Category: News This Week

Italy has announced plans to raise the legal age limit for people buying e-cigarettes from 16 to 18 years old, according to an Agence France Presse story.

The new rules, which are due to go into effect on April 23, are scheduled to be in place until October 31, but they might be extended.

A study ordered by the health ministry found that the level of nicotine consumed, even as a result of moderate e-cigarette use, exceeded the recommended level established by the European Food Safety Authority. It wasn’t clear from the story who carried out the study.

E-cigarettes are increasingly popular in Italy, at least with the general public.

Malaysia is to crackdown on the illicit trade in cigarettes, which, it is claimed, is costing the government RM2 billion in tax revenue annually, according to a story in The Star.

The crackdown, which is to be led by representatives of the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry, along with police and customs personnel, will focus on high-density industrial areas and construction sites.

Ministry enforcement director Roslan Mahayudin, said demand for contraband was high, even in rural areas; so illicit products were still readily available, despite “relentless operations.”

The director said that the task force was targeting cigarettes that had slipped past customs checks and ended up in shops and with street vendors.

All grocery stores in residential areas and near schools in the United Arab Emirates city of Sharjah have been banned from selling cigarettes, according to a story in The National.

The ban, effective immediately, was passed on April 2 by the Sharjah Municipal Council.

Dr. Wedad Al Maidoor, head of tobacco control at the Ministry of Health, welcomed the decision, calling it “very good news”. He said that though it was not possible to prevent children from starting to smoke, the ban would make it more difficult for them to do so.

The ban is part of a series of anti-tobacco measures aimed at tackling smoking in the UAE.

A federal law on tobacco control was introduced in early 2009 and partly phased-in during 2011. It bans the sale of tobacco products to people under 18; smoking in cars in the presence of children under 12; smoking in houses of worship, educational institutes and health or sports facilities; and selling sweets resembling tobacco products.

Other regulations have banned smoking in shopping centers and shisha cafés near residential areas.

And in August, the Gulf Cooperation Council Standards Organization ruled all cigarette packs imported into the region had to come with one of three graphic health warnings.

Smoking might be a sign of psychiatric illness, so doctors should routinely consider referring people who smoke to mental health services in case they need treatment, according to a story by Jeremy Laurance for The Irish Independent quoting the British Lung Foundation (BLF).

The BLF suggestion came in response to a report, Smoking and Mental Health, published by the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Psychiatrists with the Faculty of Public Health.

The report statess that almost one in three cigarettes smoked in Britain today is smoked by someone with a mental disorder. And when people with drug and alcohol problems are lumped together with those with mental disorders, the proportion is even higher.

“Smoking is increasingly becoming the domain of the most disadvantaged: the poor, homeless, imprisoned and those with mental disorder,” states the report. “This is a damning indictment of UK public health policy and clinical service provision.”

Laurance’s story is at: http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/health/smoking-may-be-a-sign-of-psychiatric-illness-says-report-29163116.html

Hungary will issue a new tender for retail tobacco sales in 1,417 communities from which no applications were received during the initial tender, according to a Budapest Business Journal story quoting MTI-Econews.

The country’s parliament adopted legislation in September of last year for the establishment of a state monopoly of the retail sale of tobacco products on July 1, 2013.

The National Tobacco Trade nonprofit, which is overseeing the establishment of the monopoly, said that 15,633 applications for the retail sale of tobacco had been submitted by the February 22 deadline stipulated in the initial tender.

It set a new 30-day deadline for the submission of applications from the communities that had not responded to the initial tender.

More than 20,000 tobacco farmers in Migori, Kenya, have asked the county government to help identify investors who would be willing to build a factory in the area, according to a story by Manuel Odeny for the Nairobi Star.

The factory, presumably a leaf processing plant, was said to be one of the pledges made during campaigns for elections in March.

The Kenya Tobacco Farmers’ Association (KETOFA) said the Migori governor, Zachary Obado, and his deputy, Mwita Mahanga, should help speed up the investment.

“Migori has 20,000 out of 35,000 farmers across the country and the investment will increase government revenue and employment opportunities,” said Joseph Wanguhu, KETOFA CEO.

The smuggling of cigarettes into South Korea has soared this year, apparently on the back of mere plans to increase the excise duty on tobacco products, according to a story in The Korea Times.

The Times story said that the “value of illegally imported cigarettes from January to February was WON1.16 billion ($1.04 million)”, though it wasn’t clear whether this was an estimate of the total or the level of seizures.

The figure, which was contained in Korea Customs Service (KCS) data released by Kim Han-pyo of the ruling Saenuri Party, was said to be equal to 20 percent of the value of cigarettes smuggled during all of last year.

The KCS estimates that smuggling could be worth WON6.6 billion this year, the highest level in three years. The value of cigarettes smuggled into the country in 2011 was WON5.21 billion; and last year the value of this trade was estimated at WON4.47 billion.

“It seems that the ongoing discussion among officials to raise the cigarette tax is related to the increase of smuggling of the product,” Kim said. “It is highly likely that smuggling will further rise once price hike talks gain momentum.”

Since winning the election last December, President Park Geun-hye has sought ways to supplement the government’s welfare funds.

Her power transition team suggested imposing a higher excise duty on cigarettes.

The price of a pack of local cigarettes currently averages WON2,500, but some government officials have advocated increasing that to WON4,500.

Scientists at British American Tobacco have shown that less than a third of each snus constituent they measured was extracted by consumers during use.

A EurekAlert story on the BAT study published in Chemistry Central Journal is at: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-04/raba-tce032613.php.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has recommended changes to the warnings and directions for use of over-the-counter nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) products, allowing more people to use these products effectively for smoking cessation, according to a note included on Reynolds American Inc’s website.

“This is a very beneficial step by the FDA and will provide individuals who desire to stop smoking more realistic ways to do so,” said Tommy Payne, president of Niconovum USA, which is an RAI subsidiary and which markets Zonnic nicotine gum in Iowa.

“Currently, smokers are directed to stop using tobacco products prior to using NRT products such as gum, lozenge or patch, and to use these products for no longer than 12 weeks,” the note said.

“The FDA recommends using an over-the-counter NRT products on the quit day, even if the individual is not immediately able to stop smoking. The proposed changes also allow for use longer than 12 weeks following the advice of a health care provider.

“Makers of NRT products must obtain FDA approval to change existing labels and directions of use.

“In making the recommendations, the FDA concluded:

* “No significant safety risks have been identified associated with the use of NRT products for longer than the labeled 12 weeks of use;

* “There are no significant safety concerns specific to the concomitant use of over-the-counter NRT products with cigarettes or with other nicotine-containing products; and

* “Currently marketed over-the-counter NRT products do not appear to have significant potential for abuse or dependence.”