Muhammadiyah Bans Smoking

The country’s second-largest Islamic group has thrown its full weight behind efforts to rid Indonesia of its heavy smoking habit. After issuing a fatwa in March 2010 to tell its tens of millions of followers that it was religiously unacceptable to light up, Muhammadiyah is now set to declare all of its health and education institutions smoke-free zones. Muhammadiyah operates some 500 health institutions such as hospitals and clinics, about 15,000 schools from the level of kindergarten to high school and nearly 200 higher education institutions. It also operates 350 orphanages across the country. “On Monday [today], we are going to launch our nationwide program that, starting now, Muhammadiyah’s offices, enterprises and forums are officially smoke-free areas,” Syafiq A. Mughni, Muhammadiyah’s chairman for health issues, told the Jakarta Globe on Sunday. The campaign will kick off at the Muhammadiyah headquarters in Jakarta.

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Cigarettes Seized in Market Place Raid

Almost 80,000 illegal cigarettes have been seized from a Dudley market stall. The raid, which took place earlier this month, was carried out by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), Dudley’s trading standards and NHS Dudley and also saw further investigations of a van and a private address. A total of 78,940 cigarettes were taken from the stall. No duty had been paid on any of them, leading to around £18,000 being evaded. Trading standards officials also confiscated a large amount of counterfeit clothing.

Stronger Smoking Rules, Orland Students

If a group of Orland High School kids ran the city, there would be less smoking in public places including doorways, outdoor dining areas and parks. Members of SWAT, Students Working Against Tobacco, pitched an articulate and well-researched plea to city councilors last week, asking for greater restrictions on lighting up. The student presentation was just a discussion, but it could be up for a vote on Nov. 7. Students Dinesh Khalasi, Ana Hernandez, Roopinder Virk and Jesenia Contreras were at the podium, with other students in the audience, all wearing SWAT T-shirts. Adult advisers funded through the California Health Collaborative, as well as the American Lung Association, have helped the youths through the process. Various grants have been funded via tobacco taxes. The four seniors have been working toward the proposal since they were freshmen. Another student has since graduated.

Smoking and Drinking Rise as Money Worries

Salary cuts and reduced working hours are affecting almost half of all households, with money matters now having overtaken the pursuit of personal happiness in lists of priorities, a study has found. As the effect of the recession deepens, the 2011 Pfizer Health Index indicates the toll the austere times are taking on our health. Pointing to increased drinking and smoking and lower motivation for personal improvement, the survey finds seven out of 10 people are struggling to make ends meet. The study also found: * 26% rate money as our main concerns, up from 20% last year.

Students Plan to Ban Smoking in Public Areas

If a group of Orland High School students has its way, the city could ban smoking outside the doorways of businesses, in outdoor eating areas and in public parks. About a dozen teens sporting anti-tobacco T-shirts and armed with posters and jars of cigarette butts, lobbied the City Council on Monday to put a smoking ban in place. The council took no action, but will discuss the matter on Nov. 7. Dinesh Khalasi, of Students Working Against Tobacco, explained many communities have bans to protect residents and visitors from the dangers of inhaling secondhand smoke. He noted clean-ups by the group revealed a large concentration of cigarette butts by park picnic tables and the baseball field in Lely Park — places where families and young children are likely to be. The group reported 250 cigarette butts were picked up from the grass and picnic areas of the parks within 90 minutes. The teens gathered butts from Vinsonhaler, Library and Lely Aquatic parks among others in the area.

Cigarette Sales Fall in September

The volume of cigarettes sold in Japan in September plunged 60.4 percent from a year before to 9.7 billion cheap Davidoff cigarettes in the wake of last year's strong demand that preceded the country's largest-ever tobacco tax hike in October last year, according to a Japan Tobacco Inc. preliminary report released Friday. For the April to September period, domestic sales fell 41.2 percent from a year before to 50.9 billion cigarettes, the report said.

Legally Harsh Cigarette Warnings

The words are blunt, the images stark — unconstitutionally so, say tobacco companies, which turned to a federal judge last week seeking a reprieve from warnings the Food and Drug Administration has mandated for cigarette packs. “Cheap Davidoff Cigarettes are addictive,” the warnings say. “Cigarettes cause fatal lung disease.” “Smoking can kill you.” One image shows a man blowing cigarette smoke through a tracheotomy hole. Another displays a picture of healthy lungs next to a smoker’s grotesquely diseased lungs. The picture and warning together will take up half of the front of a pack when the regulation kicks in next year. The label must include a number for a smoking cessation program. A warning must take up the top 20 percent of a page of print advertising for tobacco products.