United States | Smoke Free Methods

Family Fun on a Camping Trip

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Many families enjoy taking vacations together, but when the budget is limited, expensive hotel rooms and dining out may not be a possibility. Camping is a great way to spend time together while enjoying the beauty of the outdoors.

Parents can first do some research to find nearby campgrounds. These will often provide primitive restrooms and running water, so for those who prefer not to be completely at one with nature, it can be an easier transition. Deciding what food to serve during the trip can be tough, but selecting things that are easy to transport and keep well in different temperatures will preserve the meals longer.

Choosing activities to do together will ensure that all members of the family will have an enjoyable experience. Older children and adults may enjoy playing games in the woods, while younger children often prefer playing with parents near the campsite. Campfires with roasted marshmallows is a very enjoyable camping activity, and families can tell stories, talk, and reminisce will sitting around the fire. Hiking and backpacking on the nearby trails is a fun way to see the sights, learn more about nature, and spend time together.

Using safety and precautions at all times against fire hazards and wildlife is necessary to keep everyone safe during the trip. If any problems arise, there are usually park rangers or campground managers nearby who can help answer any questions.

Camping is a fun way bond with family members and see the sights of nature. It is also a more cost-effective way to take a vacation together.

Filed Under: Addiction, Anti-Smoking Tagged With: Campsite, Family, United States

Helping Loved Ones Beat Addiction

Substance abuse and addiction are issues that many people struggle to overcome. Families across the world have been torn apart by substance abuse, whether it’s illicit substances, prescription drugs or alcohol. It’s extraordinarily painful to see loved ones cause themselves so much suffering because of their behavior. Addicts typically don’t have the ability to quit on their own and often need help even recognizing that they have a problem. Families can come together and hold an intervention where an addict is confronted in a calm manner by those who love them most in hopes of helping them see the need for change.

Serious addicts often need rehab at an inpatient facility to help them start down the road to recovery. Reputable rehab programs will not only help addicts deal with their addictions, but also address the underlying problems that caused them to use substances in the first place. In many instances, addicts resort to substance abuse to relieve medical pain, but also to ease emotional and mental suffering that can be associated with some kind of trauma they may have experienced. A quality rehab facility will employ the services of medical professionals, therapists, psychiatrists, and drug counselors to help patients achieve success. Treatment centers thatteach addicts and alcoholics how to make good choices once they leave will give a recovering addict an added push to stay sober and clean.

Many health insurance plans willcover part of the cost of inpatient and outpatienttreatment facilities. For people withoutinsurance, rehab can be extremely expensive ranging from $15,000 to over $40,000 for a 30 dayprogram. Obtaining an online insurance quote for health coverage that includes drug and alcohol treatment may be helpful. Alleviating the worry about the financial ramifications of rehab may be the one thing that causes a loved one to seek treatment.

Filed Under: Addiction, Treatment Tagged With: Addiction, Centers and Counseling Services, Drug rehabilitation, Health, Organizations, Substance abuse, Substance dependence, United States

California the Leader When it Comes to Anti-Smoking Legislation

ContentWhile individual states in the United States continue to introduce and enact stricter anti-smoking legislation, California is the clear leader in determining where residents and visitors should be able to be smoke-free. California had one of the first statewide ban of smoking in a workplace, including restaurants (enacted in 1995) and expanded that law to ban smoking in bars earlier than most other states (enacted in 1998).

In 2004, the state again led the rest of the nation in banning smoking within several feet of the entrance or window of a public building or in a state-owned vehicle. In 2008, California enacted a law that makes smoking in a car with a minor present an offense that can be cited if the driver has been charged with another traffic violation.

Individual cities and counties have followed their state’s lead and enacted even stricter individual smoking bans. Most Californian cities give landlords the legal ability to determine if residents can smoke within their buildings.

Calabasas, Calif. has what is widely considered to be the strictest anti-smoking legislation in the United States, which was enacted in 2006. The local law makes it illegal to smoke anywhere people may gather, including public sidewalks. Violators can face a misdemeanor charge and a fine.

The Californian city of Belmont made it illegal to smoke in apartments or condominiums (both in 2007). In the same year, building entrances or exits became a no-smoking zone in Burbank. In Berkeley, people cannot smoke on a commercial sidewalk or near a bus stop (2008). Pasadena enacted a law in the same year that bans smoking in any place where people are waiting in line, including at ATMs.

The strictness of California’s laws may have empowered other local governments to join the banning act, as several other states have continued to introduce anti-smoking legislation even as public awareness and furor over smoking has declined.

Filed Under: Anti-Smoking, Health Tagged With: Building, California, Health, Law, Passive smoking, Smoking ban, Tobacco, United States

How the Price of Cigarettes Correlates with Smoking Rates

ContentOne of the most important campaigns for anti-smoking activists is raising the effective price of cigarettes by encouraging a “sin tax” from individual states. But does raising the actual cost of a pack of cigarettes deter smoking?

The cost of a pack of cigarettes obviously will vary widely from brand to brand and from store to store. Additionally, individual states in the United States are all over the map when it comes to cigarette tax, which can vary from less than 50 cents to more than four dollars, which adds to the price of a pack of cigarettes.

For instance Missouri has the lowest cigarette state tax in the nation at 17 cents per pack of cigarettes and round out the top five of states that have the highest percentage of adult smokers. This would seem to indicate that a lower tax on cigarettes lead to a higher percentage of smokers. But New York, which has the highest per pack cigarette tax in the nation at $4.35 but sit almost exactly in the middle when it comes to percentage of adult smokers there. If half the nation smokes more than the highest-taxed people in the United States, how effective can raising the price of cigarettes really be?

Turns out, New York is an outlier. While the numbers don’t correlate perfectly, most states that charge a higher tax for cigarettes have a lower percentage of adult smokers in their population. Take the second highest taxer, as an example. The state of Rhode Island charges smokers an extra $3.46 for every pack and less than a handful of states can boast to have less smokers than them. The third highest taxer is Washington at $3.02 a pack and has the same claim to fame (they are the 47th state when it comes to population of adult smokers).

It’s pretty clear that emphasizing (and trying to raise) the money that is coming directly out of the pocket of the consumer may be the best way to reduce smoking rates.

Filed Under: Anti-Smoking, Health Tagged With: Cigarette, Cigarette pack, Health, Missouri, New York, Tax, Tobacco smoking, United States

Anti-Smoking Sentiment Spreading to Other Countries

ContentWhile the United States has been increasing the number of its anti-smoking laws since the 1990s (and seen a decrease in the number of people who smoke), other countries have only lately started adopting legislation banning smoking. Most of Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa have no national or even local legislation banning the use of the tobacco products. However, countries in Western Europe, the American continents and Australia largely have some level of nationwide or province-wide smoking bans that have been largely enacted in the last five years.

Australia has been especially vigilant in enforcing anti-smoking laws. However, the majority of laws banning smoking in indoor enclosed places were all established in 2006. South Australia and New South Wales followed in 2007 but it took the Northern Territory until 2010 to establish a ban on smoking inside restaurants and pubs.

India worked to establish itself as a smoke-free country in a continent that has continued to increase the percentage of the population that smokes. A ban on smoking in workplaces and in restaurants, hotels, transportation hubs and other indoor public places in 2008. Advertising for all tobacco products was banned earlier by the Indian government.

Beunos Aeries banned smoking in public places including most bars and restaurants in 2006 and most Argentinian cities adopted similar laws. Brazil has banned smoking in all enclosed public places except in some specific smoking areas whose purpose is marked.

Some countries, including China, do occasionally have laws in place but they are largely unenforced. Greece, which has the highest per-capita consumption of tobacco in Europe, also had most of its laws go unenforced until 2010 when stricter legislation was established.

The evidence is mixed on whether anti-smoking legislation leads to less tobacco consumption. Cuba and Chile have banned smoking in most workplaces but both are among the highest rate of smokers per capita in the world. Russia also have one of the highest rates of consumption but there are no smoking bans in effect.

Filed Under: Anti-Smoking, Health Tagged With: Australia, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Public space, Smoking ban, Tobacco, United States, Western Europe

Anti-Smoking Legislation Continues to Burn

ContentThe movement to ban smoking in public places has reached an all-time high in the United States, and despite the relative decline in public awareness of them, lawmakers continue to instill anti-smoking laws throughout the 1990s and into the 21st century.

Smoking laws vary widely from state to state and can even be different for different cities within the same county or state. About two-thirds of the most populated cities in the country have banned smoking in bars and restaurants and more than half the states have bans on smoking in enclosed public places. All in all, more than 70 percent of the U.S. population lives in a place where smoking is banned either in the workplace or in bars or restaurants. However, many of the states that have these types of statewide bans on smoking do allow some exceptions. These exceptions can include private clubs, cigar bars, casinos and workplaces with very few employees. Additionally, Michigan and Vermont are the only two states that ban smoking in all hotel and motel rooms – every other state allows these businesses to designate which rooms are smoking and non-smoking.

Eleven states have no types of statewide ban on smoking: Alabama, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, West Virginia, and Wyoming. However, in most of these states, certain businesses (such as bars, restaurants and workplaces) must post signs designating areas or the entire businesses as smoke-free or identify areas where visitors can smoke.

Since the 1960s, tobacco use in the United States declined from 40 percent of the population smoking to about 25 percent of the population. However, anti-smoking advocates have recently noted a stagnation in the rate of decline. Whether that is a result of too many bans or not enough is yet to be researched, but that has no slowed down the rate of which cities, counties and states are introducing and adopting anti-smoking legislation.

Filed Under: Anti-Smoking, Health Tagged With: Michigan, Public space, Smoking ban, South Carolina, Tobacco, Tobacco control movement, United States, Vermont

Support for Smoke-Free Laws Grow

ContentThe majority of states in the United States have anti-smoking laws of some sort. Most restrict cigarettes in bars, restaurants and workplaces although some go significantly farther – there are local laws in California, for instance, that don’t allow smoking to take place on public sidewalks or outside near doors and windows.

Over the last three years, the amount of Americans living under smoke-free laws has doubled in size. During this time, many arguments have been made against the spread of smoke-free laws, including the idea that restaurants, pubs and bars can suffer if subjected to anti-smoking legislation.

Research has shown that anti-smoking legislation has very little impact on local economies when focusing on the effect that the laws have on local restaurants and bars. The hospitality industries in various parts of the country that have insisted no smoking laws have not seen a general loss of profit, employment, sales or patronage. In some situations, bars and restaurants have actually seen a marked increase in sales and profits after anti-smoking legislation went into effect. In particular, the state of Washington saw bars and taverns post 20 percent more income after the first full year that an indoor smoking ban went into affect. Studies of the effect of anti-smoking laws in Minnesota, New York, Massachusetts and Florida – amongst other states – show no local adverse effects to the hospitality economy after the respective smoking bans went into effect.

Additionally, anti-smoking organizations continue to advocate the extension of these laws by pointing out the significant public health benefits and victories that have been discovered over the last decade. A recent study shows that the majority of smokers who want to quit smoking actually favor anti-smoking legislation because it gives them a pressure-free environment that can help them reach their quitting goals. Additionally, most diners, according to a Zagat survey, said they were more willing to eat out if they knew there wouldn’t be smoking allowed.

Filed Under: Anti-Smoking, Health Tagged With: California, Law, Massachusetts, New York, Restaurant, Smoking ban, Tobacco control movement, United States

The Effectiveness of Anti-smoking Ads

ContentA variety of techniques have been used over the past 10 years in an effort to de-glamorize the act of smoking. These ads â€“ most notably, those of the â€œTruthâ€ campaign â€“ are aimed toward teenagers. Since the likelihood of becoming a smoker is greatly reduced if a person hasnâ€™t started smoking by the age of 21, this demographic is particularly important to anti-smoking activists when it comes to reducing the numbers of smokers in the United States and worldwide.

The techniques often employed during these â€œTruthâ€ ads include short-term and long-term health benefits of smoking as well as emphasizing the detrimental effect that cigarettes can have on social relationships â€“ for instance, the smell of cigarettes on oneâ€™s clothes or breath can be seen as unattractive. While many ads tend to go for more shocking depictions of cigarettes, some use humorous appeals to get their point across.

Are the ads effective? A study published in the American Journal of Public Health indicates that it probably is. The percentage of youth smokers has gone down in every grade level that the researchers tracked from 1997 to 2002. The average decline was 36 percent. But how much of that decline is the natural progression of United States that smokes less and the effect of the anti-smoking advertising? The declines clearly accelerated after 2000 (after the first â€œTruthâ€ ad aired on television) and continued to accelerate over the next two years. Before the first â€œTruthâ€ ads ran on television, the rate of decline was an average of 3.2 percent per year, but double to 6.8 percent per year after launch.

Overall declines, both before and after the â€œTruthâ€ ads started airing, were more noticeable in younger students than in older students, but that result seems to reinforce the idea that stopping teenagers from picking up the habit early on is the largest deterrent to the growth of the smoking population.

Filed Under: Anti-Smoking, Health Tagged With: American Journal of Public Health, Cigarette, Health, Percentage, Tobacco, Tobacco control movement, Tobacco smoking, United States

Smoking Bans: A Momovement for Public Health

There has recently been a movement against smoking, citing it as a major health issue. While the health risks to smokers have been known for some time, the health consequences of second-hand smoke (smoke that people around the smoker breathe in) are now coming to light. These discoveries are behind the recent push for smoking bans and other anti-smoking legislation.

The health risks for second-hand smoke are very similar to those of the smoker himself – asthma, emphysema, bronchitis, lung cancer, cardiovascular disease, and more. However, the risks to the smoker are those he assumes for himself. Since those breathing in the second-hand smoke have no choice in the matter, legislation has been enacted to restrict or prohibit smoking in public places in many areas of the United States.

Restaurants and bars are often the target of anti-smoking bans. These laws are said to improve the air quality for both the patrons and the for staff in these establishments. These laws were strongly resisted by these establishments, reasoning that the ban in one area will cause patrons to simply frequent a bar or restaurant in an area not affected by a local ban. (Studies done by both bar and restaurant associations have shown a decline in revenue after anti-smoking legislation has been passed. Studies done by the government and other agencies have shown no negative economic impact, and some even show a positive one.)

Benefits to public health after the enacting of anti-smoking laws have sometimes been quite impressive. Some areas have reported as much as a 40% reduction in heart attacks after the introduction of anti-smoking laws (as was the case in Pueblo, Colorado, and Helena, Montana). Other research has shown an improvement in the overall health of bar workers after smoking bans have been put in place, especially for those workers that are plagued by asthma.

Filed Under: Addiction, Anti-Smoking, Health Tagged With: Passive smoking, Smoking ban, United States

Smoking Ban Overview: California Laws

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Smoking bans are popping up in every city and state across the United States. Some of the states are fairly lax in their laws, allowing for a lot of provisions and wiggle room for businesses to still allow smoking in public places. Other states are stricter and have very restricting laws against smoking in public.

One of the strictest states for smoking bans is that of California. California has some of the strictest state and city smoking laws in the whole United States.

Here is a brief overview of the state smoking ban as proposed by California.

California bans smoking in any enclosed public business. This includes any bar, restaurant, club or area where smoking might be poplar. The law does not apply to 50% of hotel and motel rooms as those can be designated as smoking rooms, private residences, smoking bars, meeting rooms when food is not present and workplaces that have 5 or fewer employees. The state smoking ban goes even further then that and prevents smoking within 20 feet of a business’s window, doors or ventalation shafts. Rental properties are allowed to ban smoking completely but it is up to the landlord or company that owns the building, so it can vary depending upon location, company and landlord.

It is often believed that the state of California bans smoking on public beaches and sidewalks. That is true in many cities but it is not a state wide ban. However, in 2010 the state did try to ban smoking on public beaches, public sidewalks and parks but it was widely overturned by the public.

The strictest smoking ban is that of the city of Calabasas. It prohibits smoking in all indoor and outdoor areas except for a small portion of smoking areas in the city.

As the public’s opinion of smoking continues to change there are sure to be more and more stricter smoking laws being put into effect all over California.

Filed Under: Anti-Smoking, Health Tagged With: California, Smoking ban, United States