Category: Harm Reduction

  • Concerns over environment

    Concerns over environment

    From the moment its seeds go into the ground to the moment its dried and shredded leaves are set alight by the world’s 1.1 billion smokers, tobacco leaves a trail of untold destruction, according to a story at dw.com.

    Researchers from Imperial College London are said to have found that the industry’s annual carbon footprint is almost twice that of Wales.

    “If we continue to grow tobacco crops to meet the demand, we’ll have huge environmental degradation,” Vinayak Prasad, head of the World Health Organization’s tobacco control program in Geneva was said to have told DW.

    The story said that growing and curing tobacco accounted for more than 75 percent of tobacco’s carbon footprint.

    But it required plenty of land, water and energy; as well as pesticides and fertilizers that polluted nearby rivers and groundwater, and degraded the soil.

    The story conceded that the tobacco industry was a minor offender compared to the big names of global deforestation, such as the palm oil and soybean industries, but it went on to quote Sonja von Eichborn, director of the anti-tobacco non-governmental organization Unfairtobacco, as saying it “has a great impact at the local level, for instance in Tanzania”.

    There, she said, tobacco was responsible for up to six percent of annual deforestation, a figure that looked set to increase.

    In Pakistan, meanwhile, the WHO says plantations [presumably tobacco plantations] already account for almost 27 percent of yearly deforestation.

  • Slaying the ’50’ myth

    Slaying the ’50’ myth

    In introducing a news story concerning untruths that had been told about vaping, TR yesterday made a reference to the X-Files’ mantra: The truth is out there.

    It seems that that reference wasn’t as flippant as it might have appeared to have been. A recent account of misinformation about smokeless tobacco seems to travel deeper into X-Files territory.

    Writing on his tobacco truth blog on February 19, Brad Rodu (pictured), who is a Professor of Medicine at the University of Louisville (UoL) warned that smokeless tobacco users were in for harassment ‘this week’: ‘the 30th iteration of the annual Through With Chew orgy of smokeless tobacco misinformation’. (Rodu’s fully-referenced account is here.)

    Rodu, who holds an endowed chair in tobacco harm reduction research and is a member of the James Graham Brown Cancer Center at UofL, gave as an example a tweet from the US Department of Defense @ucanquit2 account on February 11: “Smokeless tobacco users are 50x more likely to get cheek, gum & mouth cancer than nonusers”.

    Rodu responded to what he referred to as ‘this blatant fabrication’ with a Tweet of his own on February 15: “Your 50 claim is a complete fabrication by a staffer @theNCI…” His Tweet referenced the science behind his claims.

    After his Tweet was liked by 24 people and retweeted by 13, Rodu reported ‘a strange chain of events’. The Twitter accounts of many of the above were suspended.

    The affected individuals pleaded with @TwitterSupport to make amends and, on February 16, Rodu also asked for a correction: “To @TwitterSupport, Pls restore me/others. I am a scientist, 25 years published in this field. My tweet was professional and credible. In 2010 @CarlBialik at @WSJ investigated ‘50’ number and reported it was a fabrication used by @AmericanCancer, others http://tinyurl.com/y6a7ox8a”.

    Rodu said that the Twitter-account suspensions were likely to have resulted from a complaint by an authoritative anti-tobacco figure or agency.

    Finally, on February 22, Rodu said, Jacob Sullum authored an article on the Reason Hit and Run Blog, ‘Did Twitter Punish Criticism of Government Propaganda About Smokeless Tobacco’ and, a few hours later, affected users reported that their accounts were returned to normal functioning.

    The truth is out there. But so are lies.

  • JT reducing emissions

    JT reducing emissions

    Japan Tobacco Inc.’s long-term greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction target has been approved as a Science Based Target (SBT) by the Science Based Target initiative (SBTi), according to a note posted on the company’s website today.

    SBTi is an international partnership between CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project), the UN Global Compact (UNGC), the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) that mobilizes companies to set SBTs in the transition to a low-carbon economy.

    ‘Our approved target, developed in line with the Paris agreement on climate change, is to reduce absolute Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions by 32 percent and absolute Scope 3 Category 1 GHG emissions by 23 percent by 2030,’ the note said. ‘This journey towards a zero-carbon future will be achieved by reducing our energy usage, as well as increasing the proportion of electricity sourced from renewable sources, while constantly looking at innovative ways to achieve and exceed our target.’

    “We are proud that SBTi has approved our target.” Chigusa Ogawa, senior vice president, sustainability management, was quoted as saying. “As a group, we strive to foster a sustainable environment for our business and for future generations. Climate change remains a key environmental challenge for us, as it can have a direct impact on our value chain and the society at large. As a global business, we recognize the opportunity – and the importance – to be part of the solution,” Ogawa added.

    The JTI note said that the company had been strengthening its approach to reducing its environmental impact under the JT Group Long-Term Environment Plan 2020, which had been established in 2014.

    ‘In 2017, the initial target to reduce GHG emission by 20 percent was already achieved and exceeded – three years ahead of schedule,’ the note said. ‘Our new target approved as an SBT demonstrates our ongoing commitment to tackle climate-related issues.

    ‘We are now establishing the JT Group Environment Plan 2030, in which our SBT fits as one of the key targets.

    ‘Further details will be published in the JT Group Sustainability Report FY2018 which will be issued in May 2019.’

  • Covering all the bases

    Covering all the bases

    Philip Morris last night held a UK launch party for its latest range of IQOS heated tobacco and vaping products.

    The launch was held in the basement of the ME on the Strand, London, and the party at the hotel’s Radio Rooftop Bar.

    Participants were given the opportunity of listening to a presentation by Dr. Moira Gilchrist, PhD, vice president of scientific and public communications at Philip Morris International about harm reduction and the part that PMI was playing in it by developing products that were underpinned by robust science and research.

    IQOS products were displayed and there were static presentations explaining, for instance, the timeline of product development from Accord to IQOS, and why it was that health problems stemmed from the inhalation of the products of tobacco combustion. One such presentation was headed, The Smoking Problem.

    In a press note, PM Ltd (UK and Ireland) said that the three new smoke-free IQOS devices were the company’s most advanced to date and had been designed to make it easy for smokers to switch away from cigarettes completely. According to PM Ltd’s MD, Peter Nixon, the new products have been specifically designed to give every one of the UK’s 7.4 million smokers a way to stop “burning tobacco”. “We are confident that our new IQOS range provides the solutions needed to help all UK smokers move away from cigarettes,” he said.

    One of the devices presented at the launch was the IQOS3, which was described as the latest version of the heated tobacco device featuring a longer battery life, faster charging and a more ergonomic design.

    The IQOS MULTI was described as a new, more compact heated tobacco device that had been designed to provide a different experience to PM’s other devices. With IQOS MULTI, consumers could use 10 back-to-back tobacco sticks before needing to charge the device.

    IQOS MESH, for which the UK is its first market, was said to be a premium vaping product that used a replaceable pod containing nicotine liquid. ‘It uses a unique “mesh” rather than the traditional “coil and wick” to offer a more consistent vaping experience,’ PM said. ‘There are seven different flavored pods.’

  • Breathing difficulty

    Breathing difficulty

    Pregnant women should be breath-tested during antenatal visits to check whether they are smoking, according to a story by Paul Cullen for The Irish Times quoting the findings of a new study.

    The study, conducted among women attending the Coombe hospital in Dublin, Ireland, found that women who hid their smoking habit missed out on vital monitoring of their pregnancies and ended up having more problems as a result.

    It found a ‘substantial number’ of women with high carbon monoxide levels – an indicator of smoking – had not declared their tobacco use.

    An increased level of breath carbon monoxide (BCO) was said to have been associated with lower birth weight of babies and an increased risk of adverse pregnancy and neonatal outcomes.

    The authors, with the Coombe and University College Dublin, said this finding strengthened the case for universal BCO screening at the first antenatal visit.

    A high reading should result in referral of the woman to smoking cessation services and close monitoring of the baby, they said.

  • Something to chew on

    Something to chew on

    About 5,000 transport-service workers in Mumbai, India, have quit using chewing tobacco by switching to another, tobacco-free chewing product, according to a story in the latest issue of the BBM Bommidala Group newsletter.

    The story said that more than 5,500 Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST) employees had been found to be regular tobacco users, 90 percent of them chewing tobacco users.

    The employees were mostly drivers and conductors.

    BEST’s medical doctors reportedly switched the small boxes these drivers and conductors used to carry their mixtures of tobacco, areca nut and slaked lime for canisters containing a mixture of fennel seeds, cinnamon, carom seeds, clove and rice powder.

    The replacement mixture was said to be devoid of the health risks associated with tobacco.

    The result was that ‘nearly all’ of the drivers and conductors quit their chewing tobacco mixtures and, presumably, continued with the new mixture.

    Doctors associated with the project said the new mixture worked because it mimicked the typical chewing-tobacco experiences of rubbing the ingredients in the palm of the hand and holding them in the mouth for long periods.

    There was no mention of how, specifically, nicotine addiction was addressed; or, indeed, whether nicotine addiction was ever a factor.

    The Ministry of Health is said to be seeking to replicate the experience nation-wide.

  • Studies have basic errors

    Studies have basic errors

    A cardiologist and tobacco-harm-reduction researcher has said that widely-reported studies claiming to show that electronic-cigarette use is associated with an increased risk of heart disease are misleading, according to a story by Diane Caruana at vapingpost.com.

    “They do not prove an increased risk and of course they do not prove that no such risk exists,” Dr. Konstantinos Farsalinos (pictured) was quoted as saying. “They simply cannot address the question of whether e-cigarettes increase the risk for heart disease or not.”

    Caruana’s story said that a recently-published study and conference abstract released earlier this month had concluded that daily e-cigarette use, adjusted for smoking conventional cigarettes as well as other risk factors, was associated with an increased risk of myocardial infarction.

    Media coverage of the conference abstract had stated that E-cigarettes linked to higher risk of stroke, heart attack, diseased arteries.

    But Farsalinos responded to these claims by saying that both conclusions were wrong and constituted epidemiological malpractice and misinformation.

    Farsalinos said the claims were based on cross-sectional studies, which provided information about whether participants had heart disease and if they used e-cigarettes, but no information about whether the participants initiated e-cigarette use before or after the development of the disease, or for how long. So the participants could have started vaping following a heart disease diagnosis in order to quit smoking and improve their health.

    Farsalinos said he was confident that both the authors of the published study and the American Heart Association, which released the press statement for the conference abstract, must be aware that statements about “increased risk” were wrong.

  • Quitting made easier

    Quitting made easier

    Electronic cigarettes will not be offered as an aid to help UAE smokers quit their habit until the full health impact of these devices is determined, according to a story in thenational.ae.

    This week the Government’s product regulator said that vaping products could be sold legally from mid-April, overturning the current ban.

    New regulations are being introduced to ensure product standards are maintained and to help the authorities stamp out the black market in these devices.

    But government doctors said the country would not go as far as some nations in promoting the devices to smokers who wanted to quit but who had failed to do so using other methods.

    Dr. Mohammad El Disouky, who is in charge of Dubai Health Authority’s smoking cessation clinic, said more long-term research was needed.

    “Consumers will now have full details of the chemicals contained in the products and information on how to use them,” he said.

    “From a public health perspective, this is a good move as people who are using these products will know they have been legally distributed under supervision from the authorities.

    “That will guarantee their content and will restrict what materials some companies are using.

    “But legalising and regulating e-cigarettes does not mean they can be offered as a quitting aid for tobacco smokers.”

  • Gateway appears blocked

    Gateway appears blocked

    A US health expert says that despite widespread claims that vaping is a gateway to smoking initiation among young people, the most definitive study to date of this issue has failed to provide any evidence to support that contention.

    Providing ‘The Rest of the Story’ on his tobacco analysis blog, Dr. Michael Siegel, Professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences, Boston University of Public Health, said: ‘If anything, it provides evidence suggesting that vaping acts as a kind of diversion that can keep some youth away from cigarette smoking’.

    Siegel was commenting on a landmark study, published on January 25 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. This was the largest, longitudinal study of youth smoking initiation – the PATH (Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health) study – and included two waves of observations on nearly 12,000 young people in the US.

    The main reported finding of the study was that ever use of e-cigarettes at baseline was a risk factor for ever use of cigarettes at follow-up, said Siegel. This was consistent with the findings of several other studies.

    ‘Buried deep within the article is the rather startling, but most critically relevant finding of the entire study: The investigators were unable to report a single youth out of the 12,000 in the sample who was a cigarette naive, regular vaper at baseline who progressed to become a smoker at follow-up,’ he said. ‘Why? Because the number of these youth was so small that it was impossible to accurately quantify this number.’

    Siegel said that it was necessary to await the results from future waves of the PATH study to have a clearer idea of the trajectory of youth vaping and smoking.

  • Preparing IQOS launch

    Preparing IQOS launch

    Philip Morris International is preparing to introduce its heat-not-burn products to the Philippines after the creation of regulations governing such products, according to a story in The Manila Standard.

    PMI Asia’s director for regulatory strategy and engagement James Arnold was quoted as saying that while some countries had no regulations covering these new tobacco products, consumers were nevertheless ready to embrace the new technology.

    “What we are doing is for those people who cannot and won’t quit smoking,” said Arnold.

    “Based on a study, there are millions of Filipinos who are still smoking and there [are] more than a billion smokers across the world. Twenty years after, there will still be a billion smokers globally. What do we want to do with them? At least provide them with better alternatives,” he said.

    Despite the absence of laws covering these products, a few people are using them, having acquired them from other countries or from the black market in Manila.

    “What is the most important here is the minimum age law,” Arnold said. “We don’t want children dipping their hands into something that should be regulated.”

    Quality and safety standards and health warning labels, though not as graphic as those seen on combustible-cigarette packs, were also seen as being critical.

    Another measure that would help improve the regulatory scheme was the scientific substantiation of the product and regular monitoring and surveillance.

    “Products that don’t burn should be regulated differently than cigarettes,” Arnold said. “This is totally a different category that should be regulated differently than cigarettes, although the same principles will apply.”