Category: Harm Reduction

Tax on e-cigs should be zero
Declining smoking rates in Europe mean less tax revenue for many fiscally strained governments, but trying to make up for these losses with a tax on electronic cigarettes would be a big mistake, according to piece by Alex Brill published on euractiv.com.
Brill is a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington DC-based think tank.
Following actions by some European nations, the European Commission was now contemplating the proper tax treatment of e-cigarettes and had just finalised a public consultation on the topic, he wrote.
Taxing e-cigarettes would have a negative effect on nascent, but important, public health gains for four reasons.
The first reason was that e-cigarettes posed a far lower risk to the health of users and non-users than did traditional tobacco cigarettes.
The second was that e-cigarettes were effective tools for helping smokers quit.
The third was that e-cigarette usage was still relatively low and a tax would discourage smokers from switching.
And the fourth was that taxing e-cigarettes had not proven to address budget woes.
Brill said that the good news was that the clinical evidence clearly indicated that e-cigarettes were less risky substitutes for conventional cigarettes.
‘Given that a core objective of the European Commission Tobacco Products Directive is to ensure “a high level of health protection for European citizens”, the proper tax to levy on e-cigarettes should be self-evident: none,’ he wrote.
The full euractiv.com version of Brill’s piece, which has been published also in media outside of Europe, is at: https://www.euractiv.com/section/health-consumers/opinion/dont-thwart-an-ally-in-the-war-on-tobacco/.
May 15, 2017
Korea awaits iQOS launch
Philip Morris International is expected to announce the launch of its heated-tobacco cigarette iQOS in South Korea this week, according to a story in The Korea Herald quoting ‘industry sources’.
The Korean launch of iQOS is expected to be officially announced by PMI Korea’s managing director Chong Il-woo at a press conference scheduled for Wednesday.
A spokesperson for PMI declined to comment.
The launch of iQOS has been anticipated in Korea following the popularity of the product in Japan, where it was launched in 2014.
‘Other companies such as British American Tobacco have also been watching the market to launch their own heated-tobacco products,’ the Herald story said.
‘The introduction of heated products has been delayed because of unstable prices and an absence of regulation in the category.’
May 15, 2017
Snus milestone passed
Snus does not lead to an increased risk of pancreatic cancer, according to a study by Sweden’s Karolinska Institute published in the International Journal of Cancer.
The study, which looked at 400,000 men (of which 30 percent had used snus) and which was the most comprehensive of its kind within this area of research, did not find an increased risk among snus users, no matter how long a person had been using snus or how much snus he consumed.
The study used also findings from previous studies.
“The study results are the most significant scientific news on snus since 2001 when the cancer warnings on snus cans were removed following the dismissal of an association with oral cancer,” said Lars Erik Rutqvist, Professor of Oncology and senior vice president scientific affairs at Swedish Match. “This also means that the last remaining alarm on Swedish snus and an association with cancer now can be dismissed.
“For those who follow the development within this area of research, this conclusion was evident already in 2011 when the risk was dismissed in the largest study at the time. This was however not noticed by Swedish authorities, which was surprising.
“Hopefully, the results can contribute to lowering the reluctance of smokers who have not been able to quit smoking with other methods towards switching to snus.
“The current evaluation of the health risks associated with using snus now must be rewritten. This will of course have a significant impact on the political efforts striving to equate snus with cigarettes.
“The health risks are now to be comparable with other nicotine-containing products such as chewing gum and patches.”
May 12, 2017
Senate confirms FDA head
The US Senate voted 57 to 42 yesterday to confirm Dr. Scott Gottlieb as commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, where he will be responsible for regulating drug companies to which he has had close ties in recent years, according to a story by Katie Thomasmay.
Gottlieb has promised to divest himself from several health care companies and recuse himself for one year from decisions involving those businesses, but that was not enough for many Democratic senators, including Patty Murray of Washington.
“He has not convinced me he can withstand political pressure from this administration, or that he will be truly committed to putting our families’ health first,” Murray said during the debate before Tuesday’s vote. “I’ve grown increasingly concerned about whether he can lead the FDA in an unbiased way, given his unprecedented industry ties.”
In a statement, Tom Price, the health and human services secretary, said Dr. Gottlieb’s “background will be crucial” for maintaining the FDA’s high standards for safe treatments “while advancing new, innovative solutions” to the nation’s public health challenges.
For Gottlieb, this is a return to the agency where, during the administration of President George W. Bush, he held various jobs, including that of deputy commissioner.
He will take over a sprawling agency that regulates everything from food to drugs, medical devices and tobacco products, which include, according the FDA’s deeming regulations, products such as electronic cigarettes.
Unless the regulations on vapor products are changed, many observers believe that most of these products will disappear from the market along with the hopes of many people trying to quit smoking.
The full story is at: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/09/health/scott-gottlieb-senate-fda-commissioner.html?emc=edit_tnt_20170509&nlid=60534081&tntemail0=y&_r=1.
May 10, 2017
Thailand investigating hemp
The Thailand Tobacco Monopoly (TTM) is considering planting hemp and processing it for use in consumer products, including cigarette papers, according to a story by Wichit Chantanusornsiri for the Bangkok Post.
It is interested in other products, too, in particular hemp seed oil.
Daonoi Suthinipaphan, the enterprise’s MD, told the Post in an interview that the TTM was seeking a partnership with the private sector to fulfil its ambitions in respect of hemp cigarette papers.
The story said that hemp seed oil could be mixed into cigarettes to reduce the quantity of nicotine and tar residues, and that the flavor of cigarettes with such oil was similar to that of traditional cigarettes. And it said that hemp rolling papers did not burn when they were lit, which reduced the dispersion of harmful cigarette smoke.
Daonoi said that the TTM had learned of the benefits of hemp rolling paper from overseas research and would conduct its own study before the rolling papers were manufactured.
“Some smokers would prefer to buy imported cigarettes, but there is inadequate supply to meet their demand,” she said. “We hope to manufacture cigarettes that are less harmful to Thais’ health.
“We have challenged ourselves to possibly produce cigarettes that do not have a negative effect on health.
“We’re carrying out our own research study on the issue, but some doctors will still be opposed to our new products because they are against smoking.
“We are starting at the question of whether we can lower nicotine and tar in cigarettes.”
May 10, 2017
Warnings up to 90 percent
The government of Nepal is aiming to require that tobacco manufacturers include 90-percent graphic health warnings on their products from 2018, according to a story in The Kathmandu Post
The requirement would be aimed at discouraging tobacco consumption.
But it was not clear from the story how far along the road were plans for the new warnings.
Addressing an event in the capital entitled, the South Asian leadership training for the control of tobacco products, the Minister for Health, Gagan Kumar Thapa, said the Nepal government aimed to build a tobacco-free generation by 2030.
He said he believed that requiring graphic health warnings on tobacco products would reduce demand for such products and contribute to creating a healthier society.
And he added that those warnings should take up 90 percent the packaging – presumably 90 percent of the main surfaces.
At the same time, on the recommendation of the World Bank and the World Health Organization, the government is said to be planning to hike excise duty and value added tax for tobacco products.
The minister said also that the government was working to raise the minimum legal age to 21 years for buying and using tobacco products, a provision that would be in place by 2018.
May 9, 2017
Vaping on the advance
The UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) has said that it is delighted with the results of a survey showing that more than half of Great Britain’s 2.9 million vapers no longer smoke.
Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) has today published the findings from its annual Smokefree GB survey into the use of electronic cigarettes and vaporisers in Great Britain, a survey that is conducted by YouGov on behalf of ASH.
The survey data show that an estimated 2.9 million adults in Great Britain currently use electronic cigarettes and that, for the first time, more ex-smokers (1.5 million) than current smokers are using e-cigarettes.
“We are delighted that ASH and YouGov have confirmed that the British people are voting with their feet and switching from smoking to significantly less harmful vaping products,” said Doug Mutter of the UKVIA in a press note.
“Public Health England is clear that vaping is at least 95 percent less harmful than smoking.
“If we can now convince the UK’s nine million remaining smokers to switch to vaping, this will produce huge benefits for our nation’s health and the NHS’ [National Health Service’s] finances.
“Unfortunately, the public are still receiving a barrage of mixed messages about vaping. This, coupled with excessive tobacco-style regulation coming from the EU, puts at risk the seismic public health prize that vaping represents.
“It is time for the government to seize the public health opportunity on offer, and the chance presented by Brexit, to finally address one of our society’s most intransigent public health problems – smoking related diseases.”
May 8, 2017
Opportunity missed
US Congressional leaders reached a budget compromise on an omnibus revenue bill that allowed them to avoid a government shutdown but excluded language that would have changed the predicate date applying to Food and Drug Administration regulation of vapor products, according to the Reason Foundation.
‘Democratic leadership identified the change to the predicate date for vapor products as a “poison pill” and vowed to oppose any budget deal and force a government shutdown if the provision was included, said the foundation’s Nicotine, Vapor and Harm Reduction Newsletter.
‘On May 3, the FDA announced that it will defer enforcement of all future compliance deadlines under the rules published in May 2016 affecting e-cigarettes and cigars by three months. The communication from the Center for Tobacco Products specifically stated the following: “This extension will allow new leadership at the FDA and the Department of Health and Human Services additional time to more fully consider issues raised by the final rule that are now the subject of multiple lawsuits in federal court”.’
Meanwhile, The Heartland Institute said that when Congress passed the $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill, ‘notably absent was the Cole-Bishop amendment, which would have reversed a terrible regulatory decision by the Food and Drug Administration’.
‘In May 2016, the FDA’s “deeming regulations” required all e-cigarette products brought to market since February 2007 to apply for approval by the federal government,’ it said in a press note. ‘The rule, though being phased in over three years, essentially makes every vaping product in America illegal until manufacturers get government approval for every product – which would cost manufacturers more than $300,000 per product.
‘The amendment by Reps. Tom Cole (R-OK) and Sanford Bishop (D-GA) – long-expected to be a part of the budget bill – would have amended the deeming regulations to apply only to e-cigarette products introduced after the “predicate date” of the rule (2016), not retroactively to 2007.’
May 8, 2017
GFN program complete
The organizers of the Global Forum on Nicotine (GFN) have said that the program for the 2017 event is complete.
The GFN is due to be held at the Marriott Centrum Hotel, Warsaw, Poland, on June 15-17.
The main GFN program, which is scheduled for June 16 and 17, will examine the rapidly developing science in relation to nicotine use and the changing landscape, including policy responses and the influence of different stakeholders in this.
The program will comprise plenary sessions, symposia, panel discussions and poster presentations – including video posters.
June 15 is scheduled to include the Michael Russell oration, and satellite and side meetings, including one for consumers organised by the International Network of Nicotine Consumer Organisations.
It will include, too, the first International Symposium on Nicotine Technology designed to showcase the latest technological advances in alternative nicotine delivery systems, next generation devices and the science behind them (http://isontech.info/).
The program is at: https://gfn.net.co/2017/programme-details.
The speakers and chairpersons are at: https://gfn.net.co/home-2017/bios/.
May 8, 2017
High nicotine strategy
The 22nd Century Group said yesterday that the US Food and Drug Administration had granted it authorization to conduct a clinical trial on its Brand B low tar-to-nicotine ratio cigarettes.
In a press note, the company, which has recently been promoting its low-nicotine cigarettes as potential harm reduction tools, said the trial was ‘designed to confirm that as smokers make the adjustment to a higher nicotine cigarette, they take in less smoke because the nicotine is more readily available’.
‘According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention …, 32 percent of smokers (nearly 12 million) do not wish to quit smoking,’ the company said. ‘For these smokers, 22nd Century is developing its Brand B low tar-to-nicotine ratio cigarettes as a reduced exposure product candidate.
‘The Company intends to submit a Modified Risk Tobacco Product (MRTP) application to the FDA for Brand B.
‘Independent surveys have shown that even though 30-50 percent of American smokers are not committed to quitting, 90 percent of these smokers would be willing to try a potentially reduced exposure tobacco product. For this reason, 22nd Century believes the company’s proprietary Brand B product has enormous market potential.
“Our initial clinical trial investigating the effects of Brand B’s design-objective – the reduced delivery of smoke components, other than nicotine – is a measurable step forward in the development of our company’s mission,” Dr. Michael Moynihan, vice president of Research & Development, was quoted as saying.
May 2, 2017