More Evidence Secondhand Smoke Bad for Kids’ Mental Health

Children and adolescents in the United States exposed to secondhand smoke (SHS) are at risk of developing major depressive disorder (MDD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and conduct disorder, new research suggests. In a national survey study of more than 2000 nonsmokers between the ages of 8 and 15 years, investigators found that serum cotinine levels, signifying SHS exposure, were positively associated with symptoms of all these disorders — and were especially correlated for boys. “Our results have important public health implications,” write Frank C. Bandiera, MPH, from the Department of...

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Posted in: ban smoking,cheapest cigarettes online,secondhand smoke,tobacco use

Money Never Sleeps

I recently attended a presentation by British American Tobacco (BAT), the second largest listed company on the JSE by market money tobaccocapitalisation (R551bn) after BHP Billiton. I can honestly say it was the best presentation I have attended in at least the past decade and came close to the seminal presentation given by then-SAB CEO Meyer Kahn (now chairman of SABMiller) in Braamfontein in the late 1990s. What made this presentation so special, apart from the superb delivery of Head of Investor Relations Ralph Edmondson, was the fact that it was a global update on BAT’s activities, rather than just a bog standard results presentation. Edmondson...

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Posted in: British American Tobacco (BAT),cigarette smokers,tobacco companies

Ukraine cigarettes remain among the cheapest in the world

In March 2009, parliament discussed proposals to increase tobacco excise tax from Hr 1 to Hr 2 per pack of 20 cigarettes. Representatives of transnational tobacco companies were very critical about the proposals and alleged that Ukrainians would not smoke less, but would just switch to cheaper smuggled cigarettes while government revenues would decline. Since that time, the excise tax rate was increased even more and, at present, the average excise tax is more than Hr 3 per pack. The figures show what eventually has happened. In 2007, when the tax rate was just Hr 0.5 per pack, the government collected Hr 2.5 billion from excise tobacco...

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Posted in: cheapest cigarettes online,cigarette production in Ukraine,Marlboro cigarettes,tobacco,tobacco companies