Tag: United States

E-cigarettes are quit aids
An increasing number of people in the US are giving up cigarettes, and a new study suggests that the take-up of electronic cigarettes might be the reason, according to a story by Steven Reinberg for HealthDay.
After stalling for 15 years, the US quit-smoking rate rose to nearly six percent in 2014-2015, up from less than five percent in prior years, national survey data indicates.
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine believe e-cigarettes have helped fuel the increase.
“From 2014 to 2015, more e-cigarette users tried to quit cigarette smoking and succeeded in quitting than those who didn’t use e-cigarettes,” said lead researcher Shu-Hong Zhu, director of the university’s Center for Research and Intervention in Tobacco Control.
Reviewing survey responses from nearly 25,000 current and former smokers in 2014-2015, Zhu and his colleagues found that vapers were more likely than non-users to make a quit attempt (65 percent versus 40 percent). And they were more likely to succeed for at least three months (eight percent versus five percent), he said.
In background notes, the researchers said the use of e-cigarettes in the US became noticeable around 2010 and increased dramatically by 2014, which would coincide with the rising quit-smoking rates.
Reinberg reported that scientists remained divided over whether e-cigarettes provided a gateway to smoking or a less harmful tool that helped smokers quit, but added that the new study seemed to support the second theory.
“People should be open to consider e-cigarettes as a way to help them quit, especially if they have used everything else in the past,” Zhu said. “The important thing is that people continue to try.”
Zhu added that a national tobacco control campaign that began airing in 2012 probably also helped boost quit rates.
July 27, 2017
Few state quit-aids
With no funding for 2017-18, the West Virginia Division of Tobacco Prevention is to sack all but one of the people currently working in its eight-person office, according to an AP State & Local story relayed by the TMA.
The Division’s director Jim Kerrigan will then be its only employee.
Kerrigan said that he wanted to keep two programs going: Quitline, a tobacco-cessation hotline; and RAZE, an anti-tobacco education program aimed at teenagers.
The division is currently operating on state funds carried over from the previous budget year, and on federal grants.
Juliana Frederick Curry of the American Cancer Society described the cuts as “disheartening” because the state had the highest youth smoking rate and the second-highest adult smoking rate in the US.
July 27, 2017
BAT acquires RAI
British American Tobacco plc said yesterday it had completed the acquisition of the 57.8 percent of Reynolds American Inc. it did not already own.
According to a press note posted on BAT’s website, the acquisition creates a stronger, global supplier of tobacco and next generation products ‘committed to delivering sustained long-term profit growth and returns’.
‘BAT now has a balanced presence in high-growth emerging-markets and high-profitability developed-markets, combined with direct access to the attractive US market,’ the note said.
‘Increased access to a significant proportion of group cash flows provides further support to the company’s continued commitment to a dividend pay-out ratio of at least 65 percent and a strong financial profile, targeting a solid investment grade credit rating through progressive deleveraging.’
BAT’s chief executive Nicandro Durante described the acquisition as a “transformational deal”.
“We will take the best of the best from both businesses across all areas to create a stronger, more sustainable company,” he was quoted as saying.
“We are pleased to welcome Reynolds group employees to British American Tobacco and look forward to progressing what we are confident will be a smooth integration.
“Work has already begun to realise the projected cost synergies and we are committed to driving continued, sustainable profit growth and returns for shareholders long into the future.”
July 26, 2017
Focus on the source
An editorial in Common Dreams by Nicholas Freudenberg, a professor of public health at the City University of New York, has called for a change of tobacco control strategy.
In the editorial, relayed by the TMA, Freudenberg said a direct effort should be made to modify the practices of the tobacco industry rather than focusing on changing the behavior of current and future smokers.
To change strategies, Freudenberg advises health advocates and officials to respond to four trends:
(1) industry consolidation;
(2) interference in government policy-making;
(3) marketing tactics to vulnerable populations;
(4) sources of increasing profits.
According to Freudenberg, in the long run, only approaches that make the industry less attractive to investors will deprive it of its “lifeline of capital”.
July 26, 2017
Setback for vapor products
In a 93-page ruling, US district judge Amy Berman Jackson has upheld the Food and Drug Administration’s decision to regulate vapor devices and cigars in the way that cigarettes are regulated, according to a story in the Washington Post relayed by the TMA.
Jackson concluded the agency had “acted within the scope of its statutory authority”.
She rejected arguments by Nicopure Labs and the Right to be Smoke-Free Coalition, which includes the American Vaping Association, vapor companies and trade groups, that said the FDA’s creation of the Deeming Rules exceeded its authority and violated the Administrative Procedure Act.
Under the FDA rule, she said, vapor manufacturers “are now required to tell the 30 million people who use the devices what is actually in the liquid being vaporized and inhaled”.
“We are still reviewing judge Jackson’s opinion,” said Gregory Conley, president of the American Vaping Association. “The legal and legislative processes are both long roads with plenty of bumps along the way. The fight to save vaping is far from over.”
Attorney Azim Chowdhury, representing the Right to be Smoke-Free Coalition, said in a tweet that they were considering appeal options.
July 25, 2017
Universal to webcast results
Universal Corporation is due to webcast a results conference call from 17.00 Eastern Time on August 3 following the release of its results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2018 after market close on that date.
The conference call will be hosted by Candace C. Formacek, vice president and treasurer.
It will be available on a listen-only basis at www.universalcorp.com.
A replay of the webcast will be available at that site until November 3.
In addition, a taped replay of the call will be available from 20.30 on August 3 through August 16 at (855) 859-2056, using the telephone replay identification number 59259116.
July 24, 2017
Illegal trade exposed
Philip Morris International has told the US Commission on Security and Co-operation that it has a ‘clear business imperative to combat the problem of the illegal tobacco trade’ and to ensure its products are sold legally in the market for which they are intended.
According to a note posted on PMI’s website, Marc Firestone, the company’s senior vice president and general counsel yesterday appeared as an invited witness before the commission to offer expert testimony in support of the commission’s objective of addressing the security and economic threats posed by the illegal trade in tobacco.
The commission is a bipartisan body of the US Congress with representation from the House of Representatives and Senate.
Firestone is said to have told the commission that the global illegal tobacco trade annually deprived governments of US$40-50 billion in lost tax revenue, a figure greater than that of the illegal trade in oil, wildlife, timber, arts and antiquities, and conflict minerals combined. He added that “criminals are the only promoters of the global illegal tobacco trade”.
“The revenues that governments and law-abiding manufacturers like PMI lose every year to the illicit trade in tobacco are huge,” Firestone said. “However, the threat posed to safety, security, and the rule of law in Europe, the United States and around the globe is where the interests of our company and the concerns of this commission most pointedly intersect.”
Firestone was said to have emphasized the critical role co-operation between industry, law enforcement, and government authorities could play in tackling illicit tobacco, and outlined a series of concrete measures that these groups could take to further reduce the flow of illicit tobacco worldwide.
With Firestone on the expert panel were Dr. Louise Shelley, founder and executive director of the Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center at George Mason University, and Professor David Sweanor, an adjunct professor at the University of Ottawa and global tobacco control policy expert.
Firestone’s testimony is at: https://www.pmi.com/docs/default-source/pmi_media-center/pmi-testimony_final_17-july-2017.pdf.
July 20, 2017
BAT-RAI deal approved
Shareholders of British American Tobacco and Reynolds American Inc. yesterday approved the takeover of the latter by the former, a move that involves BAT acquiring the 57.8 percent of shares it doesn’t already hold in RAI.
“We are delighted with the overwhelming support we have received, both from BAT shareholders and from Reynolds shareholders,” BAT’s chief executive, Nicandro Durante, was quoted as saying in a note posted on BAT’s website.
“The transaction is expected to complete on or around 25 July.
“We look forward to welcoming Reynolds group employees to British American Tobacco and to realising the benefits of operating these two great companies as one stronger, global tobacco and next-generation-products business with direct access for our products across the most attractive markets in the world.”
July 20, 2017
Industry accused of murder
The US anti-tobacco organization Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) says that it has released a new video to draw attention to a Dutch criminal complaint against the tobacco industry for murder, attempted murder, manslaughter, attempted manslaughter, inflicting and attempting severe physical harm and deliberately harming health.
“I cannot understand that when you hit someone with a hammer, you are being prosecuted for serious harm. Or when you administer poison, you are prosecuted for poisoning. But the tobacco industry is left untouched while ultimately doing the same,” said the filing Dutch Criminal Lawyer Bénédicte Ficq.
In a press note issued through PRNewswire, ASH said that ‘tobacco’ was the only legal consumer product that killed its consumers when used as intended. ‘Cigarettes’ were also highly addictive, trapping users in a deadly addiction that many struggled to overcome.
‘The Oregon Supreme Court has said that the deceptive promotion of tobacco products could “constitute at least second-degree manslaughter”,’ ASH said. ‘The lethal consequences of smoking have been known to tobacco corporations for decades, yet they continue these activities, with full knowledge that millions of deaths will be caused by the ordinary use of cigarettes.
‘The tobacco industry has repeatedly been held civilly liable, but there has not been any movement in criminal court, yet.’
ASH’s executive director Laurent Huber said that a US state attorney general or a district attorney could decide to file criminal charges against a tobacco company for deaths the tobacco companies had caused. “At this point, we are just lacking the political courage to see a criminal case through,” Huber said.
ASH says that it has been researching the criminal liability and potential human rights violations of the tobacco industry for ‘years’.
‘Criminal charges are feasible and legally sound,’ it says. ‘The Dutch case can pave the way for other countries to take similar action.’
July 19, 2017
Smokers face discrimination
Fifty-six percent of smokers in the US believe they are at least occasionally discriminated against in public life or employment because of their smoking, according to a story by Art Swift published by the Gallup Organization.
In comparison, 17 percent of those who are overweight feel they have been discriminated against at some point because of their weight.
Thirteen percent of smokers say they feel discrimination every day, while one percent of overweight people say they are discriminated against daily.
The figures cited by Swift are from a July 5-9 Gallup poll on the consumption habits of US citizens.
Discrimination against smokers can take many forms.
‘According to news reports, smokers often say they are discriminated against through smoking bans, including more recent bans at some parks and beaches, higher insurance rates, and not getting jobs because of their habit,’ Swift says. ‘Analysis of income patterns has shown smokers earn less than those who do not smoke, although this difference could result from smokers tending to have lower average levels of education than non-smokers.’
The poll is the first time Gallup has asked about smokers’ perceived discrimination in this format. Previously, Gallup asked smokers whether they felt discriminated against specifically because of smoking restrictions and high cigarette taxes, and found 58 percent believed they were discriminated against on each account.
Swift’s piece is at: http://www.gallup.com/poll/214205/majority-smokers-feel-discriminated-against.aspx?g_source=Well-Being&g_medium=newsfeed&g_campaign=tiles.
July 19, 2017