Focus on Smoking

Electronic cigarettes have exploded onto the market with millions of users worldwide. E-cigarette manufacturers and even anti-tobacco groups claim that these devices are almost harmless and that e-cigarettes help people quit smoking [1]. But the emerging evidence is contrary. In the United States of America, a recent study published in the journal Pediatrics shows that […] Read on...

It is now becoming conclusive that electronic cigarettes are harmful to health. Though there is much debate in the media and anti-smoking pressure groups about the health effects of e-cigarettes, more and more research is showing the harm e-cigarettes cause. In a just-published study in the Journal of Respiratory Research, a study1 conducted by scientists […] Read on...

Plain tobacco packaging or standardised packaging means the removal of all branding (colours, imagery, corporate logos and trademarks) from the pack. Manufacturers are only allowed to print the brand name at a prescribed size, font and place on the pack, in addition to the health warnings and any other legally mandated information.1 19669 Read on...

4-D ultrasound scans of fetuses show that babies writhe in the womb when their mother smokes; a non-smoking mother’s baby does not. 13891 Read on...

The Lancet launches a campaign for a tobacco-free world by 2040. As a contrast to the extraordinary growth of the tobacco industry, especially in the Middle East and Africa, the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) presents the case for an ambitious new global tobacco control goal – a world essentially free of tobacco […] Read on...

The city of Bristol in south-west England has turned two squares that are very popular with families with young children into smoke-free zones. 13674 Read on...