Category: People

  • Play it again, Sam

    Play it again, Sam

    Farmers are being encouraged to follow ‘proper methods’ in growing their tobacco in a bid to produce quality leaf and realize ‘significant earnings,’ according to a Capital Radio Malawi story.

    But while the story suggested that quality was the key to ‘significant earnings’; it suggested too that the fall in prices that had occurred was due to tobacco-product volume declines.

    ‘The tobacco industry is facing numerous challenges on the international market, due to the anti-smoking lobby championed by the World Health Organization (WHO),’ the story said.

    ‘This has led to a decline in prices as well as markets for the crop, which is Malawi’s major foreign exchange earner.’

    The Capital Radio story said that during the 2016/2017 growing season, Malawi had reduced the quantity of tobacco it had produced from that of previous years, without saying by how much.

    The story did not say, either, how the average grower price this year had compared with that of previous years when more tobacco had been grown.

    The story did say, however, that this year’s market, which opened in April and closed last month, generated US$199 million, down US$77 million or about 28 percent from that of 2016, $276 million; and down US$138 million or about 41 percent from that of 2015.

    The Tobacco Control Commission’s acting CEO, David Luka, was said to have told Capital FM, that ‘despite low production, the quality of the leaf improved this year’.

    Luka said this was mainly because farmers were now using certified seeds, and were properly monitored and inspected.

  • ENDS-game strategy

    ENDS-game strategy

    The US Food and Drug Administration said yesterday that it would pursue a strategic, new public health education campaign aimed at discouraging the use of electronic cigarettes and other electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) by ‘kids’.

    The agency said it planned to expand this fall its The Real Cost public education campaign to include messaging to teens about the dangers of using these products, while developing a full-scale campaign to launch in 2018.

    ‘These efforts are part of the agency’s new comprehensive plan for tobacco and nicotine regulation, as well as ongoing efforts to educate youth about, and protect them from, the dangers associated with using all tobacco products,’ it said in a note issued through the Center for Tobacco Products.

    ‘It is the first time the FDA will be utilizing public health education to specifically target youth use of e-cigarettes or other ENDS.

    ‘More than two million middle and high school students were current users of e-cigarettes and other ENDS in 2016.

    ‘Data also show about half of all middle and high school students who were current tobacco users also used two or more tobacco products last year.

    ‘This use by children and teens is especially concerning because of evidence that youth exposure to nicotine affects the developing brain and may rewire it to be more susceptible to nicotine addiction in the future.’

  • Leaf price up 3¢ per kg

    Leaf price up 3¢ per kg

    The average grower price paid for Zimbabwe’s flue-cured tobacco is so far running at US$0.03 per kg ahead of that paid during the previous season.

    Figures issued by the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) show that, so far this season, growers have sold 182.3 million kg of flue-cured tobacco for US$540.9 million, according to a story in the Zimbabwe Chronicle relayed by the TMA.

    At the same stage of the previous season, growers had sold 196.6 million kg for US$578.5 million.

    Zimbabwe’s sales season is drawing to a close with the expectation that 206 million kg of flue-cured will have been sold by the time it ends.

    The country’s tobacco growers sold 201 million kg in 2016.

    Early last month, the TIMB reduced the number of selling days to two – on Tuesdays and Thursdays – and later in the month it reduced them to once a week, on Wednesdays.

    In a statement towards the end of July, the TIMB board said final clean-up sales would be held on August 11.

  • Smoking saves £14.7 billion

    Smoking saves £14.7 billion

    Contrary to popular belief, the three most censured ‘lifestyle factors’ – drinking alcohol, smoking tobacco and eating to obesity – do not cost the UK taxpayer money, according to a note posted on the Institute of Economic Affairs’ (IEA) website.

    In fact, the punitive taxes levied on the products that fuel these lifestyles more than cover the costs they impose on public finances, ‘providing a net saving to the government of £22.8 billion,’ the IEA says.

    The findings of the latest instalment of a three-part series of reports from the IEA, debunks the claims of public health campaigners that these lifestyle choices are draining public services.

    ‘It may be easy to point the finger of blame at smokers, drinkers and the obese for rising NHS [National Health Service] costs, but this no longer stands up to scrutiny given the findings of this report and the levels of taxation now levied on “sin”,’ the IEA note said. ‘And by scapegoating these people, campaigners and policymakers risk ignoring the real problem that our healthcare system faces: an ageing population.’

    The latest report, Smoking and the Public Purse, is said to be the first of its kind to measure the net effect of smoking on the taxpayer in the UK, including savings and focusing purely on external costs.

    The costs and savings from smoking are said to be:

    • The government spends £3.6 billion treating smoking-related diseases on the NHS and up to £1 billion collecting cigarette butts and extinguishing smoking-related house fires.
    • The government saves £9.8 billion annually in pension, healthcare and other benefit payments due to premature mortality.
    • The government brings in £9.5 billion annually in duty paid on tobacco.

    This means that smoking produces a net saving to the government of £14.7 billion a year, at current rates of consumption.

    “We are constantly being told that people who choose to drink, smoke or eat too much are a burden on the UK taxpayer,” said the report’s author Christopher Snowdon, head of Lifestyle Economics at the IEA. “This is one reason why we have seen such aggressive hikes in taxes on alcohol, smoking and very soon, a tax on sugar. But the justification for these taxes is based on an illusion.

    “Smokers, drinkers and those who are obese actually provide a net benefit to the public finances, so vilifying them is futile in the quest to make savings for the NHS.

    “A careful consideration of the evidence shows that the popular belief that costs will fall if people live healthier and for longer is false. While it’s good that we now have longer life expectancies, policymakers must now address how we tackle the financial consequences of the ageing population rather than pointing the finger elsewhere.”

    The IEA note is at https://iea.org.uk/media/uk-will-pay-almost-25-billion-in-sin-taxes-next-year/; from where it is possible to download a copy of ‘Smoking and the Public Purse’, and the separate reports on alcohol and obesity.

  • Insurance “rip-off”

    Insurance “rip-off”

    Insurance companies are still hitting electronic-cigarette users with a ‘smoker’s surcharge’ despite mounting reports that indicate vaping is far less dangerous than is smoking tobacco, according to a story by Russell Blackstock for The Sunday Post, Scotland.

    Although recent government-backed studies have found that vaping e-cigarettes is 95 percent less harmful than smoking cigarettes, life insurers take the view that a puff on a cigarette is identical to a puff on a vaping device. And life insurance premiums are often twice as expensive for smokers as they are for non-smokers.

    Linda Bauld, professor of health policy at Scotland’s Stirling University, believes that classing people who use e-cigarettes as being the same as smokers is “fundamentally wrong”.

    “It is just not fair,” she reportedly told the Sunday Post. “As well as being financially punitive to people who vape, it can also send negative messages to those who want to stop smoking. It is not helpful.

    “If vapers are regarded as being the same as tobacco smokers it could lead to an attitude of ‘why bother’ and before you know it they are back at the corner shop buying cigarettes.”

    People who vape and don’t use combustible tobacco products should be treated the same as non-smokers by insurance companies, Bauld added.

    It is estimated that about three million people in the UK are now using vaping devices.

    Many don’t realise they will pay up to twice as much as non-smokers for life or critical illness insurances.

    Meanwhile, Andy Morrison, Scottish lead advocate for the vaping organization the New Nicotine Alliance, said the practice by insurance companies was a “rip-off”.

    “Vapers are being fleeced by insurance companies,” he said.

    “It is ridiculous that insurers are still conflating combustible tobacco and vaping products despite all the evidence from bodies such as Public Health England that vaping is far less harmful than smoking.”

  • Ban shows double standards

    Ban shows double standards

    Sri Lanka’s ban on chewing ‘smokeless tobacco’ has come under criticism by people who say that, in not banning smoking, the government is adopting double standards, according to a story by Chrishanthi Christopher for The Sunday Times.

    The government recently banned smokeless tobacco through a gazette notice after it was approved in parliament in April 2017.

    The notice banned the manufacture, sale and possession of all smokeless tobacco products, and mixtures that contain tobacco, including the betel quid, which has tobacco strips.

    However, the growing, chewing and selling of betel leaves are not banned.

    A recent World Health Organization survey was said to have shown that six percent of school children were chewing commercially-produced arecanut.

    The chairman of the National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol, Dr. Palitha Abeykoon, said the survey had shown that many of the school children were addicted to arecanut, which they kept under their tongues and used for the high it could produce.

    The finding had necessitated the ban on smokeless tobacco products, he said.

    The aim of the ban was reportedly not to deprive people of their traditional betel chewing habits but from using tobacco in the betel quid.

    Chewing smokeless tobacco, unlike traditional betel chewing, was said to be ‘most dangerous and addictive, killing people within two years’.

    The smokeless-tobacco products, which were said to contain a mixture of arecanut, tobacco, sweeteners and spices, were said to come from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

    Interestingly, the story said, these products were banned in the countries that exported them.

  • Financial support needed

    Financial support needed

    The Tobacco Board of Zambia (TBZ) says a lack of financial support is affecting farmers’ ability to grow tobacco, according to a story in the Zambia Daily Mail.

    Last year, Zambia sold 23 million kg of tobacco, which contributed about three percent to the country’s gross domestic product.

    Teddy Chirwa a tobacco inspector with the TBZ’s Southern Region, said most farmers were unable to grow tobacco because it was labor-intensive and involved a high production cost.

    During an interview at the 91st Zambia Agricultural and Commercial Show, Chirwa said improving access to finance could increase farmers’ investment choices and provide them with more effective tools to increase yields.

    Chirwa said there was a need for policies that would support the growth of the tobacco industry in the country.

    He was said to have bemoaned the low tobacco-consumption level in the country, and the fact that currently farmers depend on China, the only export destination.

    Commenting on the theme of this year’s agricultural show, Promoting a green economy, Chirwa said the TBZ would continue to promote a green economy through sustainable agricultural practices in the tobacco value chain.

    The TBZ was encouraging small-scale growers to use efficient irrigation technologies in tobacco production, and was calling for the use of ‘climate-smart and environmentally-friendly agro-chemicals in various productions’.

    “There is need to promote alternative and more efficient tobacco curing methods by embarking on a tree planting exercise in the tobacco value chain to promote a green economy,” Chirwa said.

    “As a country, we also need to strengthen re-afforestation programs and smart agriculture practices for tobacco production to support economic growth,” he said.

  • Illegal trade targeted

    Illegal trade targeted

    The trade association representing the UK tobacco industry yesterday launched a campaign targeting the illegal tobacco trade across some of the busiest transport hubs in the UK, key transports routes in and out of the country and online.

    ‘The campaign which builds on previous TMA [UK] activities seeks to challenge the flows of non-UK duty paid tobacco from known high-risk routes into the UK which is then sold on illegally in a variety of ways,’ said a TMA press note.

    ‘Research shows that this ranges from simply selling on to friends and family or by more sophisticated means such as through the use of retailers, social media and community websites.

    ‘The TMA is therefore extending its campaign activities to focus on such online platforms used for the sale of illegal tobacco as well as known transport routes used to bring non-UK duty paid tobacco into the UK.’

    The campaign, which will run during the summer, will target, for instance, airports, ports, international coaches, websites and social media platforms.

    The TMA said it was advising adult consumers to adhere to the government guidelines and only bring tobacco into the UK for personal use, because the consequences for doing otherwise could be severe.

    And it said it was advising smokers not to buy illicit tobacco products from online sources because in doing so they could be aiding organised crime.

    “As people travel to and from the continent over the summer holidays, we are taking this opportunity to remind them with this new campaign that it is illegal to bring back tobacco from overseas and then sell it on in the UK,” said Giles Roca, director general of the TMA.

    “Reselling tobacco bought overseas is not a victimless crime. This practice affects many hard-working independent shopkeepers who are deprived of legitimate tobacco sales and related footfall.”

  • Price up US$0.02 per kg

    Price up US$0.02 per kg

    The average price for flue-cured tobacco in Zimbabwe is running at US$0.02 per kg ahead of what it was in 2016.

    According to a story in The Herald today, growers had so far sold 180 million kg of flue-cured for $532 million per kg, at an average price of US$2.95 per kg.

    By the same stage of last year’s sales season, they had sold 193 million kg for $566 million, at an average price of US$2.93 per kg.

    Of this year’s sales, 149 million kg have been sold under the contract system for US$444 million, at an average price of US$2.98 per kg, while 31 million kg has been sold at auction for US$88 million, for an average price of US$2.84 per kg.

    Although the industry is expecting to have sold about 206 million kg by the end of this season, up from 201 million kg in 2016, flue-cured sales are now being conducted only once a week.

    Early this month, the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) reduced the number of selling days to two – on Tuesdays and Thursdays – and now, sales will be conducted on Wednesdays only.

    In a statement on Tuesday, the TIMB board said final clean-up sales would be held on August 11.

  • Prices linked to poverty

    Prices linked to poverty

    A recent study has found a correlation between US state and local jurisdictions that increase cigarette excise taxes and the number of households in those jurisdictions that apply for food stamps for the first time, according to a National Public Radio (NPR) story relayed by the TMA.

    The study found that on average, a 56 percent increase in cigarette taxes resulted in seven percent of eligible unenrolled households joining the program.

    The study was discussed on the July 25 episode of NPR’s Morning Edition: http://www.npr.org/2017/07/25/539183590/hidden-brain-cigarette-taxes.