You know, I used to smoke a lot. I mean, like crazy. Easily 30-50+ cigarettes a day!

A health expert says that popular internet sites including YouTube, Facebook and MySpace are being used to promote smoking to teenagers. University of Sydney public health professor Simon Chapman welcomed new figures showing that rates of youth smoking were down, but warned the internet was becoming the new battleground for new teen smokers. Prof Chapman said smoking among young people was at its lowest rate since studies began in the 1980s. [click link for full article]

Nobody would be surprised to hear that the smoking ban in Irish pubs has improved air quality. However, it seems that the quality of music has also improved, according to a Letter in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), this week’s issue. Pub sessions are commonplace in Irish pubs. A pub session is where musicians play traditional music. [click link for full article]

Taking cue from European cities where smoking in public places is banned, the Delhi government is taking steps to make the capital smokefree by 2009. “The smokefree city will mean that the ban on smoking in public places such as offices, public transport, shops, hotels and restaurants will be enforced stringently,” according to the Health Minister Yoganand Shastri. [click link for full article]

After just three months of smokefree public places in England, research published by ASH (Action on Smoking & Health), Asthma UK and the British Thoracic Society shows 97% of smokers are respecting the ban fully or quitting smoking completely, leaving the rest of us to breathe a sigh of relief. Three quarters (73%) of adults say the new law has been good for their health. [click link for full article]

One of the prominent features of China’s growing economy are the millions of smokers. They make up of a quarter of the world’s smokers and consume one-third of the world’s cigarettes, registering a growth rate of more than 10%. This voracious appetite for cigarettes is undergoing some subtle changes, refecting the country’s social evolution. Nonetheless, these trends are not likely to decrease the Chinese addiction to smoking. [click link for full article]