Category: People

  • Farming semantics

    Farming semantics

    The Ceylon Tobacco Company (CTC) is luring local farmers into cultivating tobacco by providing inputs and loan facilities, and by functioning as a direct buyer of their produce, according to a story in The Island, citing new research.
    The research, which looked at tobacco cultivation in Sri Lanka and its social impact, was conducted by the Presidential Task Force on Drug Prevention (PTFDP) and the Center for Combating Tobacco (CCT) at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo.
    The research results were announced on Tuesday by the directors of the PTFDP and CCT Dr. Samantha Kithalawaarachchi and Dr. Mahesh Rajasuriya.
    The report is said to claim that the CTC tries to attract small-scale farmers through social welfare projects, while the company’s close relationships with politicians in the government are being exploited to sustain the tobacco business.
    The report says that such interventions by the tobacco company have to be stopped if the government’s goal of ending tobacco cultivation by 2020 is to be achieved.
    Nevertheless, the CTC’s alleged efforts seem to have been in vain, or even counterproductive. According to the report, there has been a significant decrease in the number of tobacco farmers in Sri Lanka owing to the announcement of an ‘imminent tobacco ban by the government’.
    The researchers take this decrease to mean that nearly all tobacco farmers, kiln owners and labourers have vocational options. And because of this, the research team has called for stopping the use of the term ‘tobacco farmers’.

  • ‘Hold your horses’

    ‘Hold your horses’

    A US public health expert has shone a new light on the results of a widely reported study claiming that vaping causes heart attacks.
    On his tobacco analysis blog, Dr. Michael Siegel, a professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences, Boston University School of Public Health, said the new study, which had been presented on Saturday at the annual meeting of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT), had concluded that vaping caused heart attacks, increasing the heart attack risk for dual users beyond that of smoking alone.
    The research has not yet been published but was presented as a poster at the conference.
    ‘The study was a cross-sectional analysis of nearly 70,000 respondents to the combined 2014 and 2016 National Health Interview Surveys (NHIS), a nationally representative survey of health risk factors and outcomes in US adults,’ Siegel’s blog explains. ‘Respondents were asked to report their current vaping and smoking statuses and to report whether they had ever had a heart attack. The researchers found that there was a significant association (odds ratio = 1.8) between daily e-cigarette use and having experienced a heart attack. The analysis controlled for level of current cigarette use.
    ‘Based on this observation, the study concludes that daily e-cigarette use doubles the risk of heart attacks.’
    At this point, Siegel reports ‘The Rest of the Story’.
    ‘Hold your horses,’ he warns.
    ‘Before accepting the conclusion that vaping causes heart attacks in unsuspecting smokers, remember the old adage: correlation does not equal causation. This study is a perfect demonstration of that phenomenon.
    ‘Because this is a cross-sectional study, and because respondents were asked whether they had ever had a heart attack, one cannot determine whether the heart attacks followed e-cigarette use or preceded it. In other words, we do not know that vaping preceded the heart attack for any of the subjects. It is entirely possible that in most of these cases, the smokers suffered a heart attack and then started vaping in an attempt to quit smoking. In fact, I believe that is the most likely explanation for the observed study findings.’
    The rest of The Rest of the Story is at: http://tobaccoanalysis.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/new-study-concludes-that-vaping-causes.html.

  • Smoking record worn out

    Smoking record worn out

    About three out of four US citizens agree that smoking cigarettes causes health problems, but public perception of the risks posed by smoking may be declining, according to a eurekalert.org story citing a Duke Health study published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.
    From 2006 to 2015, the number of people in the US who said smoking a pack or more per day posed a great health risk was said to have dropped by one percent, or three million people.
    So far, the change in perceived risk has not appeared to result in more smokers. During the same period, the incidence of smoking dropped from 20.8 percent to 15.1 percent, according to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But, the story warned, the change could signal a potential slowing of progress.
    “That’s three million people who might be more likely to start smoking, go back to smoking, or who are less likely to quit if they already smoke,” said Lauren Pacek, PhD, the study’s lead author and an assistant professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke.
    The change in risk perception changed more significantly in women than in men, the authors found.
    “We were surprised by the findings,” said co-author Joe McClernon, PhD, professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences. “Cigarettes haven’t fundamentally changed over the last 15 years. They’re no safer. And we continue to see that large numbers of Americans are dying from tobacco related disease – as many as 400,000 a year. So, it’s curious that the facts haven’t changed, but the risk perceptions have gone down.”
    The number of respondents who saw smoking as posing no risk increased from 1.45 percent to 2.63 percent over the 10-year span.
    Older teens and adults were more likely than teens 12 to 17 to see smoking as a great health risk. Daily smokers were less likely than former smokers and non-smokers to see cigarette use as dangerous to their health.
    A number of factors could be driving the change, McClernon said, including message fatigue.
    “The idea here is that Americans have heard so often, and for so long, about how harmful cigarettes are that the message is less impactful,” McClernon said. It might also be possible that fewer people know smokers or people with tobacco-related disease, and this also could decrease perceived harm, he said.
    The full story is at: https://eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-02/dumc-fat022718.php.

  • E-cigs given a hearing

    E-cigs given a hearing

    British American Tobacco’s chief scientific officer yesterday told a UK parliamentary committee that policymakers should maximize the potential of electronic cigarettes to provide an alternative to combustible cigarettes.
    In his evidence to the Science and Technology Committee, which is holding an enquiry into e-cigarettes, Dr. Chris Proctor (pictured) focused on three key aspects of the vaping category.
    Firstly, he said, there was a need for a broad range of products: a need to understand that it was not a “one-size fits all” situation. ‘Over the last 4-5 years we have seen strong growth in the e-cigarette category, but different consumers have different needs,’ Proctor was quoted in a BAT press note as having told the committee. ‘While e-cigarettes work for many, we need to recognise that other products, such as tobacco heating products, can also play a part. Today, at BAT we have an unrivalled range of exciting and innovative products across the potentially reduced risk categories including industry-leading products in vapor, tobacco heating products, oral tobacco, tobacco-free nicotine pouches, and moist snuff.’
    Secondly, Proctor said, there was a need to address marketing restrictions because BAT believed there was a lack of public understanding about these new products that could be holding the category back. It was crucial, he added, that there was appropriate regulation in place to allow sensible marketing freedoms to give consumers the information they needed.
    Thirdly, there was a need for greater focus and emphasis on product standards and quality. There was a need for quality and product-safety standards that could become the benchmark for the industry and regulators. It was only with universal standards that consumers would get the quality assurances they rightly needed.
    After his committee presentation, Proctor issued a statement that welcomed the opportunity to give evidence before the committee and that underlined the need for officially-recognized product standards. “For many years, and based on our own extensive and continued research, testing and development of our products, we have highlighted that smokeless products – like vaping and tobacco heating products – can be a potentially reduced risk alternative to smoking,” he said. “This is why we have, and continue to, invest heavily in a portfolio of innovative, high-quality next-generation products, accelerating our ambition to transform tobacco.
    “The UK is the largest vaping market in Europe and we believe this is largely due to its pragmatic and progressive approach to this category. However, there is still more to be done. Whilst it is great that there is increasing debate around these new products and more supportive science, we need to recognise that not all products within the category are the same. It is crucial that there is appropriate regulation in place to ensure high product standards and quality, whilst also giving sensible innovation and marketing freedoms. Only with these industry standards, will consumers get the information and quality assurances they rightly need.”

  • Legislation not needed

    Legislation not needed

    Campaigners in Ireland say a ban on smoking in al fresco dining areas would be ‘unfair and unreasonable’ and will ‘do nothing to improve public health’.
    These comments were made in response to a poll carried out on behalf of Claire Byne Live and TheJournal.ie that found that 64 percent of people would like to see smoking banned in outdoor areas where food is served. Thirty percent said ‘no’ to the ban and six percent were undecided.
    “Pubs, restaurants and cafés are private businesses. Whether they choose to allow smoking outside, where there is no risk to anyone else’s health, should be up to them,” said John Mallon, spokesman for the smokers’ group Forest Ireland.
    “Pubs in particular took a huge hit from the smoking ban with many closing as a direct result. Why should the future of many more businesses be put at risk on the altar of tobacco control?
    “Enough’s enough. Banning smoking outside, even in al fresco dining areas, is unfair and unreasonable and will do nothing to improve public health.”
    According to a story in The Journal.ie announcing the results of the poll, even without legislation in place, an ‘increasing number of restaurants have been extending smoke-free zones to outdoor areas…’.

  • Illegal trade ‘rampant’

    Illegal trade ‘rampant’

    Zimbabwe is in the grip of a ‘rampant’ illegal trade in cigarettes that is becoming a challenge to local cigarette companies and the economy in general, according to a story in The Herald quoting tobacco-industry sources.
    The story said that illicit cigarettes were being sold on the streets for half to a third of the normal retail price, prejudicing sales in conventional shops and the country’s tax revenue.
    The MD of the local arm of British American Tobacco, Clara Mlambo, said the tobacco sector was suffering from the effects of foreign currency shortages and low disposable incomes, on top of those created by the illegal trade in cigarettes.
    The Herald reported that illicit cigarettes were usually sold at 50 cents a pack while the officially-gazetted average price in conventional retail outlets was $1.50.
    “We have seen some products from other companies but not our brands,” said Mlambo. “They are sold so cheap on the streets, which means the consumers will buy those due to pressure on their wallets.”
    Mlambo said there was a need for increased enforcement by revenue authorities to curb the challenge of the illegal trade, which was posing a threat to the licit tobacco sector.
    Nevertheless, she said that BAT was optimistic about its prospects and encouraged by government initiatives aimed at improving the business environment and attracting investment into the country.

  • Flue-cured crop recovers

    Flue-cured crop recovers

    The Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers’ Union (ZCFU) says that recent rain means that flue-cured tobacco deliveries are likely to hit Zimbabwe’s target of 200 million kg this season, according to a story in The Chronicle.
    This is something of a turnaround.
    Last week, it was reported in The Herald that unhelpful weather had meant that flue-cured tobacco plantings were down by more than five percent this season.
    The Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) was reported to have said that the 5.5 percent drop in tobacco hectarage had been caused by poor rainfall distribution. In its latest crop assessment report compiled with Agritex after an assessment undertaken from January 22 to February 2, the TIMB said 104,397 ha were put under tobacco this season compared to 110,518 ha last season.
    But in an interview on Monday, ZCFU president Wonder Chabikwa said his organization was optimistic that the targeted 200 million kg would be achieved this selling season, which is due to begin about the middle of next month.
    “We are hopeful that we will achieve our projection of 200 million kg of tobacco this selling season because of the rains that the country has received after the dry spell we experienced along the way in the 2017/18 summer cropping season,” Chabikwa was quoted as saying. “Due to the dry spell, we had lost hope that the targeted yields would be achieved.”
    Last year, tobacco growers produced 189 million kg of flue-cured.
    Chabikwa said irrigated tobacco was now being reaped while the rain-fed crop was at various stages of growth, with some plants developing new leaves as a result of the prevailing wet spell.

  • Arresting smokers

    Arresting smokers

    The authorities in Meru county, Kenya, have announced plans to arrest people smoking in public, according to a story in The Star.
    Meru is one of four counties in Kenya that grow tobacco; the others being Bungoma, Migori and Busia.
    Meru Health executive Eunice Kobia said yesterday that the move was part of the county’s resolve to regulate tobacco use.
    “At least one in every five men use tobacco,” Kobia said. “It is sad that smoking is part of the lifestyle of most of our youths.”
    Kobia said that smokers had ignored designated zones and were instead smoking in public places, including in minibuses, and at social gatherings and enclosed markets.
    “Residents are not aware of the effects of tobacco,” she said as she flagged off a lorry with a public-address system to campaign against tobacco use in Meru town.
    Kobia said the county would ‘rehabilitate’ cigarette smokers. “They should not fear coming forward,” she added. “We will help them to change.”
    Meanwhile, Kobia urged farmers to abandon tobacco in favor of other crops.
    Kenya Tobacco Control Board director Mary Muthoni praised Meru for its awareness campaign against tobacco use.
    Muthoni urged the county to allocate more funds to fight tobacco use, and she urged it to create youth-friendly centers to encourage people to seek rehabilitation.

  • E-cigs work without nicotine

    E-cigs work without nicotine

    The Cancer Council Australia (CCA) has urged smokers to be cautious about overseas research claiming that electronic cigarettes could help them kick their habit, according to a story by Annie Lewis for the Wagga-based Daily Advertiser.
    The CCA’s director of advocacy Paul Grogan said that in Australia the jury was very much still out on the health effects of vaping.
    Grogan said that while he welcomed international research, such as a recent study by Public Health England, Australian researchers were looking at the “whole picture” before making a determination.
    “There is convincing evidence, including a meta-analysis in a respected American journal, showing a clear association between e-cigarette initiation and long-term smoking,” he said.
    Grogan said too that Australia needed to keep in mind how well it had done in reducing rates of smoking, and how the biggest investor in the e-cigarette sector was the tobacco industry.
    He said that the position of the CCA was very open to evidence-based research, but the emphasis was placed on getting all the facts.
    Meanwhile, smokers seem to be taking a different view. The Wagga business, Vaped, was said to have almost sold out of stock in its first week.
    “The success rate is big; it definitely works for all our customers,” Vaped owner, Lance Carr, was quoted as saying.
    “We do get a lot of repeat customers that come back saying they haven’t smoked because the e-cigarette is working.”
    Carr said that while some users bought their own nicotine, that wasn’t the case for the majority.
    “We don’t encourage the use of nicotine because it’s illegal to sell it,” he said.
    “For a heavy smoker nicotine is recommended but I was surprised when we first opened; I thought it would have been that the majority needed nicotine in their liquids but it’s the opposite.”

  • Dithering over HNB

    Dithering over HNB

    The government in South Korea seems to have run into problems in its quest to measure the risks and relative risks of using heat-not-burn (HNB) products in place of traditional cigarettes.
    According to a story in The Korea Herald, in July, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said it would conduct safety tests on HNB products and come up with an objective analysis of the health risks posed by using such devices. At that time, it said it would focus on the levels of nicotine and tar delivered by the HNB products’ tobacco sticks.
    But the ministry has yet to release the test results and now says that a new system is needed to test the products.
    “Because this is a relatively new product, we may have to create new regulations or systems to deal with e-cigarettes,” a ministry official was quoted as saying.
    For instance, due to continued public calls for verification of the risk posed by HNB devices, the government was considering introducing a law that stipulated that tobacco companies should release a list of HNB tobacco-stick components.
    But tobacco firms said the government’s idea might not be feasible.
    “If we hand in a list of e-cigarette ingredients, it will be more than several pages long, because there are so many kinds of chemicals inside the product,” a tobacco-company official was quoting as telling the Herald. “Unlike a cigarette, it is also hard to measure the content inside the e-cigarette stick because those sticks vary in sizes and grams, depending on the device that goes with them. This is also why we weren’t able to release the components list.”
    Some experts were said to claim that it wasn’t important how much tar, nicotine and toxicants were delivered by HNB cigarettes, because the important factor was how often a person used such devices.
    Nevertheless, a lot of smokers seem to have made up their own minds. In January, sales of HNB cigarettes accounted for 9.1 percent of South Korea’s tobacco market.