Category: People

  • Be afraid, be very afraid

    Be afraid, be very afraid

    The UK Government is moving the country on to a no-deal Brexit footing even though it says it believes a no-deal ‘scenario’ is unlikely.
    It is issuing a series of ‘technical notices’ setting out ‘information to allow businesses and citizens to understand what they would need to do in a “no-deal” scenario, so they can make informed plans and preparations’.
    One such notice provides ‘information to organizations, businesses and members of the public concerned with tobacco and related products, regarding changes to the regulation of such products in the unlikely event that the UK leaves the European Union (EU) in March 2019 with no agreement in place’. The notice does not include tax issues, however.
    Some of the UK laws that regulate tobacco products and e-cigarettes implement the Tobacco Products Directive 2014/40/EU and the Tobacco Advertising Directive 2003/33/EC, as well as a number of delegated and implementing acts made under the Tobacco Products Directive.
    EU-derived policy and legislation regarding tobacco and related products cover areas including:

    • control of sale of products
    • advertising
    • product standards (such as ingredients of products and their emissions)
    • and packaging.

    The Tobacco Products Directive also sets reporting requirements for tobacco products and e-cigarettes. Manufacturers must submit specified information on ingredients and emissions for products before they are placed on the market.
    ‘If the UK leaves the EU in March 2019 with no agreement in place, the Tobacco Products Directive and the Tobacco Advertising Directive would no longer directly apply to the UK,’ according to a note at GOV.UK.
    ‘The UK domestic law that implements these directives, such as the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016, would remain in force, with minor amendments to ensure it still works effectively after EU exit. These amendments would be brought in through regulations made under the EU (Withdrawal) Act powers and would come into force on exit day.
    ‘The amendments to UK tobacco legislation would include giving the UK government the power to update the legislation in response to emerging threats, changing safety and quality standards, and technological advances. These updating powers are likely to have minimal impact on industry. Their purpose is to make sure that the UK is still able to make technical changes after we leave the EU, where needed.’
    In the event of a no-deal Brexit, the Government says it would:

    • ‘Create new domestic systems to allow producers to notify tobacco products and e-cigarettes in accordance with existing rules. Manufacturers will need to submit information on the new systems for any new products that they wish to sell in the UK.
    • ‘Introduce new picture warnings for tobacco products as the copyright for the existing picture library is owned by the European Commission. Manufacturers will need to ensure that tobacco products which include picture warnings produced from Exit Day onwards will be labelled with the new picture warnings.’

    The notice said the Government would be consulting on the technical details of both these issues in September ‘to ensure that changes are simple and effective, to minimise the burden of any changes’.
    ‘Inevitably, under a “no-deal” scenario the close working relationships that exist with our European partners would not be the same,’ the notice added. ‘The UK will, of course, continue to play an active role in the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.’
    The Government says that further information on new systems for notification and picture warnings will be provided as part of the consultation and when the new legislation is introduced.

  • PMI spreading the word

    PMI spreading the word

    Philip Morris International says it is taking to the Middle East and Africa its call to the creative, media and communications communities to go smoke-free.
    ‘We started our push at the Cannes Festival of Creativity, where we asked creative agencies to join PMI in making the world smoke-free’, the company said in a press note posted on its website. ‘We are continuing our efforts to find partners with a presence at the Middle East and Africa’s biggest gathering of creative agencies, the Loeries Creative Week.
    ‘Our lounge at the event is an interactive educational area raising awareness on the role that science, innovation, and technology can play for people who smoke, and informing on PMI’s efforts to replace cigarettes with less harmful alternatives.’
    PMI reported that a number of agencies had signed up already, including the first group in Africa, Publicis Groupe Africa.
    ‘We are asking creative agencies from the Middle East and Africa to join their peers in going smoke-free,’ the note said. ‘To help them understand our commitment, PMI will provide education on the fact that quitting tobacco and nicotine remains the best option for those who smoke, but that for those smokers who would continue, a range of smoke-free alternatives now exist.’
    “There is a large opportunity in the Middle East and Africa to leverage innovation and science for those who smoke and the people around them,” said senior vice president global communications Marian Salzman. “We’re asking the creative community based in the region and elsewhere to join us in raising awareness around this important initiative.”
    Meanwhile, Drago Azinovic, president of PMI’s Middle East, Africa, and Duty-Free operations, said the company’s vision for the world and for the Middle East and Africa is for all people who would otherwise continue to smoke to switch instead to less harmful alternatives. “Joining forces with the creative community in the region can help make this important objective happen faster,” Azinovic said.
    The CEO of Publicis Groupe Africa, John Dixon, said his company was proud to be the first agency network in Africa to commit to a smoke-free future and was aligned with PMI’s bold ambition of a smoke-free world. “Our 14 agencies across two regions will support the cause,” he said.
    Agencies that are interested in taking part should contact Marian Salzman at marian.salzman@pmi.com.

  • Tariffs take their toll

    Tariffs take their toll

    The impression among US leaf dealers is that Chinese buyers have decided to honor their contracts with the US Tobacco Co-operative and some individual growers they have previously contracted with, according to the most recent issue of Christopher Bickers’ Tobacco Farmer Newsletter.
    US tobacco is one of the products implicated in the trade dispute between the US and China and the dealers have apparently been led to believe that there will be no other Chinese purchases of US flue-cured this year.
    Bickers (cebickers@aol.com) reported also that the prices offered at the opening sales that took place this week at most of the flue-cured auction warehouses were not encouraging.
    Meanwhile, the first round of US tariffs on Chinese vapor products has taken effect with the imposition of a 25 percent tax on all shipments of ‘e-cigarettes, mods, batteries, and similar devices from China’, according to a Vaping360 story relayed by the TMA.
    The story said the tax would be felt by US importers, wholesalers, retail sellers, and vapers because very little domestic manufacturing existed.
    “For the vast majority of American vapers, the choice is not going to be an American-made product versus a Chinese-made product with a 25 percent tariff,” American Vaping Association president Gregory Conley was quoted as saying. “It’s only going to be the latter, which isn’t much of a choice at all.”

  • Addicted to socializing

    Addicted to socializing

    Smoking the odd cigarette with friends after a few drinks may seem relatively harmless, but, according to a story at independent.ie, research in the US has suggested that it may be as dangerous as an everyday habit.
    More than 10 percent of the 39,000 people surveyed as part of the research said they were ‘social smokers’, compared with 17 percent who said they smoked daily. The study found that about 75 percent of both groups had high blood pressure, while 54 percent had high cholesterol.
    The source of the research was not mentioned, but the story was in any case focused on why some people smoke at social events when it isn’t something they would do day-to-day?
    “Social smoking is nothing to do with addiction to nicotine,” clinical hypnotherapist Fiona Brennan was quoted as saying. “It is all about the desire to belong. When we encounter new challenges in life such as starting college, or a new job, above all we want to fit in.”
    But while social smoking was said to have nothing to do with addiction, Brennan said that there was the possibility that it would eventually lead to full-time addiction.
    Nicotine, the story said, was highly addictive, and while the addiction had a physical component, it was mainly psychological. If a person started smoking socially, she would first make the connection between smoking and having fun and feeling confident. But smoking could then become a crutch on nights out, and this could leak into other areas of life.

  • Addicted to nonsense

    Addicted to nonsense

    Israel on Tuesday outlawed the import and sale of e-cigarettes made by Juul Labs, citing public health concerns over their nicotine content, according to a Reuters story published on voanews.com.
    A statement by Israel’s Health Ministry said the Juul device was being banned because it contained nicotine at a concentration higher than 20 milligrams per milliliter and posed ‘a grave risk to public health’.
    The Ministry added that the ban was consistent with similar restrictions in Europe.
    The ban, which goes into effect in 15 days, was signed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who holds the health portfolio.
    In a statement on Tuesday, Juul Labs said it was ‘incredibly disappointed’ with what it called a ‘misguided’ decision by the Israeli government. The San Francisco company said it planned to appeal the ban, adding that its devices provided smokers with ‘a true alternative to combustible cigarettes’.
    Israel’s Haaretz newspaper reported in May that Juul e-cigarettes were available for purchase at 30 locations around the country.

  • No sin, no tax

    No sin, no tax

    Despite earlier fears, the UK Exchequer has no plans to introduce a new tax on vaping products.
    The UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) said yesterday that it had received a letter from HM Treasury in which the Exchequer Secretary, Robert Jenrick, said ‘we have no current plans to introduce a new tax on vaping products’.
    Jenrick was writing to the UKVIA in response to an open letter that was signed also by the Center for Policy Studies, the Institute of Economic Affairs, the TaxPayers’ Alliance, the Adam Smith Institute, The Freedom Association and the New Nicotine Alliance.
    Following media speculation at the beginning of this month that vaping products were to become the subject of a ‘sin tax’, the UKVIA pointed out that, according to Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) figures, of the nearly three million UK vapers, more than half had given up smoking, and 97 percent were either smokers or ex-smokers.
    It said that the value of health gains associated with a single successful quit attempt was £74,000 according to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, and therefore, the ASH figures suggested that vaping had already saved the UK in the region of £111 billion.
    And it could save more, though it had to be borne in mind that the principal reason for people switching to vaping from smoking was that vaping was substantially cheaper.
    In his response, Jenrick said he agreed that vaping had a role to play in reducing smoking, as set out in the Department of Health and Social Care’s Tobacco Control Plan ‘towards a smoke free generation’.
    And he noted the UKVIA’s comments about the savings to the NHS and the statistics from ASH.

  • The latest from California

    The latest from California

    The dual use of electronic cigarettes and conventional cigarettes – the most common use pattern among e-cigarette users – ‘appears to be more dangerous than using either product alone,’ according to a ScienceDaily story citing the results of a study conducted by the University of California, San Francisco, US.
    The study found that the use of e-cigarettes alone every day can nearly double the odds of a heart attack.
    And it found that the risks compound, so that daily use of both e-cigarettes and conventional cigarettes raises the heart attack risk five-fold when compared to people who don’t use either product.
    The study, involving nearly 70,000 people, was published on August 22 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. The data were first presented in February in Baltimore at the 2018 annual meeting of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco.
    “Most adults who use e-cigarettes continue to smoke cigarettes,” said senior author Stanton Glantz, PhD, a UCSF professor of medicine and director of the UCSF Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education.
    “While people may think they are reducing their health risks, we found that the heart attack risk of e-cigarettes adds to the risk of smoking cigarettes,” Glantz said. “Using both products at the same time is worse than using either one separately. Someone who continues to smoke daily while using e-cigarettes daily increases the odds of a heart attack by a factor of five.”
    But the research also reported some good news if smokers quit:
    “The risk of heart attack starts to drop immediately after you stop smoking,” said Glantz. “Our results suggest the same is true when they stop using e-cigarettes.”

  • Providing a vital service

    Providing a vital service

    The results of new research released yesterday reveals a more-than thirty-fold increase in the number of vape shops in the UK during the past five years – from less than 100 in 2013 to 2,850 in 2018.
    The research, carried out by the Centre for Economic and Business Research on-behalf of Philip Morris Limited, found that the rapid spread of vape shops across the country has coincided with significant falls in the prevalence of smoking, with some of the largest declines in smoking rates during the past five years being observed in regions with a particularly prominent vaping sector.
    On a wider front, vape shops are becoming a significant presence on the high street while other stores, particularly those of grocers, newsagents and electrical goods retailers, are in sharp decline. Forty percent of vape shops were found to be trading from premises that were previously vacant, and vape shop owners are estimated now to employ close to 6,000 people directly in-store.
    A PM press note announcing the research findings said that UK sales of vape products had reached £1 billion in 2017 and that this was expected to reach £2 billion by 2020, according to Euromonitor International.
    The research found that the North West was the UK’s number one vaping hotspot with 456 vape shops – one for every 2,019 adult smokers in the region. The region had experienced also one of the biggest declines in smoking prevalence, with the adult smoking rate falling by four percent between 2013 and 2017.
    “This research clearly shows the huge contribution vape shops are making in helping smokers switch away from cigarettes,” Mark MacGregor, PMI UK corporate affairs director, was quoted as saying. “According to ASH, 50 percent of all smokers do not realise that e-cigarettes are significantly less harmful than smoking. Vape shops have an incredibly important role to play in raising awareness of the various alternatives to smoking, including e-cigarettes and heated tobacco.”
    Top 5 hotspots
    Vaping hotspots by total number of vape shops

    Vape shops (2018)Smoking prevalence 2013Smoking prevalence 2017Change in smoking prevalence
    North West45620.0%16.1%-4.0%
    South East31917.2%13.7%-3.5%
    London30917.1%14.6%-2.5%
    Yorkshire and the Humber30420.5%17.0%-3.5%
    West Midlands26517.8%14.2%-3.5%
  • Reflecting on smuggling

    Reflecting on smuggling

    The European Commission has said that it is reflecting on whether additional activities should be proposed in respect of the implementation of its 2013 strategy aimed at combatting the illegal trade in tobacco products.
    The Commission was replying in writing to two questions from the German member of the European Parliament, Wolf Klinz, who said, in a preamble to his questions, that the EU had been confronted with the smuggling of tobacco products across its eastern and southern borders.
    The cheap prices of smuggled tobacco products risked undermining the EU’s efforts to limit smoking, he added, before asking:
    ‘Is the Commission aware of the smuggling methods and the organized groups behind the smuggling?
    ‘What is the Commission doing to combat the smuggling?’
    In reply, the Commission said the illegal tobacco trade was a cross-border phenomenon that required a global approach and international co-operation.
    ‘In the past years, the Commission has promoted the ratification of a new global anti-smuggling treaty, i.e. the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products to the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control…,’ it said. ‘The Commission welcomes the entry into force of the Protocol in September 2018 as a significant step forward in the fight against cigarette smuggling.
    ‘The Commission presented in May 2017 a report on progress in the fight against the illicit tobacco trade; that report also touches upon current smuggling trends. The report found that, despite the measures taken in recent years, the illicit tobacco trade remains at preoccupying levels in the EU. The Commission is therefore currently reflecting whether additional activities should be proposed in implementation of its 2013 strategy, which remains pertinent and relevant.
    ‘The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) has an investigative mandate to fight tobacco smuggling into the EU. OLAF also co-ordinates anti-smuggling operations carried out by law-enforcement agencies across Europe and ensures that evaded duties are recovered, smuggling networks are dismantled and perpetrators brought to justice. OLAF is well aware of current trends in the smuggling of tobacco products.’

  • Smoke and mirrors

    Smoke and mirrors

    Campaigners have urged the UK Government to tackle the problem of drugs and violent assaults in England’s prisons by amending the prison smoking ban and allowing designated smoking areas.
    The call follows an announcement by prisons minister Rory Stewart on Friday that he will resign if the use of drugs and assaults do not fall in 10 problem jails.
    In June, Stewart tweeted: ‘Delighted to confirm that we have just achieved one hundred per cent smoke free prisons’.
    ‘Incidents of self-harm and assaults in prisons are at record levels and the use of illegal drugs is rife, yet the government insists on banning tobacco, a legal product,’ said Simon Clark, director of the smokers’ group Forest.
    ‘Allowing prisoners to smoke might actually help address the far more serious problems Rory Stewart is trying to solve.
    Clark said that by offering to resign if his program of reforms didn’t succeed, Stewart had shown himself to be an honourable politician.
    But he also needs to be pragmatic and in the real world a substantial number of prisoners enjoy smoking, Clark added.
    ‘No-one should be surprised that if you take away one of their few pleasures there will be negative consequences.
    ‘We challenge Mr Stewart to test the theory by allowing designated smoking areas in half of the ten problem prisons he has chosen to target.
    ‘He can then compare one set of prisons against the other to see if permitting smoking makes any difference to the problem of drugs and violent assaults.’