Remarkably Advantageous Aspects of Electronic Cigarettes

People have been really difficult for the people to end their habit of smoking. Since they became familiar with the adverse effects of smoking, they have tried numerous ways to get rid of this fatal habit, but none of those ways have been strong enough to provide a permanent solution. Several companies have produced some really competent anti-smoking devices. However, the problem still existed.

A solution to the problem was ultimately found when electronic cigarette came to the market. People, who found it hard to get rid of their smoking habits, finally got a relief with this exciting new introduction in the market. Before it came to the market, people used to try various other methods such as chewing of gum and using nicotine patches. E-cigarette has been the most talked about product in the market in the recent years. People have appreciated it a lot since its arrival in the market. It has the same design and feels that are there in the traditional cigarettes. It is certainly capable enough to help people get out of their addiction of traditional cigarettes.

Beneficial Features of Electronic Cigarettes
The most remarkable of all the benefits offered by e-cigarettes is that it does not contain harmful tobacco. Therefore, even by smoking it frequently, you body is not affected adversely. Instead of tobacco, it has nicotine vapor. You take that vapor in and then breathe it out when you smoke these cigarettes. When it comes out of your mouth it looks the same as real smoke. There are carcinogens present in the traditional cigarettes. However, there are no harmful components present in e-cigarettes. Carcinogens truly are highly harmful for people who smoke and also for those who are there around them.

Electronic cigarettes have nicotine cartridge in them. When e-cigarette is inhaled, the amount of liquid nicotine that is present in it gets transformed to vapor. It is an atomizer that does the transformation. That atomizer is powered with the battery. Once you inhale the vapor, you will surely have the experience of inhaling actual cigarette. On the tip, there is an LED light. It gets turned on when you inhale the cigarette. The feeling you get while smoking electronic cigarette is the same as what you get while smoking traditional cigarette.

You Have the Same Smoking Experience
There is simply no difference in the feeling that a person gets when smoking traditional cigarettes and electronic cigarettes. On the other hand, electronic cigarettes are extremely advantageous as they are way safer than their traditional counterparts. They contain no bad component that can cause harm to your body. But it is highly essential for you to choose the right company for buying electronic cigarettes. Otherwise you may end up buying electronic cigarettes of bad quality. On a concluding note, it can be said with absolute certainty that they are the ideal device that will provide you with the pleasure of smoking and at the same time keep you away from its harmful effects.

Author's Bio
James Pattrick is an extremely proficient author on electronic cigarette price and related topics. He requests his readers to visit Vllusion.com to avail further information.

The Simple How Tos of Vaping

It really is simple. The act of vaping is designed to pretty much mimic the act of smoking a regular tobacco cigarette. You draw on the end of the electronic cigarette, the vapor enters your mouth and lungs, the nicotine is delivered, and then you blow out the excess vapor. One of the biggest differences is that an electronic cigarette will not light up brighter, nor produce more vapor, from being drawn on harder.

Slow and long pulls are the best way to create the most amount of vapor with an e-cig. If your electronic cigarette begins to produce less vapor there are two most likely causes: either your battery is low, or you are low on e-liquid, or both. As you become familiar with your electronic cigarette, preferred e-liquid and battery performance, you will learn how to stay a step ahead of your electronic cigarette, and rarely experience you e-cig running low on vapor. Many users say that both the e-liquid and the battery run low around the same time, so you can keep things flowing smoothly by taking care of both when your vaping gets low.

Most kits for BLU electronic cigarettes include a portable carry case that allows extra e-liquid and batteries to be taken with you. This insures that you always have a "vape" at your fingertips. Always be sure to charge your batteries in a charger designed for that brand of battery. A proper set up will ensure your safety, as well as the most user friendly, practical experience. Even if to spend a little money trying various brands and components to find which ones work best for you, it will be worth it in creating the best "vaping" experiences for you.

At first your electronic cigarette might take a bit of getting used to. The components will need to be assembled by you, and getting the pieces all screwed in properly. Just give yourself a little time to practice, and, before you know it, you will be a pro. One of the things new "vapers" are most pleasantly surprised with is how economical electronic cigarettes are when compared to a tobacco cigarette habit. A smoker who smokes a high end brand of cigarettes at the rate of a pack-a-day can expect to spend about %75 less a year if they switch to electronic cigarettes. That makes it worth checking out.

Williamsburg in line to pass smoking ban next month

An ordinance imposing a smoking ban in Williamsburg is ready for a City Council vote. The council listened Monday to the first reading of the ordinance, required before a vote, which could follow the second reading, planned for Feb. 11. If approved, the ban would take effect immediately, reports Mark White of the Corbin-Whitley News Journal.

The new ordinance says “Smoking shall be prohibited in all enclosed areas within all enclosed buildings open to the public and within places of employment,” reports John Ross of The Times-Tribune of Corbin. “Enclosed buildings” includes libraries, bars, bingo houses, child- and adult-care facilities, public and private educational facilities, gaming facilities, restaurants, pool halls, lobby areas and hallways in all multi-residential buildings, such as apartments and condominiums, and hotels and motels, Ross reports. In December 2011, the Corbin City Commission implemented a ban that prohibits smoking in similar locations and within 25 feet of main entrances and exits.

Ross's account of the meeting included no negative comments. Mayor Roddy Harrison said, “I know both sides of the issue — but our job is to protect everybody.” Harrison said he found extensive research to back up the negative effects of secondhand cigarette smoke while researching the ordinance.

3 in 5 Kentucky adults favor a statewide smoking ban, according to an independent poll that may have oversampled smokers

By Al Cross
Kentucky Health News

Kentuckians now favor a statewide smoking ban by a margin of 3 to 2, according to the latest Kentucky Health Issues Poll conducted last fall for the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky. Interestingly, 38 percent of the Kentucky adults polled said they were smokers, much more than the 29 percent found by a year-long federal survey. Among those identified as smokers, 37 percent favored such a law, while it was favored by 68 percent of former smokers and 75 percent of those who said they had never smoked.

Overall, 59 percent of those polled said they supported a state law that would prohibit smoking in most public places, including workplaces, public buildings, offices, restaurants and bars, while 38 percent said they opposed it and 4 percent said they had no opinion. The figures showed a 5-point shift toward support since the last poll, in 2011. The gain was among smokers and former smokers.

Support for the law was higher among registered voters than non-voters, perhaps a consideration for legislators considering the proposal. Among voters, 62 percent favored it while 36 percent opposed it. Only 50 percent of nonvoters supported it. Support was slightly higher among Republicans (64 percent) than among Democrats (59 percent; only 44 percent of independents, who comprise about 7 percent of Kentucky voters, said they supported it. The poll also found that support for the law increases as age and income increase.

As for the apparent oversampling of smokers, pollster Eric Rademacher said self-reporting of such habits is known to vary according to time, and the differences in his poll and the federal survey "are likely due to the different time frames in which they were conducted and the different methodology employed by each study." He added, "For example, a person who regularly smokes might openly disclose that information at one point in the year. However, at another point in the year, that same person might be directly exposed to news or advertising that paints smoking in a negative light from a societal perspective. Hearing that information could make the person more reluctant to discuss their smoking behavior with researchers soon after they have seen or heard it.”

Rademacher is co-director of the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Cincinnati, which did the poll for the foundation and the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati. A random sample of 1,680 adults from throughout Kentucky was interviewed by telephone from Sept. 20 to Oct. 14. This included 1,360 landline interviews and 320 interviews with cell phone users. In 19 of 20 cases, each statewide figure will be accurate to plus or minus 2.5 percentage points. Smaller samples, such as those of smokers and non-smokers, have larger margins of error. There are other sources of variation inherent in public opinion studies, such as non-response, question wording, or context effects that can introduce error or bias. For a copy of the poll's full questionnaire and guidance to interviewers, click here. For more information, go to www.healthy-ky.org
or www.healthfoundation.org/kentucky-health-issues-poll.

The Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky noted the health implications that a smoke-free law would address: "Secondhand smoke poses serious health risks. Smoke-free environments are the only way to fully protect nonsmokers from these hazards. To reduce these risks, many Kentucky communities have adopted smoke-free policies. On Jan. 1, 2013, Hopkinsville became the 22nd municipality in Kentucky to implement a comprehensive smoke-free ordinance or regulation," bringing to 34 percent the share of Kentuckians who live in jurisdictions covered by comprehensive smoke-free ordinances or health-department regulations. For a list of the communities and percentages, and those with bans that are less than comprehensive, from the Kentucky Center for Smoke-Free Policy, click here.

Kentucky Health News is a service of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues at the University of Kentucky, with support from the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky.

Smoking: It Affects Your Sexual Health, Too

Erectile dysfunction is a condition that affects 15 to 30 million men in this country alone. According to the World Health Organization, worldwide it is thought that as many as 322 million men will be affected by erectile dysfunction by 2025. Although it is a condition that is more commonly associated with an aging population, a variety of health concerns can also have an impact on male sexual health, particularly problems associated with heart disease and diabetes. Besides unhealthy eating, smoking has a great impact on the incidence of erectile dysfunction. Although smoking's negative health effects are well known, understanding how smoking affects male sexual health can make for drastic improvements in an individual's life.

The biggest problem with smoking lies in its affect on vascular health. Smoking is the leading contributor to heart disease because of the build up of plaque on the walls of the vascular system, or atherosclerosis. This buildup of plaque is what creates the conditions for heart attacks to occur. By decreasing blood flow, the entire vascular system is affected. Since the ability to maintain an erection is dependent on good blood flow stemming from the lungs, any negative impact on the vascular system will negatively effect the blood flow to the penis. Smoking can even permanently damage the blood vessels of the penis.

Smoking also negatively impacts the lungs by impairing the lungs ability to deliver oxygen molecules to the blood stream. Smoking deposits tar which makes the sacs in the lungs work less effectively. Cigarette smoke also contains a chemical called hydrogen cyanide that destroys the delicate hairs inside the lungs that are designed to filter out toxins. Thus, this chemical makes the lungs much more susceptible to the toxins found in cigarette smoke and making them more prone to damage.

The biggest sexual impact from this exposure to carcinogens and toxins found in cigarette smoke is on sperm. Smoking in men has been found to have an impact on the number of viable sperm available in the testes. Also, it has also been found in men who smoke that they have a higher percentage of deformed sperm, and that much of the viable sperm available contains genetic damage as a result of smoking. The greatest threat here to a man's sexual health as a result of smoking lies in impotence.

Interestingly, while smoking has been tied to a number of health problems like cancer and heart disease which can have an effect on the incidence of erectile dysfunction in men of a certain age, smoking alone has been shown to have a direct and measurable impact on erectile dysfunction in the absence of heart disease no matter the age. These affects have been shown in smokers in their 20's and 30's, and these are not ages that are typically associated with the impact of erectile dysfunction.

Prostate cancer should be mentioned here as an impact that smoking can have. Although prostate cancer may not be related to an incidence of erectile dysfunction, smoking has been related to more aggressive prostate cancer tumors, and these fast spreading tumors can cause impotence and even death.

The bottom line is that smoking is an overall zero when it comes to health benefits. In terms of its effects on erectile dysfunction, it has been shown to have an impact on everyone of the diseases that are associated with erectile dysfunction, and even in the absence of those age related diseases, smoking alone can cause erectile dysfunction. Remember that the next time you want to light up.

Michelle Winters blogs for Edrugstore.Md where you can read more about What causes erectile dysfunction.

U.S. teens' cigarette use drops to a new low, but use of alcohol goes up a bit and more 12th graders are smoking marijuana

Teenagers' cigarette smoking dropped to a record low this year but alcohol use rose slightly after seven years of decline, according to a survey of 45,000 eighth-, 10th- and 12th- graders for the National Institute of Drug Abuse.

The survey also found that the use of illicit drugs dropped slightly among eighth-graders but rose slightly among 12th-graders. Among them, 36.4 percent reported using marijuana in the past year, up from 34.8 percent in 2010, and the share who saw great risk in smoking marijuana occasionally dropped significantly, to 20.6 percent, from 24.5 percent in 2010.

Among all three age groups, only 10.6 percent said they had smoked cigarettes in the past 30 days, down from 11.7 percent in 2010. The University of Michigan researchers who did the survey said the decline was significant, and may have been driven by a big increase in the federal tobacco tax in 2009.

"A 1-percentage-point decline may not sound like a lot, but it represents about a 9 percent reduction in a single year in the number of teens currently smoking," principal researcher Lloyd Johnston said in a news release. Among eighth-graders, the decline was about 20 percent. For other results of the survey, click here; for a PDF version, here. For the full survey report, go here.

"Teen attitudes toward smoking also continued to become more negative. For example, 80 percent of teens said they preferred to date nonsmokers in 2012," Steve Gorman reports for Reuters. "But anti-tobacco advocates said their battle to stamp out teen smoking was far from over, noting that 17 percent of high school seniors still graduate as smokers." And the figure is higher in many rural areas.

Kentucky ranks at or near the top in youth smoking. In 2010, the last year for which state figures are available, 16 percent of Kentucky children aged 12 to 17 (a slightly younger group than the one above) reported smoking a cigarette in the past month. The national rate for that age group was 10 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Study: Raising cigarette taxes does curb even heavy smoking

The more you raise cigarette taxes, the less people smoke. That presumption was confirmed this week in a study by the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. This has some resonance in Kentucky, where just last week the state’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Tax Reform told Gov. Beshear the state should raise taxes on tobacco, to $1 per pack from 60 cents. Other forms of tobacco would get a corresponding tax hike, reports Beth Musgrave of the Lexington Herald-Leader. The changes would raise an estimated $120 million in revenue and, if the research is right, cut down on long-term health care costs.

The researchers are the most adamant about the last point. “Most clinicians and researchers thought these very heavy smokers would be the most resistant to price increases,” says study author Patricia A. Cavazos-Rehg, PhD. “But our study points out that, in fact, change can occur. And that’s very good news.” In fact, in states where taxes on tobacco products rose by at least 35 percent, heavy smokers -- who averaged 40 cigarettes a day or more -- lowered their daily smoking by 14 cigarettes, on average.  In real numbers, the price for a pack of cigarettes increased from an average of $3.96 in 2001 to $4.41 in 2004. (Read more)

In Kentucky last year, almost 30 percent of residents said they were smokers, the highest in the nation. The state also has the highest rates of diabetes and lung cancer, reports Jim Malewitz of Stateline News. Kentucky’s cigarette tax is also among the country's lowest.

Teen smoking in Kentucky declined more than it did in nation from 2002 to 2010, but state remained in top 10

Like most states, Kentucky showed a drop in reported cigarette smoking among 12- to 17-year-olds from 2002 to 2010, according to a report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Nationwide, teenagers' reported "current use" of cigarettes dropped from 12.6 percent to 8.7 percent. In Kentucky, that decline was even more significant, plummeting from 17.6 percent in 2002 to 11 percent in 2010. The 2002 rate was third in the nation; the latest one is sixth. The surveys defined "current use" as smoking in the past month. (Click on map for larger version)

Strangely, the data showed that during the same period, teens' perception of risk from cigarette smoking remained unchanged in Kentucky and most other states. Tobacco use is the leading cause of premature and preventable death in the United States. (Read more) To read the full report, go here.

Cigarette companies balking at Justice Dept's request for "confessional" advertising that they say goes too far

Calling them "forced public confessions," America's largest tobacco companies are asking a federal judge to reject the government's proposed corrective statements for cigarette advertising. Fred Frommer reports for the Associated Press that the Justice Department has responded by saying that such statements need to be strong enough to protect people from future false declarations made by cigarette makers. The statements that the tobacco industry views as "going too far" include admissions that the companies lied about the dangers of smoking, the addictiveness of nicotine, the lack of health benefits for "low-tar" and "light" cigarettes and the negative effect of second-hand smoke. U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler, who is hearing the case, has already said "she wants the industry to pay for corrective statements in various types of ads," writes Frommer. (Associated Press photo)

Judge Kessler ruled in 2006 that America's largest cigarette makers had systematically concealed the dangers of smoking for decades and that, as assurance that the crime was not repeated, such statements as a requirement in tobacco advertising would be appropriate. An example of an advertising statement under consideration, as suggested by the Justice Dept.: "For decades, we denied that we controlled the level of nicotine delivered in cigarettes. Here's the truth: Cigarettes are a finely tuned nicotine delivery device designed to addict people." At Monday’s hearing, Kessler said she doesn’t have to take the government’s proposed statements word-for-word, and will come up with “modifications.” (Read more)

Study estimates that secondhand smoke kills 42,000 Americans a year, and 900 of those are babies

More bad news for smokers and those who love them: A report out this week in the American Journal of Public Health says secondhand smoke is accountable for 42,000 deaths of non-smokers each year in the U.S., including nearly 900 infants. Kentucky likely has more than its share of those deaths because the percentage of Kentuckians who smoke is the nation's highest.

The study at the University of California, San Francisco notes that those annual deaths represent nearly 600,000 years of potential life lost and $6.6 billion in lost productivity, amounting to $158,000 per death.

The study by Wendy Max a professor of health economics at the UCSF School of Nursing, involved the first use of a biomarker to gauge the physical and economic impacts of cigarette smoke, and revealed that secondhand smoke exposure disproportionately affects African Americans, especially their infants. 

Smoking Cigarettes, Smoker Turn to Electronic Cigarettes

A recent study in Korea discovers that those smoking over 20 cigarettes per day may be as much as three times as likely to suffer a potentially fatal SAH (subarachnoid hemorrhage). Researchers appeal to smokers to turn to electronic cigarettes which are much healthier. IECMA (International Electronic Cigarette Manufacturers Association) advises smokers to select big brand-name electronic cigarettes manufactured by large electronic cigarette OEM factories like KIMREE, JSB and JOYETECH.

The study carried out by Seoul National University Hospital shows that heavy smokers may be as much as three times as likely to suffer a potentially fatal SAH (subarachnoid hemorrhage). Heavy smoke here means smoking over 20 cigarettes per day. Therefore, researchers appeal to smokers to quit smoking or turn to electronic cigarettes.

"Electronic Cigarettes aim at providing people a healthier lifestyle. Comparing to traditional cigarettes, electronic cigarettes are nonflammable without no tar, other carcinogenic substance or 4000 chemical substances. But the market is full of counterfeit and shoddy products, smokers should be careful when choosing electronic cigarettes. We generally suggest big brand-name electronic cigarettes manufactured by large electronic cigarette OEM factories like KIMREE." said James Schneider, the CEO of IECMA.

Andre, Sales Director of KIMREE, said, "Since foundation, KIMREE has been adhering to the principle of 'quality first' and offering high-quality products. We really hope more and more smokers recover."

Cigarettes were always known to damage one's lungs as well as risk one at getting a heart ailment. Even e-cigarettes were proved as wrong to be recommended, even as they were thought an alternative to tobacco consumption. Now, researchers warn you should be highly alert if you are even living with a smoker.

A recent report revealed by a team at the Northumbria University has pinpointed that not only second-hand smoking can prove injurious for one's lungs or heart, but the same can also jeopardize him by destroying his memory.

The claims are evident from a study, which included a number of non-smokers, with some who are exposed to smoke each day when living with a smoker.

It was found that the ones spending some 25 hours a week with smokers were more likely to forget things. Testing all on time-based as well event-based memory, it was noted that the exposed ones forgot 20% higher than the ones who did not get exposed. However, both the groups were not overdoing current smokers, who forgot 30% more than them.

Thus, Dr. Tom Heffernan concluded, "Our findings suggest the deficits associated with second-hand smoke exposure extend to everyday cognitive function".

Smoke Free Kentucky Coalition's multi-city tour launches push for statewide smoking ban in 2013 legislature

Backers of an effort to ban smoking in all public places in Kentucky took their message on the road this week in hopes of getting legislation passed in the 2013 General Assembly. The Smoke Free Kentucky Coalition swept through the state's largest cities to gather support for a final punch to be delivered at the annual Fancy Farm Picnic in Graves County on Saturday. Beth Musgrave of the Lexington Herald-Leader reports that one of the week's first stops was at the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, a longtime supporter of the statewide smoking ban. "We know that a majority of Kentuckians support a smoke-free Kentucky," said Amy Barkley, chairwoman of the coalition. (KRT graphic)

Rep. Susan Westrom, D-Lexington, has sponsored a statewide smoking ban for several years. During the 2012 legislative session, the House Health and Welfare Committee passed the measure, but the full House did not vote on it. Westrom told the Herald-Leader that said she did not aggressively pursue the matter during the 2012 session because all 100 members of the House are up for re-election in November. "But we've had several members who have said that they will be co-sponsors" next year, she said.

Musgrave notes that even Westrom is unsure how the the Republican-led Senate will vote. Senate President David Williams has said he supports the idea of a statewide smoking ban, while opponents of the proposal have said it represents an overreach of government power. "There are personal property rights that are being trampled," Rep. Ben Waide, R-Madisonville, said when he voted against a statewide smoking ban in March.

Therapy for smoking kills the pleasure of nicotine

Can't kick cigarettes? A vaccine may one day help by preventing nicotine from reaching its target in the brain, according to research published this week.

Most smoking therapies do a poor job of stopping the habit 70% to 80% of smokers who use an approved drug therapy to quit relapse. Scientists say this is because the targets of existing therapies are imperfect, only slightly weakening nicotine's ability to find its target in the brain.

So some scientists have been trying a different approach creation of a vaccine. It would work like this: People would inject the vaccine like a shot, and the vaccine would create nicotine antibodies, molecules that can snatch up nicotine from the bloodstream before it reaches the brain. The vaccine could be used by smokers who want to quit or people who are worried about getting addicted to cigarettes in the future.

Researchers have tried to create vaccines in the past, but the ones they've come up with have not been particularly effective. The authors of the new study say this may be because previous vaccines just didn't create enough antibodies to get rid of all the nicotine.

The new report, published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, attempts to solve this problem via gene therapy, in which a new gene is inserted into the body to do a particular job.

First the scientists at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City put a gene that produces a nicotine antibody into mice. The gene was taken into the mice's livers, and the liver started producing the antibody. Once produced, the antibody connected with nicotine, trapping it and preventing it from making its way to the brain, where it would otherwise have caused the pleasurable, addictive effects it is so known for.

Because of this trick, the researchers say that the new vaccine should only have to be injected once, and it will work for life, continuing to produce new antibodies in the liver.

The vaccine was effective: When mice were given nicotine intravenously, ones with the vaccine had a 47-fold drop in levels of nicotine in the blood compared with ones that hadn't received the vaccine. The antibody had successfully captured the nicotine in the bloodstream before it could reach the brain.

The work is still preliminary, and the authors admit the technology is far from ready for human use; it has only been used in rodents so far. But given the results, and the continued public health effect of smoking, it may not be too long before all those boxes of Nicorette are replaced with a single trip to the doctor's office.

By Jon Bardin, Los Angeles Times

Graphic warning labels help smokers remember tobacco health risks, study finds

Study participants looked at these two images while
researchers assessed how effectively they were viewed.
Graphic by Penn Medicine.

Graphic warning labels on cigarette packages can help smokers remember the message and the health risks associated with smoking, a study has found.

Researchers asked 200 smokers to look at either a text-only label advertisement — which is similar to warnings that have been on cigarette packages since 1985 — or a graphic warning label showing a hospitalized patient on a ventilator along with a written warning — which has been proposed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Researchers used eye-tracking technology to measure how the advertisement was looked at and for how long, reports research-reporting service Newswise. Then participants were asked to rewrite the message they'd seen to show how well they remembered it.

Results showed 50 percent of participants who saw the text-only ad remembered the warning label, while 83 percent of those who saw the graphic image warning remembered what they'd seen.

"In addition to showing the value of adding a graphic warning label, this research also provides insight into how the warning labels may be effective, which may serve to create more effective warning labels in the future," said Andrew A. Strasser, associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania, where the study was conducted. "We're hopeful that once the graphic warning labels are implemented, we will be able to make great strides in helping people to be better informed about their risks, and to convince them to quit smoking."

The 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act mandated the FDA to require graphic warning labels on cigarettes packaging starting in September 2012. The mandate has since been held up in court. (Read more)

Floyd County woman is Kentucky's smoke-free advocate of year

For her work spreading the word about second-hand smoke and founding the coalition that ultimately helped Prestonsburg pass a smoke-free ordinance in 2009, Floyd County's Jean V. Rosenberg was named 2012 advocate of the year at the annual Smoke-Free Policy Conference hosted by the University of Kentucky's Kentucky Center for Smoke-Free Policy. She stands with center Director Dr. Ellen Hahn, left, and Dr. Melissa Walton-Shirley, right, the Glasgow cardiologist who won in 2011.

Rosenberg started her work in 2005 when she began working for the Floyd County Health Department as a program specialist to increase awareness about the dangers of second-hand smoke, reports Ann Blackford reports in a university press release. During that time, she founded the Breathe Easy Floyd County Coalition, which educated people about second-hand smoke and supported local smoke-free initiatives.

On Nov. 1, 2009, the City of Prestonsburg implemented a 100 percent smoke-free ordinance in all workplaces and enclosed public places, with Rosenberg at the helm to propel the effort forward. (Read more)

Mayor will propose smoking ban in Hopkinsville, largest Kentucky city without one

The largest Kentucky city that has not banned smoking in public places may change that.

Hopkinsville Mayor Dan Kemp's proposal "fundamentally resembles Lexington's ban," reports Nick Tabor for the Kentucky New Era. The law would apply to bars and restaurants but not private clubs; retail tobacco stores and tobacco warehouses; and rented rooms in hotels, hospitals and nursing homes. "The best thing would be to have no exemptions," Kemp said, adding that he recognizes the need for compromise. 

An online survey by the Christian County Health Department two years ago indicated strong support for a ban. A recent, scientific survey of 500 Kentuckians shows 59 percent support a statewide ban, the American Cancer Society found. Kemp said he has "received a mostly positive response from local businesses," Tabor reports.

As for a smoking ban imposing on a person's right to light up, Kemp said, "I just think it's such an overriding health concern that that trumps the individual rights argument." Kemp hopes the council will vote on the proposal June 5. If they ratify it, the ban could take effect July 1. (Read more)

Number of teens and young adults who smoke, use smokeless tobacco is on the rise

A "shocking" number of American teenagers smoke cigarettes and/or use smokeless tobacco, the first U.S. surgeon general's report on youth tobacco since 1994 has found. (Photo by Karen Bleier, AFP/Getty Images)

"The numbers are really shocking," Surgeon General Regina Benjamin said, noting the data show 1 in 4 high school seniors and 1 in 3 young adults under age 26 smoke. "It's a problem we have to solve."

Though there was dramatic progress in reducing youth smoking rates from 1997 to 2003, the 899-page report shows the decline has flattened. "Smokeless tobacco is up among white high school-age boys, and cigar smoking appears to be rising among black high school girls," reports David Brown for The Washington Post.

Data from the 2010 Kentucky Youth Tobacco Survey show that almost 25 percent of the state's high-school students are smokers. Although the prevalence of smoking among youth has declined in the past few years, the smoking prevalence among teenagers and young adults is higher than among other adult populations.

"Two people start smoking for every one who dies from the habit each year," Benjamin said. "Almost 90 percent of those 'replacement smokers' first try tobacco before they are 18."

The findings showed smoking can damage lung function at a very young age. One study of "nearly 700 children from East Boston found that those who started to smoke at age 15 exhaled 8 percent less air in one second — a key measure of lung function — than non-smoking teenagers. The growth of lung capacity stopped a year earlier in smokers — at 17 in girls and 19 in boys — than in non-smokers," Brown reports.

Another study showed how smoking affects the cardiovascular system. Researchers looked at autopsy results of white men ages 25 to 34 who were killed either by trauma or homicide. Smokers were two times as likely to have advanced damage of the abdominal aorta as non-smokers. "They also had somewhat greater damage to the blood vessel most often implicated in acute heart attacks," Brown reports.

Danny McGoldrick of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids told USA Today's Wendy Koch tobacco marketing "is a big cause of the problem." He pointed to his organization's report revealing the tobacco industry's relationship with convenience stores to blatantly advertise and display tobacco products.

The industry's success in fighting increases in tobacco-related taxes is considered to be another factor. But industry officials like Ken Garcia of Altria Group, parent company of Philip Morris USA, said "there's already quite a (tax) burden on adult smokers." (Read more)

Replacing cigarettes with smokeless tobacco reduces disease risk, says U of L prof who's received tobacco-industry funding

Smokers can greatly reduce their risk of disease if they replace their cigarettes with spit-free smokeless tobacco or electronic cigarettes, University of Louisville professor Brad Rodu, right, said in a presentation at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science last week. It's the same message residents of Owensboro heard in an advertising campaign with which Rodu was involved late last year, one partly funded with grants from the tobacco industry.

"Quit or die: That's been the brutal message delivered to 45 million American smokers, and it has helped contribute to 443,000 deaths per year," Rodu said in a U of L press release. "The truth, however, is that total nicotine and tobacco abstinence is unattainable and unnecessary for many smokers."

Rodu's 20 years of research has reportedly shown that e-cigs and smokeless tobacco are relatively safe alternatives for smokers who can't or are unwilling to quit nicotine. "Nicotine is addictive, but it is not the cause of any smoking-related disease," he said. "Like caffeine, nicotine can be used safely by consumers."

Research has shown smokeless products are 98 percent safer than cigarettes, the press release states. A 2002 study in the United Kingdom found smokeless tobacco to be up to 1,000 times less hazardous than smoking.

As for whether smokeless tobacco can contribute to mouth cancer, Rodu said the risk "is extremely low." "The annual mortality rate among long-term dry snuff users is 12 deaths per 100,000 and the rate among users of more popular snus, moist snuff and chewing tobacco is much lower. For perspective, the death rate among automobile users is 11 per 100,000 according to the 2009 report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Compare those to the rate among smokers: more than 600 deaths per 100,000 per year." (Read more)

The Oral Cancer Foundation's website says about 37,000 Americans will be diagnosed with oral or pharyngeal cancer this year and cause about 8,000 deaths. The foundation does not support the contention that smokeless tobacco is "safe." "Promoted by some as a safer alternative to smoking, it has in actuality not proven to be any safer to those who use it when referring to oral cancers," the website reads. "Campaigns to promote the safety of smokeless are being initiated, but it is clear that while it may reduce lung cancers, it has a negative effect on the rates of oral cancers."

Judge continues to block graphic images on cigarette packs

Getting graphic labels on cigarette packages continues to be an uphill battle for the Obama administration, as a skeptical judge sided with cigarette makers who say "they can't be forced to spread the government's anti-smoking advocacy with 'massive shocking, gruesome warnings' on products they legally sell," reports The Associated Press.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon of Washington, D.C., has already decided that the cigarette makers will probably succeed in their lawsuit, because he has ordered the government to not enforce the requirement that the labels appear on cigarette packages next year.

The labels, approved by the Food and Drug Administration, "included color images of a man exhaling cigarette smoke through a tracheotomy hole in his throat; a plume of cigarette smoke enveloping an infant receiving a mother's kiss; a pair of diseased lungs next to a pair of healthy lungs; a diseased mouth afflicted with what appears to be cancerous lesions; a man breathing into an oxygen mask," among others, AP reports.

Leon has indicated he thinks the labels go overboard in their efforts to convey the dangers of cigarettes. He has ruled they are too large; they were intended to cover the top half of packs. "It sounds like they are headed to a place," he said Wednesday, "where you have to watch a 10-minute video before you can even buy a pack of cigarettes." (Read more)

FDA finds more than 1,000 retailers selling tobacco products to minors, several in Kentucky

More than 1,200 retailers, including CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid, were issued warning letters by the Food and Drug Administration this year for illegally selling cigarettes to minors. FDA inspectors conducted 27,500 undercover checks by sending children under 18 into stores to buy cigarettes. These checks resulted in hundreds of letters being sent to retailers. Many of the warnings were sent to stores in rural areas where a recent U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report found youth are more likely to use tobacco products.

Alina Selyukh reports for Reuters that under the Tobacco Control Act of 2009, the FDA was given broad authority over tobacco manufacture and sales. One of the provisions of the act "allows the agency to contract with states to inspect spots where youths could buy cigarettes or chewable tobacco." Under the law, store workers are required to check identification of anyone looking younger than 27. Selyukh writes: "FDA officials said they are on a mission to begin battling the stubbornly high U.S. smoking rates by keeping tobacco out of underage hands in the first place."

The agency posted the warning letters on its website last week along with a searchable database of all checks it conducted. The letters allow retailers to correct their infractions without fines, but repeat offenders could face fines or loss of ability to sell tobacco products of any kind. To see if retailers in your state, community or city were issued a warning letter, search the FDA database of compliance checks.