Cigarettes That Put Themselves Out May be Mandatory by 2009
CANBERRA—Self-extinguishing cigarettes could be mandatory from next year after a meeting of emergency services ministers in Canberra today.
A final decision will be up to Treasurer Wayne Swan but federal Attorney-General Robert McClelland said a commitment was reached at the meeting.
"We have committed to implementing a national standard for the introduction of reduced fire-risk cigarettes," he told reporters in Canberra.
"We're making recommendations to the treasurer," Mr McClelland said.
"The reality is that while there is commitment from all Governments to implement it, there will be some consultation with industry.
"The timetable we have asked treasury to work towards is early 2009."
Mr Swan will have the final call because making the change mandatory would require an amendment to the Trade Practices Act.
NSW Emergency Services Minister Nathan Rees, who initiated the debate, said 67 (67) people died last year from fires started by cigarettes.
"This issue has been around since 2005," Mr Rees said.
"In NSW, we have up to 20 deaths each year directly attributable to cigarettes that can't extinguish themselves and that's in addition to property damage which in some cases is up to $80 million a year."
A spokesman for the Australian arm of British American Tobacco said the company was broadly supportive of the aim.
"British American Tobacco supports the goal of reducing the incidents of fires caused by the careless disposal of lit cigarettes," spokesman Bede Fennell told AAP.
"We have been an active participant in the consultation process with the ACCC and Standards Australia and are grateful of the opportunity to ensure the practicalities of such a change and all unintended consequences are ironed out."
Mr Fennell warned smokers not to treat the new cigarettes as "safe".
"It is important, however, that smokers are aware that cigarettes produced to meet the proposed reduced-fire risk standard are not fire safe and all lit cigarettes should be carefully disposed of."
Smoking Doesn't Make Girls Skinny - Study
SYDNEY—Cigarettes stunt boys' growth and don't help girls lose weight, according to a new study which busts myths around smoking.
Australian anti-smoking groups have welcomed results of a major Canadian study showing the effect the harmful habit has on the waistline and height of teenagers.
Researchers tracked 1,250 youngsters from age 12 to 17, regularly comparing the smokers to the non-smokers every three months.
The research, published in the journal Annals of Epidemiology, concluded that girls who smoke do not end up skinnier than girls who did not smoke but, in fact, have a similar height and body mass index (BMI).
Among boys, smokers appeared to be shorter by an average of 2.54 centimetres compared to those teenage boys who did not smoke.
Quit Executive Director Fiona Sharkie said the findings were significant given many young women cite weight loss or weight control as a reason for smoking.
"Teenage girls who are unhappy about their weight often take up smoking because they think it will make them thinner," Ms Sharkie said.
"However, this study shows smoking has no impact on weight loss or weight control for young women."
She said dismantling the "thin" myth was enormously important as it might discourage teenage girls from taking up the habit in the first place.
Ms Sharkie also said that many teenage boys would be alarmed to learn that smoking does indeed stunt their growth.
"Sometimes we forget that boys are just as concerned about their body image. But I think these findings send a message to teenagers of both sexes that smoking has no physical benefits," she said.
Australia's smoking rate has fallen dramatically in the past 50 years. One in six Australians aged 14 years or over smoke tobacco daily now compared with seven in 10 men and three in 10 women in the 1950s.
Half of long-term smokers die of a smoking-caused disease, with the majority having started smoking in adolescence.
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