Health campaigners claim that banning the displays would benefit the nation’s health because it would cut the number of young people who take up smoking. But the federation, which disputes evidence for the claim and warns that the move would be bad for business, has hired a lobbying company to make its case with MPs. Emails sent to MPs by account executives at Hume Brophy, which also lobbies on behalf of British American Tobacco, suggest the federation’s campaign has been a success.

“The federation is a puppet of the tobacco industry,” said Colin Finch, its president in 2001 and 2007, who accuses tobacco companies of using “retailers to legitimise their campaign”. He said tobacco money flowed into the federation “discreetly” via sponsorship of trade events, annual conferences, seminars, meetings and dinners.

“The whole situation with the federation and the tobacco industry is out of kilter,” said Finch, who opposes the display ban, arguing it is unfair and will not work. “The federation’s code of ethics has been poisoned by the tobacco industry.”

David Daniel, the federation’s trade relations manager, rejected claims that it was too close to the industry and said it was acting to protect members’ livelihood. “We are speaking to them [the tobacco industry] and exchanging views and expertise, but to say we are in their pocket is a million miles away [from the truth],” he said.

When asked whether the federation was receiving money from the tobacco industry for its campaign against the ban, Daniel said: “We work with a lot of partners. I am not sure we would want to make public the commercial arrangements we have with them.” The federation confirmed that about 3% of its income came from the tobacco industry, but denied there was any link between its policy line and its commercial relationships. The close links between the federation and tobacco companies are well established.

However, allegations that a trade body that has lobbied MPs has been influenced by tobacco firms will be seized on by health campaigners. The UK is a party to the World Heath Organisation convention on tobacco control, which compels governments to ensure the drafting of policies is free “from vested interests of the tobacco industry”.

“The government is required to protect its public health policies with respect to tobacco from the commercial and vested interests of the industry,” said Deborah Arnott, director of the anti-smoking campaign group, Ash. “If the government repeals or significantly delays the display ban it will have utterly failed to live up to its international treaty obligations.”

Professor Damien Walmsley, Scientific Adviser to the BDA, said:

“Tobacco use has a significant negative impact on dental health, contributing to the increasing number of cases of oral cancers and conditions such as gum disease. Tobacco is one of the factors that creates and perpetuates oral health inequalities in the UK. As a member of the Smokefree Action Coalition the BDA is committed to eradicating the harm that tobacco does to the nation’s health and we applaud this week’s announcement as a positive step forward.”

It is about a group of chameleons searching for water that has been stolen from a town called Dirt.

According to Kori Titus, CEO of non-profit organisation Breathe California, throughout the film “at least 60 instances of characters smoking” have been counted.

Anti-smoking activists are now claiming the images of animated lizards and birds puffing on cigarettes pose a risk to children, who they claim will want to take up the habit after seeing the footage.

“A lot of kids are going to start smoking because of this movie,” the Daily Express quoted Stanton Glantz, director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California-San Francisco, as saying.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, campaigners now want movie chiefs to add a Surgeon General’s warning to the project.

A spokesperson for movie studio Paramount, Virginia Lam, insists they never meant to condone smoking and they ensured the main character isn’t seen puffing away.

“The images of smoking in the film… are portrayed by supporting characters and are not intended to be celebrated or emulated,” she told USA Today. (ANI)

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The findings, published in the journal Schizophrenia Research, indicate the importance of effective smoking cessation and prevention programs for patients with schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia patients are significantly more likely to smoke than the general population and are at significantly greater risk for cardiovascular-related mortality, explain Deanna Kelly (University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA) and team.

However, they add that despite this, “current treatments for tobacco dependence in this population have shown only modest success and have not been widely offered in general practice.”

To investigate whether increased levels of tobacco craving my partly explain the poor success rate of tobacco cessation programs among schizophrenia patients, the researchers studied 100 smokers with the mental health condition and 100 mentally healthy smokers (controls) who were aged between 18 and 65 years.

There were no significant differences between the groups regarding nicotine dependence, as assessed using the Fagerström test for nicotine dependence, number of cigarettes smoked daily, expired breath carbon monoxide, and age at smoking initiation.

Participants in both groups completed the Tobacco Craving Questionnaire-Short Form (TCQ-SF) immediately after smoking a cigarette and again 10-15 minutes later. The TCQ-SF is designed to assess tobacco craving in four dimensions: emotionality (anticipation of relief from withdrawal symptoms or negative mood), expectancy (anticipation of positive outcomes from smoking), compulsivity (lack of control over tobacco use), and purposefulness (intention and planning to smoke for positive outcomes).

The researchers found that there were no significant differences in total TCQ-SF scores between schizophrenia patients and controls immediately after smoking a cigarette, at 46.7 and 42.8, respectively.

However, there were significant differences in total TCQ-SF scores between schizophrenia patients and controls after 10-15 minutes, at 50.0 versus 38.6, indicating greater levels of tobacco craving in the schizophrenia patients.

TCQ-SF scores for emotionality, compulsivity, and purposefulness were also significantly greater in the schizophrenia group than the control group 10-15 minutes after smoking a cigarette, at 11.6 versus 8.0, 11.5 versus 7.9, and 13.5 versus 11.1, respectively. Schizophrenia patients also scored higher than controls at this time for expectancy, at 13.4 versus 11.5, but the difference was not significant.

Age and gender had no significant effect on the findings, the researchers note.

Kelly et al conclude: “Tobacco craving as measured by the TCQ-SF was significantly greater in people with schizophrenia than controls 15 minutes post-smoking, despite similar scores in dependence and similar smoking histories and current smoking patterns.”

They add: “This information will provide insight to guide future development of effective prevention and treatment strategies to address this comorbidity.”

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The study, published in the April edition of the journal Pediatrics, found passive smoking increased the risk of still birth by almost one-quarter (23 per cent) and was linked to a 13 per cent increased risk of congenital birth defects.

The findings underline the importance of discouraging expectant fathers from smoking around their pregnant partners and warning women of the potential dangers of second-hand smoke both pre-conception and during pregnancy.

Dr Jo Leonardi-Bee, of the UK Centre for Tobacco Control Studies at the University, said: “Mothers’ smoking during pregnancy is well-recognised as carrying a range of serious health risks for the unborn baby including fetal mortality, low birth weight, premature birth and a range of serious birth defects such as cleft palate, club foot and heart problems.

“Since passive smoking involves exposure to the same range of tobacco toxins experienced by active smokers, albeit at lower levels, it is likely that coming into contact with second-hand smoke also increases the risk of some of all of these complications.”

The study is the first of its kind to draw together the results of research from around the world into the effects of second-hand smoking on pregnancy and to estimate the potential increased risks.

The findings were drawn from a systematic review of 19 studies carried out in North America, South America, Asia and Europe and centred on pregnant women who did not smoke themselves but were exposed to second-hand smoke in the home by their partners or in the workplace by colleagues.

The research looked at the potential effects of passive smoking on miscarriage, newborn death and congenital birth defects.

The study did not find an increased risk of miscarriage or newborn death from second-hand smoke and was not associated with any one congenital defect — the overall increase was only seen after

the results from all the studies were pooled.

The researchers say fathers who smoke should be more aware of the danger they pose to their unborn child and that since it currently remains unclear when the effects of the second-hand smoke begin it is important to protect women from passive smoking both before and during pregnancy.

Dr Leonardi-Bee added: “What we still don’t know is whether it is the effect of sidestream smoke that the woman inhales that increases these particular risks or whether it is the direct effect of mainstream smoke that the father inhales during smoking that affects sperm development, or possibly both. More research is needed into this issue although we already know that smoking does have an impact on sperm development, so it is very important that men quit smoking before trying for a baby.

“We also need to continue to find other good public health interventions that can reduce the exposure of these women to passive smoke. One possibility could be for the partner to use smoking cessation treatments such as nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) patches as temporary abstinence interventions in the home and car when they are in the company of the woman.

“The risks are related to the amount of cigarettes that are smoked — the data suggests that being exposed to around 10+ cigarettes a day is enough for the risks to be increased so it is therefore very important for men to cut down. Ultimately though, in the interests of their partner and their unborn child the best option of course would be to give up completely.”

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