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AFP: Hong Kong workers fume over smoking ban.
Hong Kong?s government is set to enforce a blanket smoking ban in public places from July 1, aimed at protecting workers in the city?s bars, nightclubs, bathhouses, massage establishments and mahjong parlours from second-hand smoke.
Yet many workers regard the legislation as a death-knell amid a recession that has pushed the city's unemployment rate up to 5.3 percent. Bars have reported a drop in business as the slowdown bites.
"With the financial crisis, swine flu and now the smoking ban, it?s a perfect storm of trouble for the entertainment sector in Hong Kong," said Lawrence Ho, who has run a bar here for 18 years
Military advised to ban tobacco gradually.
The U.S. Department of Defense should phase in a tobacco ban in the military, beginning at military academies, an Institute of Medicine report said.
The report was requested by the Defense Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs. The government departments asked the Institute of Medicine to identify policies and practices that could lower rates of smoking and help soldiers and veterans quit.
Tobacco use reduces soldiers' physical fitness and endurance and is linked to higher rates of absenteeism and lost productivity, the report said.
The Associated Press: Saudi anti-smoking campaign targets young grooms.
The catchy slogan, "Kicking the habit is on you, and marriage is on us," is meant to entice young grooms to give up smoking by offering an attractive incentive.
And, indeed, hundreds have expressed interest in the first anti-smoking drive of its kind in the kingdom, with one man saying he is ready to take up smoking just to be eligible for the grand prize — an all-expenses-paid wedding.
In much of the Arab world, the groom alone bears the cost of getting married, including an expensive party, a dowry and a fully furnished house. Men often put off marriage until they've saved enough money to take a bride.
Hospital counseling helps heart patients quit smoking | Health | Reuters .
Smokers who suffer a heart attack may have better odds of kicking the habit if they get intensive counseling starting in the hospital, new research suggests.
In a study of smokers who were hospitalized for a heart attack or heart bypass surgery, those who were randomly assigned to an intensive smoking-cessation program were more likely to be abstinent one year later.
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