Author: Staff Writer

The Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association (CASAA) is urging President Barack Obama to advise the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to take the time needed to develop science-based regulations that will serve the interests of public health. CASAA is concerned that last week several organizations wrote to the president asking him to order the FDA promptly to assert authority over all tobacco products not currently under its jurisdiction.

CASAA is a nonprofit organization that works to ensure the availability of low-risk alternatives to smoking and to provide smokers and nonsmokers alike with truthful information about such alternatives.

“In 2009, four of the organizations that signed last week’s letter—the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, the American Lung Association, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network and the American Heart Association—jointly pressured the FDA to remove electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) from the market,” CASAA said in a press note. “The FDA tried to do so until a federal court judge ruled that e-cigarettes cannot be regulated (and thus banned) as a drug unless therapeutic claims are made.”

“Had these organizations succeeded in their efforts to prevent the sale of e-cigarettes in the U.S.,” said CASAA President Elaine Keller, “hundreds of thousands of former smokers would still be lighting up. Almost all e-cigarette consumers are former smokers who tried to quit by using some or all of the products and methods these organizations tout and kept relapsing. The option to switch to a low-risk product that is a satisfying substitute for smoking has made a smoke-free life possible for those who had almost given up all hope of ever being able to quit smoking.”

In their letter to the president last week, the organizations cited the recent report on youth use of e-cigarettes by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as proof that students in grades six through 12 were taking up use of e-cigarettes at an alarming rate. But CASAA said this misrepresented the findings.

“Only 2.1 percent of the youth had taken so much as one puff from an e-cigarette recently,” said the CASAA note. “As far as we know from that survey, none of them are using e-cigarettes daily, in contrast with the millions of youth who are known to smoke. The CDC did not report the daily use statistics for e-cigarettes, or even whether the e-cigarettes being tried contain nicotine.

“How do these statistics compare to recent smoking of conventional cigarettes? The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has published Results from the 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Summary of National Finding. According to the SAMHSA report, past month cigarette use among youths aged 12 to 17 fell from 9.1 percent in 2009 to 6.8 percent by 2012 for males and from 9.3 percent to 6.3 percent for females. Furthermore, the rate of initiation of smoking among youths in the same age group fell from 6.3 percent to 4.7 percent for males and from 6.2 percent to 4.8 percent for females.

“Those who want to ban e-cigarettes make up any claim they can think of, regardless of whether there is evidence to support it,” said CASAA’s scientific director, Dr. Carl V. Phillips. “If e-cigarette use really caused kids to start smoking and there really was an alarming use of e-cigarettes by youth, we would see an increase in kids smoking, the opposite of the actual trend.

“Someone who would try an e-cigarette but would avoid smoking presumably is motivated by avoiding the risk of smoking. The only reason I can see for someone to make the unfortunate transition from e-cigarette use to smoking would be if e-cigarettes were to become less accessible or deliberately made less attractive, which, ironically, could be the result if the type of excessive regulations urged by these organizations is enacted.”

David Paprocki (pictured) has joined NDC Infrared Engineering as regional sales manager for the Asia Pacific region.

Paprocki will be working from NDC’s Singapore office and will be responsible for sales of NDC on-line gauges and at-line NIR analyzers into the region’s tobacco industry.

Paprocki has lived for more than 20 years in Asia, where he has been involved in the management of distribution channels/direct sales for the process control/instrumentation and consumer product industries.

He previously worked in international sales, marketing and distribution from the U.S. and Canada.

The organizers of the TFWA World Exhibition are offering a free app, which they say will improve participants’ experience of the exhibition.

In all, 470 exhibitors have confirmed their participation at the event, which will be held in Cannes, France, on Oct. 25–26.

The TFWA app, which is available to download at the App Store, App World or www.tfwa.com, will allow users to:

* view the event’s programs, including those of the exhibition, conference and workshops, and social events;

* view the list of exhibitors and stand locations;

* view exhibition floor plans for all “villages”;

* view the index of on-site services and facilities.

Indonesia has made a formal request to the World Trade Organization for consultations on Australia’s imposition of standardized tobacco packaging regulations, according to stories by Agence France Presse and Reuters.

Such a request is said to be the first step toward a possible trade dispute.

Indonesia is the fifth country—behind Ukraine, Honduras, the Dominican Republic and Cuba—to challenge Australia at the WTO.

Since Dec. 1, 2012, Australia has required that all tobacco products be sold in packaging designed on behalf of the previous government to be as ugly as possible. Packs are hugely dominated by graphic health warnings, are otherwise a standard olive color, have no logos or other design features, and have brand and variant names in a standardized font and position.

The plaintiff countries maintain that Australia’s law breaches international trade rules and intellectual property rights to brands—arguments rejected by Canberra, and by Australia’s High Court following a case brought by tobacco companies.

The WTO challenges are not expected to be resolved swiftly.

In the meantime, the regulations are in force.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have awarded up to $53 million “to fund tobacco-related research in fiscal year 2013 to create 14 Tobacco Centers of Regulatory Science (TCORS),” according to a note posted on the NIH website.

“A new, first-of-its-kind regulatory science tobacco program, TCORS is designed to generate research to inform the regulation of tobacco products to protect public health,” the NIH said.

“Using designated funds from [the] FDA, TCORS will be coordinated by [the] NIH’s Office of Disease Prevention, directed by David M. Murray, Ph.D., and administered by three NIH institutes—the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. …

“The TCORS program brings together investigators from across the country to aid in the development and evaluation of tobacco product regulations. Each TCORS application identified a targeted research goal.

“Taken together, the TCORS sites will increase knowledge across the full spectrum of basic and applied research on tobacco and addiction.

“The program also provides young investigators with training opportunities to ensure the development of the next generation of tobacco regulatory scientists.”

The NIH piece is at http://www.nih.gov/news/health/sep2013/od-19.htm.

The American Thoracic Society (ATS) has accused the U.S. Food and Drug Administration of failing to take action on certain “dangerous tobacco products” such as “e-cigarettes and cigars.”

“The American Thoracic Society demands [the] FDA move forward to proposed rules to bring cigars, e-cigarettes and other tobacco products under FDA federal regulation,” the ATS said in a piece posted on its website’s newsroom.

“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released data showing that 1.78 million children have tried e-cigarettes. Like their traditional cigarette predecessors, e-cigarettes are addictive and have known adverse health effects. Also like their traditional cigarette predecessors, many e-cigarettes are being made with flavorings—such as grape, cherry and menthol—that are designed to appeal to children.

“Many cigar manufacturers are also making products intentionally designed to appeal to children. Candy-flavored cigars come in a wide range of flavors—chocolate, grape, apple, blueberry—and, priced at 99 cents per cigar or $1.99 for a pack of 3, are clearly within the price range of most kids.”

The ATS went on to say that “Big Tobacco” had escaped the candy-flavored cigarette ban by offering candy-flavored cigars.

“Big Tobacco has sought to escape smoking bans by creating smokeless e-cigarettes,” said the ATS.

“It is time for the FDA to use its authority.

“The ATS calls on the FDA to move quickly to issue public health-based regulations on cigars, e-cigarettes and other tobacco products.

“Further delay will mean more children getting hooked on these products and more tobacco-related death and disease.”

The full text is at http://www.newswise.com/articles/american-thoracic-society-urges-quick-fda-action-on-regulation-of-all-tobacco-products.

It is time to seize the moment and encourage tobacco users to move down the risk “continuum” from the most harmful to less harmful products, according to Murray S. Kessler, chairman, president and CEO of Lorillard, the owner of Lorillard Tobacco and Blu Ecigs.

Kessler was commenting in USA Today in response to an editorial titled “E-cigarettes threaten to undo years of gains: Our view.”

In his reply, titled, “E-cigarettes could reduce harm: Opposing view,” Kessler said that regulatory actions, including tax policy, should be used to encourage cigarette smokers to switch.

“For too many years, tobacco policy has been mired in an all-or-nothing philosophy,” Kessler wrote. “Under this approach, smokers are presented with just one alternative: quit.

“This mindset has prevented the implementation of a comprehensive public health strategy designed to reduce tobacco-related disease.

“Public health experts have long considered harm reduction an effective approach to limiting risks caused by various behaviors. Applied to tobacco, harm-reduction policies will make great progress. We desperately need to give more flexibility to tobacco users who do not want to quit or find it difficult to do so.

“E-cigarettes might be the most significant harm-reduction option ever made available to smokers …”

Kessler’s piece is at http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/09/22/electronic-cigarettes-blu-ecigs-editorials-debates/2850859/.

The editorial is at http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/09/22/e-cigarettes-smoking-addiction-editorials-debate/2850921/.

Tobacco lobbyists were preparing to wage a major battle against the imposition in Ireland of standardized tobacco packaging, according to a Times of London story quoting Health Minister James Reilly.

Reilly was said to have plans to go to cabinet next month with a proposal to impose standardized tobacco packaging and a ban on “slim-line packs.”

“The battle at the moment is to get the legislation through here but also to get the EU directive [Tobacco Products Directive TPD] through the European parliament,” Reilly was quoted as saying.

“The tobacco industry has, as we’ve seen reported recently, 161 lobbyists working for them in the European parliament to cover 700 MEPs. They are coming at us strong, but they are going to meet fierce resistance from me and from the people in government who are interested in the well-being of our children, in particular.”

There was no suggestion that the tobacco lobbyists were acting improperly.

The European Parliament is due to vote on a new commission-proposed TPD next month.

The TPD does not include a call for the imposition of standardized tobacco packaging, though some of the proposed policies would add up to a de facto standardized packaging regime.

In fact, some observers believe that the TPD, as currently proposed, would have little impact on cigarette use—taking into account licit and illicit cigarettes—while sidelining the products—snus and electronic cigarettes, for instance—that seem to have the potential to wean people from cigarette smoking, generally regarded as the most risky form of tobacco use.

The Dubai municipality has issued a comprehensive guide to help businesses to ensure they are in compliance with new anti-tobacco laws due to come into force on Jan. 21, according to a story in the Khaleej Times.

Under the new law, smoking will not be allowed in restaurants with floor areas under 1,000 square feet. The smoking areas within restaurants will not be allowed to exceed 50 percent of the dining area and should not be such that nonsmokers are obliged to cross them. The doors to smoking areas have to be automatic, and shisha preparing areas have to be separated from food preparation areas. Each smoker has to be provided with 20 square feet of space.

The working hours of cafés and shisha shops are stipulated at from 10 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. And these businesses are banned from selling tobacco products to those under 18 years or delivering them to unauthorized places.

More generally, smoking is banned at the entrance to, and in, public buildings, including health facilities, entertainment or gaming areas, offices, cinema halls, meeting and conference halls, shopping centers, canteens and places of prayer.