Cigarette-pack graphic-warnings showing grossly disfigured feet and rotting teeth are no longer shocking enough to prompt Australians to quit the habit, according to a story by David Chen for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, citing new research.
The results of the research indicated that it was time to devise novel ways of reaching out to people to explain the risks associated with smoking.
A James Cook University team surveyed 900 people, including non-smokers, smokers, pharmacists and students in the Queensland-state cities of Townsville, Rockhampton and Brisbane, seeking their views on current cigarette warning labels.
Nearly 60 percent of those surveyed thought the warnings were ineffective in getting current smokers to quit, while 27 percent thought the labels were effective in preventing non-smokers from taking up the habit.
Survey author Aaron Drovandi said the findings suggested health authorities needed to come up with new ways to encourage smokers to quit the habit.
“What we currently have in Australia, which is the set of rotating warnings, I think we need to increase the rate at which we do that, developing new warnings and rotating them,” he was quoted as saying.
“Also trying to think of novel ways of reaching out to people explaining the risk of smoking in ways they haven’t come across, that might try to trigger more of a response than the current packaging warnings which have had their effectiveness reduced over time.”
“A lot of people indicated that they care more about the money than their own health.”
Category: People
Graphic warnings fail
Lebanon suffers leaf losses
Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri has ordered a government survey of recent major losses suffered by tobacco growers in Rmaish, in the south of the country, according to a story in The Daily Star.
The story described the current season as virus-ridden and said that it was threatening growers’ primary source of income.
The Lebanese Higher Relief Committee, which distributes funds during emergencies, is due to conduct a study following ‘damage to tobacco seedlings by viruses caused by climate change, and material losses to farmers,’ according to a statement released by Hariri’s press office.
The statement did not provide details of the extent of the losses incurred.
Tobacco is a main source of income for thousands of families in south Lebanon, where the soil type makes it difficult to plant other types of crops. [Wikipedia quotes one source as saying that the word Rmaish – also rendered as Rmeish and Rmiesh – translates into English as ‘scanty herbage’.]
The state-run National News Agency reported that the survey was projected to start during the middle of next week.Nicotine policy flawed
In a sun-sentinel.com opinion piece, Raymond March has asked why, when other examples of lawmakers attempting to legislate consumer health have failed or made the situation worse, would it be assumed that regulating cigarettes would be any different?
March said that, in 2015, nearly 70 percent of smokers in the US tried unsuccessfully to quit and that their inability to stop had come with considerable health risks. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, smoking accounted for more than 480,000 preventable deaths per year. Health complications associated with smoking were also financially taxing, leading to nearly $170 billion in direct medical costs annually.
To reduce both eye-opening figures, the Food and Drug Administration had recently announced its intent to reduce nicotine levels in cigarettes.
The FDA hoped that reducing nicotine would cause current smokers to cut back and prevent future generations from starting.
But, said March, it was important to look beyond policy intentions. Unfortunately, the most well-intended policies, especially those aimed to promote health or deter vices, were often deceptively harmful.
Reducing nicotine in cigarettes would likely motivate smokers to consume more cigarettes to satisfy their craving, increasing the amount of toxic materials they ingested. Others might turn to other nicotine products to satisfy their cravings.
Often the alternatives were no better or worse.
Regulations placed on physicians and consumers to prevent opioid abuse often drove patients to seek dangerous illicit alternatives, including heroin. Taxing soda motivated consumers to drink more unhealthy fruit juices and alcoholic beverages. As a result, the consumer’s health was at greater risk.
‘When other examples of lawmakers attempting to legislate consumer health fail or make the situation worse, why would regulating cigarettes be any different?’ he asked.
March is a research fellow at the Independent Institute and assistant professor of economics at San Jose State University.Altria Group restructures
The Altria Group yesterday announced a new structure ‘to maximize its core tobacco businesses while realizing its aspiration to be the US leader in authorized, non-combustible, reduced-risk products’.
In a note posted on its website, Altria said that the key components of the new structure included:- Establishing two divisions – core tobacco and innovative tobacco products;
- Creating a chief growth officer function to accelerate speed to market for innovative products and technologies; and
- Aligning product development efforts more directly to the core and innovative tobacco product businesses.
“This is a dynamic time in the tobacco industry, and just as we lead in traditional tobacco products, we intend to lead in offering adult smokers more choices in innovative, non-combustible, reduced-risk products,” said Howard Willard, Altria’s chairman and CEO.
“We expect this new structure to accelerate our innovation pipeline, maximize our core tobacco businesses and allow us to continue to reward shareholders.”
Altria said it would adapt its structure from one where a chief operating officer oversaw all operating companies to a structure aligned with the company’s dual strategies – maximizing income from core tobacco businesses and growing new income with innovative tobacco products.
PM USA, USSTC, Middleton, and Nat Sherman will form Altria’s core tobacco division.
‘Jody Begley, as senior vice president, tobacco products, Altria, will oversee the core tobacco businesses, as well as their product development and engineering support,’ the note. ‘He will report to Billy Gifford, vice chairman and CFO.’
Leading those businesses will be:- Heather Newman, president and CEO, PM USA;
- Shannon Leistra, president and CEO, USSTC;
- Ryan Bauersachs, MD and general manager, Middleton; and
- Dominik Meier, MD and general manager, Nat Sherman.
Meanwhile, Altria said that its innovation company, Nu Mark, would focus on developing a compelling portfolio of non-combustible products that adult smokers enjoyed and that had the potential to drive adult smoker conversion. ‘This portfolio includes oral nicotine-containing products, e-vapor and innovative inhalable products,’ the note said.
‘Brian Quigley, as president and CEO, Nu Mark, will oversee the innovative products business, reporting to Howard Willard.’
At the same time, Altria said it had established a chief growth officer function that would ‘identify and pursue Altria’s strategic and innovative growth priorities across the tobacco landscape’. ‘This function will identify marketplace and adult tobacco consumer insights and translate them into strategies for product development, consumer engagement, future of commerce and business development,’ it said.
‘K.C. Crosthwaite is appointed senior vice president and chief growth officer, Altria Client Services LLC (ALCS), reporting to Howard Willard.’
The changes are due to go into effect on June 1.E-cigs struggling in US
While the number of people in the US who tried electronic cigarettes increased between 2014 and 2016, the number of people who used these products fell, according to a story by Tom Snee, of the University of Iowa, citing the results of a new study.
In the story, posted on the futurity.org website, Snee said that researchers had analyzed national data from more than 101,000 people in the US who had participated in the annual National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
‘Since 2014, the NHIS has asked adult participants whether they currently use e-cigarettes every day, some days, or not at all,’ he said.
‘The findings, which appear in the Journal of the American Medical Association, show that the number of adults who tried e-cigarettes increased – from 12.6 percent in 2014 to 13.9 percent in 2015 and 15.3 percent in 2016.
‘However, during the same time period, the number of people who said they currently use e-cigarettes “every day” or “some days” decreased – from 3.7 percent in 2014 to 3.5 percent in 2015 to 3.2 percent in 2016.Jailed for smoking shisha
Six people have been sentenced to four months in prison by a court in Mombasa, Kenya, after they pleaded guilty to smoking shisha, according to a story in The Star.
The six were among 10 people charged with smoking shisha in a restaurant in the Sparki area of Mombasa county.
The other four, who denied the charges, were each released on a Sh50,000 bond.
Police officers were said to have raided the restaurant after a tip-off.
The former Health Cabinet Secretary Cleopas Mailu in December banned importing and smoking shisha, on the grounds that smoking shisha was a health hazard.
Earlier this year, justice Roseline Aburili declined to lift the ban pending the hearing and determination of a legal challenge to the ban.
The judge said even though the applicants had an arguable case, this didn’t mean their case would be successful.
She said lifting the ban would be a wrong move and not in the interests of the public.
The judge was of the view that should the court rule in favor of the applicants after the full hearing, it would not be impossible to revert to the initial status.Call for ban by 2025
The government of New Zealand will have to ban the sale of cigarettes if it wants to reach its goal of making the country tobacco-smoke-free by 2025, MPs have been told, according to a story in The New Zealand Herald.
Public health advocates and academics said also that the government needed to encourage more aggressively less harmful alternatives to smoking, such as vaping.
At a briefing on the Smokefree 2025 target at Parliament, Lance Norman, the chief executive of the Māori public health organization, Hapai Te Hauora, said there was no way the target would be reached on existing settings.
Ministry of Health figures show nearly 16 percent of New Zealanders smoke, including 35 percent of Māori and 25 percent of Pacific Islanders.
The overall rate has fallen from 20.1 per cent in 2006.
The smokefree target set by the government requires smoking rates to fall below five percent by 2025.
“We are nowhere near that,” Norman said. “Saying it’s a train wreck for Māori would be an understatement.”
His organization made three recommendations to MPs if they wanted to reach the goal:- Urgently encourage harm minimization products such as e-cigarettes;
- Ban the sale of cigarettes by 2025;
- Spend more of the revenue from tobacco excise tax on promoting harm-minimization products and supporting vulnerable families.
JT on sustainability
Highlights of the JT Group’s 2017 Sustainability Report are said to include the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, solid progress in Japan Tobacco International’s Agricultural Labor Practices program, and an increase in illicit tobacco seizures.
According to a note included on JTI’s website, the report, which is now available, details some of the key contributions of JTI in meeting the group’s sustainability objectives.
‘JTI’s most significant achievements over the past year include:
* ‘21.2 percent reduction in the group’s overall greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. A target achieved three years in advance, coupled with an increasing proportion of our electricity needs sourced from renewable energies.
* ’90 percent of our directly contracted tobacco farmers are now observed against our Agricultural Labor Practices standards (a 69 percentage-point increase versus 2016), enhancing the presence of our social programs where we source our tobacco.
* ‘Record seizures totaling over one billion illegal cigarettes by law enforcement agencies thanks to the information provided by JTI’s experts.’
“Our commitment to sustainability is stronger than ever,” says Suzanne Wise, JTI’s senior vice president corporate development.
“We know that to make a positive difference across all areas of our business, we need to maintain high international standards and uphold rigorous business practices. We owe this to our consumers, our shareholders, our employees, the communities we work with, the wider society and our planet.”
JTI said it was constantly looking at innovative ways to achieve and exceed its environmental targets, and had implemented a number of sustainable initiatives, including a world first with a solar steam project in its Jordan factory.
‘In 2017, we achieved the Leadership status in CDP4 Climate Change for the second consecutive year – and CDP Water for the first time,’ it said. ‘The JT Group was also selected as a member of the Dow Jones Sustainability Asia/Pacific Index for the fourth consecutive year.’
JTI said its Agricultural Labor Practices aimed to foster good labor practices. Workers’ rights, workplace health and safety, and prevention of child labor were the three fundamental elements monitored by the company’s expert technicians when visiting farmers.
Last year had seen 15,095 more children in JTI’s tobacco-sourcing communities gain access to education through its ARISE program, as part of its ongoing fight to eliminate child labor.
Turning to the illegal trade in tobacco products, JTI said the annual consumption of illicit tobacco exceeded 10 percent of all cigarettes sold globally (excluding China). ‘This trade means big business for organized crime gangs, affecting legitimate manufacturers, farmers, taxpayers, and retailers, while damaging businesses’ reputation,’ the note said. ‘In their fight against this unlawful value chain, our Anti-Illicit Trade experts have helped law enforcement agencies, by providing them with valuable information, seize over one billion illegal cigarettes or cigarette equivalents, close 20 illegal cigarette factories and uncover thousands of counterfeit e-cigarette products.’Contracting Burley
The US leaf-tobacco industry is still weighing up the likely fallout from Alliance One International’s decision to stop buying US Burley, according to Christopher Bickers.
In the latest edition of his Tobacco Farmer Newsletter, Bickers quoted Tennessee extension specialist Eric Walker as saying the big Burley-producing counties of middle Tennessee, Macon, Trousdale and Smith, would clearly take a major hit.
‘For the state as whole, he thinks we might possibly see an 80 percent crop, and it could certainly be smaller,’ Bickers wrote.
‘The effect on Burley plantings is still unclear, but no one doubts that Tennessee will be the state most affected.’
(The Newsletter’s email address has changed and is now cebickers@aol.com.)Leaf prices increased
The prices being paid this season to Zimbabwe’s flue-cured tobacco growers are “encouraging”, according to a story in The Southern Times quoting Isheunesu Moyo, a spokesperson for the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB).
The prices being paid this season to Zimbabwe’s flue-cured tobacco growers are “encouraging”, according to a story in The Southern Times quoting
Isheunesu Moyo, a spokesperson for the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB).
Figures provided by the TIMB were said to show that the average price paid so far for current-crop tobacco was US$2.87, 3.4 percent higher than the US$2.77 paid during the 2017 season – presumably at the same stage of last year’s sales. [Using just the figures given, the increase seems to be 3.6 percent.]
By the time the story was written, tobacco growers were said collectively to have earned about US$290 million from the sale of 101 million kg of tobacco.
The marketing season, which started in March, is expected to close in September.
The full-season average price paid to Zimbabwe’s flue-cured tobacco growers has not increased for 20 years.
