Clear The Air News Tobacco Blog Rotating Header Image

Canada

Protecting plain tobacco packaging against industry influence

Aug 22nd, 2016
by Editor.
No comments yet

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/08/160822140526.htm

Source:
Canadian Medical Association Journal

Summary:

Canada’s public consultation on plain packaging for tobacco requires strict guidelines to protect against interference by the tobacco industry, and media must also be wary, according to a new report.

Canada’s public consultation on plain packaging for tobacco requires strict guidelines to protect against interference by the tobacco industry, and media must also be wary, according to a commentary in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

The Canadian government’s public consultation on plain packaging of tobacco products, as a public health measure, will close Aug. 31, 2016. In the past, the tobacco industry has tried to thwart plain packaging initiatives using threats of legal action and by influencing public opinion through biased research — for example, in Australia in 2011, when its government introduced this type of packaging. Troubling tactics are now being deployed in Canada, with individuals and organizations linked to the tobacco industry speaking against plain packaging in the media.

Plain packaging requires the removal of all branding (colours, imagery, corporate logos and trademarks) on tobacco products, so that all packaging is standardized.

Manufacturers may only include the brand name in a mandated size, font and location on the package. According to the Australian government, which was the first to implement plain packaging, this move has contributed to a decrease in smoking.

The authors of the commentary call for vigilance by several sectors.

“The Canadian media should remember their important role in challenging industry-affiliated sources regarding their conflicts of interest, and should guard against simply becoming vehicles for industry misinformation,” write Drs. Julia Smith and Kelley Lee, Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia.

“The [Canadian] government must require any individual or organization making a submission to the federal consultation to declare potential conflicts of interests, including funding sources, and must require that any claims made in submissions be substantiated by peer-reviewed evidence, with transparent methodologies, non-industry-linked data sources and clear funding declarations.”

Teens Are Vaping Because It ‘Looks Cool,’ Study Finds

Jul 18th, 2016
by Editor.
No comments yet

http://motherboard.vice.com/en_ca/read/teens-are-vaping-because-it-looks-cool-study-finds

Is it time to start producing after school specials about vaping? A new study published Monday found teens who vape are predominantly motivated by looking cool, and while that may not be the most Earth-shattering finding, it adds to growing concerns about teens vaping.

There’s no doubt that vaping is becoming increasingly popular among teens. But what’s not so clear is how concerned we need to be over this trend. Are kids who would have smoked choosing e-cigarettes instead, which are widely shown to be less harmful than cigarettes? Or are kids who wouldn’t have smoked at all getting drawn in by vaping and eventually going on to smoke real cigarettes?

A survey study published Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal went straight to the source to find out more about which kids are vaping and why. Over 2,000 high school freshman from Ontario’s Niagara region were surveyed on their smoking and vaping habits. While only 10 percent of respondents said they had tried an e-cigarette—and the majority of those kids, 56 percent, had only tried it once—most of those teens said they tried vaping because it was “cool, fun, or something new.”

It also showed that the teens who had tried e-cigarettes were also more likely to have risk factors associated with smoking, like having family members or friends who smoke. So it raises the question: are e-cigarettes a less harmful path for kids that were probably going to smoke anyway or a gateway for kids who might have avoided tobacco if not for a new trendy gadget?

“I don’t know if you can necessarily tease that apart,” Dr. Michael Khoury, a pediatrician and lead author of the study, told me over the phone. “We just have to be careful. When we see what happens to adolescent cigarette smoking rates in the coming years, that will be a suggestion as to whether or not e-cigarettes have played a role.”

Proponents of vaping tend to get testy about studies that suggest teens are vaping more, or that vaping is a gateway to smoking. They’re worried that overemphasizing the problem will lead to regulation that will strip away this harm reduction tool from the adults who need it. A study published last week in Nicotine and Tobacco Research projected that e-cigarettes could lead to a 21 percent reduction in smoking-attributable deaths, and another recent survey found an estimated 6.1 million European smokers had quit by switching to vaping.

Khoury said that while there’s growing evidence that vaping can be a successful harm reduction tool among adults looking to quit smoking, this survey shows that—at least in this one population of youth—that’s not what’s motivating teens to vape. And if teens are vaping for other reasons, particularly if they then go on to smoke as some studies have shown, that should be cause for concern.

“I’m not saying it’s a fact, but it’s a cause for concern and we need to be looking at it within the scope of something that could be useful to adults,” Khoury said. “It’s not like we’re talking about heroin or alcohol or any other drug. We’re talking about something that could be potentially useful under the right circumstances as a harm reduction device.”

In other words: just because vaping can be a harm reduction tool doesn’t mean it’s harmless in all scenarios. The best way for vaping to be more widely accepted for the good it does is to reduce the harm it may have, and that means keeping it out of the hands of kids trying to look cool.

Lloydminster Becomes First Saskatchewan City to Impose Tobacco License

Jul 2nd, 2016
by Editor.
No comments yet

The city of Lloydminster is forcing businesses to pay a lot more if they want to sell tobacco.

The community’s City Council recently passed a bylaw that would force retailers to buy licenses to sell tobacco. Regular tobacco products would require a $750 payment each year, and an additional $350 would be required if they are selling flavoured tobacco.

Donna Pasiechnik with the Canadian Cancer Society says the license will address one major concern she has: who is selling the tobacco. Some businesses, like pharmacies, are not allowed to sell, but otherwise, any other retailer could sell cigarettes.

Pasiechnik says a license will end the question of who’s selling it.

Pasiechnik adds that some retailers that only supply a few tobacco products could be thinking twice about keeping tobacco on their shelves.

She says given the deadly nature of tobacco, the move makes perfect sense.

The potential $1,100 fee for a license is the highest in Canada.

Pasiechnik hopes that other Saskatchewan cities will follow suit, given that Lloydminster is the first municipality in the province to require a tobacco license.

New E-Cigarette rules come into effect September 1st

Jun 10th, 2016
by Editor.
No comments yet

http://www.news1130.com/2016/06/10/new-e-cigarette-rules/

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – E-cigarettes will soon be treated the same as regular cigarettes when it comes to where you can smoke them. Rules promised last spring are coming into effect in B September 1st.

Under the Tobacco and Vapour Products Control Act, you won’t be able to vape inside a public place like a restaurant. No vaping on school or health authority grounds. Minors can no longer buy E-cigarettes and there can be no more retail displays kids might see.

Health Minister Terry Lake says it’s fairly simple. “If it’s not legal to smoke cigarettes or cigars in that location, E-cigarettes would fall into the same category. That’s to protect those members of the public that don’t want to inhale the vapours from the e-cigarettes. There are still a lot of unknowns in terms of what is in these products and out of an abundance of caution, we want to make sure people, particularly young people are protected.”

He says there was some push back from people who use E-cigarettes to quit smoking, but he says they may not be any better for you. “We don’t have enough data and quality control over what is in the juices that are vaporized.”

There’s one exception for vaping in public indoor spaces. Customers can sample the products inside shops, but only customers per shop at one time.

Blowing smoke: the history of tobacco-specific nitrosamines in Canadian tobacco

Jun 7th, 2016
by Editor.
No comments yet

http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/early/2016/06/07/tobaccocontrol-2015-052873.short?g=w_tobaccocontrol_ahead_tab

Abstract

Objective

To demonstrate how changes in tobacco flue-curing practices in the 20th century increased levels of tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs) in tobacco smoke.

Methods

Previously undisclosed documents and testimony made public as a result of a class action trial against tobacco companies in Montreal, Canada, were reviewed for information on TSNAs and tobacco curing practices. These were combined with other pertinent documents to form the basis for a comprehensive historical review of TSNAs and tobacco curing practices.

Results

In the 1960s and 1970s, a change was made from indirect heating to direct heating for flue-curing tobacco that resulted in an increase in the TSNA-to-tar ratio in flue-cured tobacco. This occurred in both Canada and the USA. When this change was made, tobacco companies did not monitor for increased levels of TSNAs and did not study possible adverse effects on human health. As a result, smokers were unknowingly exposed to unnecessarily high levels of TSNAs for 30–40 years. In recent years, tobacco companies have changed curing practices back to indirect heating, thus returning the TSNA-to-tar ratios in tobacco smoke to their previously low levels.

Conclusions

In view of this information brought to light in this paper, any claims by tobacco companies that they were acting prudently by lowering TSNA levels are unwarranted. They fail to acknowledge that it was their actions that raised TSNA levels in the first place about half a century ago.

Consultation on plain packaging

Jun 1st, 2016
by Editor.
No comments yet

http://www.tobaccojournal.com/Consultation_on_plain_packaging.53635.0.html

Health Canada will accept public input until 31 August on the government’s plan to introduce plain packaging for tobacco products, the ministry said.

Uniform packaging would require a standard colour and font on the portion of the package not devoted to health warnings, the ministry said. Canada also recently announced a ban on menthol cigarettes.

“I don’t believe tobacco companies should be allowed to build brand loyalty with children, for a product that could kill them.” said Health Minister Jane Philpott. “Research shows that plain packaging of tobacco products is an effective way to deter people from starting to smoke and will bolster our efforts to reduce tobacco use.”

Plain-pack comments may be submitted online. More information is available at: goo.gl/Ho60m9

Canada to make plain packaging for tobacco products compulsory

May 31st, 2016
by Editor.
No comments yet

Canada, following the lead of Britain and Australia, will make plain packaging of cigarettes compulsory in a bid to cut the rate of smoking, Health Minister Jane Philpott said on Tuesday.

Although Canada already obliges firms to slap large graphic warning labels on cigarette packets, Philpott said more must be done, given that some 5 million of Canada’s 36 million inhabitants still use tobacco products.

The measures would require a uniform, standardized color and font on packages and restrict the use of logos and trademarks.

“I don’t believe tobacco companies should be allowed to build brand loyalty with children for a product that could kill them,” Philpott told reporters.

A final decision on what packaging rules to apply will be announced after a three-month period of public consultations.

Earlier this month, a British court backed the government’s plans for mandatory plain packaging when it struck down a legal challenge from tobacco companies.

In 2011, Australia became the first country to adopt plain packaging legislation.

Major producers of tobacco sold in Canada include Japan Tobacco’s JTI-Macdonald unit, Rothmans Benson & Hedges Inc, which is partly owned by Philip Morris and Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd, a unit of British American Tobacco.

“With products already hidden from view in stores and 75 percent of the pack covered with health warnings, nobody starts smoking because of the pack,” said Eric Gagnon, a spokesman for Imperial Tobacco.

(Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Alan Crosby)

Canadian Cancer Society praises federal consultation on tobacco plain packaging

May 31st, 2016
by Editor.
No comments yet

http://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/canadian-cancer-society-praises-federal-consultation-on-tobacco-plain-packaging-581415001.html

The Canadian Cancer Society commends Minister of Health Jane Philpott for launching a formal consultation toward implementing tobacco plain packaging in Canada.

The consultation document, announced today on World No Tobacco Day, provides a detailed outline of how plain packaging may be required in Canadian regulations.

“Plain packaging is highly effective and is supported by extensive research,” says Rob Cunningham, senior policy analyst, Canadian Cancer Society. “If plain packaging were not effective, then tobacco companies would not be so strongly opposed to it. It is precisely because plain packaging will reduce sales that tobacco companies are objecting so loudly.”

“It is encouraging that the government is looking not only to eliminate tobacco-company promotion on packages, but also to standardize the shape of the package and to ban slim cigarettes,” says Cunningham. “Slim and superslim cigarettes target young women and associate smoking with weight loss, sophistication and glamour.”

Smoking is the leading cause of preventable disease and death in Canada, including about 30% of all cancer deaths. Among women alone, the number of lung cancer deaths is double the number of breast cancer deaths. Smoking kills 37,000 Canadians every year. The 2014 Canadian Community Health Survey found that 18% of Canadians (more than 5 million people) are smokers.

“Plain packaging is a key tobacco control measure to advance public health in Canada,” says Cunningham. “Today’s announcement of a formal consultation brings us closer to the day when plain packaging will be in effect to protect youth.”

“Tobacco companies should not be able to use the package as mini-billboards to promote tobacco,” adds Cunningham. “Tobacco is a highly addictive, lethal product and should not be sold in packages made to be more attractive. It is essential to provide protection from tobacco-industry marketing tactics, especially for children.” A growing number of other countries are requiring plain packaging, which will make it easier for Canada to do so. The international trend is very positive.

What are other countries doing?

Plain packaging was required in Australia in 2012, implemented in the UK and France as of May 20, 2016, will be implemented soon in Ireland and is under formal consideration in New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Hungary, Slovenia and other countries.

What is plain packaging?

Plain packaging prohibits brand colours, logos and graphics on tobacco packages. Graphic health warnings and pictures still appear, but the rest of the package is a standard colour for all brands, such as the drab brown required in Australia. Package dimensions are standardized, eliminating slim and superslim packs as well as other attractive package formats recently introduced by tobacco companies.

About the Canadian Cancer Society

The Canadian Cancer Society is a national, community-based organization of volunteers whose mission is the eradication of cancer and the enhancement of the quality of life of people living with cancer. When you want to know more about cancer, visit our website at cancer.ca or call our toll-free, bilingual Cancer Information Service at 1-888-939-3333.

Disgraceful effort to privilege tobacco business interests over public health has rightly failed utterly – other countries to follow UK lead

May 20th, 2016
by Editor.
No comments yet

http://www.asiantribune.com/node/88979

The High Court challenge to the Regulations on Standardized Plain tobacco packaging by the tobacco industry met with a humiliating defeat on Thursday, 19th of May 2016.

Thus the landmark judgment in the case will help other countries looking forward to introduce Plain Packaging. France and the Republic of Ireland have already passed legislations and other countries including Canada, Hungary, Norway and Solvenia, are expected to follow soon.

It is learnt that tobacco industry has spent millions of pounds on some of the most expensive lawyers in the country with the hope of blocking the policy. This landmark judgment is a severe defeat for the tobacco industry and it fully justifies the determination of the government to go ahead with the introduction of standardized packaging.

The standardized packaging regulations would come into effect in the UK on Friday, the 20th May 2016. All cigarettes manufactured for sale in the UK after this date must comply with standardized packaging regulations. Cigarettes and hand rolling tobacco will be sold in drab brown packages which have had all the attractive features and colours removed.

The judgment by the Justice Green rejects every argument the industry put forward in court. It is highly critical of the industry’s use of expert evidence it commissioned to back its case and its failure to disclose any internal assessments on how packaging design works for children and young people what the effect on standardized packaging on sales is likely to be. The judgment also notes that the great mass of the expert evidence put to the court by the tobacco industry was neither peer reviewed nor published in an appropriate scientific of technical journal.

At present two thirds of current smokers started when they were children and research shows that dull standardized packs are less attractive to young people. The tobacco industry is now considering whether or not to appeal.

Source of Information: Action on Smoking & Health ASH – UK

– Asian Tribune –

Canada: Plain Packaging For Tobacco Products

May 10th, 2016
by Editor.
No comments yet

http://www.mondaq.com/canada/x/489914/food+drugs+law/John+McKeown+Publishes+Plain+Packaging+For+Tobacco+Products

Plain packaging for tobacco products may soon be implemented in Canada. Plain packaging in this context means that tobacco company brand elements consisting of colours, logo and design elements of the brand will not be allowed to be used on product packaging. However, there are potential conflicts between government and suppliers and manufactures of tobacco products. The issues are becoming increasingly politicized.

The Supporters

The World Health Organization is actively lobbying to support the implementation of plain packaging. They have prepared and posted on their website an evidence brief.1

An abstract of their position is set out below:

“Evidence shows that the packaging of tobacco products is designed for badge products targeting specific groups, particularly women and young people, and that attractive packaging tends to weaken warnings about the harmful health effects of the products. To preserve the effectiveness of the health warnings – a requirement under Articles 11 and 13 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco – the guidelines on the implementation of these articles recommend the adoption of plain-packaging measures.

Studies have revealed that plain packaging reduces the attractiveness of the product, particularly to women and young people. They also show that, when combined with large pictorial health warnings, plain-packaging measures increase awareness about the risks related to tobacco consumption, encouraging more people to quit and fewer to start. In that these measures merely regulate the use of logos or colours for public health purposes, they are in compliance with international trade and intellectual property law.”

The Canadian Cancer Society is also highly energized concerning this issue and has caused a video to be prepared and posted on its website. They suggest that there is increasing global momentum to implement plain packaging for tobacco products,

“Plain packaging is an important and logical next step for Canada to curb tobacco marketing, reduce smoking and save lives,” says Rob Cunningham, Senior Policy Analyst, Canadian Cancer Society. “Cigarette packages should not be minibillboards promoting tobacco use. We urge Health Canada to follow the lead of Australia and other countries and take action to implement plain packaging in order to reduce the appeal of these cancer-causing products.”2

The Opposition

Tobacco companies have actively opposed and attacked plain packaging legislation. Philip Morris Asia challenged the Australian tobacco plain packaging legislation under the 1993 Agreement between the Government of Australia and the Government of Hong Kong for the Promotion and Protection of Investments. However the panel hearing the dispute, on 18 December 2015 issued a unanimous decision finding that it had no jurisdiction to hear Philip Morris Asia’s claim.

Honduras requested consultations under the World Trade system with Australia concerning the Australian laws and regulations that impose trademark restrictions and other plain packaging requirements on tobacco products and packaging. Honduras claims that Australia’s measures appear to be inconsistent with Australia’s obligations under the TRIPS Agreement, among other grounds.

A panel has been established to hear the dispute. Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, the European Union, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malawi, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Panama, Peru, the Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, the United States, Uruguay, Zambia and Zimbabwe have reserved their third-party rights. The panel expects to issue its final report to the parties not before the first half of 2016. Similar proceedings have been initiated by Ukraine, the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Indonesia.

The International Trademark Association (“INTA”) has submitted an amicus brief to the panel. INTA contends that the plain packaging measures implemented by Australia erode internationally protected IP rights under the Paris Convention, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (“TPP”) Agreement and other agreements.

In addition to the above tobacco companies can attack relevant legislation implementing plain packaging on the basis that such legislation does not comply with domestic legislation. For example in 1995, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down provisions of the Tobacco Products Control Act that broadly prohibited all advertising and promotion of tobacco products, subject to specific exceptions, and required that unattributed warning labels be affixed on tobacco product packaging, as contrary to Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The Government Position

In response to these proceedings a number of governments have commenced a campaign to preclude tobacco companies from initiating investor-state dispute settlement proceedings under the relevant treaties. For example, the recently concluded TPP contains the following provision:

“A party may elect to deny the benefits of Section B of Chapter 9 (Investment_ with respect to claims challenging a tobacco control measure of the Party. Such a claim shall not be submitted to arbitration under Section B of Chapter 9 (Investment) if a Party has made such an election. If a Party has not elected to deny benefits with respect to such claims by the time of the submission of such a claim to arbitration under Section B of Chapter 9 (Investment), a Party may elect to deny benefits during the proceedings. For greater certainty, if a Party elects to deny benefits with respect to such claims, any such claim shall be dismissed.”

The Canadian Position

The recently elected Liberal government has indicated that it plans to force tobacco companies to sell their cigarettes in packages that lack distinctive brand designs aimed at enticing smokers to buy their products. This was part of an election promise and has now been escalated to a part of the mandate of the Health Minister. This mandate seems to be a top priority for a majority government.

At the present time there is no indication how quickly the government will move, or when the necessary legislation or regulations will move forward.

1 http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/268796/Plain-packaging-of-tobaccoproducts-Evidence-Brief-Eng.pdf?ua=1
2 Media release dated October 4,2015 at https://www.cancer.ca/en/about-us/for-media/mediareleases/national/2014/international-warnings-report/?region=on

← Earlier Posts Newer Posts →