further sales to the general public. The three dealers were all named in that order.

The shops have appealed, but all had also publicly claimed to have ceased operations by September.

City lawyers didn’t buy it, and investigated with the assistance of agents from the state’s tax enforcement division.

The case is being watched closely because of its potential effect on other Indian reservations around the state.

Shops on tribal land now account for nearly a third of all cigarettes sold annually in New York. This booming business is a product of the state’s longtime reluctance to collect taxes on cigarettes sold on tribal land, which means reservation shops can offer tobacco at a huge discount.

Relatively few shop owners have ever been charged in criminal court over their dealings in untaxed cigarettes.