The Tobacco Association of Zambia (TAZ) says that the ‘continued reduction’ in tobacco prices has negatively affected the growth of the sector, according to a story in The Zambia Daily Mail.
During the past three years, the TAZ was quoted as saying, tobacco prices had been declining, with flue-cured Virginia and Burley averaging US$2.50 per kg and US$1.90 per kg respectively this year.
This year’s marketing season started in the third week of April.
In its annual report, TAZ says the decline in the price of tobacco had led to the sector becoming less profitable.
Category: People
Price reductions continuing
Addicted to Big Government
A new report says Scotland must break its ‘addiction to big government and creeping prohibition’.
Published by the smokers’ group Forest, The McNanny State argues that since devolution in 1999 Scotland has become a ‘puritan’s playpen’ with politicians repeatedly intervening in the lives of ordinary people.
Highlighting the smoking ban, minimum pricing of alcohol and the named person scheme as examples of the McNanny state, the report attacks what it calls the ‘politics of intervention’.
“Public health officials moralise on our lifestyles with edicts based more on superstition than hard evidence,” said the author of the report, former member of the Scottish Parliament, Brian Monteith. “They make outrageous claims based on disreputable science that on investigation are often found to be baseless.
“With smoking and alcohol under the cosh the next big thing is going to be controlling what we eat. Portion sizes, calorie levels, and promotions that save money for those least well off will all be attacked.
“Scotland must break its addiction to big government and creeping prohibition. The country has become a puritan’s playground and it is going to get a lot worse before enough people wake up to the McNanny State and do something about it.”
The report features a foreword by journalist and novelist Allan Massie who wrote that ever since the Scottish Parliament came into being in 1999, politicians had chipped away at the liberties of the people.
“The Scottish state today treats adults as people incapable of managing their own lives and, if they are parents, as people who cannot be trusted with the unfettered care of their children,” Massie said.
“We are now in the grip of a political class that is complacently certain of its moral or ethical superiority, a class that in its ineffable conceit has no doubt that it knows what is good for us, and does not hesitate to legislate accordingly.”
Simon Clark (pictured), director of Forest, described the report as hugely topical. “The Scottish Government’s new tobacco control plan, announced last week [June 20], is another blow for those who want less not more state interference in their daily lives,” he said.
“Proposals to ban smoking in social housing and restrict the number of shops that sell tobacco represent further attacks on consumers and convenience stores that are already over-regulated to the point that they are struggling to stay in business.
“The aim of this report is to launch a national debate on the role of government in people’s lives and examine the way the issue is being addressed in political and media circles.
“Our goal is to put lifestyle choices back into the hands of consumers, not politicians and state-funded pressure groups.”Smoke-free simulcasting
Philip Morris International yesterday issued a call to action for the creative, media and communications communities to embrace its ongoing commitment to creating a smoke-free world.
‘As part of this initiative, PMI will offer smoke-free alternatives wherever we can, including heated tobacco products and e-cigarettes, to current smokers in the industry who would otherwise continue to smoke,’ the company said in a press note.
The initiative was announced during a keynote speech at the PMI Science Lounge at The Cannes Festival of Creativity, where senior vice president of communications Marian Salzman said: “We are asking the creative community to join us in raising awareness of the potential of science, technology and innovation for those who smoke and the people around them”.
PMI described the move as being part of its vision ‘to lead the charge towards greater innovation and technology in the tobacco industry, all of which is backed by science’.
Agencies interested in joining the movement can contact Marian Salzman at marian.salzman@pmi.com.
“People who smoke deserve information about better alternatives,” said COO Jacek Olczak (pictured). “The media industry can play an important role in making this happen, including by championing this initiative.
“Quitting tobacco and nicotine remains the best option for smokers, but for those who don’t, science-based non-combustible alternatives are a better choice than continuing to use cigarettes.”
Olczak said PMI wanted a world where all people who would otherwise continue to smoke instead switched to less harmful alternatives. “We started with a bold statement in Cannes: we are looking to create a world where all these smokers switch to better alternatives,” he said. “Now it’s time to make sure people know we are serious. And now, we are following up with concrete actions.”
The press note said that the Emakina Group, an independent group of communication agencies in Europe, had been the first agency network to declare its commitment to a smoke-free future by pledging support to the initiative across its 13 offices. “A smoke-free future for the whole company? Challenge accepted,” said Brice Le Blévennec, CEO, Emakina Group. “And you know what? Let’s start now!”
PMI says it is developing and assessing a range of smoke-free alternatives to cigarettes including heated tobacco products, e-cigarettes, and other innovative technologies. ‘The company is conducting extensive research to examine the risk reduction potential of the products compared to continued smoking,’ it said. ‘All evidence to date indicates that PMI’s smoke-free alternatives are a better choice for smokers than cigarettes.’Spreading the word
Although during its 15-year existence the electronic cigarette has been successful in encouraging millions of smokers to switch to this much less harmful alternative, there is still a pressing need to disseminate further the message about the advantages of these products.
This is according to Dustin Dahlmann (pictured), founding member of the Independent European Vape Alliance (IEVA) and the author of a sponsored-content piece published yesterday by politico.eu.
Dahlmann said that, according to a study published in 2016 by the Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center in Athens, Greece, more than six million tobacco smokers in the EU had succeeded in quitting their habit with the help of e-cigarettes, while another nine million smokers had been able to reduce their dependence on combustible cigarettes by using the electronic alternative.
A German study from 2017, meanwhile, had found that 99 percent of all e-cigarette users were current or former tobacco smokers.
The Graz-based toxicologist Professor Bernd Mayer was quoted as saying that on switching to e-cigarettes, the typical smoker’s cough disappeared within a few weeks, the susceptibility to infection decreased massively and the physical condition improved.
For him, the transition to e-cigarettes in terms of health improvements was comparable to stopping smoking. In an opinion written in 2016, as an appointed expert of the Federal Government, Mayer said the most significant difference between e-cigarettes and conventional cigarettes was that the former did not burn during use; so no combustion products were formed, and it was these products that were responsible for potentially fatal diseases such as cancer, heart attacks, strokes and COPD.
But Dahlmann pointed out that the proven lower degree of harmfulness of e-cigarettes had not penetrated sufficiently into the consciousness of European society. ‘A survey in Germany in 2017 revealed that more than half of the population believe e-cigarettes are at least as harmful as tobacco cigarettes,’ he said. ‘Comparable studies in Great Britain have come to similar conclusions. This also applies to the only relevant target group for e-cigarettes: adult smokers and their relatives, for whom a switch could provide significant relief.
‘In this regard, public health bodies are encouraged to spread the generally accepted facts about the e-cigarette to the wider public, so that smokers can correctly assess the alternatives.’LL Flex Restructures
LL Flex a supplier of paper, film and metals-based laminates for packaging and industrial applications, has said it is to realign its executive management team and focus its assets in core markets.
This is said to follow Centre Lane Partners’ (CLP) sale of the Oracle Packaging business in Winston-Salem.
Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, LL Flex will remain a part of the CLP portfolio of companies. Industry veteran Victor Dixon has been appointed CEO.
The company said it planned to allocate resources to support continued growth, expansion into new lines of business and development of innovative laminated materials solutions for the wire and cable, tobacco, building and construction, and specialty markets.
‘For tobacco companies, LL Flex is North America’s largest supplier of cigarette inner bundling material, as well as custom-printed laminations for cigar, pipe and smokeless tobacco,’ the company said in a press note.What's not to like?
Vaping helps people stop smoking – and can even encourage them to quit when they aren’t looking to do so, according to new research from the UK’s University of East Anglia (UAE).
In a piece on the eurekalert.org website, the University said its study had shown that smokers who switched to vaping might be better able [than those using other quit methods] to stay smoke-free in the long term.
It had shown, too, that even people who weren’t looking to stop smoking had eventually quit because they found vaping more enjoyable than smoking.
“E-cigarettes are at least 95 percent less harmful than tobacco smoking, and they are now the most popular aid to quitting smoking in the UK,” said lead researcher Dr. Caitlin Notley of the UEA’s Norwich Medical School.
“However, the idea of using e-cigarettes to stop smoking, and particularly long-term use, remains controversial.”
The research team carried out in-depth interviews with 40 vapers and, in doing so, found that vaping might support long-term smoking abstinence.
“Not only does it substitute many of the physical, psychological, social and cultural elements of cigarette smoking, but it is pleasurable in its own right, as well as convenient and cheaper than smoking,” said Notley. “Our study group also felt better in themselves – they noticed better respiratory function, taste and smell.
“But the really interesting thing we found was that vaping may also encourage people who don’t even want to stop smoking, to eventually quit.”
While most of the sample group reported long histories of tobacco smoking and multiple previous quit attempts, a minority (17 percent) said they enjoyed smoking and had never seriously attempted to quit.
“These were our accidental quitters,” said Dr Notley. “They hadn’t intended to quit smoking and had tried vaping on a whim, or because they had been offered it by friends. They went on to like it, and only then saw it as a potential substitute for smoking.”
“Many people talked about how they saw vaping …as a no pressure approach to quitting,” she said.Taxing progress
E-liquids are to be the subject of a 57 percent excise tax in Indonesia from July 1, according to a story in The Neutral News.
Indonesia officially recognizes eight varieties of e-liquids, premium and non-premium, each of which retail in four sizes.
They range in price from Rp10,000 to Rp120,000.
Fifteen milliliters of premium e-liquid retails for Rp18,000, 30 ml for Rp35,000, 60 ml for Rp70,000, and 100 ml for Rp120,000.
Fifteen milliliters of non-premium e-liquid retails for Rp10,000, 30 ml for Rp20,000, 60 ml for Rp40,000, and 100 ml for Rp80,000.UK in optimistic mood
The mood is optimistic in vape shops across the UK where new research commissioned by Philip Morris Limited has found that vape-shop owners and managers expect store sales to grow by about 13 percent on average this year.
The findings come from a study of attitudes and expectations of 101 vape-shop owners and managers across the UK conducted by Brand Potential.
Other findings of the research include:- 83 percent of vape shop owners and managers expect the industry to grow in the coming year and 47 percent expect to increase employment levels over the same period.
- Online sales are expected to grow by about 10 percent.
- 77 percent of vape-shop owners interviewed expect to expand their operations over the next three years, including opening another shop.
- To increase sales, 71 percent are considering investing in staff training to improve product knowledge and 67 percent are considering offering a wider range of alternatives to smoking.
“UK vape shop owners are right to be confident about the future,” said Matt Tisdall, Philip Morris Limited’s head of sales. “As more alternatives to cigarettes become available, vape shops can play a vital role in educating smokers, who would otherwise continue to smoke, about the full range of options available to help them switch.”
When the survey subjects were asked about helping smokers looking to switch to vaping, the research found that:- 94 percent of vape shop owners and managers believe that support from store staff is most helpful.
- 81 percent believe also that having a wide range of products is most helpful.
Smoking in rapid decline
The incidence of smoking in the US dropped to 13.9 percent last year, from 15.2 percent the year before, according to preliminary figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
An Associated Press story quoted K. Michael Cummings of the tobacco research program at the Medical University of South Carolina as saying that there hadn’t been much change during the previous two years, but that it was clear there had been a general decline and that the new figures showed the decline was continuing.
“Everything is pointed in the right direction,” including falling cigarette sales and other indicators, Cummings said.
In the early 1960s, 42 percent of US adults smoked. At the turn of the millennium, the smoking incidence was about 23 percent.
The story quoted ‘experts’ as saying that anti-smoking campaigns, cigarette taxes and smoking bans were combining to bring down adult smoking rates.
The launch of electronic cigarettes and their growing popularity was said to have ‘likely played a role’ in the decline.
Meanwhile, teenagers too are shunning cigarettes, with figures out last week showing that smoking among high-school students down to nine percent. About 13 percent of high-school students use electronic cigarettes, while the figure for adult use of these devices in 2016 was three percent.Japan opting for restrictions
Japan’s Lower House has passed an antismoking bill, paving the way for its enactment and implementation before the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, according to a story in the Japan Times.
The bill to revise the Health Promotion Law bans indoor smoking at schools, hospitals and public institutions, with violations resulting in fines.
But the bill is said to have drawn controversy because the government has largely relaxed requirements for eateries to qualify for exemptions on indoor smoking restrictions, amid opposition from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party whose members have strong ties to the tobacco and restaurant industries.
Under the bill, smoking is prohibited in principle at eateries, offices and hotels. But such facilities may set up special rooms for the exclusive use of smokers – albeit rooms where no food or drink will be served.
Eateries with customer seating areas of up to 100 square meters and capital of up to ¥50 million are exempted from the smoking ban and are not required to set up separate smoking areas if they display a sign in front of their buildings indicating that they allow smoking.
The bill restricts also the use of heat-not-burn products by requiring eateries to set up special smoking rooms if they want to allow their customers to use such devices while they dine.
The bill is due to go to the Upper House.
