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Marlborough Man 2016: Smoking icon has swapped his horse for a helicopter and become a Stetson-wearing WOMAN in new e-cigarette ad campaign

Apr 30th, 2016
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The old fashioned Marlboro Man has been replaced by a woman

The new face of e-cigarettes is shown using a helicopter to round up cattle

Imperial Tobacco campaign received a boost after a report released by the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) backed E-cigarettes

After using a helicopter to round up a large herd of cattle in the wild west, the Stetson-wearing herder pulls down her bandana and takes a puff from her blue-tipped e-cigarette.

The old fashioned Marlboro Man has been replaced by a woman for the face of the new e-cigarette ad campaign.

However her career was facing an uncertain future with television adverts promoting e-cigarettes set to be banned next month under an EU directive on tobacco.

The World Health Organisation had warned in 2014 that vaping was dangerous but now Imperial Tobacco’s blu e-Cigs campaign received a boost after a report released by the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) backed E-cigarettes.

The RCP’s new report concluded that e-cigarettesbring benefits for public health and said they should be widely promoted to smokers to help them quit tobacco.

In a report likely to further fuel a debate over electronic cigarettes, the influential British doctors group also stressed that tobacco smoking is both addictive and lethal but concluded that e-cigarettes are ‘much safer than smoking’.

E-cigarettes are not a gateway to smoking, the RCP said, and do not lead to the normalisation of the habit – two issues often cited by critics who fear the devices can lure children and young people into smoking habits.

‘None of these products has to date attracted significant use among adult never-smokers, or demonstrated evidence of significant gateway progression into smoking among young people,’ the RCP’s 200-page report said.

E-cigarettes, which heat nicotine-laced liquid into vapour, have rapidly grown into a global market for ‘vaping’ products that was estimated at around $7 billion in 2015.

Tobacco smoking kills half of all smokers, plus at least another 600,000 people a year non-smokers via second-hand smoke.

This makes it the world’s biggest preventable killer, with apredicted death toll of a billion by the end of the century,according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Many public health experts think e-cigarettes, or vapes,which do not contain tobacco, are a lower-risk alternative to smoking, but some questions remain about their long-term safety.

Linda Bauld, a professor at Stirling University, deputy director of the UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies and aco-author of the RCP report, said that unlike tobacco, nicotine does not cause cancer, heart and lung diseases.

‘The ideal is for people to use nothing,’ she said, but when the alternative is smoking, people should be encouraged to use nicotine ‘delivered in a cleaner form than in deadly cigarettes’.

‘This is what tobacco harm reduction is – it reduces the harm from tobacco while recognising that some people will still use nicotine in other safer forms.’

John Britton, chair of the RCP Tobacco Advisory Group which published the report, acknowledged that e-cigarettes were ‘a topic of great controversy’ but said his group’s analysis ‘laysto rest almost all of the concerns over these products’.

The anti-smoking group ASH UK welcomed the report, saying it showed ‘that switching to vaping is a positive and sensible life choice’ for smokers.

‘Electronic cigarette vapour does not contain smoke, which is why vaping is much less harmful,’ said Deborah Arnott, ASH’s chief executive.

PAYING THE PRICE: THE DEATH OF THE MARLBORO MEN

With his rugged looks and cool cowboy image, the Marlboro Man was the star of the smoking advertisements until they were scrapped in the late Nineties.

Several actors and models have been the face of Marlboro including David Millar, who died of emphysema in 1987, and David McLean, who died of lung cancer in 1995.

Another who pushed the product, Wayne McLaren, died before his 52nd birthday in 1992 and Dick Hammer – better known for his role as Captain Hammer in the TV show Emergency! – passed away from lung cancer in 1999, aged 69.

It wasn’t until state governments banned the use of humans or cartoons to promote tobacco advertisements in the UK that the role was axed.

Eric Lawson who played the iconic cigarette-puffing cowboy during the late 1970s passed away aged 72 from respiratory failure in January 2014.

Last year Darrell Winfield became the sixth Marlboro man to pass away from an unspecified ‘lengthy illness’ at his ranch in Riverton, Wyoming, while in hospice care.

Winfield was a real-life rancher who worked on a cattle farm in 1968 when he was first discovered by the Leo Burnett advertising agency and transformed into a world-recognized model.

Can e-cigarette makers stub out addiction concerns?

Apr 29th, 2016
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As vaping culture grows and big tobacco piles in with huge ad budgets, worry over nicotine use lingers

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/apr/29/e-cigarette-addiction-nicotine-smoking-vaping

The medical report published this week which finds that vaping could save millions of lives and should be encouraged could be read as a victory for the Marlboro Man of our times, who has swapped his horse for a helicopter and become a woman.

Perhaps you’ve seen the glossy new TV ad, below, and its evocation of an age when cowboys sold a deadly lifestyle. In summary: helicopter corrals cows under big skies, lands next to massive rock; pilot wearing stetson gets out, pulls down bandana and puts an electronic cigarette in her mouth. Its tip glows blue before the setting sun catches the vapour cloud as she exhales.

It’s big-budget and kind of beautiful. But the ad, for Blu eCigs, part of Imperial Tobacco, comes at a tricky time in the rise of an awkward object. Conceived as a nicotine vehicle to deliver the physical, social and chemical appeal of smoking without the aftertaste of death, the electronic cigarette, used by an estimated 2.6 million people in Britain, has rapidly spawned a sub-industry and vaping culture.

But like a curious teenager clutching an Embassy behind a bike shed, we don’t quite seem to know what to do with these new sticks, or what the risks might be. Just as the the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) called on Thursday for the promotion of vaping in the biggest report of its kind, new rules are about to make e-cigarettes harder to buy – and kill off the Blu Woman before she’s even got going.

The EU Tobacco Products Directive, which comes into force on 20 May, will, among other things, outlaw the advertising of electronic cigarettes on TV, radio and in newspapers. It will also set a limit on the nicotine content of the liquid used in the devices, which use a small, battery powered heating element to create the inhalable vapour (the “e-liquid” or “juice” is a blend of organic compounds, natural or synthetic flavourings and nicotine).

The directive follows years of conflicting advice and regulation. There is no public ban on e-cigarettes but local policy varies. You can vape to your lungs’ content inside a Westfield shopping centre, but stray over the carpet into a Starbucks and you’re banned. Doctors haven’t been able to agree either. In 2014, the World Health Organisation said vaping could be dangerous. A year later, Public Health England said it was 95% less harmful than smoking, but its evidence was subsequently doubted in the Lancet.

Perhaps Prof John Britton, chair of the RCP’s tobacco advisory group, which produced the new report, can help navigate this fug of confusion. “A lot of it is psychological,” he says. “There are people who feel sustaining nicotine addiction is wrong. I’ve had those conversations at conferences over coffee, and nobody has seen the irony in it.”

Nicotine isn’t something to seek out but “like caffeine, if it is used in the doses in which smokers use it, it is not significantly hazardous,” Britton adds. “The important thing is to separate it from the smoke, which is what electronic cigarettes do.”

The RCP report “lays to rest almost all of the concerns over these products”, including any suggestion that secondhand vapour can be harmful. But it will be harder to stub out the connotations of smoking. Almost 10 years after the public smoking ban, and more than half a century after the RCP’s pivotal 1962 report, Smoking and Health, which changed our relationship with cigarettes for ever, we are bound to doubt a solution that looks like the problem. Moreover, as the tobacco multinationals catch up with a runaway trend, and sell that solution as a lifestyle, we are understandably wary of the motivations of an industry which has not always welcomed the advice of doctors.

“There’s a suspicion of a commercial, consumer-led rather than medical response,” Britton accepts. “And there are arguments that these products are being used to promote smoking subconsciously … and that the tobacco industry will exploit them to sell more tobacco, particularly in countries with poorer governance.” The professor of epidemiology welcomes proportionate regulation, including the ad ban, as well as theforthcoming move to allow doctors to prescribe licensed vape kits. But while 200,000 children still take up smoking every year in Britain, he believes the participation even of public health villains is a price worth paying if it reduces illness and about 100,000 deaths a year (that’s about one every five minutes).

“We still have nearly 9 million people smoking tobacco every day when we’ve known what to do about it pretty much since 1962,” Britton says. “That’s a reflection of an abject failure of health policy. We’re reducing the number of young people taking up smoking, but we’re not that much better at helping them quit. That’s why the e-cigarette is such a powerful new tool.”

Marc Michelsen is, unsurprisingly, inclined to agree. “We have had an issue with public trust,” admits the public affairs executive at Fontem Ventures, the Dutch firm which owns Blu, and is an “arms-length subsidiary” of Imperial, the British tobacco company. “But a lot of that comes from a lack of scientific understanding.” Blu is delighted with the RCP report, but less keen on the advertising ban. “If you inhibit advertising, fewer people will buy the product and that can’t be good,” adds Michelsen, who denies that Blu’s commerical is a barely veiled Marlboro reboot. “I think it’s pure Mad Max,” he suggests (I must have missed the pastoral scenes in Fury Road). “This campaign is not about the past, we’re looking forward.”

What do vapers think, and who are they anyway? The majority of electronic smokers buy mass-produced products in supermarkets or online, and don’t think a great deal about them beyond their health and financial savings (£200 a month for a 20-a-day smoker, according to vape sites). But a vaping scene has unexpectedly mushroomed to the extent that, for many vapers, nicotine has become a secondary interest.

At the Vape Emporium, a London-based online store with boutiques at Hampstead and Richmond, a vape consultant will talk you through a menu of handcrafted e-pipes and more than 200 flavoured e-liquids. Perhaps you’d like to try the VG by Simple Chocolaccino, which “blends caramel, chocolate, coffee and biscuit for a divine morning vape”. “We now have juices that only contain 1.5mg of nicotine, which is tiny,” says Andy Logan, the emporium’s co-founder. A 24mg/ml mix compares to a strong cigarette, he explains (the new rules will set the maximum at 20mg). “And some people are taking zero nicotine now because they just don’t need it but still enjoy vaping.”

Logan, who set up as an online store in 2013 and is looking for new shopfronts, says vapers follow a familiar path. “At the start they’re adamant they don’t want any funny flavoured rubbish and go for a strong, tobacco-style vape. But after a few weeks they’re trying some crazy flavours and dropping the nicotine because they’ve got their tastebuds back.” Flavour seekers tend to favour fruit, pudding (doughnuts and cakes are popular) or mint and vanilla perfumes, he adds. Some go further, vaping socially in cafes and clubs and discussing equipment and blends. Logan has just exhibited at the second Vape Jam UK, a three-day expo at London’s ExCel centre attended by 300 companies and clubs. “I took my fiancee on the Sunday,” he says. “She had no idea this subculture exists. It’s quite amazing.”

Logan says his customers range from an insanely knowledgable 94-year-old woman to a businessman who comes in for a puff while his driver idles outside in a Bentley.

Vaping is increasingly popular among young people (it is illegal to sell to under-18s), he adds. Meanwhile, the public response to vaping – while still generally somewhere between curious and hostile – is catching up with its rise in popularity. “I still can’t go to a party without facing a barrage of questions, but it is changing,” Logan says.

As a culture emerges and big tobacco piles in with huge advertising budgets, do we risk discouraging nicotine quitting, or even drawing non-smokers into addiction? “Our annual survey of 12,000 adults suggests the level of vaping among non-smokers is steady at about 0.2%, says Hazel Cheeseman, director of policy at Ash, the smoking health charity.

“It’s extremely rare and I don’t think that will ever change,” Logan adds, rejecting the gateway hypothesis. And he doesn’t need it to. “If there are nearly 10 million smokers and only 2 million vapers, we’ve still got a massive, long journey to convert the rest,” he says.

E-cigs firms call for regulation rather than ban

Mar 30th, 2016
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http://www.thestandard.com.hk/section-news.php?id=167757&story_id=46377810&con_type=1&d_str=20160330

Undersecretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee said last month the government is considering prohibiting the import, manufacture, sale, distribution and advertising of e-cigarettes.

Under the current Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance, if an e-cigarette contains more than 0.1 percent of nicotine, it is categorized as a Part I poison. E-cigarettes containing nicotine are considered pharmaceutical products, and subject to the ordinance on safety, quality and efficacy.

The Asian Vape Association, formed by 10 e-cigarette companies in Hong Kong, claimed that a complete ban would create a black market and drive e-smokers back to conventional cigarettes.

The group is calling for a “balanced” regulatory approach, such as prohibiting sales to minors, imposing quality control standards, and ensuring that any reduced- risk-related information is substantiated.

“E-cigarettes are devices that do not contain tobacco leaf and have the ability to reduce the harm to smokers caused through heating and vaporizing a liquid solution,” association chairman Nav Lalji said.

Quoting a survey by a research company, Ipsos, from May to June last year, Lalji said nearly nine in 10 adult smokers agreed they should have access to products that are scientifically proven to reduce smoking.

The survey polled 414 Hongkongers aged over 18. Of these, 63 percent agreed that e-cigarettes represent a positive alternative to cigarettes, and 66 percent said they would consider switching if e-cigarettes were legal, met quality and safety standards, and were readily available.

According to a 2014 World Health Organization report, most electronic nicotine delivery system, or ENDS, products have not been tested by independent scientists, but the limited testing has revealed wide variations in the nature of the toxicity of contents and emissions.

“Short-term effects of ENDS use include eye and respiratory irritation caused by exposure to propylene glycol. Serious short-term health problems may occur but are very rare,” the report read.

Asked if he recognized e-cigarettes are somehow harmful to health, Lalji said: “There may or may not be potential risks. But it is definitely less than the [traditional] cigarettes.”

No ifs, ands or butts, e-cigarettes not welcome here

Mar 1st, 2016
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http://www.chinadailyasia.com/focus/2016-03/01/content_15392153.html

Hong Kong is moving rapidly to join others in snuffing out the e-cigarette craze, as new, local research reveals the smoking alternatives contain toxic chemicals. Sylvia Chang reports.

Latest research, undertaken by Hong Kong Baptist University reveals that electronic cigarettes, marketed as the safer alternative to tobacco, are not safe at all. Studies of 13 randomly selected brands of electronic cigarettes contain formaldehyde, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), flame retardants used on furniture, automobile interiors, textiles and plastic products. Health risks include a list of maladies ranging from impaired fetal development to cancers

The research findings are clear validation of the administration’s determination to play it safe on the subject of e-cigarettes. Of equal concern was the fear that e-cigarettes might be seen as chic, fashionable and stylish, and could undermine years of effort to make Hong Kong one among the most smoke-free cities in the world.

The final verdict on the health hazards associated with e-cigarettes remains in abeyance as scientific tests are carried out around the world. The question of whether or not to sell has been whirling around for a few years and is now the subject of a heated controversy. People have been arrested, puffing on e-cigarettes at sites where smoking is prohibited by law, all the while protesting that they are not smoking, but “vaping”.

The battery powered e-cigarettes create a vapor from replaceable cartridges, offering an experience similar to smoking. Sales of e-cigarettes hit $3 billion globally in 2013, according to figures produced by the World Health Organization. Market projections anticipate retail sales will be seven times that amount by 2030.

The School of Public Health at the University of Hong Kong covered e-cigarettes for the first time in its annual household survey of smoking patterns, released in early February.

The survey revealed that among 41,000 students from 92 secondary schools surveyed, nine percent said they had smoked e-cigarettes when they are not even legally on sale in the SAR.

Researchers interpreted the finding as a “red alert” to health authorities and urged greater efforts to raise awareness of the potential risks of e-cigarettes.

Catch ‘em young

Teenagers are prone to smoking addiction. By the time they’ve smoked about 100 cigarettes, they are hooked as life-long smokers, says anti-tobacco advocate Judith Mackay, director of the Asian Consultancy on Tobacco Control. Mackay is also a senior policy adviser to the World Health Organization.

Many e-cigarettes contain nicotine, the same addictive substance found in normal cigarettes, but in lowered concentrations. Many other brands claim their products contain no nicotine. Another argument in favor of e-cigarettes is that they produce vapor instead of highly toxic smoke. Still, latest studies show that both “vaping” and smoking suppress the normal function of 53 genes of the body’s immune system. Alarmingly, 305 more immune genes were shown to have mutated under exposure to e-cigarettes, leading many researchers to believe that e-cigarettes pose serious, long-term health hazards.

That study was presented on Feb 12 at the annual conference of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington. Lead researcher Ilona Jaspers of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was quoted by Ars Technica as saying that it was still unclear whether the changed immune response will lead to more infection risks or other immunological diseases.

Despite all these findings, even experts seem a bit ambivalent about the issue. “If all smokers changed to smoking e-cigarettes, it would mean a lot of lives being saved. But it’s not as simple as that,” Mackay told China Daily. “Only in the next three or five years will we have a clear understanding of the effects of e-cigarettes.”

Health authorities fear that non-smokers, mistakenly believing e-cigarettes are safe, will be enthused to take up the habit and that people who have quit smoking may pick up the vaping habit, exposing themselves to the same sort of Pandora’s Box that can afflict regular smokers. This is a matter for the social sciences, and as Mackay explained, there have been no definitive studies as to how e-cigarettes will affect the market if they were to become fashionable.

Fashion statement

With their attractive design and multiplicity of flavors, e-cigarettes are targeted at the youth market. There are more than 8,000 e-cigarette flavors available in the global market, with approximately 200 new flavors being added every month.

The majority of e-cigarette manufacturers have argued their products contain no nicotine at all and thus shouldn’t even require licensing or the levying of any “sin tax”. The selling price is usually 60 percent less than that of normal cigarettes, another way to attract young people.

Also there are several instances of batteries exploding during recharging, and getting inside the clothes of e-cigarette smokers, raising dangers of serious burns or fire outbreaks.

As the debate goes on, the tobacco industry already is moving in, buying e-cigarette manufacturing companies, recalling days gone by when smoking was portrayed as sexy, cool, refreshing and sophisticated. As medical evidence condemning tobacco piled up, the tobacco industry changed tactics promoting “better filters”, “low tar and nicotine”, and commissioned spurious research aimed at undermining the influence of serious scientific findings.

In 2012, a US Federal Court judge ordered that tobacco companies publicly confess to lying to consumers in their efforts to minimize health concerns.

Mackay supported the Hong Kong government’s adoption of a “precocious principle”—to ban e-cigarettes completely. “When we don’t know, when we’re not sure, it’s better to be really careful, and to get more science before allowing them to go market,” Mackay emphasized.

Under Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee said that the department will finalize an initial amendment on e-cigarettes by the end of the year for presentation to the Legislative Council for approval. The prohibition is expected to cover importing and manufacturing, selling, distributing and advertising.

Under the current law, only e-cigarettes cartridges containing nicotine are banned. The new rule seeks to ban all cartridges, even those containing no nicotine.

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And you thought tobacco was toxic?

Tests by Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) show controversial e-cigarettes, pushing hard for admission into the Hong Kong market, contain deadly chemicals.

The polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), among other toxins found in the samples tested, are derived from petroleum hydrocarbon contamination and the burning of other organic materials known as carcinogens. Inhaling carcinogens could lead to malformation of human tissue, potentially leading to cancer.

The result showed that the highest level of PAHs concentration in fumes rising from a concentrated solution reaches 504.5 nanograms/ml, almost 1 million times more concentrated than its presence in Hong Kong’s outdoor urban environment.

Tested e-cigarettes were also found to contain high amounts of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). PBDEs create a risk of disruption of thyroid hormones and reduced fertility. They also pose risks for fetal development and may cause cancers.

This is the first time electronic cigarettes have been scientifically proven to contain PBDEs, said Chung Shan-shan, assistant professor of Croucher Institute for Environmental Sciences from HKBU.

The discovery hints that other harmful substances, which may have been ignored in previous studies, will be found in the future, Chung added.

This is a “clear sign” that e-cigarettes affect human health, said Lam Tai-hing, chair professor of Community Medicine in the School of Public Health, the University of Hong Kong. The Council urges the government to ban e-cigarettes.

“The more you look into it, the more problems are indicated,” Lam said, citing that quick changes in technology have resulted in more variations of e-cigarettes in terms of temperature, chemical components and so on.

The Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health also released a survey conducted by the School of Public Health at the University of Hong Kong to monitor the prevalence of e-cigarettes use.

The survey shows that smokers in the age group of 15 to 29 comprised the biggest chunk (7.9 percent) of e-cigarette smokers.

The study is alarming and is a step forward on extending our understanding on those potentially cancer-causing substances in e-cigarettes, said Judith Mackay, director of the Asian Consultancy on Tobacco Control.

“It clearly sends out the message that e-cigarettes need strict regulation before there is a clear and comprehensive understanding on what they contain, how they work, how dangerous they are, particularly to pregnant women and young people,” Mackay said.

A million times more harmful than outdoor air: Hong Kong study raises e-cigarette cancer alarm

Feb 29th, 2016
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Health council urges ban on the electronic devices after Baptist University study finds more risks

Electronic cigarettes were found to contain one million times more cancer-causing substances than outdoor air in a study by Baptist University.

Researchers also discovered a type of flame retardant that affected the reproductive system and could lead to cancer – the first such discovery in e-cigarettes.

The Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health, which commissioned the study, called for a ban on e-cigarettes as soon as possible before they become more popular.

In analysing 13 types of e-cigarettes bought on the market, researchers found that the level of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) – a by-product of burning petroleum that is commonly detected in roadside air – ranged from 2.9 to 504.5 nanograms per millilitre.

The substance, which contains highly carcinogenic chemicals such as benzo(a)pryene, also carries various kinds of chemicals that promote growth of cancer cells.

“[Level of PAHs] in e-cigarettes is at least one million times more than roadside air in Hong Kong,” said Dr Chung Shan-shan, assistant professor in the university’s biology department.

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers(PBDEs), a flame retardant used extensively in furniture and electronic products, were detected in a range of 1.7 to 1,490ng/ml in the 13 brands of e-cigarettes.

That level was much higher than in two samples of conventional cigarettes used in the study, which ranged from 5.6 to 6.3ng/ml.

The chemical reduces the risk of burning in the plastic combustible component of e-cigarettes.

But PBDEs disrupt the thyroid hormone and cause toxicity of the reproductive development.

“Even though we don’t know the exact number of e-cigarettes one should take, not to mention that many of the carcinogenic effects are cumulative, I don’t think there is a safe margin,” said Chung, adding that the situation was worrying.

While the packaging of the tested e-cigarettes either claimed they contained zero nicotine or did not mention nicotine, they actually containted a level ranging from 3.5 to 28.5 ng/ml.

Adding to the concern, a University of Hong Kong study, commissioned by the council, found that 7.9 per cent of smokers aged 15 to 29 had used e-cigarettes, significantly higher than other age groups.

The study, done between April and October last year, interviewed 5,252 people. Some 68 per cent did not know what they were inhaling.

As 16 countries have fully banned the sales, advertising, import, distribution and manufacturing of e-cigarettes, the council’s chairman, Antonio Kwong Cho-shing, urged legislation to enforce a total ban as soon as possible.

The Food and Health Bureau earlier stated the possibility of legislation would be reviewed, it was not clear when the regulation would go into effect.
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Source URL: http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1918571/million-times-more-harmful-outdoor-air-hong-kong

Enact Total Ban on E-cigarettes Promptly

Feb 29th, 2016
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http://smokefree.hk/en/content/web.do?page=news20160229

The global sales of electronic cigarettes (“e-cigarettes”) surged exponentially in a few years by 170-fold to a total of US$3.5 billion in 2015 while its prevalence among youngsters also increased significantly in the U.S. and European countries. In Hong Kong, a wide variety of e-cigarettes are easily accessible and the potential health risk should not be underrated. COSH has serious concern on the spread of e-cigarettes and in March 2015, advocated a total ban on e-cigarettes.

Since most e-cigarettes in the market do not provide information on their components, COSH commissioned a laboratory test by Hong Kong Baptist University. COSH Chairman Antonio KWONG remarked, “COSH was pleased that the Government has adopted the recommendation and is currently working on the details of the legislation to ban e-cigarettes completely. The test results showed the quality of e-cigarettes varied and carcinogens and other harmful substances were found. To nip it in the bud and protect public health, we urge the Government to totally ban e-cigarettes promptly.”

COSH commissioned Hong Kong Baptist University to carry out a laboratory test on the components of thirteen e-cigarettes in the market from October 2015 to February 2016. The test confirmed the e-cigarettes contain harmful chemicals including formaldehyde, glycerin, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (“PAHs”) and poly-brominated diphenyl ethers (“PBDEs”). Formaldehyde and PAHs are known carcinogens that are hazardous to health. Significant variance in the components of e-cigarettes was found even in the same batch of the same brand. Dr CHUNG Shan-shan, Assistant Professor of the Department of Biology of Hong Kong Baptist University pointed out, “PBDEs, effective flame retardants extensively used in electronic products, were first discovered in e-cigarettes. We believe that PBDEs were added to reduce the rate of combustion of the combustible component in e-cigarettes, e.g. plastics. Inhalation of PBDEs has been associated with thyroid hormone disruption, reduction of fertility, affect fetal development and can cause cancers.”

The School of Public Health of The University of Hong Kong was commissioned by COSH to conduct the Tobacco Control Policy-related Survey 2015 to monitor prevalence of e-cigarette use and measure public opinion on its ban in Hong Kong. Public Opinion Programme of The University of Hong Kong was commissioned to interview over 5,000 respondents, including 1,834 never smokers, 1,712 ex-smokers and 1,706 current smokers, from April to October 2015.

The survey found that 85.4% of respondents had heard of e-cigarettes compared to 75.4% in 2014. Around 0.9% of respondents had ever used e-cigarettes. It was also found that the main reason for e-cigarette use was not to aid smoking cessation and 68% of users did not know what they inhaled. Although only 0.2% of respondents had used e-cigarettes in the past 30 days, the rate (7.9%) among young current smokers aged 15 to 29 years was significantly higher than that of current smokers aged 30 years or above. Besides, majority of respondents supported various regulatory measures on e-cigarettes including restrict sale to minors (93.7%), ban the use at smoke-free areas (81.4%), restrict sale of non-nicotine e-cigarettes (81.2%), regulate e-cigarettes as cigarettes (79.4%) and ban e-cigarettes publicity and ads (70.8%). Over half of the respondents (53.5%) supported all of these regulatory measures.

Prof LAM Tai-hing, Chair Professor of Community Medicine and Sir Robert Kotewall Professor in Public Health, School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong said, “We are concerned about the prevalence of e-cigarette use among youngsters, which was higher than that in adults. With reference to the experiences of U.S. and European countries, partial regulations or delay in legislation may cause a surge in the rate of youngsters using e-cigarettes. A total ban should be enforced promptly to prevent an epidemic of its use especially in children and young people.”

A wide variety of e-cigarettes are now available in Hong Kong via various sale channels and are mainly targeting the youngsters. However, most of them do not provide details on their components nor carry any health warnings. Some e-cigarettes are even marketed as “healthy”, “non-carcinogenic”, “non-toxic”, “safe” or ”no harm” which mislead consumers. Users inhale unknown substances will bring potential health risks.

The safety and effectiveness of e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation aid are unknown. Insufficient evidence has been identified so far to support the claim that e-cigarettes help smokers kick the habit, says the World Health Organization (WHO). At least 16 countries have imposed a total ban on e-cigarettes, including Singapore, Thailand and Brazil, which is a global trend. COSH urges the Government to enact a total ban on the sales, advertising, promotion and sponsorship, distribution, import and manufacturing of e-cigarettes in Hong Kong promptly. In the meantime, COSH will spare no effort in publicity and education to prevent its epidemic and stop it from becoming the gateway to youth smoking in Hong Kong.

COSH urges the Government to enact total ban on e-cigarettes promptly to prevent its epidemic and stop it from becoming the gateway to youth smoking in Hong Kong.

COSH urges the Government to enact total ban on e-cigarettes promptly to prevent its epidemic and stop it from becoming the gateway to youth smoking in Hong Kong.

Carcinogens and other harmful substances which can bring potential health risks were found in e-cigarettes in the laboratory test.

Carcinogens and other harmful substances which can bring potential health risks were found in e-cigarettes in the laboratory test.

Immediate ban of e-cigarettes urged

Feb 29th, 2016
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http://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1245450-20160229.htm

The Council on Smoking and Health (Cosh) on Monday called for an immediate ban on e-cigarettes, highlighting its danger through two separate studies.

In one study, it found at least two cancer causing chemicals in 13 of the e-cigarette brands available in the market. The test, carried out by the Baptist University, found harmful chemicals such as formaldehyde and PAHs – both known carcinogens – in these brands.

Dr Chung Shan-shan from the university’s biology department said these chemicals pose a high degree of risk to its users.

The second study found more young people make a major section of e-cigarette users. Cosh urged the government to enact a total ban on the device as soon as possible, before the situation gets worse.

Parliamentary committee delivers 20 recommendations on e-cigarettes

Feb 24th, 2016
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http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/parliamentary-committee-delivers-20-recommendations-on-ecigarettes/news-story/3801de5dc4984fcad271524f7a81116b?nk=0611f97db29bbf0213b82364550de3fc-1456352062

E-CIGARETTES should be banned in non-smoking areas and retailers should not be allowed to sell the vaporisers to children, a parliamentary committee recommends.

Vaporisers also should feature health warnings and should not be decorated with “child-like aspects such as diamantés and cartoon characters” which may encourage young people to take up the habit of “vaping”.

For the same reason, the committee also urges against selling “sweet and confectionery flavoured e-liquids” to be used in the vaporisers.

It is believed about 20,100 South Australians use e-cigarettes — or about 1.2 per cent of the population — and the devices are growing in popularity.

The battery-operated devices vaporise a refillable cartridge of nicotine solution to create a vapour that the user inhales, simulating the action of smoking.

Some use flavoured liquids without nicotine.

E-cigarettes have been sold in Australia for about four years but legislation governing their sale and use varies around the nation.

Concerned at the confusion around the relatively new products, and the potential long-term health risks, Labor MP Annabel Digance moved in May to establish a Select Committee into E-Cigarettes.

The final report of the committee, tabled in Parliament today, makes 20 recommendations including:

BANNING e-cigarettes in areas where tobacco smoking is banned.
PREVENTING the sale of e-cigarettes to people aged under 18.
REQUIRING health warnings on e-cigarette devices and full lists of ingredients on e-liquid packaging.
REQUIRING childproof packaging on e-liquid containers.
BANNING advertising of e-cigarettes or offering pricing specials or promotions.
CALLING for more research on the effects of e-cigarettes on users, including pregnant women and foetuses, infants and children and people with respiratory illness or chronic illness.

Health Minister Jack Snelling has pledged to consider the recommendations in any future regulation of e-cigarettes.

There is strong debate over whether vaporisers encourage the habit of smoking or help people to quit by simulating the action without delivering the chemicals.

“We just don’t know whether e-cigarettes are effective in helping people to quit smoking without causing potentially new damaging health effects,” Ms Digance said.

She added that it was “unclear whether e-cigarettes could act as a gateway into smoking and nicotine dependence for our young people”.

“The younger a person starts smoking the more difficult it can be to quit later on,” Ms Digance said.

“While studies are under way to explore the health effects of e-cigarettes, it will be some time, possibly decades, before we really understand how they affect a person’s health.

“The World Health Organisation is calling on governments to regulate e-cigarettes until the safety of the devices and their peripheral components, such as the vaporised solution contained within them, are established.”

Opposition committee member Vincent Tarzia raised concerns that some of the recommendations would diminish the potential harm minimisation benefits of e-cigarettes.

“The research is clear that e-cigarettes are far less dangerous than smoking tobacco and there is a public health benefit if people choose to use e-cigarettes instead of smoking tobacco,” Mr Tarzia said.

“As a consequence there is a public health benefit if tobacco smokers are switching to e-cigarettes and any new regulations should not hinder that movement.

“The report’s recommendation that e-cigarettes shouldn’t be sold alongside tobacco products has the potential to undercut this public health benefit.”

Mr Tarzia supported calls for more research on the long-term health impacts of using the vaporisers.

The committee received 142 submissions and took evidence from 11 people, including from tobacco companies, e-cigarette retailers and users, and tobacco smokers.

Ontario delaying ban on using e-cigarettes in public

Dec 16th, 2015
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http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/vaping-ban-ontario-1.3368613

Banning vaping in stores would drive away customers, advocates say

The province is delaying its plans to ban vaping in public spaces, Ontario’s Associate Health Minister Dipika Damerla told CBC News in an exclusive interview.

The province was all set to ban the use of e-cigarettes in public spaces, offices, businesses and even in vape shops beginning January 1, 2016.

Damerla said her government would proceed with a ban on selling e-cigarettes to minors beginning January 1, “but we will not be proceeding with the piece around where you can and cannot use electronic cigarettes.”

Damerla said the government committed to reviewing regulations around where medical marijuana can and cannot be vaped and “in that context we’ve just made the decision to bring all of the regulations around where you can and cannot vape at once.”

“We hope to bring that regulation into force very quickly and very shortly,” she added.

Aaron Lepcha, who owns Kloud Panda, an e-cigarette supply company, feels banning vaping in stores that sell e-cigarettes would drive away potential customers.

“If people can’t come into a store and try a product and see which one works for them, it’ll be really difficult to get away from tobacco,” Lepcha told CBC.

He explained that “different electronic devices need certain training to use and if people can’t come into a store and try a product and see which one works for them, it’ll be really difficult to get away from tobacco.”

Charlie Pisano, the co-owner of VapeMeet, agreed with Lepcha.

He said people need assistance to use his products safely and effectively.

“You need to be shown the safety features that come with them, how to use the liquid, how to choose the right liquid, and the way this bill is worded, there’s no way they can do that without the shops,” Pisano said in an interview at The Ecig Flavourium at Queen East and Jarvis Street.

He told CBC News most people agree e-cigarettes are a safer alternative to smoking but added that “this precautionary measure that the government is taking stigmatizes the product itself.”

In a statement, Damerla said the province is also “banning the sale of certain flavoured tobacco products and increasing the maximum fines for youth-related sales offences under the Smoke-Free Ontario Act” but emphasized that the government is not banning the use of e-cigarettes.

Ban on smokeless cigarettes kicks in

Dec 15th, 2015
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http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/ban-on-smokeless-cigarettes-kicks-in

Smokeless cigarettes have officially been banned island-wide.

The ban, which comes into effect today, covers emerging tobacco products “currently not available in Singapore”, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) in a statement yesterday.

Other products that were also banned include dissolvable tobacco and products containing tobacco or nicotine that may be applied topically, injected or implanted in the body.

It will also include any tobacco or nicotine-containing substances meant to be used in e-cigarettes.

The ban was first announced in June this year and is part of MOH’s “ongoing efforts to protect the public against the known and potential harms of emerging tobacco products”.

These products join e-cigarettes, which have already been banned under the Tobacco Act.

The new ban is to “ensure that they do not gain a foothold or become entrenched in the Singapore market, which could stimulate demand for and increase the prevalence of tobacco consumption”, said MOH.

The ban that comes into effect today is part of a two-phase effort to bar such products from taking root in Singapore.

The second phase of the ban, which covers products already in the local market, will kick in from August next year.

The products that will be banned include nasal and oral snuff, which are smokeless forms of tobacco that are inhaled and chewed respectively; gutkha, which is a mix of tobacco, betel nut and catechu (herb) with lime, menthol, sandal oil, spice and flavourings; and khaini and zarda, which are flavoured chewing tobaccos.

MOH said this approach will give retailers time to “adjust their operating models away from such products, and deplete their existing stocks”.

Smokers who flout the ban can be fined up to S$10,000 or jailed up to six months or both. The maximum penalties will double if they are convicted for a second time.

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