A bill due to be introduced in New York City Council today would ban smoking a cigarette while walking along a city sidewalk, according to a story in the New York Daily News.
Under the bill, smokers standing on one spot on the sidewalk would be allowed to light up.
Councilman Peter Koo said he wanted to spare fellow pedestrians the nuisance of being caught behind a smoker and breathing in second-hand smoke.
“It has happened to me many times – I’m walking behind someone who’s smoking, and I’m suffering for five or 10 minutes,” Koo said.
“I see mothers with their strollers walking behind people who smoke, and they’re exposing the baby to second-hand smoke.”
The Daily News story said it was already illegal to smoke in city parks, as well as inside bars, restaurants, stores and other indoor public places.
If the new legislation passed, pedestrians caught blowing smoke could be hit with a $50 fine, the same penalty that applies in parks.
The smoking-while-walking ban would also apply to street medians and Parks Department parking lots.
The Councilman said he was moving to legislate what should be common courtesy.
“In a perfect world, every smoker would have the self-awareness to realize smoking while walking subjects everyone behind you to the fumes,” he said.
There was no mention in the story of the vehicle fumes that are mostly exhausted at stroller height.
Category: People
Legislating against nuisance
Speaking with smokers
The results of a survey carried out on behalf of the Foundation for a Smoke-free World has demonstrated that support for quit attempts can be better targeted by understanding the unique experiences of individual smokers.
The Foundation yesterday published findings from a global survey aimed at better understanding smokers, their experiences, and the challenges they face when they try to quit smoking. The survey highlights also their awareness regarding the harm caused by smoking and how their perceptions of cigarettes, alternative products and nicotine influence their motivation to move away from smoking.
The Foundation said the data would be used to shape the development of research to determine the best solutions to accelerate the end of smoking across diverse cultures and economic conditions.
The Foundation describes itself as an independent, private foundation formed and operated free from the control or influence of any third party. Philip Morris International provided the initial funding to the Foundation, which makes grants and supports medical, agricultural and scientific research to end smoking and its health effects, and to address the impact of reduced worldwide demand for tobacco.
The 2018 State of Smoking Survey included 17,421 current smokers, ex-smokers, and non-smokers from 13 countries: Brazil, France, Greece, India, Israel, Japan, Lebanon, Malawi, New Zealand, Russia, South Africa, the UK and the US. In parallel, a series of qualitative focus groups were carried out in seven countries, France, Greece, India, New Zealand, South Africa, the UK and the US, to give additional context to the quantitative results. The survey was conducted by Kantar Public, an integrated consulting and research agency, which was engaged by the Foundation.
In a press note, the Foundation said the primary findings were:- Smoking isn’t an isolated habit. Smokers consider it deeply integrated with their basic pleasures of life, such as eating, drinking, and socializing. Currently implemented cessation methods fail to take these into account, resulting in continued smoking.
- Smokers know that smoking is harmful to their health, and many consider themselves in poorer health than non-smokers, yet they do not actively engage with their healthcare providers or discuss effective cessation or reduced-harm solutions with them. The healthcare system needs to better engage with smokers, and medical providers need more effective tools to help smokers quit.
- There is confusion among smokers about the relative harms of smoking and less harmful alternatives. While people ‘smoke for the nicotine, but die from the tar,’ there is still considerable misperception about the risks of nicotine. This impacts their motivation to quit or try reduced risk alternative products.
“I hope this survey will jolt many of the world’s one billion smokers into action to stop smoking, spark a meaningful discussion on the deeply complex reasons so many people continue to smoke, and make clear the urgent need to develop more effective communications and interventions to help smokers quit or substantially reduce their risks,” said Dr. Derek Yach (pictured), president of the Foundation. “By better understanding key drivers behind why people start smoking, barriers to quitting, and motivations to stop, we can help reduce the negative health consequences for many who are trapped in the cycle of addiction to combustible tobacco products.
“The data demonstrates that by better understanding the unique experiences and struggles of the individual smoker, we can better support each individual’s quit journey. In this age of personalized medicine, it is only logical that we should stop treating the world’s smokers as one homogeneous group and start developing and embracing a wide range of solutions that allow individual smokers to select the method that works best for his or her situation and, more importantly, reduce the harm, disease, and death that is caused by smoking.”
Further findings from this study are available at:
https://www.smokefreeworld.org/sites/default/files/uploads/derek-yach-press-conference-presentation.pdf .Italian e-cig initiative
An Italian anti-smoking organization is today staging an event at the EU Parliament during which experts and policymakers are due to discuss the benefits of electronic cigarettes.
In a press note issued through Business Wire, the Lega Italiana Anti Fumo (LIAF) said that while the use of e-cigarettes was growing continuously, worldwide, Europe was falling behind.
It was essential that Europe exploited the potential of this technology to reduce the impact of smoking on European public health, it said.
The LIAF is being hosted by the Italian MEP Giovanni La Via, who is a former chairperson of the parliament’s Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee.
It is intended that the event will provide the opportunity for an exchange of views on the potential of e-cigarettes to help reshape European health.
‘Though this is a very important public health issue, the discussion has been absent from the European agenda,’ the LIAF said in a press note.
‘With cigarettes killing more than half a million smokers a month globally and almost six million Europeans now using e-cigarettes to move away from smoking, providing scientific evidence to shift the balance from an “abstinence-only” agenda to a harm reduction strategy is vital in bringing down smoking deaths.’
“Europe is at a crossroads in the fight against smoking,” La Via was quoted as saying. “A growing body of evidence shows that there is a huge opportunity for public health in promoting the use of e-cigarettes to help people stop smoking. Health policymakers in Europe have a duty to provide the public with all of the facts on e-cigarettes, and to provide the best regulatory environment to help smokers quit completely.”
The press note said that recent reports had led key public health institutions to take a positive stance on e-cigarettes.
‘Well-respected bodies, such as Public Health England (PHE), Cancer Research UK and Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), recognise the potential of e-cigarettes to reduce the health effects of smoking,’ the note said. ‘PHE’s recent report on e-cigarettes (February 2018) concludes that vaping or using e-cigarettes are 95 percent safer than smoking tobacco.
‘Moreover, the report shows that while smoking rates among young people continue to fall, there is no evidence that e-cigarettes are a gateway to smoking. The same research found that e-cigarettes are used almost exclusively by those who have already smoked.’Smoke and deliver
A French member of the European Parliament has asked the EU Commission how it intends to check that tobacco manufacturers are complying with maximum cigarette delivery levels.
In a preamble to two questions, Philippe Juvin said that Article 3 of the Tobacco Products Directive laid down maximum emission levels for tar, nicotine, carbon monoxide and other substances.
‘With the same goal of curbing the harmfulness of tobacco products, Article 5 sets out that member states must require manufacturers to submit a list of the ingredients and emissions in their tobacco products.
‘In France, the National Committee Against Smoking (Comité national contre le tabagisme – CNCT) filed a complaint on 18 January 2018 against a number of cigarette manufacturers for ‘endangering’ the lives of others. The CNCT suspects that cigarette emission levels, which are duly regulated in the above directive, have been rigged.’
Juvin asked:- ‘How will the Commission check that manufacturers are complying with Article 3 of the Tobacco Products Directive?
- ‘With a view to preventing emission levels from being rigged in any way and in accordance with Article 4 of that directive, does the Commission intend to adopt any delegated acts on measurement methods?’
The Commission is due to answer these questions in writing.
Imperial drops US OTP
Imperial Brands announced today the ‘disposal’ in the US of a range of other tobacco products, including roll-your-own brands, tubes, tips, cigarette papers and other accessories.
In a note posted on its website, Imperial said the disposal simplified its portfolio in the US, ‘enabling us to further sharpen our focus on driving revenue growth in the USA from our core US tobacco brands and next generation products’.
“We are clear on our strategic priorities and focus for growth and are proactively actioning capital reallocation opportunities to generate additional shareholder value,” said chief executive, Alison Cooper (pictured). “The disposal of our US OTP business is an example arising from the ongoing review of our assets.
“In next generation products, we are focused on delivering an exceptional consumer experience and we are investing behind an exciting innovation pipeline. Our product and market launch programs are on track with the recent launches of myblu in the USA and the UK, with additional markets coming on stream in the next few months. In tobacco, our investment focus continues to deliver share gains in our Growth Brands and priority markets.”Smoking or non-smoking?
People in China found to be smoking tobacco in places where such activity is prohibited could find themselves subjected to travel restrictions, according to a Reuters report citing rules due to come into effect on May 1.
China has reportedly said it will begin applying its social credit system to flights and trains, under which people who have committed misdeeds would be barred from taking such transport for up to a year.
A story by Paul Huang for The Epoch Times, meanwhile, described the social credit system as an experiment that international observers had speculated would be the next step in China’s transformation into a total surveillance state.
Citing two statements issued on the National Development and Reform Commission’s website on Friday, Reuters said the people who would be put on the restricted lists included those found to have committed acts such spreading false information about terrorism and causing trouble on flights, as well as those who used expired tickets or smoked on trains.
Those found to have committed financial wrongdoings, such as employers who failed to pay social insurance or people who had failed to pay fines, would also face these restrictions, said the statements, which were dated March 2.
The Reuters report is at: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-credit/china-to-bar-people-with-bad-social-credit-from-planes-trains-idUSKCN1GS10S.
The Epoch Times report is at: https://www.theepochtimes.com/chinas-orwellian-social-credit-system-to-begin-banning-people-from-planes-trains_2468296.html.Cultivation ban opposed
The government of Sri Lanka has been urged to withdraw a proposed ban on tobacco cultivation in the country, according to a story in The Colombo Gazette.
The All Ceylon Cigarette Tobacco Barn Owners’ Association said that since 2015, the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on Drug Prevention had recommended ‘unreasonable restrictions’ on tobacco cultivation, such as the prohibition of using even barren marginal paddy lands for such production.
In a letter to the President, the association said that despite tobacco farmers being the key drivers of national and rural economic growth, they were not consulted before such adverse recommendations were made.
‘Tobacco is a cash crop which was introduced to farmers by the Sri Lankan government in the 1950’s and fully supported by successive governments until very recently,’ the association said. ‘Under the patronage of previous governments, tobacco cultivation has been an integral part of the agriculture communities spanning around 80 years and three farmer generations.’
It said that while the proposed ban on tobacco production was understood as being driven by a World Health Organization agenda, it was clearly not the solution for the smoking problem in society.
The association urged the government to continue to allow tobacco production until an alternative crop that matched tobacco in economic value was introduced to farmers.Transforming tobacco now
The emphasis was on ‘transforming tobacco’ when British American Tobacco yesterday published its Annual Report and Sustainability Report.
Both of the reports are entitled ‘Transforming Tobacco’, reflecting ‘the company’s commitment to transform tobacco by offering an unrivalled suite of potentially reduced-risk products that address the varied preferences of today’s consumers’.
In a note posted on its website, BAT said the reports clearly set out its ambition to lead and shape the transformation of the industry by achieving a triple win: ‘for consumers – who will be offered a range of potentially safer choices; for society – who could benefit from real progress in tobacco harm reduction; and for shareholders – who will own an even more sustainable and profitable business’.
The note said that BAT’s existing combustible portfolio was now complemented by a wide range of potentially reduced-risk products, including next generation products (NGPs), comprising vapor and tobacco heating products (THPs), as well as oral tobacco and nicotine products, such as snus and moist snuff.
“We recognise that the tobacco and nicotine industry has entered a dynamic period of change and we are committed to leading this transformation,” chief executive, Nicandro Durante, was quoted as saying. “Increased public health awareness, new societal attitudes and rapid developments in new technologies have all combined to create a unique opportunity to accelerate the delivery of our long-held ambition to provide our consumers with less risky tobacco and nicotine choices.
“These two important reports out today, clearly outline our strategy to transform tobacco by building our business based on outstanding products, informed consumer choice and a potentially reduced-risk portfolio. Put simply: more choice, more innovation, less risk.”
BAT said its commitment to the important role these potentially reduced-risk products would play was reflected in its aims to generate more than £1 billion revenue from NGPs in 2018 and to increase this figure to £5 billion by 2022.
Since 2012, together with Reynolds American Inc., BAT had invested about US$2.5 billion in developing and commercialising its range of NGPs.
“Transforming tobacco isn’t just about harm reduction, though,” said Durante. “To respond to evolving challenges and opportunities, we need to continue to focus on the other key areas of our sustainability agenda, including sustainable agriculture and farmer livelihoods, and corporate behaviour. These are fundamental imperatives that set the foundations for our business for years to come.”Illegal trade at 16 percent
The Romanian state received no revenue from the sale of 16 percent of the cigarettes consumed in Romania last year, according to a story in The Romania Insider.
This is because those cigarettes were sold by people who were involved in the illegal trade in tobacco products and who reaped the profit from those sales.
If those cigarettes had been sold legally, tax-paid, the government would have received an additional €640 million.
It is estimated that more than 4.3 billion cigarettes were sold on Romania’s black market last year, while the country’s agencies seized about 150 million.
An operation mounted during the first half of 2017 is said to have reduced smuggling, but according to the local affiliate of British American Tobacco, the illegal trade boomed once that operation stopped.
The Insider said that Romania’s tobacco-products black market was bigger than the EU average, which stood at about nine percent.
From 2010 to 2017, Romania was said to have ‘lost’ about €5.4 billion to the illegal trade in cigarettes.Smoking frozen out
An Icelandic doctor has credited vaping with contributing to a dramatic decline in the number of smokers in Iceland, according to a story by Paul Fontaine for grapevine.is.
Guðmundur Karl Snæbjörnsson described vaping as “a great blessing” for Icelanders’ health.
In 2014, 14 percent of the population or 35,000 people self-identified as smokers, figures that had fallen to nine percent and 22,000 by 2017.
The 37 percent drop in the number of smokers was attributable in part to an increase in vaping, Guðmundur told reporters.
Cigarette sales had dropped by 50 percent from 2008 to 2017, while vaping had been on the rise, and now, about 20,000 Icelanders vaped daily or less frequently.
“Smoking has been falling like a rock like we’ve never seen before,” Guðmundur was reported to have said. “The biggest contributing factors have been mouth-tobacco and vaping, which have clearly been wiping smoking out.”
Iceland currently has no clearly defined laws about the contents, sale and distribution of vaping products.
Although a bill was introduced last year that set limits on e-fluid strength and quantities; that bill was strongly opposed by vape shop owners and ended up dying in committee.
