Sick of attacks on smokers

PEOPLE asked whether they favour any move to protect children from danger will surely agree, naturally assuming the problem to exist. Your report (News, September 29) of 75 per cent public support for a smoking ban in children’s play areas is a typical example of such manipulation employed by Ash Scotland, who commissioned the poll.
Predictably, they offer no evidence. From personal ­observation of a number of playgrounds near me, I’d say that’s because none exists, but I invite Ash to prove me wrong.
The stipulation of a ban “in” play areas suggests enclosure, but this is not always the case, apart from which there would be nothing to stop smokers standing outside any fence.
I consider paying a great deal of money to draw in air and blow out smoke ridiculous behaviour, but it’s legal – and it gives many people pleasure – and I for one am sick and tired of groups like Ash campaigning for ever more restriction on freedom of choice.

PCC administration submits new smoking restriction proposal

Pima Community College may implement a policy to restrict smoking, e-cigarette and tobacco products to designated areas on campus.
PCC administration submitted the proposal to the PCC Governing Board Wednesday night.
Board Policy 2304 limits smoking, e-cigarette and tobacco product use to designated outside areas on PCC property, in order to compliance with the Smoke-Free Arizona Act and related Pima County code provisions and city of Tucson ordinances, officials said.
The administration suggested that the proposed policy replace the current smoking policy, which prohibits smoking in all buildings owned or leased by PCC. Smoking is also not permitted within 25 feet of entrances and exits, fresh-air grills and in other seating areas, such as baseball fields.
According to a campus-wide survey of about 4,700 people, 81 percent indicated they do not smoke; 78 percent supported either the creation of designated smoking areas or prohibiting the use of tobacco products on college property; 70 percent agreed that smokeless tobacco should be banned from inside all buildings; and 21.8 percent supported the current policy.
If the board approves the proposed policy, faculty and staff will help determine designated smoking areas.
The policy will be submitted to the board with a final reading projected for early 2014.

David Preece: Jack Wilshere smoking outrage clouded the real issues

I’m not a big fan of international fortnight.
With no football to keep you going except for the Northern section of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy and a repetitively boring loop of an interview on Sky Sports News with a young lad still apologising for smoking a cigarette over a week after the incident.
Then having to make do with an England performance so tepid it should be prescribed to lower blood pressure, there are plenty of reasons to dislike international football.
I’m actually half-hoping we don’t qualify, if only to push forward the revolution needed to overhaul our national game. Also I’d enjoy having a bit of a moan.
For the record, can I say what a load of old nonsense that was about Jack Wilshere smoking a cigarette?
Imagine that, someone doing something perfectly legal in the privacy of their life outside of football. It’s a strange perspective we British have on smoking and drinking.
We’re up in arms about someone smoking but has anybody questioned the wisdom of his presence in a nightclub during the week where a few drinks would have a more detrimental effect on his performance than a cigarette?
I’m not a smoker despite both my parents and all four of my grandparents being constantly shrouded in a nicotine-laden fog when I was a kid.
But it did make me wonder how many of the people making a fuss of Wilshere’s “reckless abandon” actually drink and smoke in front of their kids on a regular basis? Some people forget they are their kids first role models, not Wilshere, or Harry Styles for that matter.
I’ve digressed but the fact it’s still being mentioned on TV is down to the news blackhole that’s international week.
As a player it was always something you looked forward to. If you were involved in your national team, great.
If you weren’t, the manager might give you anything up to five days off to recharge your batteries and spend some time with your family.
Not that I ever had to worry about any call-ups after I’d passed youth level. I was always jealous of team-mates jetting off to join international squads.
When you’re playing for a club with a few internationals you feel like you’ve been left at home to babysit while all your friends have gone to a party.
You wait for them to return to hear their stories about who got off with who and who was drunk by nine o’clock and threw up everywhere.
Putting on my coach’s hat for a minute, I can see how much of a pain it is for Derek McInnes but it really is a double-edged sword. If your charges are scattered around the world, it means you have good players. On the other hand, if you have a full squad at home for a whole fortnight, it gives you the chance to get down to some hard graft.
Perhaps that’s the secret of making sure your team actually benefits from the boredom of international fortnight.
Assemble yourself a squad of quality players but just make sure they’re not quite good enough to be picked or that they have already retired from international football.

Smoking rules

It's surprising and disappointing that Gov. Mary Fallin has delayed action on an initiative petition to tighten state smoking regulations.
In February, a Senate committee effectively killed a Fallin-backed bill until 2015 that would have allowed local governments to pass smoking ordinances that are stricter than state law.

The governor jumped out front, held a press conference with a big crowd of health officials and said she would lead a campaign to take the issue to the people.

The vast majority of Okla- homans want local government control on smoking regulation, Fallin said. She was right.

While the governor didn't say the initiative she would push would be for local control, everyone assumed that would be the idea.

Since then, not much has happened. Fallin now says that such a proposal would stand a better chance after the 2014 general election.

We're not sure we see the political logic of that choice.

We are sure that delays will mean some nonsmok- ers will continue to work in second-hand smoke environments longer.

Second-hand smoke is deadly, and only a handful of states don't allow local governments to restrict it.

Anytime smoking regulation is the topic, suspicions quickly arise about the influence of Big Tobacco money, but we don't doubt Fallin's personal commitment on this issue —both of her parents were smokers and the habit affected their decline and death.

Putting off the initiative campaign could give the Legislature another shot at the issue. Our hope is that this important issue can be dealt with as soon as possible. The health of Oklahoma citizens is at stake.

Why Do Young Adults Start Smoking? Researchers Identify 3 Risk Factors

Considering all we know about cigarettes and their scary health effects, why would anyone start smoking them? While it's impossible to pinpoint a single reason for why any one person begins, a new study identifies three risk factors for taking up the habit.
The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Montreal School of Public Health, suggests that for people between the ages of 18 and 24, the three biggest risk factors for starting smoking are being impulsive, using alcohol regularly, and getting poor grades in school.
The research, published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, is based on data from 1,293 teens from the greater Montreal area who were part of the Nicotine Dependence in Teens study that started in 1999. The teens were followed up in 22 "cycles," from when they were at an average age of 12.7 to when they were at an average age of 24.
By cycle 22, 75 percent of the teens had tried smoking. Forty-four percent of the teens started smoking before entering high school, 43 percent started during high school, and 14 percent started sometime in the six years post-high school.
Not all those who tried cigarettes continued to smoke, but researchers found that impulsivity, poor grades and regular alcohol use were the three risk factors associated with those who began smoking after high school -- or when they were between ages 18 and 24.
Study researcher Jennifer O'Loughlin, a professor at the university, speculated in a statement that one potential reason impulsivity may play a role in smoking in young adulthood is because "parents of impulsive children exercise tighter control when they are living with them at home to protect their children from adopting behaviors that can lead to smoking, and this protection may diminish over time."
Alcohol consumption could also be linked with starting smoking because alcohol "reduces inhibitions and self-control," she added in the statement.