Smoke Screen Success

Well, MTV Smoke Screen has finished and it's been a huge success for a lot of the guys who have managed to quit the habit. Their final video diaries are up so you can see the advice they have to give at the end of it all. We saw British girl Rachel last month, so let's check out what she has to say about becoming a non-smoker!



Visit the MTV Smoke Screen website

African Children Poisoned by Nicotine

Here are some shocking facts from an article about how the tobacco industry is poisoning children in Africa.


Children in Malawi who are forced to work as tobacco pickers are exposed to nicotine poisoning equivalent to smoking 50 cigarettes a day, an investigation has found.

It is estimated that more than 78,000 children work on tobacco estates – some up to 12 hours a day, many for less than 1p an hour and without protective clothing.

The children reported common symptoms of green tobacco sickness (GTS), or nicotine poisoning, including severe headaches, abdominal pain, muscle weakness, coughing and breathlessness.

Everyday symptoms of GTS are more severe in children than adults as they have not built up a tolerance to nicotine through smoking and because of their physical size.

These children are risking their health for 11p a day.

Full article @ The Guardian.co.uk

Green tobacco sickness is a kind of poisoning that happens when you come into contact with wet tobacco leaves. Your skin absorbs the nicotine from the leaves. Think how at risk these kids are with no protective clothing on.

See also: 'Up In Smoke' documentary @ YouTube

A Tasteless Habit

What's your favourite food? Well, what if you couldn't taste that food properly anymore? This is one of the things that can happen to smokers over time.

A new study confirms what has already been likely known to most smokers - cigarettes lessen taste buds' abilities over time.

Read more @ All Headline News.com

Light Up, Beat Down

Take a look at this weird story from the US early this morning. As if being addicted to cigarettes didn't have enough problems!

A 36-year-old man is accused of hitting another man who refused to share a cigarette at a Salt Lake City bus stop.

...

The man declined to give away a cigarette. The man who had asked for the cigarette then punched the other man in the face and ripped the cigarette he was smoking out of his mouth, charges state.

Entire article

We think it might've looked something like this:

The Truth About Tobacco Companies

If you've seen our page about the tobacco industry, you'll know how bad these businesses are. Even with age limits in place, they still try to hook the next generation of young smokers. They want your money at the expense of your health in order to sell more cigarettes to even more people.

thetruth is one of the best sites we've seen in a long time. It puts you in the role of someone applying to work for Big Tobacco. See if you're the kind of person who could do that job.

31st May 2009 is World No Tobacco Day

The World Health Organization's annual World No Tobacco Day is on the 31st of May. This year's campaign is promoting the use of shocking images on cigarette packets instead of making them seem cool (which they're obviously not) with slick packaging. They're pretty effective as you can see.

Check out WHO's official page about the day, where you can see their posters and flyers and read more about the issues.

Last year's campaign was all about how cigarettes are portrayed by the media as glamorous fashion accessories. The tobacco industry also uses the media to target young people through advertising.

The tobacco industry spends billions of dollars each year spreading its marketing net as widely as possible to attract young customers, targetting youth in fun and familiar environments, at the movies, on the internet, in fashion magazines, and at music concerts and sports events.

Last year's site is still full of great information and interesting videos!

In related news, Ireland will ban tobacco advertisements starting from July.

Retailers will have to ensure tobacco products are kept out of sight in shops from July 1, under strict new Department of Health guidelines.

The guidelines also warn that not even a hint of any tobacco advertising can be visible in the shops.

In addition, customers must be shown just one packet of cigarettes at a time.

Read more