Cigarette butts are consistently the most collected items in litter clean-up efforts, which are a costly burden to local economies. In addition, tobacco waste may be detrimental to our natural environment. The tobacco industry has conducted or funded numerous studies on smokers’ littering knowledge and behavior, however, non-industry sponsored research is rare. We sought to examine whether demographics and smokers’ knowledge and beliefs toward cigarette waste as litter predicts littering behavior. Smokers aged 18 and older (n = 1,000) were interviewed about their knowledge and beliefs towards cigarette waste as litter. Respondents were members of the Research Now panel, an online panel of over three million respondents in the United States. Multivariate logistic regressions were conducted to determine factors significantly predictive of ever having littered cigarette butts or having littered cigarette butts within the past month (p-value < 0.05). The majority (74.1%) of smokers reported having littered cigarette butts at least once in their life, by disposing of them on the ground or throwing them out of a car window. Over half (55.7%) reported disposing of cigarette butts on the ground, in a sewer/gutter, or down a drain in the past month. Those who did not consider cigarette butts to be litter were over three and half times as likely to report having ever littered cigarette butts (OR = 3.68, 95%CI = 2.04, 6.66) and four times as likely to have littered cigarette butts in the past month (OR = 4.00, 95%CI = 2.53, 6.32). Males were significantly more likely to have littered cigarette butts in the past month compared to females (OR = 1.49, 95%CI = 1.14, 1.94). Holding the belief that cigarette butts are not litter was the only belief in this study that predicted ever or past-month littering of cigarette waste. Messages in anti-cigarette-litter campaigns should emphasize that cigarette butts are not just litter but are toxic waste and are harmful when disposed of improperly.

Prevalence estimates for tobacco use were higher among young adults who self-identify as sexual minorities compared with those who identify as heterosexuals. Tobacco use is strongly associated with alcohol and other drug use in this population. This study highlights the significant disparities in tobacco use behaviors among sexual minority populations and the critical need to conduct surveillance among these groups.

Counselors-in-training face the challenges of balancing academic, professional, and personal obligations. Many counselors-in-training, however, report a lack of instruction regarding personal wellness and prevention of personal counselor burnout. The present study used CQR methodology with 14 counseling graduate students to investigate counselor-in-training perceptions of self-care, burnout, and supervision practices related to promoting counselor resilience. The majority of participants in this study perceived that they experienced some degree of burnout in their experiences as counselors-in-training. Findings from this study highlight the importance of the role of supervision in promoting resilience as a protective factor against burnout among counselors-in-training and provide information for counselor supervisors about wellness and burnout prevention within supervision practice

Objective Describe differences in and factors associated with former smoking and nicotine dependence among women in Ireland, Sweden, France, Italy and the Czech Republic. Methods A cross-sectional, random digit dial telephone survey of 5000 women, ages 18 and older, conducted in 2008. Analyses were conducted using logistic regression models. Results Respondents from Ireland and Sweden had statistically significantly higher odds of having quit smoking within the 5 years prior to survey administration as compared with respondents from the Czech Republic. Current smokers from Ireland, Sweden, France and Italy are more nicotine dependent than those from the Czech Republic. Conclusions Respondents from countries with stronger tobacco control policies were more likely to be have quit smoking compared with those living in the Czech Republic. However, respondents in countries with some of the strongest policies (Ireland, Sweden, France and Italy) had higher odds of smoking within 30 minutes of waking, an established indicator of nicotine dependence. More research in this area is warranted, but this study suggests that: 1) now that the Czech Republic is beginning to implement strong tobacco control policy, they will likely achieve a rapid decline in population-level smoking; and 2) Ireland, Sweden, France, Italy and other countries with established, strong tobacco control policies would do well to consider what additional programs they can put in place to help their highly nicotine dependent population of smokers successfully quit.

Letters are welcomed and will be published, if found suiitable, as space permits. The editors reserve the right -to edit and abridge letters, to publish replies, and to solicit responses from authors and others.Letters should be suibmitted in duiplicate, double-spaced (including references), and generally should not exceed 400 words.