UW-Stout peer pressuring students to stop smoking - UW Badger Herald

School officials at the University of Wisconsin-Stout, the only tobacco-free campus in Wisconsin, met Nov. 2 to discuss ways to enforce the ban on tobacco products on campus, when currently the only enforcement measure is peer pressure.

Last year, students at UW-Stout approved a referendum to ban tobacco products on the campus, making it the first smoke-free four-year university in Wisconsin. Favorable votes were tallied at 55 percent of the students involved. The ban was planned to begin Sept. 1.

Doug Mell, a spokesperson for UW-Stout, said that this was the largest turnout for student voting ever on the campus.

Mell said the program is truly only voluntary at the moment. If anyone, student or faculty is seen using tobacco products someone just needs to remind them of the program and ask politely for the person to stop.

Mell said he believes the program is going well, but could be improved. He added both students and people who attended the meeting have reacted positively to the program.

However, some UW-Stout students feel the ban is not successful and should be improved if it is to be present.

“It seems like a joke. Like we’re just trying to get our name out there,” said UW-Stout sophomore Kyle Reich.

Reich said he feels he sees more smokers than before, and the program is failing to control tobacco use.

Mell said advertising for the anti-smoking campaign is extremely prevalent on campus, and there are signs all over telling students about it on every door, in parking lots and posters in hallways.

Freshmen are made sure to know about the policy before enrolling at UW-Stout, as the welcome and preview materials include information, as well as reminders from admissions staff, Mell added.

Mell said he hopes student organizations and statements by students can help push the plan further.

“Students speaking to students have a powerful effect,” Mell said.

Mell added some people at the meeting suggested issuing citations as a future solution for violators.

“Other campuses are watching us. We’re breaking new ground here. We have to do this right,” Mell said.

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Trend of smoking among students stable- Survey - Ghana News Agency

Trend of smoking among students stable- Survey     

Accra, Oct. 26, GNA - Smoking among Junior High School students has not increased over the years, though more needs to be done to reduce the trend among young smokers, a study by Ghana Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS), said on Tuesday.

The survey therefore recommended the use of the media to uncover, expose and inhibit tobacco consumption and its harmful effect and the tobacco industry.

Disseminating the findings of the 2009 survey at the Lekma Cluster of Schools in Accra, Mrs Edith Wellington, Focal Person on Tobacco Control of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) said the GYTS is a school-based tobacco specific survey, which focuses on adolescents between 13-15 years.

Ghana first participated in the multi-country initiative in 2000, repeated it in 2006 and in 2009.

She said the survey was aimed at documenting and monitoring the prevalence of tobacco-use.

It assessed learners' knowledge, beliefs and attitudes related to tobacco-using behaviour, as well as smoking cessation and environmental tobacco smoke.

On prevalence students who ever smoked was 8.9 per cent as compared to 11.5 per cent in 2006 and 14.6 per cent in 2000.

The survey noted that 38.8 per cent boys and 28.8 per cent girls in 2009, and 40.8 per cent boys and 29.1 per cent girls in 2006 were of the view that people who smoke have more friends while 12.8 per cent boys and 11.6  per cent girls in 2009 taught that those who smoke looked more attractive compared to 15.2 per cent boys and 13.1 per cent girls in 2006 and 17.9 per cent for boys and 16 per cent for girls in 2000.  

On access to and availability of cigarettes, Mrs Wellington said in 2009, 35.5 per cent of current smokers indicated they usually smoked at home and that it was significantly lower than the 40.8 per cent of current smokers in 2006 and  24.4 per cent in 2000.

There was however a significant difference across the three surveys in terms of the availability of cigarettes. 

In 2009, 26.9 per cent of current smokers usually bought their cigarettes in a store, while in 2006 34.3 per cent had their cigarettes from stores and in 2000 49.3 per cent purchased their cigarettes in a store.

In 2009, close to nine out of 10 pupils who currently smoked cigarettes, and eight out of the 10 in 2006, reported that they wanted to stop smoking at the time of the survey. However, in 2000 92.5 per cent wanted to stop smoking.

Majority of pupils in the three surveys had tried to stop smoking during the past year. Similarly, a higher percentage of current smokers at the time of the survey reported that they had ever received help to quit the habit.

Ms Sophia Twum- Barimah, Communications Officer of the World Health Organisation (WHO) who spoke on the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the first international health treaty spearheaded by the organisation said it was adopted by the World Health Assembly in May 2003.

The adoption of the treaty followed a process of two years of negotiations with governments, non-governmental organisations and interested persons and provided governments with a supportive environment so that tobacco control interventions could be implemented at national levels.

The aim of the FCTC she said was to reduce smoking and other forms of tobacco use, which is responsible for innumerable illnesses and deaths.

She said the treaty requires governments to "develop, implement, periodically update and review comprehensive multi-sectoral national tobacco control strategies, plans and programmes", relating to price and tax measures to reduce the demand for tobacco, protection from exposure to tobacco smoke and regulation of the contents of tobacco products.

According to Ms Twun Barimah, Ghana has signed and ratified the WHO FCTC but was yet to enact legislation, even though a Tobacco Control Bill has been drafted and been reviewed many times.

This notwithstanding, she said  Ghana has been involved in tobacco control having recognised that the spread of the tobacco epidemic is a global problem with serious consequences for public health.

Tobacco use is rising steadily especially among the youth and there is also evidence of a rise in the incidence of non-communicable diseases like cancers and strokes as well as hypertension have all been linked to its use, she said and called for concerted efforts to stem the tide.

GNA

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Quinnipiac Students Willing to Shell out More for Smokes - The Quad News

While an increase in the Connecticut cigarette tax has not f students, it has, however, caused Hamden businesses to see fire.

The Connecticut cigarette tax was raised from $2 to where it now stands at $3, ranking them fourth in the nation with the highest cigarette tax. The goal to collect revenue, and also to make it more expensive to smoke-which would hopefully have the subsequent effect of having more people stop smoking, or at least not start. Connecticut however collected $5 million more from this tax than they originally anticipated.

"I have to get a job just because of cigarettes," Matt Stark, a junior bio-medical science major said. Stark estimated he spends about $56 a week on cigarettes.

There is still debate about whether higher taxes mean fewer smokers. Martin Looney, a Connecticut state senator and a part-time faculty member at Quinnipiac said he believes there is a correlation.

"The primary goal of increasing the tax was to raise more revenue, but there's also the health incentive," Looney said. "Even if only a small percentage cut back, that's still a public health benefit."

Higher prices are driving consumers to either buy less or quit all together, according to Looney.

Local cigarette retailers have seen a direct cut into their profits since the tax hike.

Jim Mustq, the manager of Krausers on Whitney Ave., reported a 25 percent decline in cigarette sales since the tax was imposed. The lag in cigarette purchases has spilled over into the store's other business, Mustq said.

"It affects it a lot because one time somebody buys cigarettes, they buy other things too," Mustq said.

Alihsan Kiranlioglu, co-owner of Home Town Wine and Liquors in Hamden, estimated that his store took a 15 percent cut in cigarette sales, although cigarette revenue accounts for only 2 to 3 percent of their profits.

Customers, at least at first, tend to favor less expensive brands in order to save money, said Kiranlioglu.

"The first couple of weeks are hard," he said. "After a while, people get used to it. Some people go back to their old brands, some don't."

On Sept. 6, the Hartford Courant reported that the state has collected $5 million more than a projected $99.3 million in extra cigarette sale revenue.

"We certainly did raise additional revenue because the addition to the taxes was significant, but I think you'll find that there will be some incremental reduction in the number of people who smoke," Looney said.

Some smokers continue to smoke despite the tax hike.

"I buy at least four packs a week," said Ryan Dzierzek, a junior marketing major."Usually more, because I buy about three packs on weekends."

Dzierzek estimated that he could spend up to $60 in one week on cigarettes.

"I don't realize it, because I'm buying it in increments," he said.

Junior public relations major Matt Carbone used to spend $30 to $40 on cigarettes per week. Since the tax hike, he has been paying $40 to $50 a week.

"It actually hasn't deterred me because I've been smoking for four years now." Carbone said. "I need cigarettes."

Carbone, a New York native said he is used to paying a high cigarette tax.

"Compared to New York it's nothing," he said.

Cigarette taxes in New York jumped up from $2.75 to $4.35-a $1.60 increase this summer, bringing a pack of cigarettes to $9, as reported by The New York Times. In New York City, a pack can cost close to $11. But that hasn't stopped Stark, another New York native, from smoking either.

"I told myself when it went up, I would quit-I didn't," Stark said.

Those who are willing to pay more for cigarettes don't like the higher price by any means.

"You might smoke less to ration, but you're not gonna have people just go cold turkey," said one senior, who asked to remain anonymous so that his parents wouldn't find out that he smokes. "You can't. It's an addiction. People are gonna smoke. It's just gonna take more money out of their pockets."

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