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December 29, 2023 by standard.co.uk

Nicotine is one of the hardest addictions to kick; one of the reasons many say you shouldn’t start smoking in the first place. The others you likely know already: it’s catastrophic for health, smothering lungs with tar, wrecking hair, skin, nails, and senses of smell and taste - and that’s just for starters. While smoking rates in the UK are on the decline - according to the ONS, in 2022, 12.9 per cent, or 6.4 million people, smoked, down from 13.3 per cent in 2021 - the invention and widespread use of e-cigarettes means that a new generation of smokers has emerged, with young women the most likely demographic to vape daily. 

December 22, 2023 by irishexaminer.com

The ban on the sale of e-cigarettes or vapes to children in Ireland comes into force [...] the Government has announced. Health Minister Stephen Donnelly secured Cabinet approval for the move earlier this year. The measure was signed into law by President Michael D Higgins earlier this month. From then on, it will be an offence to sell a nicotine inhaling product to someone under the age of 18. The offence will carry a penalty of a fine of up to €4,000 and a prison sentence of up to six months. The new bill also contains a number of wide-ranging measures aimed at tackling the issue of smoking and vaping among adults.

December 21, 2023 by rte.ie

Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has announced the banning of the sale of nicotine inhaling products such as e-cigarettes to children. Mr Donnelly had secured cabinet approval earlier this year and the law will prohibit the sale of e-cigarettes (commonly referred to as vapes) to people under 18. The Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill comes into effect from tomorrow. Under the new law, it is an offence to sell a nicotine inhaling product to a child.

December 18, 2023 by dailymail.co.uk

Scare stories and misinformation about the harms of vaping could be triggering a rise in young people smoking, experts have warned. Last week a report revealed that a decades-long decline in the number of smokers in England had flatlined since the Covid pandemic. Researchers suggested this was likely due to more young people starting to smoke. Deborah Arnott, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health told this newspaper that she believes misinformation about the dangers of vapes is partly to blame. 'All the negative press around vaping hasn't helped,' she said. 'Suggestions that vapes need to be in plain packaging, branded with health warnings and kept out of sight, like tobacco, just give the impression that both are equally harmful when that's not the case.'

December 18, 2023 by dublinlive.ie

A ban on flavoured vape products is urgently needed to stop them being targeted at underage users, a company which produces the products said yesterday. BAT Ireland called for confectionery, dessert and soft drink flavours to be proscribed to stop products appealing to minors. The company made the comments in response to the public consultation on vaping recently launched by Health Minister Stephen Donnelly. A ban on flavours that target the underage are part of a range of measures being proposed by the company to make the industry more responsible.

December 14, 2023 by err.ee

The number of people who smoke on a daily basis in Estonia has decreased on year, with more and more men in particular opting to quit. Among young people, however, that trend has now reversed, especially among girls and young women. This is mainly due to the introduction of e-cigarettes, the taste of which can be sweetened with different flavorings. Thus, e-cigarettes, which are primarily intended to help people quit regular cigarettes, have become a first step into the world of smoking for many young people.

December 13, 2023 by tobaccoreporter.com

A new briefing paper from the Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction (GSTHR), a project from U.K.-based public health agency Knowledge Action Change (KAC), examines the significant potential of the approach to help people experiencing homelessness. Surveys consistently estimate that between 76 and 85 percent of U.K. homeless people smoke—six or seven times the smoking prevalence seen in the general population, which is now at an historic low of 12.9 percent. On average, U.K. homeless men die at 44 years of age, compared to 76 in the general population and homeless women at 42 years, compared to 81 in the overall population.

December 13, 2023 by thelancet.com

Cancers are the leading cause of death in England. We aimed to estimate trends in mortality from leading cancers from 2002 to 2019 for the 314 districts in England. We did a high-resolution spatiotemporal analysis of vital registration data from the UK Office for National Statistics using data on all deaths from the ten leading cancers in England from 2002 to 2019. We used a Bayesian hierarchical model to obtain robust estimates of age-specific and cause-specific death rates. [...]

December 11, 2023 by youtube.com

The French parliament is considering a ban on single-use, disposable electronic cigarettes that are popular with teenagers for their sweet flavors and are under scrutiny as a new source of trash.

December 11, 2023 by bbc.com

The French parliament has voted unanimously to ban single-use e-cigarettes, known locally as "puffs", amid health and environmental concerns. It still needs backing from France's Senate and clearance from the EU Commission before it becomes law. If both approve the bill, the government said it hopes the ban will be effective by September 2024. Several other countries in Europe, including the UK, Ireland, and Germany are considering similar measures.