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The Maryland General Assembly is considering increasing taxes on “little cigars.” Most cigar shop owners see raising the taxes on their products as a detrimental threat to their businesses and believe they will lose clientele as a result. Health advocates argue that the main reason for doing this is not to “bring taxes in” but to protect Maryland’s youth from the harmful effects of tobacco use. |
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During "Kick Butts," youngsters encourage their peers to stay away from smoking, and educate peers and their community about tobacco's harmful effects. Kick Butts Day is not only a national event -- it has even spread internationally. In the state of Maryland, youth in all counties participated in activities such as marching through towns to educate about the dangers of tobacco use, picking up cigarette butt litter, and manning youth-run tables advocating for freedom from messages targeting youth by tobacco companies. |
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In an attempt to protect children from the effects of second hand smoke, the Maryland Senate passed a bill on March 3, 2012 that would ban smoking in vehicles when transporting a child under 8 years old. If the bill is approved by the House and eventually enacted into law, Maryland would join a number of other states to ban smoking in vehicles when children were inside. The bill was originally trying to prohibit smoking when children 16 and younger were in the car, however, lawmakers believed that the law would be easier to regulate if children are younger than 8 years old since they are still required to use a car seat up to that age barring any weight or height allowances. |
National Tobacco News
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A recent study of one Colorado town has demonstrated that bans on public smoking may improve the health of mothers and their fetuses. When compared to another Colorado town of similar size and demographic characterstics, the town that had implemented a ban on smoking in public places showed significant decreases in maternal smoking and preterm birth rates. Similar bans have previously been shown to decrease incidence of myocardial infarctions at the population level, but this is the first evidence that such population-level interventions may improve the health of mothers and their fetuses. You can read more about this study, and others here. |
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A recent study of the 1991-2006 BRFSS data reveals that comprehensive state tobacco control programs are reducing the prevalence of cigarette smoking among adults. These statistically significant results also indicate that these programs are cost effective as public health interventions. The study findings suggest that had each state followed the recommended CDC funding for state initiatives, the smoking prevalence in the U.S. could be up to 8% lower than the current prevalence of 19.3%. Hopefully results from research like this will encourage increasing state funding and move the U.S. closer to meeting the USDHHS Healthy People 2020 objective of less than 12% smoking prevalence in the U.S. |
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Researchers have recently looked at the effects of smoking on total joint replacement therapy. Results indicate that smokers are more likely to suffer from new replacement failure than patients who do not smoke. These findings suggest that orthopedic surgeons are good candidates to encourage their patient to quit smoking before their surgery and to follow up with them post surgery to assist in maintaining smoking cessation efforts. |
