Category: People

Policies out of touch
Most Scots think government policies aimed at reducing smoking rates have gone too far or far enough, according to the results of a new poll.
A majority would allow smoking rooms in pubs and clubs, and permit designated smoking areas in prisons and hospital grounds.
An overwhelming majority think smoking should be allowed in the home and in private vehicles.
The public also believes the Scottish Government has more pressing concerns than tackling smoking.
The poll of 1,021 adults in Scotland was carried out by Populus for the smokers’ group Forest ahead of the announcement of the Scottish Government’s new tobacco control plan which is expected later this month.
Key findings of the poll were:
- 54 percent of people think Government policies to reduce smoking rates have gone too far or far enough; 37 percent think they have not gone far enough; and nine percent are undecided.
- (12 years after smoking was banned in every pub and club in Scotland) 57 percent of people think pubs and private members’ clubs, including working men’s clubs, should be allowed to provide a well-ventilated designated smoking room, while 16 percent are opposed to the idea and 27 percent are undecided.
- (With regard to the Scottish Government’s zero tolerance policy on smoking in prisons) 66 percent of people agree that prisoners should be allowed to smoke in designated smoking areas.
- (With regard to the Scottish Government’s zero tolerance policy on smoking in hospital grounds) 56 percent of people and 82 percent of frequent smokers believe that National Health Service (NHS) hospital trusts should be allowed to provide designated smoking areas in hospital grounds for patients, visitors and staff.
- (Following calls to extend smoking bans to social housing, all private vehicles and some public parks) 86 percent of people think smoking should be permitted in the home; 74 percent think smoking should be permitted when smokers are alone in their own vehicle; and 55 percent think smoking should be allowed in outdoor public parks.
- (Smoking on stage and film and TV sets is allowed in England but not in Scotland where it was outlawed in 2006) 61 percent of respondents believe that actors should be allowed to smoke on stage in Scotland when smoking is integral to the plot or characterisation, while 34 percent are opposed to the idea.
Meanwhile, Scots believe the Scottish Government has more pressing concerns than tackling smoking. Asked to consider a list of 10 priorities for the NHS in Scotland, respondents said investing in new doctors and nurses is the most important priority and tackling smoking is the least important priority.
When it comes to local government priorities in Scotland, tackling smoking was again considered the least important priority, with maintenance of roads and bridges considered the most important.
Other findings were:
- 44 percent of Scots think that tobacco taxation (which is responsible for between 80 and 90 percent of the price of a pack of cigarettes) is too high, 41 percent think it is about right and 15 percent think it is too low.
- 61 percent of respondents agreed that existing measures to reduce smoking rates should be subject to a full and independent review to consider their impact on consumers, retailers and public health before the Scottish Government proceeds with further measures to reduce the sale and consumption of tobacco products.
- 34 percent think smokers are treated unfairly by the Government, 28 percent believe they are treated fairly, and 38 percent believe they are treated neither fairly nor unfairly.
- 73 percent of regular smokers polled believe smokers are treated unfairly by the Government.
Urging the Scottish Government to “abandon its war on smokers”, Forest director Simon Clark (pictured) said the Scottish political establishment was clearly out of step with the public who supported fair and reasonable restrictions on where people could smoke, not prohibition.
“Any further regulations to tackle smoking would be a distraction from other more important issues facing central and local government in Scotland,” he said.
“The Scottish Government should listen to public opinion, abandon its war on smokers and focus on education not legislation.”
June 19, 2018
Listen to me, I'm an expert
Most Australians want electronic cigarettes legalized, according to the results of a recent survey, but the Government and anti-smoking advocates claim the devices might pose health risks, according to a story by Callum Godde for news.com.au.
The Australian Retail Association (ARA) poll, conducted by the Crosby Textor Group, shows 61 percent of 1,200 adults backed a move towards legalizing e-cigarettes or vaporisers.
ARA executive director Russell Zimmerman called on the federal Government to follow the lead of the US, UK, Canada and New Zealand by opening the market.
“More and more Australians are buying personal vaporisers with nicotine online from overseas, simply because they can’t buy them locally,” Mr Zimmerman said in a statement yesterday.
“The government needs to act so that responsible local retailers can compete on a level playing field and sell less harmful products for Australians trying to change their habits.”
Godde said the Cancer Council was ‘sceptical of the survey,’ suggesting the ARA results were ‘motivated by self-interest’.
The Council apparently urged power brokers not to be swayed by lobbyists.
“Public health policy decisions aren’t based on opinion polls,” tobacco issues committee chair Paul Grogan told AAP in a statement.
“Cancer Council supports the National Health and Medical Research Council’s ongoing independent review of the risks and potential benefits of e-cigarettes and the Therapeutic Goods Administration’s role in independently assessing any therapeutic benefit.”
June 19, 2018
No, no; it's easy to quit
Major tobacco manufacturers in the US have from yesterday been compelled to include on their websites so-called corrective statements.
Altria, Philip Morris USA, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco and Lorillard have been ordered by a federal court to make the statements.
The statements cover the health effects of smoking; the addictiveness of smoking and nicotine; low-tar and light cigarettes; the design of cigarettes; and the health effects of second-hand smoke.
According to a CNBC story relayed by the TMA, the statements were ordered on May 1 as part of a 2006 federal court decision that found the major cigarette manufacturers had defrauded the public about the health risks of their products.
CNBC said that the statements must be included also with cigarette packs as ‘onserts’ by November 21, running for 12 weeks over two years.
June 19, 2018
HNBs offer positive change
Philip Morris International said yesterday that a clinical study had proved that switching to its heat-not-burn (HNB) device could reduce the health risks posed by smoking combustible cigarettes, according to a story in The Korea Herald.
PMI’s study results come two weeks after the South Korean health authorities released the result of their study, which found that HNB devices to be equally harmful as combustible cigarettes, if not more harmful.
According to PMI, its latest clinical test was conducted on 984 smokers of combustible cigarettes over the age of 30 in the US.
As part of the test, it asked 488 people to switch to IQOS for six months.
The clinical risk assessment related to diseases associated with heart, lung and organ systems changed positively in the case of those who switched to IQOS, compared to those who continued smoking conventional cigarettes.
“The latest research was conducted to demonstrate clinical, biological and functional health changes in smokers switching to the HNB product,” said Manuel Peitsch, chief scientific officer at PMI. “The result has proven that the HNB product can reduce the risk of smoking-related diseases.”
June 19, 2018
Prices heading south
During the first 56 days of flue-cured tobacco sales in Zimbabwe, the average price paid to growers increased by US$0.01 per kg, or about 0.3 percent, according to a story in The Sunday Mail.
After 52 days of sales, according to a previous story in the Zimbabwe Herald, the average price was up by US$0.02 per kg, or about 0.7 percent; so, as far as growers are concerned, the situation is going backwards.
The full-season average paid to growers has not increased for more than 20 years and seems unlikely to do so this year. The average price after 56 days is lower than the full-season average for 2017.
And growers have delivered 190 million kg already, the same amount as they delivered during the full-season 2017 market.
And whereas, for the third time since 2010, they are expected to deliver more than 200 million kg, the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) seems not to be expecting the total to go far above 200 million kg, even though, officially, there are more than 50 sales days to go.
“There’s a big likelihood that the country may surpass the 200 million kg targeted by Treasury given the amount of tobacco that has been delivered to the auction floors,” said Isheunesu Moyo, the TIMB’s public relations manager.
“We are surprised with the statistics given dry climatic conditions that we have experienced mid-season. The second half rains during end of January changed the course of the season for most tobacco farmers who were heading for total disaster.”
Of the 190 million kg delivered so far, more than 161 million kg were the subject of contracts.
The Mail reported that the average price had increased from US$2.90 per kg last year to US$2.91 per kg this year.
Growers were said to have earned ‘more than US$551 million in the first 56 days of the marketing season, [up] from US$440 million last year’. The amount of tobacco delivered during the two seasons was not mentioned.
The number of growers, however, was said to have risen from 98,705 ‘in the past year’ to 144,905. If the figure of 98,705 referred to last season, the average income per grower has fallen from US$4,458 in 2017 to US$3,802 this year, a drop of nearly 15 percent.
June 18, 2018
Ingredients labeling sought
The American Medical Association (AMA) is calling on the federal government to ensure consumers are aware of vaping-product ingredients.
It says that ‘research shows that the use of products containing nicotine in any form among youth – including e-cigarettes – is unsafe and can cause addiction’.
‘As the popularity of electronic cigarettes continues to grow among the nation’s youth, the … AMA adopted policy at its annual meeting this week to further strengthen its support of regulatory oversight of electronic cigarettes,’ the organization said in a press note issued on June 15. ‘The new policy urges the federal government to take action to ensure consumers are aware of the ingredients and nicotine content in e-cigarettes, e-cigarette cartridges and e-liquid refills.’
“Given that e-cigarette cartridge manufacturers are not required to list the ingredients contained in their products, we are concerned that consumers have an inaccurate reflection of the amount of nicotine and type of substances they’re inhaling when using e-cigarettes,” the AMA’s president Barbara L. McAneny, M.D, was quoted as saying. “We urge the federal government to move quickly to regulate e-cigarettes and require manufacturers to list the ingredients and nicotine content on product labels – further delaying regulation will only serve to put youth at further risk. The AMA will continue to advocate for more stringent policies to help keep all harmful tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, out of the hands of our nation’s youth.”
‘Research shows that the use of products containing nicotine in any form among youth – including e-cigarettes – is unsafe and can cause addiction,’ the note said. ‘To address concerns about unknown ingredients in e-cigarettes, the new policy specifically calls for prohibiting the sale of any e-cigarette cartridges and e-liquid refills that do not include a complete list of ingredients on its packaging, and requiring that the accurate nicotine content of e-cigarettes, e-cigarette cartridges, and e-liquid refills be prominently displayed on the product labels alongside the soon-to-be-required warning, which states that nicotine is an addictive chemical.
‘According to the latest data, the use of e-cigarettes, hookah, non-cigarette combustible tobacco, or smokeless tobacco by youth is associated with cigarette smoking one year later. ‘Furthermore, the risk of progressing to conventional cigarette smoking is increased with use of multiple forms of non-cigarette tobacco, suggesting that novel tobacco products have the potential to undermine public health gains in combatting the smoking epidemic.
‘E-cigarettes were the most commonly used tobacco product among US middle school and high school students for the fourth year in a row in 2017. Among youth who had used an e-cigarette 17 percent indicated their reason for use was that they are less harmful than other forms of tobacco such as cigarettes.
‘For the last five decades, the AMA has been a proud supporter of anti-tobacco efforts ranging from urging the federal government to support anti-tobacco legislation prohibiting smoking on public transportation to calling on tobacco companies to stop targeting children in their advertising campaigns.’
June 18, 2018
False warnings planned
A majority of South Koreans support higher taxes on heat-not-burn (HNB) products, according to a story in The Korea Herald citing the results of a poll published on June 17.
The poll, which was said to have been carried out among about 1,000 adults by market research institute Trend Monitor, found that 55.6 percent of respondents agreed with the government’s move to raise taxes on HNB cigarettes.
In December, the National Assembly passed a bill to increase taxes on HNB products from 528 won (US$0.50) to 897 won per pack.
Tobacco manufacturers and the government have been tussling over the latter’s move to impose stricter regulations on HNB products, including the latest decision to require HNB products to carry the same graphic warning images as combustible tobacco products carry, starting December 2018.
The Herald said that, despite HNB cigarettes being marketed as a less harmful replacement for conventional cigarettes, most of the respondents to the poll said they regarded HNB cigarettes as unhealthy.
About 80 percent said HNB cigarettes were as harmful as conventional cigarettes.
Nearly 13 percent said HNB cigarettes were helpful in quitting smoking, and, among current HNB product users, that figure rose to 34.8 percent.
With regard to the government’s recent analysis of the safety of HNB cigarettes, 81.9 percent said there should be a more objective safety test on HNB products.
Almost 74 percent of HNB users said they chose these products because they did not smell in the same way as traditional cigarettes smelt, while 3.1 percent cited the products’ ability to help them cut down on smoking and 31.7 percent cited them as a useful aid in quitting smoking.
June 18, 2018
Brussels threat to Belgium
The Belgian Minister of Public Health Maggie de Block wants to ban menthol tobacco before the EU’s 2020 deadline but is being confronted with European Commission threats to take Belgium to court should it persist, according to a story in the Brussels Times quoting a report in L’Echo.
In 2014, the EU decided to ban tobacco products delivering distinctive, non-tobacco flavors, though it delayed the imposition of the ban until May 20, 2020, in the case of products with a market share of three percent or more across the EU.
The directive’s text requires also that the banning of flavored tobacco products ‘should extend over a long period to allow consumers enough time to switch to other products’.
De Block apparently prepared a draft of a royal decree transposing the European directive into Belgian law, but without taking into consideration the temporary exemption granted to menthol tobacco.
“Protection of health, especially for young people, justifies the application of this measure at the earliest,’’ said de Block.
But the Commission sent the Belgian government a warning, threatening to take the matter to the EU Court of Justice should it not change its mind.
A confrontation seems to be looming. The Belgium cabinet has confirmed its determination to ban menthol before the European 2020 deadline.
June 18, 2018
Taken to the cleaners
France’s junior environment minister Brune Poirson has warned the tobacco industry that the government will force it to get involved in the collection and elimination of its waste if it doesn’t come up with alternative solutions by September, according to a Reuters story relayed by the TMA.
Paris alone collects and disposes of 350 tonnes of discarded cigarette butts annually, despite the provision of wall-mounted ashtrays and the threat of a €68 (US$80) fine for those caught littering.
The ministry estimates that 40 percent of the 30 billion butts thrown away in France every year end up on beaches and in forests, rivers and the sea. “The ministry will not be brutal on the method, but will be firm on the objectives,” said Poirson. “Pollution is major, so the commitments cannot be minor.
A battle seems to be looming.
British American Tobacco’s public affairs director Eric Sensi-Minautier was quoted as saying that it was not up to companies, smokers or citizens to pay, via additional taxes, for the cost linked to the clean-up of cigarette butts.
And Imperial Brands said that it already encouraged smokers to dispose of butts responsibly.
June 15, 2018
More evidence on IQOS
Philip Morris International announced today the ‘positive results from a new clinical study on IQOS, the company’s most advanced smoke-free product’.
‘The Exposure Response Study (ERS) measured the biological response of people who switch to IQOS for six months compared with continued smoking,’ the company said in a note posted on its website.
‘The study met its primary objective, demonstrating that after six months, eight measures of biological response (the primary clinical risk endpoints) improved in those who switched to IQOS.
‘PMI’s Scientific Assessment Program has rigorously tested IQOS over more than seven years and supports that switching to our most advanced smoke-free product is likely to present less risk of harm than continuing to use cigarettes. ‘Numerous aerosol chemistry and physics measurements demonstrate that IQOS aerosol contains an average of 90-95 percent lower levels of harmful constituents. Our results support that these reduced emissions translate to reduced toxicity in the laboratory and to reduced exposure in clinical studies.
‘The ERS contributes an important new facet to PMI’s research: it begins to explore the impact of these promising results by measuring the biological response of people who switch to IQOS compared with those who continue to smoke.’
“These results are very encouraging,” said Frank Luedicke, PMI’s chief medical officer. “We believe this study on IQOS is the first ever clinical study of this magnitude to directly assess the risk-reduction potential of a smoke-free product in people who switch to it.
“Everything we’ve seen, including these new results, continues to point in the direction of risk reduction.
“We are sharing the results with the scientific community at multiple conferences over the next few months and we look forward to their feedback.”
PMI said that on June 8 it had submitted the ERS results to the US Food and Drug Administration to add to the extensive body of evidence already presented to the agency in support of PMI’s pending application for authorization of IQOS as a modified risk tobacco product.
‘FDA is in the process of reviewing both PMI’s modified risk tobacco product and our premarket tobacco applications, but has not yet reached conclusion,’ it said.
June 15, 2018