Columbus eyes tobacco-free zones in parks

The Columbus Recreation and Parks Department is considering a policy that would create tobacco-free areas at city-run facilities.
The department is looking to eliminate the use of tobacco products - that includes cigarettes as well as smokeless products - in areas such as playgrounds, tennis courts, ball diamonds, basketball courts and youth-sports zones.
Officials with recreation and parks, along with Columbus Public Health, have sent a survey to tens of thousands of people and have posted the questionnaire on their individual websites. The survey also was sent to area commissions and civic groups.
"It's just our attempt to educate people as to what's the right and healthy thing to do for the community," said Steve Aumiller, an assistant director with recreation and parks.
The survey will help determine where appropriate restrictions should take place, Aumiller said.
Smoking already is prohibited in shelter houses and baseball dugouts but not in open-air picnic shelters.
In some places, such as Berliner Park, smoking, chewing tobacco and sunflower seeds are banned because of the potential damage to new artificial infields, Aumiller said.

Bulgarian PM hints at backtrack on smoking ban but Health Minister stands firm

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borissov has hinted that he will not oppose a backtrack being considered by his ruling party MPs that would see the indoor smoking ban eased to allow people to light up in restaurants and bars after 10pm, but Health Minister Desislava Atanasova has pledged to stand firm against the anti-smoking law being amended.
Bulgaria’s law against smoking in enclosed public spaces came into effect at the beginning of June 2012. The full ban overtook an earlier version that allowed restaurants and bars to set aside smoking spaces with separate ventilation.
With the advent of winter, campaigning in Bulgaria against the full ban has been stepped up and restaurants, bars and nightclubs have been increasingly strident in insisting that the full smoking ban is harming earnings and jobs.
A small group of independent MPs was the first to say that they would table in Parliament a bill to revert to the earlier version of the law, as restaurant and pub associations have asked, a proposal that at first met with firm rejection by Bulgaria’s centre-right ruling party GERB.
However, it has emerged that Parliament’s health committee, at a meeting on December 13, will consider amendments that would allow smoking in enclosed public places after 10pm, according to Sofia Globe.
Dr Daniela Daritkova, head of the committee, confirmed on December 7 that a discussion on the proposed amendments would take place.
However, she said that there was no serious evidence that businesses had been seriously hit in the first three months of the full ban being in effect. When it came to balancing the interests of business and of public health, it was health that should take precedence, she was quoted as saying.
Bulgarian-language media reports in Sofia and in Bulgaria’s second city, Plovdiv, said that there were widespread violations of the ban at places of entertainment at night.

New tobacco items pose risks

As cigarette smoking rates have dropped, and more states have adopted public smoking bans, the tobacco industry has created new products to keep users hooked and find new customers, according to Beloit Daily News.

“Other tobacco products,” or OTPs, are harmful and addictive. They are marketed aggressively and priced inexpensively. The new smokeless tobacco products appeal to youth. Adults need to know these products exist, and youth need more help to resist them.

Listed below are some of the most common types of OTP.

• Tobacco sticks resemble toothpicks and will dissolve within 10 minutes when placed in the mouth. One of these sticks contains three times the nicotine as one cigarette.

• Orbs look like small pellets, about the size of a Tic Tac breath mint and last for about 15 minutes. One orb contains 1 milligram of nicotine, which is the equivalent to the nicotine level of one cigarette.

• Strips, similar to a breath mint strip, take 3 minutes to dissolve. They contain slightly less nicotine than one cigarette.

• Snus, tobacco contained in small pouches, is another smokeless tobacco product that is being marketed to smoker to use when they aren’t able to smoke cigarettes.

OTP use is not a safe alternative to cigarette smoking. The consequences of using OTP include cancer, tooth loss, gum disease, and increased risk of heart disease and stroke.