Tobacco control
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'Endgame' is a term from chess, a complex game with a simple objective: to checkmate the king. Tobacco control is not so simple. ⋯ This paper examines these issues and goes on to summarise the situation in England and what the endgame will mean in our circumstances. In particular, it sets out how harm reduction, as defined by ensuring access to alternative clean nicotine products, has become an integral part of our endgame, while acknowledging that this may not be feasible or relevant for all parts of the world.
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This study assessed the effects of pictorial health warning labels (HWLs) and a linked media campaign in Mexico. ⋯ Consistent with other studies, adult smokers' exposure to new pictorial HWLs in Mexico was associated with psychosocial and behavioural responses related to quit behaviour. Exposure to the complementary media campaign was associated with independent additive effects on campaign-related knowledge, and it enhanced psychosocial responses to pictorial HWLs.
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To examine the prevalence of smoker support for a ban on cigarette sales in 10 years time and increased regulation of the tobacco industry and to investigate the independent associations of support for these measures. ⋯ The findings suggest that most smokers will support stronger government action to control the tobacco industry and that many support radical 'endgame' approaches. Greater support among Māori, more deprived and possibly Pacific smokers, is an important finding, which could inform the design and implementation of new policies given the very high smoking prevalence among these groups and hence high priority for targeted tobacco control interventions. Perceived difficulties in gaining public support should not impede the introduction of rigorous tobacco control measures needed to achieve a tobacco-free New Zealand.
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Nicotine is highly addictive and is primarily responsible for the maintenance of cigarette smoking. In 1994, Benowitz and Henningfield proposed the idea of federal regulation of the nicotine content of cigarettes such that the nicotine content of cigarettes would be reduced over time, resulting in lower intake of nicotine and a lower level of nicotine dependence. When nicotine levels get very low, cigarettes would be much less addictive. ⋯ The regulatory authority to promulgate such a public health strategy was provided by the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. Although it precludes 'reducing nicotine to zero', the act does not prohibit the Food and Drug Administration from setting standards for cigarette nicotine content that would prevent them from being capable of causing addiction. This paper reviews the assumptions implicit in a nicotine reduction strategy, examines the available data on the feasibility and safety of nicotine reduction, and discusses the public education, surveillance and support services that would be needed for the implementation of such a policy.
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The complex composition of secondhand smoke (SHS) provides a range of constituents that can be measured in environmental samples (air, dust and on surfaces) and therefore used to assess non-smokers' exposure to tobacco smoke. Monitoring SHS exposure (SHSe) in indoor environments provides useful information on the extent and consequences of SHSe, implementing and evaluating tobacco control programmes and behavioural interventions, and estimating overall burden of disease caused by SHSe. The most widely used markers have been vapour-phase nicotine and respirable particulate matter (PM). ⋯ While PM measurements are not as specific, they can be taken continuously, allowing for assessment of exposure and its variation over time. In general, when nicotine and PM are measured in the same setting using a common sampling period, an increase in nicotine concentration of 1 μg/m(3) corresponds to an average increase of 10 μg/m3 of PM. This topic assessment presents a comprehensive summary of SHSe monitoring approaches using environmental markers and discusses the strengths and weaknesses of these methods and approaches.