Category: Harm Reduction

Tobacco proposal like the curate’s egg
Photo by MacBeales
The packaging and product standardization aspects of the Canadian federal government’s proposal to amend certain acts include unlawful and flawed positions, and will be counterproductive in achieving its objectives, Imperial Tobacco Canada said in its submission to the Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology.
Bill S-5, which would amend the Tobacco Act and the Non-Smokers’ Health Act and would make consequential amendments to other acts, was introduced in the Senate in November. It combines two public policy initiatives in one piece of legislation: the legislative framework for vaping products, and the further regulation of tobacco products through provisions enabling the introduction of packaging and cigarette standardization.
“While we support the government’s public health objectives related to reducing the harm of cigarette consumption, we believe measures such as packaging and product standardization are counterproductive to the government’s stated objectives,” said Eric Gagnon, head of corporate and external affairs. “These measures represent an unprecedented assault on commercial expression and wholesale expropriation of an industry’s brands and trademarks that cannot be justified.”
In a press note, Imperial said there was no reliable evidence that standardized packaging would work and that such measures had failed to deliver any of the anticipated benefits in Australia, the only country that had fully implemented standardized packaging for any substantial length of time.
‘Instead the policy has led to unintended consequences that are adversely impacting the public, businesses and government,’ the note said.
‘There is no reason to believe that the result would be any different in Canada, especially given the nature and magnitude of its existing illicit tobacco product problems.
‘Through the standardization measures, Health Canada will provide a template for organized crime to flood the Canadian market with counterfeit products – and consumers, retailers and law enforcement will have no ability to distinguish legal from illegal products.’
But Imperial said that with respect to vaping products, it supported the framework introduced by the government in Bill S-5, with some notable exceptions related to discouraging their promotion through reference to harm reduction.
It urged prompt enactment of appropriate regulations governing the manufacture of these products.
“Contrary to packaging and product standardization, there is a wealth of evidence suggesting that using e-cigarettes as an alternative to conventional cigarettes can have an impact on public health,” said Gagnon. “The proposed legislation must allow manufacturers and retailers the ability to communicate to consumers reliable substantiated evidence about those new products and their reduced risk and harm reduction potential.”
Imperial said that if the focus was truly on public health, then the government should make the vaping products’ provisions of Bill S-5 the priority. “If the government is committed to improving public health, it would acknowledge the harm reduction potential of vaping products as an alternative to conventional cigarettes, and prioritize the introduction of clear regulations around these products,” said Gagnon.
Meanwhile, the Canadian Vaping Association (CVA) has come out in support of Bill S-5. Representatives of the CVA were said to have underscored the importance of including electronic-cigarette-specific amendments to the bill during a presentation before the Senate Standing Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology.
The CVA quoted Senator Chantal Petitclerc, the sponsor of the bill, as saying that it “strikes a balance between the harms from vaping products if they entice youth to develop a nicotine addiction and the public health benefit if they contribute to reducing tobacco-related death and disease”.
“This is why the government is proposing a flexible regime, one that can be adjusted as the science on vaping products develops,” he said.
The CVA said that it endorsed the government’s science-based approach.
CVA’s sister organization, the Electronic Cigarette Trade Association of Canada, also made a presentation to the Senate committee.
April 7, 2017
Anti-tobacco funding
Photo by Leshaines123
The Welsh government has said that it is to spend £417,000 in trying to reduce the incidence of tobacco smoking by three percentage points to 16 percent by 2020, according to a bbc.com story.
The money will be channelled through Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) Cymru [Wales].
The chief executive of ASH Cymru, Suzanne Cass, said the funding would help it support the remaining 19 percent still addicted to tobacco ‘to choose’ to become smoke-free and lead “healthier, happier lives”.
But Simon Clark, director of the smokers’ group Forest, said any further anti-smoking measures would be “fiercely resisted” as adults were entitled to smoke without “unreasonable restrictions on their habit”.
“Instead of punishing smokers the Welsh government should engage with consumers,” he was quoted as saying.
“A carrot is far better than a stick and the best way to reduce smoking rates is to embrace choice and encourage smokers to switch to alternative nicotine products such as e-cigarettes.”
The new campaign follows what the authorities see as the success of the smoking ban that was introduced a decade ago and that is seen as having been responsible for reducing smoking rates from 24 percent to 19 percent.
April 4, 2017
MRTPs for Camel Snus
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. (RJRT) has submitted Modified Risk Tobacco Product (MRTP) applications to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) covering six styles of Camel Snus, its premium pouched, smokeless tobacco product introduced in 2006 and marketed nationwide in the U.S.
To support the applications, R.J. Reynolds has provided the FDA more than 450,000 pages of documentation. As the submission guidelines advise, the documentation covers results and discussion from an extensive suite of scientific studies, including:
- Chemistry, pre-clinical and clinical toxicology, as well as epidemiology
- Consumer perception and understanding studies of the proposed MRTP
- Likelihoods of use studies based on the proposed MRTP claims
- Population-level modeling under a scenario in which the MRTP claims are authorized for dissemination to adult smokers
R.J. Reynolds now awaits FDA’s review of the applications to determine whether they are accepted for substantive review.
The company says it looks forward to working with the agency as the process moves forward.
April 3, 2017
Glowing reviews
Demand for Glo in Japan is exceeding supply, reports CSP, citing British American Tobacco (BAT), which launched the tobacco-heating product in that market four months ago.
BAT says Glo has significantly fewer toxicants than a conventional cigarette and works by heating tobacco-containing “Neostiks” under the Kent brand.
BAT has invested more than $1 billion over the past five years in researching, developing and commercializing a new generation of tobacco-heating products
Facing strong demand for its iQOS tobacco-heating device, Philip Morris International said that it had more than doubled the supply.
Japan Tobacco, meanwhile, said it would begin selling its Ploom Tech in parts of Tokyo, according to CSP.
March 28, 2017
E-cigs vital quit-factor
A new study predicts that, with electronic cigarettes available as alternatives to traditional tobacco cigarettes, by 2050, 32 percent of smokers in the UK who otherwise would have continued smoking would have completely switched to vaping, according to a British American Tobacco press note.
‘Our results show an overall beneficial effect of e-cigarettes on a population, reducing smoking prevalence and smoking-related deaths,’ said Dr. James Murphy, head of reduced risk substantiation at BAT.
The results, which are published today in Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology (doi: 10.1016/j.yrtph.2017.03.012), support the results of a study in 2016 by the Cochrane Review, which concluded that electronic cigarettes can help people stop smoking.
Scientists at BAT have developed a predictive model looking at a number of possible scenarios over a 50-year period between 2000 and 2050: There is a baseline scenario in which electronic cigarettes are not on the market and a counterfactual scenario, a predicted situation, based on the current trends in which both traditional tobacco cigarettes and electronic cigarettes are available to consumers.
“This modelling approach is an informative way of assessing population health effects when epidemiological data are not available,” says Murphy.
‘This model takes account of the way consumers use products and utilises the past to predict what might happen in the future,’ the press note said. ‘In 2000, smoking prevalence was 27 percent, and by 2010 it was 20.3 percent. This model predicts that when e-cigarettes are not available, this would fall to 12.4 percent of the overall population [by 2050]. This number falls to 9.7 percent (including dual users) when e-cigarettes are available. And the proportion of all deaths due to smoking-related diseases falls from 8.4 percent and 8.1 percent, respectively.’
The model is said to take into account all types of consumers, including current smokers, non-smokers, former smokers, electronic cigarette users, and dual users. ‘Behaviours, like starting, switching, becoming a dual user, and quitting are represented through a feedback system, as is the potential effect of smoking normalisation on starting and cessation rates,’ the note said. ‘Factors such as consumer age, gender, and aging are factored in, while time since quitting or relapsing is also considered.
‘Population benefits were seen even though the model is considered conservative: for instance, it ascribes no lowering of risk to consumers using both cigarettes and e-cigarettes, even though dual users are likely to smoke fewer tobacco cigarettes than they otherwise would; and it assumes that any potential health benefit from quitting cigarettes was lost on relapsing.
‘Future models may also study the use of additional products, such as tobacco-heating products and snus; characterise the UK population by ethnicity, social economic status, and education level; and factor in affordability, smoking bans, health campaigns/risk perception or packaging regulations, say the researchers.’
March 20, 2017
First speakers announced
The organizers of the Global Forum on Nicotine (GFN) have announced at https://gfn.net.co/home-2017/bios the names of the first speakers to have been confirmed for the 2017 event.
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.
The organizers say they are still accepting posters – including video posters – to be included in the exhibition area of the conference, with the closing date for abstracts being March 31. Abstracts can be submitted on-line, via the registration system at https://gfn.net.co/2017/abstracts.
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/).
Details of the GFN 2017 are at: https://gfn.net.co/
March 20, 2017
End-game report’s missing link
A link is now available to a report that was described here on February 28 under the heading, End game within reach.
The report, Ending cigarette use by adults in a generation is possible, was the work of a team of tobacco control and health experts whose goal was to assess the views of 120 US tobacco control experts about what they saw as some of the key areas and priorities for significantly reducing or eliminating cigarette use.
According to the executive summary, the researchers consulted 120 key tobacco control leaders across the US. ‘They represent a broad swath of tobacco control experience and expertise, ranging from researchers and academics, to advocates, state and urban tobacco control staff, government officials, and local front-line workers,’ the summary said. ‘Their input is integrated into a proposed strategy to achieve the goal of reducing cigarette smoking in adults to less than 10 percent in all communities nationwide by 2024.
‘This is not a consensus report. We considered all inputs, and focus here on what represents the needed balance between what has worked to reduce smoking in the US, and additional steps that are now needed. These steps draw upon advances in technology and deeper insights into what drives behavior change.’
The report is at: http://tobaccoreform.org.
March 17, 2017
Smoking plummets in Sweden
Photo by Risager
Data released by the Swedish government indicates that the proportion of male smokers between 30 and 44 fell to five percent last year, according to a story by Andy Coghlan for New Scientist magazine.
Overall, eight percent of Swedish men smoke daily compared with the EU average of just over 25 percent.
The proportion of Swedish women who smoke is 10 percent.
Professor Gerry Stimson, chairman of the European consumer group, the New Nicotine Alliance, which promotes tobacco harm-reduction, was quoted as saying that smoking was disappearing in Sweden.
This was due, he added to the popularity of snus, which had replaced smoking.
In January, the alliance co-launched legal action at the European Court of Justice aimed at lifting a ban on snus that applies to all the countries of the EU except Sweden.
“We’re bringing the case because the ban denies access to a product that helps people protect their health,” said Stimson.
The full story is at:
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2124671-swedish-men-on-target-to-be-first-to-completely-stub-out-smoking/
March 15, 2017
iQOS under scrutiny in Israel
Photo by Genista
Israel’s sole cigarette manufacturer, Dubek Ltd., has filed a lawsuit in the High Court of Justice claiming that the Health Ministry is showing ‘favoritism’ by allowing Philip Morris International to market its heat-not-burn device, iQOS, on the domestic market, according to a story by Judy Siegel-Itzkovich for the Jerusalem Post, relayed by the TMA.
Dubek says that this is in violation of the law that restricts the advertising and marketing of tobacco products.
It says also that the Tax Authority does not levy sales taxes on iQOS, causing ‘a huge loss of revenue to the state coffers’.
The Health Minister, Ya’acov Litzman, reportedly said that the government would not regulate the sale of iQOS until the ‘FDA’ had ruled that the product was harmful.
Meanwhile, the Israel Medical Association’s Society for the Prevention of Smoking and Smoking Cessation said PMI had chosen Israel to be among the first countries to market iQOS, thus turning its population into ‘guinea pigs’ in a ‘huge experiment for which we will all pay’.
March 15, 2017
E-cig claim half-baked
Photo by therichardlife
A US public health expert has said that the Surgeon General is continuing to lie about tobacco in electronic cigarettes.
Dr. Michael Siegel, a professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences, Boston University School of Public Health, was referring to an article published earlier this month in JAMA Pediatrics.
In it, the Surgeon General had claimed that electronic cigarettes were “now the most commonly used form of tobacco among youth in the United States, surpassing cigarettes, chewing tobacco, cigars, and hookah”.
Writing on his Rest of the Story blog, Siegel said the article referred to electronic cigarettes as a form of tobacco and to vaping as a “form of tobacco use”.
‘There’s just one problem with the Surgeon General’s claim that vaping is a form of tobacco use: it’s not true,’ he said.
Siegel went on to say that even if the Surgeon General wrongly believed that consuming any product that contained nicotine was a form of tobacco use, then he was still lying to the public.
‘Under that definition, e-cigarettes are not the most commonly used form of tobacco among youth,’ Siegel pointed out. ‘Potatoes are.’
The full story is at: http://tobaccoanalysis.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/surgeon-general-continues-to-lie-about.html.
March 14, 2017