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- Category: March 2023
Dr Sarah Jackson, Principal Research Fellow at the UCL Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group, said:
“Growing evidence on e-cigarettes suggests they are much less harmful than smoking cigarettes and are effective for helping smokers to quit. However, they are not entirely risk-free and as such are not recommended for non-smokers, including youth. This neatly designed study addresses a key question in the field: how can we make e-cigarettes available and attractive as a less harmful alternative for adult smokers while discouraging uptake among young people who have never smoked?
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- Category: March 2023
Smoking is still Australia’s leading preventable cause of death and illness. GPs in Australia see over 80% of the population every year, and are well placed to help smokers quit.
But as GPs know, conventional smoking cessation aids are not very effective and quit rates are low.
Also, GPs are very busy and few are comfortable trying to be a quit smoking coach. In addition, few smokers seek help as they think smoking is a lifestyle issue rather than a disease to be treated by a doctor. So, the GP contribution to reducing smoking in Australia has been modest.
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- Category: March 2023
Standardized packaging may reduce the appeal of e-cigarettes for potential young users, while still maintaining their appeal among adults trying to quit smoking, a survey study from Great Britain suggested.
Youths ages 11 to 18 had significantly higher odds of reporting no interest among their peers in trying e-cigarettes that had standardized green packaging compared with branded packaging (35.8% vs 28.7%; adjusted OR 1.37, 95% CI 1.10-1.71, P=0.005), reported Eve Taylor, MSc, of King's College London, and co-authors.
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- Category: March 2023
The top-selling Vuse electronic cigarette of R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co. continues to widen its market-share gap with Juul in both monthly and yearly comparisons, according to the latest Nielsen convenience store report. Vuse’s market share rose from 41.5% in the previous report to 42.7%, compared with Juul declining from 26.4% to 25.6%.
Over the past 12 months, Vuse’s market share was 36.6%, compared with 29.5% for Juul.
In recent months, the shadow of a potential banning of Juul Labs Inc.’s e-cigarettes from U.S. retail shelves, as well as a potential Juul Labs Inc. federal bankruptcy filing, has accelerated the market-share gains of Vuse.
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- Category: March 2023
Smoking prevalence is poised to drop below 5 percent in the coming months in Sweden—a level that would make the country “smoke-free,” according to a commonly used definition.
A report published today details Sweden’s approach, which combines tobacco control methods and harm minimization strategies.
“Quitting smoking like Sweden saves lives,” said Anders Milton, one of the report’s authors. “It has annually saved more than 3,400 lives in Sweden. If all other EU countries did as Sweden did, 3.5 million lives could be saved in the coming decade in the EU alone.”
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- Category: March 2023
A small study that compared the lungs of cigarette smokers with e-cigarette smokers found that e-cigarette smokers had more lung inflammation than those who smoked tobacco. The pilot study, published in The Journal of Nuclear Medicine, is the first to use PET imaging to compare smokers’ lungs with vapers’ lungs.
E-cigarettes are now much more than “new smoking cessation tools”, they are big business. The global e-cigarette or “vape” market value has increased from US$1.7 billion in 2013 (£1.4 billion) to an estimated all-time high of US$24.6 billion in 2022 (£20.8 billion). [...]
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- Category: March 2023
COP10 presents a massive threat to vaping as treaty members consider several new regulations, which include: a ban on open systems, an effective nicotine cap, and a redefinition of smoke to include vapor, putting vaping in the same category as combustible cigarettes.
In this episode of RegWatch, Martin Cullip, International Fellow at the Taxpayers Protection Alliance and prolific writer on harm reduction policy, walks through the threats COP10 poses to the future of vaping.
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- Category: March 2023
The prevalence of e-cigarette use among Vietnamese teens has increased in recent years as among 13-15 year olds [...]
The Ministry of Health noted a concerning uptake of e-cigarettes, particularly among adolescents and young adults with about seven in 100 aged between 15 and 24 using e-cigarettes.
Despite a slight reduction of people who smoked tobacco in 2022, down 0.8 percent from 2015, Vietnam is ranked third among South-East Asian countries with the highest smoking prevalence, only after Indonesia and the Philippines, according to the Ministry of Health.
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- Category: March 2023
Winning a prize for my laughable “dancing” skills at a bar in Havana was a major surprise. But it should have surprised me less that the gift bag I was awarded contained a box of cigarettes.
Tobacco is firmly entrenched in Cuban culture. The country is famous, of course, for its cigars, and its tobacco crop is one of its largest sources of income from foreign trade. Cuba’s smoking rate, as of 2015, was 37 percent. Although it’s gradually falling, it’s about three times higher than in the United States. Almost 20,000 Cubans die of smoking-related causes each year.
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- Category: March 2023
The US Food and Drug Administration announced Wednesday that it is proposing new requirements for tobacco companies that would help prevent contamination of their products and set some standards for the way they make and package products so regulators and consumers will know precisely what is in them.
The proposed rules would apply to all FDA-regulated bulk and finished tobacco products, including cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco and e-cigarettes.
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- Category: March 2023
As vaping becomes more popular, especially among the younger generation, there is a growing concern about its potential health risks. However, while vaping may be marketed as a safer option than smoking, it is not without its risks. Contrary to common misconceptions, vaping is not a risk-free substitute for smoking. Many compounds seen in tobacco smoke have been linked to e-cigarette aerosols, some of which are either original ingredients or chemical reaction byproducts of the heating process.
One potential concern is the impact of vaping on fertility in both men and women. [...]
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- Category: March 2023
As last year drew to a close, big tobacco was struggling to pitch its vaping products against trendy challenger brands. [...] Big tobacco may have therefore breathed a sigh of relief this year when ElfBar got its fingers burned in a large-scale product recall. The brand undertook a “voluntary withdrawal” after it emerged some of its vapes carried 50% more nicotine content than the permitted amount.
It leaves clear space for the tobacco giants to profit. And now, Philip Morris International (PMI) looks set to be among those reaping the rewards. Yesterday, it became the third of the four tobacco giants to decide ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’.
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- Category: March 2023
French 17-year-olds are less interested in alcohol, cannabis and tobacco than five years ago, a new study of 23,000 teenagers has revealed.
It found more 17-year-olds have never consumed alcohol. Their use of tobacco and cannabis has also dropped.
There are also marked differences between 17-year-olds in and outside education, according to the study*, which surveyed 23,000 youngsters and was carried out by the Observatoire français des drogues et des tendances addictives (OFDT).
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- Category: March 2023
Dutch parliamentarians want e-cigarettes and vapes to have a boring and uniform appearance. According to the D66, which will submit this proposal in parliament on Wednesday, this will make vaping less attractive to teenagers. A majority in parliament supports the plan, RTL Nieuws reports.
“Young people now think it’s cool to have such an accessory with glitter while vaping is extremely unhealthy,” D66 parliamentarian Jeanet van der Laan told the broadcaster. “The vapes resemble a lip gloss or a marker. They are often colorful, and there are vapes full of glitter. Parents often have no idea exactly what the young people are carrying. Super worrying.”
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- Category: March 2023
The Queensland parliament will hold an inquiry into the health risks, use and prevalence of e-cigarettes, amid concerns that some vaping products marketed as “nicotine free” actually contain the addictive chemical.
Queensland laws allow the sale of nicotine-free vaping devices in tobacco shops. E-cigarettes containing nicotine are only available with a prescription.
But the state health minister, Yvette D’Ath, said on Sunday that “we know” that some products being sold off the shelf in Queensland do contain nicotine and other chemicals like nail polish remover.
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- Category: March 2023
It’s easy to buy vapes or e-cigarettes online. When we looked at websites selling them to buyers in Australia and New Zealand, we found a variety of slick, false or misleading marketing claims.
In our new research, we outlined how these included health claims – how vapes contain “zero” carcinogens, are an effective aid for quitting smoking, and lead to improved breathing “in a matter of days”.
Vapes were also marketed as sexy, sleek and environmentally friendly.
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- Category: March 2023
There are calls for a ban on disposable vapes due to worries about the effect they're having on the environment.
The vapes are made with plastic and their batteries contain lithium, which is a metal in short supply.
Vapes, or e-cigarettes, are viewed by some as a way of helping people give up smoking tobacco.
But recently single-use vapes have rocketed in popularity, leading to calls for them to be banned.
Libby Peake, head of resource policy at Green Alliance said: "It's quite simple. The government should ban them. There's absolutely no reason not to.
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- Category: March 2023
For the third year running, in late 2022 we surveyed members of the European Parliament (MEPs) about their views on new nicotine products – e-cigarettes, heated tobacco and nicotine pouches.
Their opinions are particularly important given that major European Union regulation of the sector is expected, notably a Tobacco Excise Directive and a revision of the Tobacco Products Directive.
Very few MEPs consider that new nicotine products should be more restricted by law than traditional tobacco, and a majority believe online sales should be allowed for adults (with age verification). But a growing number are unsure. [...]
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- Category: March 2023
These e-cigarettes were meant to be for people who were trying to quit smoking. While reducing tobacco smoking at young ages has been an ongoing issue, vaping has presented new challenges.
The UK is the second-largest market in the world for vaping products, worth £2.5 billion in 2020. The majority of people who vape in the UK are between the ages of 35 and 44, while in the US it’s 18 to 24. What is most concerning is the increase in e-cigarette use among young populations. In 2020, the 18-24 age group had the lowest vaping rate but by 2022, they had the highest. The most popular flavours are fruity ones that are designed to appeal to young people.
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- Category: March 2023
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has rejected calls from health officials to introduce a new levy on single use vapes in next week’s Budget, i can reveal.
The Department of Health and Social Care has been pushing for the new tax to be introduced to disposable vapes such as the extremely popular Elf Bar brand as part of the Government’s plans to crack down on their use among children.
The proposals are expected to be included in the Government’s response to the Khan Review on smoking, which will also seek to clampdown on the worrying rise in vaping among under-18s.