In Process - Cigarette-Related Deaths Rise for Women in 17 States and D.C..

January 24, 2009

Cigarette-Related Deaths Rise for Women in 17 States and D.C.
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By Peggy Peck, Executive Editor, MedPage Today
Published: January 23, 2009
Reviewed by Zalman S. Agus, MD; Emeritus Professor
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Click here to rate this report
ATLANTA, Jan. 23 -- Although mortality from cigarette smoking in the U.S. is down overall, it has increased among women in 17 states and the District of Columbia, according to CDC.

Overall, smoking-attributable deaths declined from 288 per 100,000 in 1996-1999 to 263.3 smoking attributable deaths in 2000-2004, the CDC's Smoking-Attributable Mortality, Morbidity, and Economic Costs system reported in the Jan. 23 issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

The data applied to cigarette smoking but not to deaths linked to cigar smoking, pipe smoking, and smokeless tobacco,

Smoking-related deaths among men declined in 49 states and the District of Columbia.

Among women, smoking-related deaths per 100,000 increased in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and the District of Columbia.

The states with lowest annual rates of smoking-attributable mortality in 2000-2004 were Utah, Hawaii, and Minnesota, and highest were Kentucky, West Virginia, and Nevada.

But Nevada was also the state that posted the biggest decline in the smoking-attributable death rate from 1996-1999 when the overall number of smoking-attributable deaths was 388 per 100,000 to 2000-2004. In the latter period, the number of smoking attributable deaths was 344 per 100,000.

Because deaths linked to cigar smoking, pipe smoking, and smokeless tobacco were not included, the numbers underestimate the number of tobacco-attributable deaths, said the MMWR editors.

Also the relative risk calculations "were based on deaths during 1982-1988 among birth cohorts who might have had different smoking histories than current or former smokers in 2000-2004," they wrote. The CDC, they said, is considering updating its relative risk formula for use in future reports.

Another limitation was that data are collected by telephone survey using landlines, which excluded households that use only wireless communication.



Additional source: Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Report
Source reference:
Adhikari B et al "State-specific smoking-attributable mortality and years of potential life lost-United States 2000-2004" MMWR 2009; 58:29-33,




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Majority in New Mexico favor a higher cigarette tax..

January 24, 2009 - Three out of four New Mexicans favor a $1-a-pack increase in the state's cigarette tax to pay for anti-smoking programs and help eliminate a $450 million budget deficit, according to a poll released Thursday, 1/22/2009. The poll commissioned by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network and the Washington, D.C.-based Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids) found strong majorities in favor of a $1-a-pack tax increase across all regions of New Mexico. That didn't change regardless of income, ethnicity, political party affiliation or political philosophy — conservatives, liberals and moderates.

About 76 percent of likely voters support an increase in the cigarette tax from its current level, 91 cents, to $1.91 a pack. Even among smokers who were surveyed, 57 percent supported the $1 tax increase.

In 2007 the legislature rejected a propsed 60-cents-a-pack increase in the cigarette tax when a tobacco company waged a telephone campaign against the measure.

If the tax went up by $1, New Mexico's tax rate would be similar to the $2-a-pack tax imposed in Arizona. Texas has a tax of $1.41. The tax is $1.03 in Oklahoma and 84 cents in Colorado.

Other New Mexico news brief(s): New Mexico appeals court revives smoking lawsuit..

Reference: Poll: Majority in NM favor higher cigarette tax by BARRY MASSEY, MSNBC - Associated Press, 1/24/2009.

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Utah - philanthropist Jon Huntsman Sr., supports big boost in tobacco tax..

January 24, 2009 - The fast-growing group of big names endorsing a big increase in the state tax on tobacco products includes Jon Huntsman Sr., the philanthropist and businessman. Huntsman has donated more than $350 million of his wealth to underwrite research, treatment and prevention of cancers, said Friday, 1/23/2009 the tax is another tool in the fight against what he called "this horrifying disease."

The legislation adds $1.30 to the 70-cent state tax on a pack of cigarettes. It also proposes increasing by 55 percent of the manufacturer's price for cigars, moist and dry snuff and loose-cut pipe and roll-your-own tobacco.

The bill's sponsor, Sen. Allen Christensen, R-North Ogden, said he considers the tax a win-win for both state coffers and the "coughers" he hopes to encourage to quit smoking because it has become too expensive. "As someone who is overseeing immediate pending cuts in health and human services programs of $105 million, about $52 million of the revenue generated by this bill would go a long way to make up for those cuts we're being asked to make," Christensen said

He said though smokers say the state is trying to balance its budget on their backs, "the way I see it, thousands of smokers covered by Medicaid have been using state funds to help pay the medical bills caused by them getting sick from smoking. This is just shifting the balance back a bit."

Reference:
Huntsman Sr. supports big boost in tobacco tax by James Thalman, Deseret News, 1/24/2009.

Other Utah news briefs: Utah Bars Go Smokefree January 1, 2009..; Utah moves from a tax based on the percentage of sales price to one based on the weight - independent of price of smokeless tobacco product..
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North Carolina - may consider raising taxes on alcohol and cigarettes..

January 24, 2009 - NC Senate leader, Marc Basnight (D-Manteo) proposed raising taxes on alcohol and tobacco products to help prop up crumbling state revenue numbers that could be as much as a $3 billion budget gap. Basnight justified a possible tax increase on tobacco and alcohol by emphasizing the billions of dollars in annual health care costs blamed on those products, citing studies by the Centers for Disease Control and University of North Carolina. Public health advocates have long pushed for increases in North Carolina's cigarette tax to help drive down smoking, particularly among teenagers.

Basnight has unsuccessfully called for such hikes of alcohol and cigarette taxes before, and a similar proposal from then-Gov. Mike Easley fell flat last year. Other Democrats said they would prefer to avoid a tax increase but left open the possibility of raising tobacco or alcohol taxes.

Related news briefs: North Carolina (NC) lawmakers wonder why over 30% of high school students don't graduate??; North Carolina - New Law Requires All Cigarettes Be Self-Extinguishing To Save Lives...; Cigarette Sales Fall BUT Revenues from Higher Cigarette Taxes Increase...; Statewide Smoking Ban Fails to Clear North Carolina..

Reference:
Basnight offers up a hike in 'sin tax' Drinkers, smokers may feel the sting,
Mark Johnson and Benjamin Niolet, Staff Writers, The News & Observer, 1/23/2009.
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Saudi Arabia - smokers to pay higher health insurance premium..

January 23, 2009 - RIYADH - Smokers in Saudi Arabia will have to pay an increased premium for their health insurance policies, according to Health Minister Hamad Al Manie, who has spelt out a series of measures to be undertaken by his ministry to discourage smoking.Al Manie said in Riyadh on Sunday that his ministry would not entertain any business transactions from tobacco companies in the future. According to the minister’s directives, we are working out a set of new rules to combat smoking in the kingdom,” said Ibrahim Sulayman Al Musaidteer, director general of the legal department in the ministry of health. It is the ministry’s duty to look after both the interests of smokers and nonsmokers who become victims of second-hand smoke,” he said.

The ministry is also planning to set up a model anti-smoking clinic in Riyadh to combat the menace.Over 50 anti-smoking clinics in the kingdom will be electronically linked .He said the minister would take the new initiative to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Health Ministers Council for implementation in other GCC member countries.

Reference: Smokers to Pay Increased Health Insurance Premium in Saudi Arabia, Khaleej Times Online, 1/20/2009.
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