This drop in deaths applies to all of Europe, with those who are middle-aged seeing the greatest drop. Deaths from lung and other cancers related to smoking saw the greatest drop, researchers said.

Cancer deaths were at their highest in 1988 in the European Union and there has been a steady decrease since that time. Carlo La Vecchia, head of epidemiology at Mario Negri Institute and associate professor at the University of Milan in Italy led the research team. For every 100,000 men, there were 168 deaths, and 96.9 deaths per 100,000 women. Between 2000 and 2004, this was a drop from 185.2 per 100,000 for men and 104.8 per 100,000 for women.

Cristina Bosetti, head of cancer epidemiology at the Mario Negri Department of Epidemiology said, "The favorable trends in cancer mortality in Europe have continued over the most recent years. This is due mainly to the falls in lung and other tobacco-related cancers in men, the persistent decline in gastric cancer, but also appreciable falls in colorectal cancer."

Though new smoking laws may be tough on smokers, it seems there is some positive side to these changes of events…

[Via: Bloomberg]

As of December 1st, this state becomes one among many states to ban smoking in bars and restaurants. Though this is not to be the strictest of bans as smoking will be permitted in separate rooms with proper ventilation systems.

Going back as far as the colonial times, Virginia's prime crop and source of money has been tobacco.

Things started to shift in the state once lawmakers began to cut out smoking in places like Richmond and Raleigh, North Carolina. These two cities house the largest tobacco companies in the country – Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds. If they weren't getting their way, then who's to say Marlboro producing Virginia would stay clear of these changes.

If a state with such an extensive history in tobacco production is slowly cutting tobacco out, this is a sure sign that this trend is only going to spread, which is sad and kills our freedom…

[Via: Washington Post]

At Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Bonnie Spring and her team of researchers did a pool on 10 random clinical trials, where 2,233 smokers (154 of them men) were divided in two groups. Some were enrolled only in smoking cessation programs, while others took part in both smoking cessation and weight control programs. Those who took part in combined programs had a 29% higher likeliness to stop smoking than those who were only in the smoking cessation program. In the period after the program ended, six to 14 months later, the statistical difference between the two groups was not all that different.

In short term, those in the combined program gained less weight, gaining 2.1 pounds less after three months than those taking part in only the smoking cessation program. Once again there was not much of a statistical difference after six months had passed.

The conclusion to this research is that enrolling in a weight-control program while attempting to quit smoking will mean that you will put on fewer pounds, and possibly have a greater chance of staying off cigarettes after three months. Quitting smoking is all a question of self-control, and both smoking cessation and weight-loss require a great amount of this.

[Via: boston.com]

Smoking does damage to the body right from the start, the younger a person is when they start to smoke the more the damage to their DNA, according to researchers. Chemicals from tobacco smoke fuse with genes in DNA, causing mutations which are a precursor to cancer.

There are also many outside factors that can be affected by the choice to smoke. Students who smoke have be shown to be more prone to use other drugs, be violent, carry violent, exhibit suicidal behavior and take part in high-risk sexual behavior, according to reports from the American Cancer Society.

The problem is that teenagers have a tendency to be rebellious, and if they feel the need to act out, trying to stop them from engaging in any kind of negative behavior can be quite a difficult task. So these studies are damn stupid, like it or not.

[Via: newschannel5.com]

The vaccine is called NicVAX, and it blocks nicotine from entering the brain, stopping smoking from creating a feeling of pleasure.

Trials have shown a high success rate in stopping smokers from getting back on the wagon if they have managed to quit once.

Products that are available on the market currently do not have consistent success rates.

The relapse rate within a year is fairly high, at nearly 90% according to figures from the American Lung Association.

The vaccine is injected and creates anti-bodies that are bound to the nicotine molecules, which prevent them from entering into the brain.

[Via: Telegraph.co.uk]

Along with these changes, the sales of Febreze stopped, and photographer Susanna Howe has noticed another change – that no one wants their photograph being taken while smoking. She says: "Even those people who you wouldn't think would be all squeamish about it dash to put the cigarette out when you raise the camera to your face."

She had to move quickly to take photographs of her friends while they were still smoking. These pictures will be featured in the "Smokers" exhibition and video installation at Bird in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The photographs are both stylish and funny images of the last Mohicans of smoking, those who are not yet ready to butt out.

The world certainly is going to be a strange place without smokers…

[Via: NY Times Blogs]

Niconovum is a company that produces nicotine gum and nicotine replacement products, helping smokers stay off cigarettes. The company is based in Sweden and was founded by Karl Olov Fagerstrom, who is hailed as "one of the world's leading experts on smoking cessation and nicotine dependence."

Harvard School of Public Health professor Gregory Conolly researches tobacco products and is totally shocked by this report. He says that this type of purchase of the company "runs totally counter to the mission statement of (Reynolds American subsidiary) R.J. Reynolds."

All commentary on the R.J. Reynolds purchase was declined by the company, the spokeswoman said, "We have a longstanding policy of not commenting on stories based on rumors or speculation."

[Via: ABC News]

Better known as manic depression, bipolar disorder causes large changes in mood, from depression to euphoria. It has already been proven that patients with bipolar disorder who smoke are more prone to suicidal thoughts, but the reason has not been known.

New findings show that one of the symptoms of bipolar disorder is impulsivity and that this is what leads to both smoking and suicidal behavior.

Though smoking is not an absolute marker of risk of suicide, this type of information will be used to make patient assessment more comprehensive, suggest researchers.

Though most smokers do not face this type of risk, it goes to show how many aspects a smoking addiction can have and that smokers should be given more of a break…

[Via: ABC News]

Between 1998 to 2008, in the United States the percentage of smokers has dropped from 24.1 to 20.6 percent.

The report states that, "during the past five years, rates have shown virtually no change." The smoking rate has actually risen slightly from 19.8% in 2007 to 20.6% in 2008.

Dr. Thomas Frieden, the CDC director said, "Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S., and we know what to do. We want to provide support to states and localities to implement proven programs, and if we do that, we can save literally millions of lives in the decades to come."

Smoking levels are higher among those who do not have a college education. The director of CDC claims that the lack of funding for smoking cessation programs is the main cause of this problem…

[Via: usnews.com]

Dr Hilary Tindle from the University of Pittsburgh said, "It may be that smokers thing that a lighter brand is better for their health and is therefore an acceptable alternative to giving up completely."

Dr Tindle did a study on 31,000 smokers and found that 38% decided to switch to a lighter brand, with the logic that they wanted to smoke something that was less harmful, but nearly 60% did not succeed in quitting.

It was found that even though those who chose to switch to a lighter brand had a great will to quit, they were ironically less likely to quit.

So if you want to quit smoking this is really not the way to go. Smoking is a multi-layered addiction and just because the nicotine levels of a cigarette are low, that does not mean you can get rid of the force of habit.

[Via: dailymail.co.uk]