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- Category: September 2020
The pandemic has sparked yet another problem, Japan Tobacco International Inc. warns: more illicit trade in cigarettes. Organized crime rings have set up illegal warehouses and factories across European countries such as Greece, Ireland and Belgium, to be closer to target markets like the U.K., Japan Tobacco executives said in a presentation [...] Decreases in consumers’ discretionary income may fuel demand for cheaper cigarettes, according to the maker of Winston and LD cigarettes.
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- Category: September 2020
The latest survey looking at young people’s attitudes to smoking, alcohol and drugs shows that levels of consumption are still remaining much lower than ten years ago across Northern Ireland.
Though there has been a slight rise in the number of young people taking up smoking and having a drink, the year on year statistics still show our young people are being much more careful about taking up habits than at the turn of the century.
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- Category: September 2020
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is out with a false advertisement telling kids that “Nicotine in e-cigarettes can harm brain development.” The headline says, “It’s not like you can buy a new brain.” To make it accurate, I’ve added “…for your pet mouse.”
Let me be crystal clear. The harm in brain development federal officials talk non-stop about only happens in laboratory torture of mice. Mouse studies are well known to be of questionable value in predicting human effects. There is absolutely no scientific evidence to support the claim that nicotine causes harm to human brain development, [...]
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- Category: September 2020
Australians will be allowed to buy e-cigarettes at chemists with a prescription from their doctor under new plans revealed today.
The interim decision by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), which could be finalised later this year, would make it legal to buy and use vapes.
E-cigarettes that contain nicotine are illegal to have or use in every state and territory except South Australia, however they can be imported without a prescription.
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- Category: September 2020
Over 200,000 Australians have either taken up the habit or switched from traditional cigarettes, but the effect e-cigarettes have on people's health and lung function still remains a mystery to researchers. A team of researchers at the University of Southern Queensland are hoping a new study, led by researcher Dean Mills, will provide answers around how the practice known as "vaping" affects lung health. Dr Mills said given e-cigarettes were relatively new devices, very little research had been done on their effects.
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- Category: September 2020
James Cook University researchers are calling for cigarette price increases after they found plain packaging has moved smokers to buy cheaper cigarettes – and to consume more of them.
Associate Professor Riccardo Welters, Head of Economics and Marketing at JCU, was part of the study. He said plain packaging was implemented in Australia in December 2012.
“Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in the world and as part of an effort to diminish its effects the Australian government eliminated every form of branding and promotion of cigarettes. [...]
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- Category: September 2020
In line with data from across the globe, newly released data New Mexico Department of Health 2019 Youth Risk and Resiliency Survey, have indicated that as vaping rates have increased, the use of other forms of tobacco has decreased. “Teens have largely gotten the message about the dangers of smoking and pitched their Camels and Kools. But now, many are vaping, negating the gains the anti-tobacco forces hoped to see in New Mexico’s high schools,” [...]
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- Category: September 2020
Fifteen years ago, the World Health Organisation’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) came into force, the first global compact to systematically address the burden of tobacco related health problems. [...]
The objective of the special issue in Drugs and Alcohol Today [2] and of this “15 Years Conference” organised in its wake is to take stock of the current global tobacco control landscape, highlight the challenges in the development and delivery of effective harm reduction tools globally, and discuss the opportunities to accelerate the decline of risky tobacco use globally- without leaving anyone behind.
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- Category: September 2020
While the COVID-19 pandemic has played havoc with the Washington economy and many of its industries, it has boosted at least one: the state’s legal marijuana operations.
Marijuana sales at state-licensed stores jumped in March as the state went into its “Stay Safe” restrictions with workers in nonessential jobs told to stay home and many stores and entertainment venues closed, data from the state Liquor and Cannabis Board show.
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- Category: September 2020
A federal government proposal to allow pharmacies to sell smoke-free tobacco, to the exclusion of convenience stores has been condemned by the industry.
The National Retail Association (NRA) has described the proposal put forward by the government to the Therapeutic Goods Administration to consider allowing pharmacies to sell smoke-free nicotine products as the ‘worst of both worlds’ for C-stores, who are heavily reliant on tobacco sales. NRA CEO Dominique Lamb said allowing pharmacies to sell the products would create a monopoly, to the detriment of small convenience retailers.
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- Category: September 2020
University of Houston researchers have found that during early pregnancy, the mix of alcohol and nicotine significantly alters the gene regulatory pathways of the developing fetus, which can lead to major deficiencies in brain development.
Metin Akay, founding chair and John S. Dunn Endowed Chair Professor of biomedical engineering is reporting the findings, the first study of its kind, in the Nature journal Scientific Reports.
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- Category: September 2020
Liquid-type e-cigarettes are expected to become more expensive in South Korea from next year as the government seeks to double the special tax on the type due to fairness issues.
The Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare said Tuesday that the Cabinet has approved the plan to revise the national health promotion law, which would allow the government to impose 1,050 won ($0.90) special health tax on liquid-type e-cigarettes per 1 milliliter(mL), doubled from 525 won per mL.
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- Category: September 2020
The time for appeasement is over, says Michael Scott, the trial lawyer who filed a constitutional challenge to Nova Scotia’s arbitrary and pernicious vaping product laws. In this episode of RegWatch we are joined by lawyer Michael Scott to discuss the specifics of the legal challenge and by plaintiffs Ryan Landry and Bill MacEachern, co-owners of Cloud Factory Vape Shop in Nova Scotia, who explain the devastating impact of the new regulations.
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- Category: September 2020
With regards to the part pertaining to cannabis, the amended measures expand Louisiana’s medical marijuana program. This now allows doctors to recommend the substance to any patient or medical condition they believe it would help. Therefore, any limits/restrictions on what conditions doctors may recommend marijuana for have been lifted.
Additionally, new restrictions have been set in case with regards to vaping in cars. State law already prohibited drivers and passengers from smoking combustible tobacco products in a vehicle with a child inside. The new law has rightly expanded this regulation to include vaping.
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- Category: September 2020
Vaping in pregnancy increases the risk of having a child with behavioural problems, according to new research. Exposure to flavoured e-cig chemicals in the womb leads to hyperactive offspring, while those with nicotine cause even more dramatic changes to a growing foetus' grey matter, warn scientists.
Lead author Professor Mathilakath Vijayan said: "Vape flavourants dull sensory perception and cause hyperactivity in developing zebrafish embryos."
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- Category: September 2020
A national plan aiming to protect people from secondhand smoke in 63 cities and 63 villages over the course of five years has just piloted in the central city of Qom.
Following Article 8 of the Convention on Tobacco Control of the World Health Organization to protect people from tobacco use and reduce its side effects, Iran declared Qom city as the country's first “tobacco-free city”.
This five-year program will eventually launch in 63 cities and 63 selected villages of the country, however, it is probably can cover the whole cities, Behzad Valizadeh, head of the National Secretariat of Tobacco Control said.
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- Category: September 2020
The synthetic cannabinoid AMB-FUBINACA has re-emerged in New Zealand, prompting urgent warnings from health experts.
The use of synthetic drugs has been on the decline since a “major public health crisis” saw up to 70 people die about three years ago.
Drug Information and Alerts Aotearoa New Zealand issued a warning about the drug this week, saying it has been detected in “a number of locations across New Zealand”.
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- Category: September 2020
Professor Gerry Stimson is a British public health social scientist, emeritus professor at Imperial College London from 2014, and an honorary professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine from 2017.
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- Category: September 2020
To the relief of many in the anti-smoking scientific community, longtime anti-vaping extremist Stanton A Glantz, has suddenly retired from the University of California-San Francisco without warning and/or explanation. “I have finally retired from UCSF, ready to move to the next phase,” wrote Glantz in a message to colleagues. “I will also be continuing to work with my UCSF colleagues to complete work that is under way. From talking to colleagues who have already retired, I am confident that there will be more ways that I can keep contributing to fighting the tobacco industry and promoting public health.”
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- Category: September 2020
Amid all the bad news of the COVID-19 pandemic, one bright spot was the relative resilience of young people. Then came a survey of more than 4,000 people aged 13 to 24 conducted in May: Users of e-cigarettes were five times more likely to be diagnosed with COVID-19 than non-users.
Since one in five 18- to 29-year-olds reports vaping regularly, the link to COVID-19 triggered a call in Congress for the FDA to clear e-cigarette products from the market for the duration of the coronavirus crisis.