Juul Labs is launching its vaping device in the UK this week, according to a story by Martinne Geller for Reuters.
Since launching in the US in 2015, Juul has transformed the market there, where it now accounts for nearly 70 percent of tracked electronic-cigarette sales.
The Juul device will reportedly be available in 250 vape shops across the UK by the end of this week.
A starter pack, including the device and four nicotine pods, will cost about £29.99 ($39.66).
Grant Winterton, Juul Labs’ president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, told Reuters that the UK had been chosen as Juul’s third market after the US and Israel, partly because it had the world’s “most supportive government” when it came to encouraging smokers to vape. Also on the radar are France, Germany and Italy.
Tag: United Kingdom
Juul launching in UK
Britain quitting quitting
The number of prescriptions issued for drugs aimed at helping smokers quit their habit fell by 75 percent in England during the past decade, according to a story in The Guardian published ahead of the release of a new report.
The report, based on an analysis of NHS prescribing data, was due to be published by the British Lung Foundation (BLF) under the name Less Help to Quit: What’s happening to stop-smoking prescriptions across Britain.
General Practitioners were said by the Guardian to be the most common first port of call for smokers who wanted to beat their addiction in England, with 38 percent of them choosing this route.
However, primary care prescriptions of nicotine replacement patches and gum and the smoking-cessation drugs bupropion and varenicline had fallen by three-quarters in England between 2005-06 and 2016-17.
The report is said to indicate also wide regional variations in the prescribing of such products across Great Britain.
In Scotland, there was said to have been a 40 percent drop in prescriptions for stop-smoking drugs, while in Wales prescription rates had fallen by two-thirds.
The drop in prescriptions had come about even though a combination of support and medication had been shown to be the most effective way to help smokers quit, the Guardian reported.
Such a combination, which was recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, was said to increase the chance of a smoker’s beating her addiction threefold, when compared with going “cold turkey”.
Alternative routes to getting help, such as specialist clinics, are also declining in some areas, the report finds.
In the English county of Worcestershire, for example, where 15 percent of the population smokes, the local authority decommissioned its stop-smoking services, and local clinical commissioning groups advised GPs in April 2016 not to prescribe stop-smoking aids for new patients.
As a result of these changes, the Guardian said, 98 people last year were helped to quit smoking across the Worcestershire council area, down from 2,208 the previous year. And there were no recorded attempts to quit through GPs and only one in a hospital setting.
The BLF was quoted as saying that smokers were bearing the brunt of government budget cuts and were being discriminated against.Social smoking
Two consecutive generations of children in the UK had dramatically different rates of smoking, and one major reason for this may comprise the changing socioeconomic status and behaviors of their parents and friends, according to a story by Cheryl Platzman Weinstock for Reuters, citing the results of new research.
The US study team, led by Jeremy Staff of Pennsylvania State University in University Park, were said to have analyzed data on two large groups of UK children: one made up of children born during one week in April 1970, the other of children born between late 2000 and early 2002.
A total of 23,506 children answered questionnaires at ages 10 or 11. The researchers also had data about the children’s parents, including their educational and smoking histories, as well as their household incomes.
Overall, 14.5 percent of the children born in 1970 had smoked at least one cigarette by the age of 10-11, while that was true for only 2.4 percent of the later generation.
In addition, while 14 percent of the children born in 1970 had a friend at age 10-11 who smoked, five percent in the later generation did.
Another difference between generations involved the children’s mothers: in the older generation, 57 percent of mothers had no higher education; in the newer generation, that had fallen to eight percent. In addition, about 43 percent of the mothers of the older generation were smokers themselves when their child was five years old, and that had fallen to 33 percent for the younger generation.
While the overall drop in early smoking from one generation to the next was “cause for celebration,” the authors wrote, the results also highlighted the fact that “childhood smoking in today’s young people in the UK is now more strongly linked to early life disadvantages compared to a generation ago”.Getting the message across
Smokers believe that advertising that included messages about the positive public-health and financial potential of vaping would be key to them making the switch from smoking, according to a press note from the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) citing new research.
The study, which was conducted by Consumer Intelligence on behalf of the UKVIA is said to have shown that:- 68 percent of respondents felt that changing current advertising restrictions imposed by the Advertising Standards Agency to allow public health messages to be promoted by the vaping industry would help more smokers make the switch.
- 63 percent of those interviewed felt that information from their GP, pharmacist or a healthcare professional would influence their decision to make the change;
- 61 percent said that information in a healthcare environment would be beneficial;
- 48 percent called for more ‘educational advertising’ by public health organizations or the government in the media;
- 61 percent agreed with the idea that Public Health England’s recent recommendation for hospitals to allow vaping on their premises and to sell e-cigarettes and e-liquids on site would convince more of them to take up vaping.
“This highlights the critical role that accurate advertising has to play in realizing the public health prize that vaping represents,” said John Dunne (pictured), a director at UKVIA, in commenting on the findings. “This isn’t coming from the industry but from smokers who could be convinced to break their habits.
“More education all round is needed to get smokers to make the switch and to realise the full public health potential of vaping. There needs to be a strong and cohesive message from government, public health and the vaping industry to make switching from smoking to vaping an obvious choice.”
The research, which surveyed more than 1,000 smokers, revealed also that the vaping industry, despite its fast rate of growth, was in danger of not fulfilling its potential. It showed that many people considered vaping to be as harmful or more so than smoking. A significant number of people wrongly believed that vaping was more expensive than smoking and were confused by the array of vaping devices on the market.
The Consumer Intelligence study looked also at smokers’ experiences of and attitudes to using e-cigarettes to identify what was most likely to help them make the switch to vaping. It showed that:- The odor of conventional cigarettes (62 percent of respondents), vaping being cheaper (60 percent) and favourable insurance premiums for vapers (50 percent) were viewed by smokers as being key influences in making the switch from smoking to vaping;
- 46 percent of smokers said media coverage of vaping hadn’t encouraged them to consider a switch to vaping;
- Over-55s are the least likely group to have tried vaping and are proving to be the hardest group to reach with vaping communications, with 73 percent claiming not to have seen any form of information from the media and health bodies.
“The research reveals that there is an appetite for better information, including clear benefits in terms of assured health implications and the cost savings that can be made by consumers,” said Dunne. “Current advertising restrictions inevitably make it very difficult to reach smokers on the potential health benefits. This is particularly concerning when considering smokers over 55, who are most likely to suffer the ill effects of smoking. We currently have few ways to let them know that a switch to vaping could dramatically improve their health.”
Why 'ex-smokers' relapse
New findings published in the Journal of Substance Use suggest that many ex-smokers experience quitting as a ‘loss’, according to a story in news-medical.net.
The findings, based on research at the University of East Anglia, indicate too that smokers who [believe they] have quit often relapse because they want to recapture a sense of lost social identity.
“Although many people do manage to quit, relapse is very common,” lead researcher, Dr. Caitlin Notley, was quoted as saying.
The research team was said to have studied in-depth interviews with people who had quit and relapsed. Forty-three participants described their history of smoking and previous quit attempts, their current quit attempt, and discussed any smoking relapses. The researchers then studied further 23 of the participants who provided the most detailed information about relapsing to smoking.
“What we have found is that relapse is associated with a whole range of emotional triggers’” Notley said. “It is often tied up with people wanting to recapture a lost social identity – their smoker identity.
“People want to feel part of a social group, and recover a sense of who they are – with smoking having been part of their identity, for most, since their teenage years.Imperial Board change
Imperial Brands said yesterday that David Haines, a non-executive director and chairman of the Remuneration Committee, was stepping down from its Board of Directors, with immediate effect.
This follows Haines’ appointment as chief executive of the Upfield Group, the Amsterdam-based parent company of Unilever’s former global spreads business purchased by KKR.
Haines will be succeeded as chairman of the Remuneration Committee by Malcolm Wyman, who will remain the senior independent director.
Chairman Mark Williamson said: “I would like to thank David for his significant contribution over the past six years and wish him well in his new role”.Supporting research
Imperial Brands Ventures, a subsidiary of Imperial Brands, said on Thursday that it had taken an equity stake in Oxford Cannabinoid Technologies (OCT).
‘OCT is a biopharmaceutical company focused on researching, developing, and licensing cannabinoid-based compounds and therapies,’ Imperial Brands said in a note on its website.
‘Its activities are licensed for operation by the UK Home Office.’
Matthew Phillips, Imperial Brands’ chief development officer, was quoted as saying that Imperial was pleased to be partnering with OCT.
“Cannabinoid products have significant potential and our investment enables Imperial to support OCT’s important research while building a deeper understanding of the medical cannabis market.”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.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.
High nicotine levels needed
Vapers using low- rather than high-nicotine e-liquids in electronic cigarettes may be using their devices more intensely, potentially increasing the risk of exposure to toxins in the vapor, according to a medicalxpress.com story citing new research funded by Cancer Research UK and published in Addiction on June 7.
Researchers, based at London South Bank University, studied 20 e-cigarette users and found that people using low-nicotine e-liquid in their devices puffed more deeply and more often than did those using high-nicotine liquid. Those using low-nicotine liquids also increased the power of their vaping devices when possible.
Despite this ‘compensatory’ behaviour, the low nicotine vapers were unable to get as much nicotine as could the high-nicotine group. But in their quest to do so their puffing behavior may have increased their exposure to toxins such as formaldehyde, a chemical formed when the e-cigarette liquid is heated.
While there can be toxic chemicals present in vapor, they are far fewer and generally at lower concentrations than in tobacco smoke. Evidence so far still shows that the use of both high- and low-nicotine e-cigarettes is far less harmful than is smoking.
“Some vapers might believe that starting out on a low nicotine strength is a good thing, but they should be aware that reducing their nicotine concentration is likely to result in the use of more e-liquid,” said Dr. Lynne Dawkins, lead author of the study.
“This obviously comes with a financial cost but also possibly with a health cost. The results of our study suggest that smokers who want to switch to vaping may be better to start with higher, rather than lower, nicotine levels to reduce compensatory behaviour and the amount of e-liquid used.”
