Category: News This Week

Pyxus International has signed an agreement with Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) to fund research of hemp production.

The research is intended to identify and address knowledge gaps through the evaluation of cannabidiol (CBD) hemp cultivars and cannabinoid production.

The partnership aims to provide growers and processors in the rapidly expanding hemp industry with unbiased data and insight on cultivation as the organizations work to reduce the risks associated with cultivation of this new crop through science and education.

This research is intended as a step in developing hemp as a profitable crop for farmers across the United States. Beyond providing growers and processors with valuable data and insight, the research coming out of this partnership may also be used by consumers to help them understand hemp and CBD.

“Pyxus is dedicated to advancing the cultivation of hemp,” said Bryan Mazur, executive vice president of Global Specialty Products at Pyxus International. “We are eager to learn from Cornell’s expertise and research in the field and are excited that this partnership will eventually be part of an even larger Pyxus initiative with additional partners and resources.”

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, at least 47 U.S. states have enacted legislation to establish industrial hemp cultivation and production programs. The Brightfield Group predicts the market for hemp-derived products will increase at a compound annual growth rate of 147 percent.

“Hemp production manuals already exist for grain and fiber; however, equivalent science-based information on hemp production for natural, plant-based cannabinoids and CBD is entirely lacking,” said Larry Smart, professor of plant breeding and genetics at Cornell University.

“Through our partnership with Pyxus, we will build the knowledge base to help the industry make informed decisions that are backed by research to ensure a stable supply of hemp to U.S. processors, and improve the livelihoods of our farmers.”

An anti-tobacco activist has called on the Philippine government to raise cigarette prices by 1,000 percent, reports The Philippine Inquirer.

Florante Trinidad of the WHO Tobacco-Free Initiative program said price hikes are justified regardless of arguments that driving tobacco companies out of business would be counterproductive.

In June, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte signed a law increasing the cigarette tax from PHP35 ($0.67) to PHP45 by 2020, to be followed by an annual PHP5 hike until 2023.

A leading cigarette brand now sells for PHP110 a pack.

Trinidad said Philippine tobacco taxes are still below the 82.2 percent tax hike imposed in New Zealand and the 77.5 percent increase imposed in Australia.

The U.S. state of North Carolina is suing eight vapor companies for targeting children and not requiring appropriate age verification when selling products, reports National Public Radio.

“Our complaints allege that these eight e-cig companies are helping to fuel an epidemic of vaping among high school and middle school students,” said North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein. “One look at their marketing materials demonstrates just how egregious their sales tactics are—with flavors like cotton candy, gummy bear, unicorn and graham cracker, they’re clearly targeting young people.”

North Carolina law prohibits the sale of e-cigarette products to those younger than 18.

The companies targeted by the lawsuits are Beard Vape, Direct eLiquid, Electric Lotus, Electric Tobacconist, Eonsmoke, Juice Man, Tinted Brew and VapeCo.

Earlier this year, Stein filed a similar lawsuit against vapor market leader Juul.

People violating restrictions on public smoking in Malaysia may face social punishments such as cleaning toilets, collecting trash and cutting grass, reports The Star.

“The punishment will make people think twice, especially those who can afford the fine,” said Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad. “So I am looking at social work punishments closely and judiciously.”

Speaking at the Health Ministry’s monthly assembly on Tuesday, Ahmed reminded employees of the ministry to show a good example by respecting the smoking ban in the ministry’s premises and in public places.

A smoking ban, effective Jan. 1, 2019, has come into force at all restaurants and stalls regardless of whether the premises are enclosed or open-air.

Philip Morris International (PMI) is in discussions with Altria about a possible all stock merger of equals, the companies announced Tuesday.

The companies did not disclose the stake each would expect to hold in a newly combined company, but people familiar with the talks told CNBC that PMI and Altria are weighing a 59 percent and 41 percent split, respectively.

The deal would result in a divided board and management, the people said, requesting anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly. The current deal being discussed does not envision a premium for shareholders of either company.

Talks intensified this summer, and a deal could be announced within weeks, the people said.

A deal would reunite PMI and Altria more than a decade after the two companies split. Altria spun off PMI in 2008 and has remained a largely U.S.-focused company selling Marlboro cigarettes domestically while PMI has focused on selling cigarettes overseas.

Low-nicotine gene-edited tobacco may be able to help combat nicotine addiction, according to a study by researchers from the Technical University of Dortmund, Germany, that was published in Plant Biotechnology

The researchers adopted CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) technology to disable six enzymes that are involved in the production of nicotine in the tobacco plant.

“We started the research three years ago,” said Julia Schachtsiek. “We just wondered why no real no-nicotine tobacco plant was available and not much was known regarding nicotine reduction. It would be interesting to see if the same results can be obtained with tobacco varieties used commercially in the tobacco industry to get nicotine-free cigarettes on the market.”

Low-nicotine gene-edited tobacco may be able to help combat nicotine addiction, according to a study by researchers from the Technical University of Dortmund, Germany, that was published in Plant Biotechnology

The researchers adopted CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) technology to disable six enzymes that are involved in the production of nicotine in the tobacco plant.

“We started the research three years ago,” said Julia Schachtsiek. “We just wondered why no real no-nicotine tobacco plant was available and not much was known regarding nicotine reduction. It would be interesting to see if the same results can be obtained with tobacco varieties used commercially in the tobacco industry to get nicotine-free cigarettes on the market.”

An Illinois resident who had recently vaped and was hospitalized with severe respiratory illness has died, reports USA Today citing the Illinois Department of Public Health.

As of August 22, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had not reported any deaths from vaping-related illnesses, making the Illinois case a possible first in the United States.

“This is the first death of an individual in Illinois who has been hospitalized for severe respiratory illness with reported vaping/e-cigarette use,” said Melaney Arnold, the department’s health information officer.

Illinois health officials did not say whether an autopsy was completed to determine the cause and manner of the person’s death. It is unclear if the individual had any preexisting conditions.

The number of cases reported to the Illinois Department of Public Health of people who have used e-cigarettes or vaped and have been hospitalized with respiratory symptoms has doubled in the past week, the state department said.

“Everybody needs to be on alert,” Wendy Sue Swanson, a pediatrician at Seattle Children’s Hospital, was quoted as saying.

The CDC announced on Friday that there are now 193 potential cases of lung disease from vaping in 22 states.

Imports of tobacco stems and roots have surged in Korea after the government implemented a special consumption tax on products manufactured with leaves, according to a report in The Korea Bizwire.

According to the Strategy and Finance Committee, imports of nicotine solutions extracted from stems and roots increased from 5 tons in 2016 to 90 tons in 2017 and 175 tons in 2018.

Meanwhile, imports of nicotine solutions extracted from leaves fell from 17 tons in 2016 to 7 tons in 2017 and 6 tons in 2018.

In 2016, the ministry of strategy and finance determined that nicotine extracted from stems and roots was not covered by the tobacco business law.

The Strategy and Finance committee said that importers often report nicotine solutions as being derived from stems and roots in order to avoid the burden of the special consumption taxes.

Analysts have urged the government to include stems and roots in the tobacco business law.

The proportion of people affected by passive smoking at workplaces in Japan fell below 30 percent for the first time last year, reports The Japan Times, citing a new survey.

The figure declined 8.4 percentage points from the previous year to 28.9 percent, according to the November 2018 survey, in which valid responses were received from about 9,000 workers and roughly 7,700 offices.

The share of businesses taking measures to tackle passive smoking rose 3.1 points to a record high of 88.5 percent. Most firms have banned indoor smoking.

A revised health promotion law passed last year bans indoor smoking in spaces used by many people, such as company offices and restaurants.
It is scheduled to take effect in April 2020.

The PETA International Science Consortium, Imperial Brands, Altria Client Services (ALCS), British American Tobacco (BAT), and Philip Morris International have joined together to donate equipment that can help to replace the use of animals in respiratory testing with more human-relevant, non-animal test methods.

The equipment—worth $110,000 and manufactured by Germany-based Vitrocell Systems—was donated to the Institute for In Vitro Sciences (IIVS), a non-profit laboratory in Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA, that conducts animal-free testing. It will be used in the IIVS in vitro respiratory toxicology laboratory, which helps companies assess the effects of tobacco, nicotine and other aerosols on the human respiratory tract. Results from these tests will also help to show regulatory agencies, such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, that non-animal methods are accurate and effective and can be used instead of tests on animals.

This donation follows the Science Consortium’s gift of five Vitrocell in vitro exposure systems to laboratories around the world. “This latest donation takes us one step closer to replacing the use of animals in inhalation testing,” says Amy Clippinger, president of the Science Consortium. “Testing chemicals on cells in a way that mimics real-life exposure will lead to more human-relevant results and spare animals’ lives.”

“We are delighted to contribute to the IIVS, a leader in the advancement of alternatives to animal testing, whose principles are in alignment with our own established position on using in vitro assays–preferably using human-derived cells,” says Tanvir Walele, head of scientific research and harm reduction at Imperial Brands. “We believe these assays are a more relevant replacement for in vivo animal testing.”

“We actively support the development, validation, use, and regulatory acceptance of non-animal testing methods to minimize the use of animal tests and are pleased to be one of the companies supporting this donation,” says Maria Gogova, vice president of regulatory sciences at ALCS.

“We are pleased to be an industry partner in this important initiative,” says Marianna Gaca, head of pre-clinical assessment at BAT. “IIVS’ leadership in in vitro approaches should help to ensure the adoption of a non-animal testing paradigm for tobacco and nicotine products. We are witnessing remarkable advances in in vitro methodologies at present; these have several possible applications including much faster test results that are much more physiologically relevant to humans. ”