Author: Staff Writer

Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights (ANR), a proponent of the ‘quit or die’ approach to smoking cessation, is misleading the public about the hazards of electronic cigarettes, according to Elaine Keller, president of The Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association (CASAA).

In a press note released through PR Newswire, CASAA said that a recent ANR press release had falsely claimed that there was ‘a lack of independent peer-reviewed scientific evidence demonstrating the safety or efficacy’ of electronic cigarettes for smoking cessation.

‘FDA-approved nicotine patches, gum, lozenges, nasal sprays, and oral inhalers are referred to as Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) products, but all these products are aimed at reducing the daily intake of nicotine to zero, and all have a 93 per cent mid-year failure rate,’ the CASAA press note said.

‘In contrast, a growing body of scientific evidence is showing that providing smokers with a low-risk alternative such as electronic cigarettes is a much more effective way than nicotine-abstinence to achieve abstinence from smoking.

‘BMC Public Health, a peer-reviewed scientific journal, published the results of an Italian pilot study that monitored modifications in smoking habits of 40 smokers not interested in quitting smoking.

‘The researchers observed a 50 per cent reduction of smoking in 32.5 per cent of subjects and an 80 per cent reduction in 12.5 per cent of subjects.

‘But they were astonished to discover that at the end of the six-month study, 22.5 per cent of these unwilling-to-quit subjects had completely stopped smoking.

‘Among smokers that want to quit, the results are even more remarkable.’

CASAA cited also the peer-reviewed American Journal of Public Health that had published the results of an online survey of first-time buyers of a particular brand of e-cigarette. The six-month smoking abstinence rate was 31 per cent among this group, it said.

The full text is at: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/americans-for-nonsmokers-rights-shamelessly-promotes-continued-smoking-makes-false-claims-about-hazards-of-electronic-cigarettes-172180501.html.

Spain’s proposed budget includes a measure to reduce further the tobacco allowances for certain categories of people arriving from Gibraltar, according to a story by Brian Reyes for the Gibraltar Chronicle.
The budget, which is still to be debated and approved by parliament, would cut the number of cigarettes that frontier workers and residents of the Campo de Gibraltar of Spain can carry into Spain during any given month by over half.

The limit on the quantity of cigarettes that could be carried into Spain from Gibraltar by people living within a radius of 15 km of the border had already been reduced from three cartons a month to one carton a month.

Now, it is proposed, the limit should be further reduced to four packs a month.

The Spanish government reportedly said the move was necessary to tackle a rise in the ‘abuse’ of existing tobacco allowances by ‘frontier residents and frontier workers’ leaving Gibraltar.

There was no mention of how reducing the legal allowance by one pack a month would tackle the abuse of the existing system.

British American Tobacco p.l.c. has maintained its position as industry leader in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.

According to a company press note, the company achieved an overall score of 88 per cent to remain on both the World and Europe indexes for an 11th year in a row.

‘The Dow Jones Indexes have earned an enviable reputation for the robust nature of their analysis, assessing more than 1,500 sustainability-driven global companies for their economic, environmental and social performance,’ the note said.

‘A detailed assessment of companies’ performance covers both general and industry specific criteria including: brand management; energy consumption; raw materials sourcing; and talent attraction and retention.

‘British American Tobacco was one of only 340 – less than a quarter of those assessed – who made the final cut. Such was the company’s high level of performance, it achieved best industry scores in 13 of the 20 categories.

‘It also scored a maximum 100 per cent rating in six key categories:

* Risk and Crisis Management;
* Combatting Smuggling;
* Environmental Policy/Management System;
* Fuels for Tobacco Curing;
* Human Capital Development;
* Responsible Marketing Policies.

‘In addition, the company achieved a best score of 93 per cent in the new Supply Chain Management category.’

“This is a genuinely fantastic result for the company and one that every single one of our employees should take great pride in,” said BAT’s international sustainability manager, Jennie Galbraith.

“British American Tobacco was the first tobacco company included on the index eleven years ago and we have been included each year since. This highlights that our employees across the group have consistently met the high standards required of a sustainable international business.”

Dow Jones publishes one sustainability index and three sub indexes; with the index covering the world and the three sub indexes covering Europe, Asia and North America.

All are based on the co-operation between Dow Jones Indexes and the Sustainable Asset Management (SAM) Group.

The Irish Cancer Society and the Irish Heart Foundation want the tax on cigarettes to be increased from 79 per cent to 90 per cent, according to an Irish Times story relayed by the TMA.

In a submission to the Department of Finance, the organizations claimed that the tax increase would generate €150 million a year, money that could be used to help pay for smoking-related health costs and smoking cessation programs.

They dismissed industry claims that higher prices would fuel smuggling, but called for the improved targeting of smuggling and increased spending on prevention measures.

The groups propose that the price of cigarettes increases by five per cent a year over the rate of inflation.

And they recommend the creation of a new regulatory agency called OfSmoke, which would regulate prices and be funded by a fee on manufacturers.

Finlandseems to be wrestling with the question of how to ban tobacco flavors on the grounds that they make cigarettes more risky than they would otherwise be without implying that the resulting unflavored cigarettes carry a reduced risk.

A recent Esmerk Finnish News story quoted the Finnish National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health as saying that tobacco additives were used to make smoking more attractive by reducing the bitter taste and softening the irritating smoke. And it said that these additives might be dangerous.

The director general ofFinland’s National Institute for Health and Welfare, Pekka Puska, considers the use of these additives unethical and he is ready to restrict their use.

However, he is apparently keen to avoid introducing more bureaucracy at a time when smoking continues to decrease inFinland.

And he wants to avoid the suggestion that restricting the use of additives would make smoking less of a health risk.

Higher cigarette taxes may be hurtingNew York’s low-income smokers financially rather than making them more likely to quit, according to an ABC report quoting the results of a new survey by researchers at RTI International.

The survey, which looked at more than 13,000 people living in New York state, found that some lower-income smokers spent nearly a quarter of their household incomes on cigarettes compared with the average two per cent spent by wealthier smokers.

The national average spent by lower-income smokers – those with a household income under $25,000 a year – was 14 per cent.

New Yorkcarries a considerably higher excise tax than do other states – $4.35 a pack compared with the national average of $1.46 a pack.

But even with the higher taxes, the state has not seen a decline in the number of lower-income smokers over the last decade, according to RTI, a non-profit research group that received funding from the New York State Department of Health for the survey.

“Excise taxes are effective in changing smokers’ behavior,” Matthew Farrelly, chief scientist and senior director of RTI’s public health policy research program, and study author, said in a statement. “But not all smokers are able to quit, and low-income smokers are disproportionately burdened by these taxes.”

Philip Morris (Malaysia) is to invest RM70 million at its Seremban tobacco processing plant to double its capacity, according to a Bernama News story relayed by the TMA and quoting the company’s managing director, Tarkan Demirbas.

But it is to discontinue cigarette manufacturing inMalaysiaprimarily due to increasing costs and the country’s high levels of smuggling.

Demirbas said the company would import all its cigarettes for sale on the domestic market as of the second quarter of next year, subject to its having obtained all of the necessary regulatory approvals.

About 220 full-time workers of the company will lose their jobs because of the restructuring exercise, he added.

In a unanimous vote, the Rwandan Senate last week passed a tobacco control bill first tabled in parliament on June 10, 2010, according to a story in The New Times.

The bill prohibits tobacco smoking in enclosed public places, including restaurants and bars, though the owners and managers of those venues may provide smoking areas provided that non-smokers are not inconvenienced.

The bill bans tobacco advertising through sponsorships.

And it obliges any one seeking to grow tobacco on more than half a hectare of land to obtain a license from the government.

Tobacco farmers from North Darfur, Sudan, have asked the Islamic Fiqh Academy to find them an alternative livelihood following its prohibition of tobacco sales, according to a Radio Dabanga report.

The farmers were quoted as saying that four million people inDarfur were dependent on the cultivation and sale of tobacco.

They claimed that tobacco had been produced in the region since 1850.

The European Commission has been asked whether or not it is to include in its proposal for the revision of the EU’s Tobacco Products Directive manufacturer liability for the financing of all health care costs arising from tobacco consumption.

The proposed revisions are due to be made public before the end of the year.

In a preamble to a number of written parliamentary questions, Karl-Heinz Florenz, of the European People’s Party grouping, said that in its 2007 resolution on the green paper, ‘Towards a Europe free from tobacco smoke: policy options at EU level’, the European parliament had demanded the application of product liability in respect of manufacturers and the introduction of manufacturer liability for the financing of all health costs arising from tobacco consumption.

‘Will the Commission proposal for a revision of the Tobacco Products Directive take up the above-mentioned demand made by the European Parliament?,’ he asked. ‘If so, in what form? If not, why not?

‘If manufacturer responsibility does not form part of the new proposal expected in November, will it be introduced in another context (e.g. at a later time or in another Commission legislative proposal)?’