New Year anti-smoking campaign highlights cancer risks

The government is looking to capitalise on the British penchant for making health-related New Year resolutions with a hard-hitting £3m ad campaign designed to shock smokers into quitting. The Department of Health's campaign, developed by agency Dare, marks a return to the shock advertising tactics employed eight years ago to directly target smokers. The campaign has been developed on the back of research which shoes that more than a third of smokers still believe that the health risks associated with smoking are "greatly exaggerated". In the campaign, which will run on TV, posters and billboards and online, a cigarette a smoker is inhaling is seen transformed into a cancerous looking growth.

Smoke-Free Policies with No-Effects

The statistics just prove that non-smoking campaigns have not had a greater effect than the growing number of cigarette advertisements put out on television, radio, billboards, in cinemas, magazines and on promotional stands at malls. They are, in fact, much more eye-catching and interesting than the old, stale non-smoking campaigns. Up to now, the government only suggests rather than acts in order to lower the number of smokers.

Tobacco Firms Predict Sharp Increase in Illegal Cigarettes

LONDON – A top cigarette manufacturer has warned that the number of cigarettes purchased in the United Kingdom that avoid duty and taxes is set to soar, The Independent reports.
Japan Tobacco International (JTI) recently conducted an undercover survey around northwest London and found that a large number of counterfeit cigarettes and rolling tobacco were being sold at sharp price discounts.

Washington State Cigarettes Nearly 40% Contraband: Study

A soon-to-be published study by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy in Michigan reveals 36% of all cigarettes consumed in Washington are contraband, KREM.com reports. "The bottom line here is that many governments are making tobacco products as valuable as illicit narcotics," said Mackinac's Michael LaFaive. Contraband cigarettes for Washingtonians are any that do not pay the state’s $3.02 per pack tax. In 2010, Washington State increased its cigarette tax by a dollar a pack to the fourth highest state tax in the nation.

Kicking the habit is Rihanna’s New Year resolution

The singer believes this is the right moment to stop smoking because of the leisure time she’s got to pursue her other interests. The celebrity news portal learns from a source that the singer wants to devote more time to physical activities after quitting, so she does not gain extra weight.