November, 2015:
Big tobacco tries to put its stamp on new packaging
http://www.politico.eu/article/big-tobacco-stamp-packaging-labeling-technology-sicpa-codentify-counterfeit/
Cigarette lobbyists take aim at a Swiss company over high-tech anti-counterfeit technology.
Tobacco lobbyists have joined forces in a bid to stop the European Commission from signing up a Swiss company to provide advanced “track and trace” technology to combat cigarette smuggling.
The fight is intensifying at the EU level as the European Parliament prepares to debate the matter and the Commission nears a long-awaited decision on cigarette packaging.
Tobacco companies, who want to use their own anti-counterfeit measures, argue that if the Commission awards Lausanne-based printing technology firm SICPA the contract, it will be granting it a monopoly that will wreak havoc on the industry.
“If SICPA’s solution is adopted, it would lock out every other provider in the sector,” one tobacco lobbyist said, dismissing the Swiss company as a “printer of banknotes” with little experience in cigarette distribution. “It would set a very unhealthy precedent.”
But SICPA believes there is more to Big Tobacco’s fierce response than concerns about free markets. A company spokesperson said the industry is concerned that a successful campaign to track the distribution of cigarettes across Europe would harm the tobacco companies’ business interests.
“This is what is at stake: A powerful, independent ‘track and trace’ regime would make illicit tobacco trade very difficult,” said a spokesperson for SICPA, a privately owned company that has provided its technology to Brazil, Kenya and a number of U.S. states and which the tobacco industry has opposed vigorously around the world.
“If you don’t want that to happen, you can slow things down,” the spokesperson said. “Or you can replace it with something less effective” — which is what SICPA believes the tobacco lobby wants.
With the Commission preparing a second feasibility study on the decision and lobbyists from all sides preparing to boost their Brussels operations, the European anti-fraud office OLAF has also made a surprise entry into the debate, throwing its support behind the tobacco companies’ model.
Package deal
At the heart of the dispute are EU moves to implement measures in last year’s revised Tobacco Products Directive that deal specifically with packaging traceability and security features. The measures are designed to prevent the counterfeiting and smuggling of cigarettes, which the Commission estimates result in €10 billion a year in lost revenue.
Under the directive, EU countries will be required by 2019 to “ensure that all unit packets of tobacco products are marked with a unique identifier” which will be “irremovably printed or affixed, indelible and not hidden or interrupted in any form.”
This high-tech marker will contain information including the date and place of manufacture, the machinery used and shipment route to the first retail outlet, as well as the invoice of payment.
The new directive also includes a measure to fight counterfeit through the application of a “tamper proof security feature, composed of visible and invisible elements” affixed to the package.
A consortium of the top four tobacco companies has developed its own “track and trace” technology to counter industry leader SICPA.
While a number of companies have expressed an interest in providing technology to help EU countries meet their tobacco packaging commitments, even tobacco lobbyists concede SICPA’s experience in tobacco and alcohol labeling is attractive to regulators.
But the tobacco companies aren’t backing down.
A consortium of the top four tobacco companies (British American Tobacco, Imperial Tobacco Group, Japan Tobacco International and Philip Morris International) has developed its own “track and trace” technology, called Codentify.
Tobacco companies argue that Codentify is a better option for meeting the requirements of the directive, because it is already up and running in a number of countries where the industry claims it has worked without disrupting distribution.
“The problem with SICPA is that it produces stamps with unique identifiers, but their technology does not conform with the directive,” said a lobbyist working for one of the big four tobacco companies. “Codentify provides a unique marker on the assembly line. It works.”
But a SICPA spokesperson called that claim “a pure piece of misinformation,” adding the Commission’s first feasibility study on the issue, released in May, proves SICPA’s technology meets the requirements.
“The suggestions of a ‘monopoly’ is another propaganda line,” the spokesperson said. “It seems the tobacco industry would like Codentify introduced as a single system.”
However, the European Anti-Fraud Office, known by its French acronym OLAF, has expressed caution at the prospect of SICPA being awarded the contract.
Tobacco contraband specialists at OLAF are afraid the company’s technology, which is largely unknown in Europe, may clash with the tobacco smuggling working agreements OLAF now has in place with the tobacco industry, the details of which remain secret.
OLAF investigators told POLITICO that with the smuggling agreements set to expire in 2016, this is not the right time to disrupt its working relationship with the industry. The investigators said their efforts to combat illicit tobacco trade, which includes growing black markets, rely on the input of the tobacco industry.
“This system forces tobacco companies to ‘kiss and tell’,” an OLAF investigator said. “They must provide us with intelligence for current investigations because they are objectively accountable.”
Lobbyists mobilize
The EU’s tobacco products directive was approved in December 2013, following a bitter debate over the degree of access which the Commission granted tobacco lobbyists at the early stages of the legislative process.
The commissioner overseeing the reforms, John Dalli, was removed from office in 2012 over his unreported contact with tobacco lobbyists — a controversy dubbed ‘Dalligate’.
The aspects of the directive addressing “track and trace” technology were part of a worldwide push to adopt packaging technology in a bid to end both the illicit trade and counterfeit of tobacco.
The EU and its member countries are signatories to the World Health Organization’s protocol to eliminate illicit trade in tobacco products, which requires the establishment of a “tracking and tracing system … for all tobacco products that are manufactured in or imported onto its territory.”
The Commission’s first feasibility study put forward four “track and trace” options: one closer to the Codentify technology promoted by the industry and other options which would place SICPA’s technology in a stronger position.
The Commission now wants a second report, with an official saying in a statement that this “follow-up study [had] the purpose to select one of the models (possibly with modifications and combinations)” and that it aims to go “more in detail in order to achieve a functioning system.”
The call for a second study now has both sides lobbying hard for their own technology, at an EU and a national level, while attempting to undermine each other’s proposal.
SICPA hired a high-profile tobacco lobbyist, Yves Trévilly, to further its case in France.
SICPA recently signed up to the EU Transparency Register, revealing that it had three full-time staff positions lobbying the institutions, while the four big tobacco companies all have active lobbyists and a range of industry organizations at their disposal.
SICPA also hired a high-profile tobacco lobbyist, former French political adviser Yves Trévilly, to further its case in France. Trévilly joined British American Tobacco in 2006, and became its top lobbyist in 2008 before leaving in 2012.
Tobacco lobbyists point to the fact that SICPA is being investigated by authorities in Brazil over a corruption scandal as evidence the Swiss company is not fit to take on the sensitive “track and trace” role in the EU.
However, SICPA dismisses the tobacco lobby’s campaign as an attempt to wrest control of the tracking process.
“For the tobacco industry, what happens in Europe sets a precedent in the rest of the world,” a spokesperson said. “So, whether it is independent controls or cigarette plain packaging, it appears they want to stop any change. They put a lot of effort into it.”
Meanwhile, anti-tobacco NGOs say while they are not taking sides in the clash, they are afraid the Commission might end up choosing an option which is not transparent and will not give the public access to the data collected through the track and trace process.
“We cannot argue our case on tobacco tracing because we have no data,” said Florence Berteletti, the director of the Smoke Free Partnership, an NGO. “We only have questions, not answers. We have the World Health Organization protocol in place to fight illicit tobacco trade — why don’t we use it?”
More than 41 tonnes of smuggled tobacco seized
http://www.euroweeklynews.com/3.0.15/news/on-euro-weekly-news/spain-news-in-english/135548-more-than-41-tonnes-of-smuggled-tobacco-seized
THE Guardia Civil, in collaboration with the Treasury Ministry, has seized more than 41 tonnes of tobacco in the largest tobacco seizure in Spanish history. The amount of tobacco is estimated to be enough to fill four million packets of cigarettes and has a market value of about €6,640,000.
Eleven members of the organisation have been arrested. They are being charged with smuggling and tax fraud, with the total amount of fraud adding up to €5,500,000 when taking into account IVA, special taxes and customs laws.
The investigation started at the beginning of the year after an increased amount of loose tobacco and roll-up cigarettes was noted in different parts of Jaen. At the same time, the police force began to receive numerous reports from local tobacco shops and tobacco distribution companies that sales were down about 30 per cent.
Increased police presence was established in order to determine if it was the result of smuggling. Officers began to carry out checks on establishments in the province in order to ensure that those selling tobacco were authorised to do so.
Officers carried out nine searches in the towns of Jodar and Linares, where they seized 400 kilos of tobacco, a large quantity of cigarettes, and numerous machines for cutting and rolling tobacco.
Afterwards, the Guardia Civil, in collaboration with the Tax Agency of Granada, detected that the supply company of the tobacco and the machines was doing its manufacturing in two industrial areas near Madrid. Upon investigation of these areas, the officers discovered that the supply company was not registered as a manufacturer, importer, or distributor of tobacco, which is required by Spanish law. Further investigation revealed that the company was buying tobacco in bulk from companies in Spain, Poland and Bangladesh, and the rolling and packaging machines from the United States.
The company had a large number of clients. Clients were found by means of phone calls or through the company´s website, which had servers located in France and Bangladesh. The distribution of the merchandise was carried out through a shipping company that makes daily shipments to all parts of Spain and Portugal. The receivers resold the products either in person or on the internet
Big tobacco tries to put its stamp on new packaging
http://www.politico.eu/article/big-tobacco-stamp-packaging-labeling-technology-sicpa-codentify-counterfeit/
Cigarette lobbyists take aim at a Swiss company over high-tech anti-counterfeit technology.
MIAMI – JUNE 22: A pack of cigarettes with the new label, “Gold Pack”, is seen next to packs with the old labeling at the Quick Stop store on June 22, 2010 in Miami, Florida. Today the Food and Drug Administration law banning the use of terms “light,” “mild” and “low” tar goes into affect in the marketing and sale of cigarettes. The new boxes have replaced those terms with lighter-colored packaging for light brands and switched to terms such as “gold” and “silver” to replace “light” and “ultra-light”. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Tobacco lobbyists have joined forces in a bid to stop the European Commission from signing up a Swiss company to provide advanced “track and trace” technology to combat cigarette smuggling.
The fight is intensifying at the EU level as the European Parliament prepares to debate the matter and the Commission nears a long-awaited decision on cigarette packaging.
Tobacco companies, who want to use their own anti-counterfeit measures, argue that if the Commission awards Lausanne-based printing technology firm SICPA the contract, it will be granting it a monopoly that will wreak havoc on the industry.
“If SICPA’s solution is adopted, it would lock out every other provider in the sector,” one tobacco lobbyist said, dismissing the Swiss company as a “printer of banknotes” with little experience in cigarette distribution. “It would set a very unhealthy precedent.”
But SICPA believes there is more to Big Tobacco’s fierce response than concerns about free markets. A company spokesperson said the industry is concerned that a successful campaign to track the distribution of cigarettes across Europe would harm the tobacco companies’ business interests.
“This is what is at stake: A powerful, independent ‘track and trace’ regime would make illicit tobacco trade very difficult,” said a spokesperson for SICPA, a privately owned company that has provided its technology to Brazil, Kenya and a number of U.S. states and which the tobacco industry has opposed vigorously around the world.
“If you don’t want that to happen, you can slow things down,” the spokesperson said. “Or you can replace it with something less effective” — which is what SICPA believes the tobacco lobby wants.
With the Commission preparing a second feasibility study on the decision and lobbyists from all sides preparing to boost their Brussels operations, the European anti-fraud office OLAF has also made a surprise entry into the debate, throwing its support behind the tobacco companies’ model.
Package deal
At the heart of the dispute are EU moves to implement measures in last year’s revised Tobacco Products Directive that deal specifically with packaging traceability and security features. The measures are designed to prevent the counterfeiting and smuggling of cigarettes, which the Commission estimates result in €10 billion a year in lost revenue.
Under the directive, EU countries will be required by 2019 to “ensure that all unit packets of tobacco products are marked with a unique identifier” which will be “irremovably printed or affixed, indelible and not hidden or interrupted in any form.”
This high-tech marker will contain information including the date and place of manufacture, the machinery used and shipment route to the first retail outlet, as well as the invoice of payment.
The new directive also includes a measure to fight counterfeit through the application of a “tamper proof security feature, composed of visible and invisible elements” affixed to the package.
While a number of companies have expressed an interest in providing technology to help EU countries meet their tobacco packaging commitments, even tobacco lobbyists concede SICPA’s experience in tobacco and alcohol labeling is attractive to regulators.
But the tobacco companies aren’t backing down.
A consortium of the top four tobacco companies (British American Tobacco, Imperial Tobacco Group, Japan Tobacco International and Philip Morris International) has developed its own “track and trace” technology, called Codentify.
Tobacco companies argue that Codentify is a better option for meeting the requirements of the directive, because it is already up and running in a number of countries where the industry claims it has worked without disrupting distribution.
“The problem with SICPA is that it produces stamps with unique identifiers, but their technology does not conform with the directive,” said a lobbyist working for one of the big four tobacco companies. “Codentify provides a unique marker on the assembly line. It works.”
But a SICPA spokesperson called that claim “a pure piece of misinformation,” adding the Commission’s first feasibility study on the issue, released in May, proves SICPA’s technology meets the requirements.
“The suggestions of a ‘monopoly’ is another propaganda line,” the spokesperson said. “It seems the tobacco industry would like Codentify introduced as a single system.”
However, the European Anti-Fraud Office, known by its French acronym OLAF, has expressed caution at the prospect of SICPA being awarded the contract.
Tobacco contraband specialists at OLAF are afraid the company’s technology, which is largely unknown in Europe, may clash with the tobacco smuggling working agreements OLAF now has in place with the tobacco industry, the details of which remain secret.
OLAF investigators told POLITICO that with the smuggling agreements set to expire in 2016, this is not the right time to disrupt its working relationship with the industry. The investigators said their efforts to combat illicit tobacco trade, which includes growing black markets, rely on the input of the tobacco industry.
“This system forces tobacco companies to ‘kiss and tell’,” an OLAF investigator said. “They must provide us with intelligence for current investigations because they are objectively accountable.”
Lobbyists mobilize
The EU’s tobacco products directive was approved in December 2013, following a bitter debate over the degree of access which the Commission granted tobacco lobbyists at the early stages of the legislative process.
The commissioner overseeing the reforms, John Dalli, was removed from office in 2012 over his unreported contact with tobacco lobbyists — a controversy dubbed ‘Dalligate’.
The aspects of the directive addressing “track and trace” technology were part of a worldwide push to adopt packaging technology in a bid to end both the illicit trade and counterfeit of tobacco.
The EU and its member countries are signatories to the World Health Organization’s protocol to eliminate illicit trade in tobacco products, which requires the establishment of a “tracking and tracing system … for all tobacco products that are manufactured in or imported onto its territory.”
The Commission’s first feasibility study put forward four “track and trace” options: one closer to the Codentify technology promoted by the industry and other options which would place SICPA’s technology in a stronger position.
The Commission now wants a second report, with an official saying in a statement that this “follow-up study [had] the purpose to select one of the models (possibly with modifications and combinations)” and that it aims to go “more in detail in order to achieve a functioning system.”
The call for a second study now has both sides lobbying hard for their own technology, at an EU and a national level, while attempting to undermine each other’s proposal.
SICPA recently signed up to the EU Transparency Register, revealing that it had three full-time staff positions lobbying the institutions, while the four big tobacco companies all have active lobbyists and a range of industry organizations at their disposal.
SICPA also hired a high-profile tobacco lobbyist, former French political adviser Yves Trévilly, to further its case in France. Trévilly joined British American Tobacco in 2006, and became its top lobbyist in 2008 before leaving in 2012.
Tobacco lobbyists point to the fact that SICPA is being investigated by authorities in Brazil over a corruption scandal as evidence the Swiss company is not fit to take on the sensitive “track and trace” role in the EU.
However, SICPA dismisses the tobacco lobby’s campaign as an attempt to wrest control of the tracking process.
“For the tobacco industry, what happens in Europe sets a precedent in the rest of the world,” a spokesperson said. “So, whether it is independent controls or cigarette plain packaging, it appears they want to stop any change. They put a lot of effort into it.”
Meanwhile, anti-tobacco NGOs say while they are not taking sides in the clash, they are afraid the Commission might end up choosing an option which is not transparent and will not give the public access to the data collected through the track and trace process.
“We cannot argue our case on tobacco tracing because we have no data,” said Florence Berteletti, the director of the Smoke Free Partnership, an NGO. “We only have questions, not answers. We have the World Health Organization protocol in place to fight illicit tobacco trade — why don’t we use it?”
Parliament passes plain-pack law
http://www.tobaccojournal.com/Parliament_passes_plain-pack_law.53323.0.html
Parliament narrowly voted approval of a law to strip branding from cigarette packaging and require manufacturers to adopt a unitary pack design from May 2016, Euronews reported.
Legal action by tobacco companies is possible, the French-based multilingual broadcaster said on its website. Introduced by Health Minister Marisol Touraine, plain-packaging aims to discourage youth from taking up the smoking habit and reduce smoking, the main cause of death in France, Euronews said.
France joins Ireland and the United Kingdom among European Union countries opting for plain packaging in addition to 65 per cent health warnings on packaging that will be introduced throughout the EU next May.
Young father may never walk again after e-cigarette EXPLODES in his mouth and breaks neck
http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/621993/Young-father-never-walk-again-e-cigarette-explodes-mouth-breaks-neck
A STUDENT nearly died after an e-cigarette exploded in his mouth – leaving him with a broken neck, burnt mouth and shattered spine.
Cordero Caples was left fighting for his life after he broke his neck and several bones in his face, lost his front tooth and burned his mouth when the device exploded during his work break on Friday.
The young father-of-one was studying to be a personal fitness trainer but now fears he may never walk again.
The 29-year-old underwent emergency spinal surgery on Sunday and is “lucky to be alive”.
He now faces a series of surgeries as he prepares for a “long and intensive recovery”.
To make matters worse, Mr Caples does not have medical insurance and faces extortionate costs to pay for his hospital bills under the US healthcare system.
His sister has since set up a GoFundMe page in order to try and raise money for his recovery and rising medical bills.
The manufacturer of the device has not yet commented on the tragic case that took place in Colorado.
But, tech experts believe that the explosion can be traced to “operator error”.
It is beleived that the Mr Caples had been charging the device, which was made in China, with a battery was that too powerful.
Colessia Porter, his sister, said: “It’s going to be a long, intensive recovery process.”
“He has a very outgoing personality. He’s that guy that can do whatever in the world he wants to do.
“He’s really, really into fitness, and he’s really good at it.
“That’s what he was in school to do, but with an injury like this, it puts those things in question.”
“He’s going to need 24-hour care for a while and constant monitoring from family and friends and loved ones. It is heart breaking.”
There have been at least 25 serious incidents involving e-cigarettes in the past five years – with many suffering facial and legs burns after the devices suddenly exploded.
A young man in California, Vicente Garza, had to undergo an amputation last month after an e-cigarette expoded in his mouth.
The case follows a US federal report in 2014 that warned the specific batteries e-cigarettes use mean that they can become “flaming rockets” if the battery fails.
Three men in California are currently in the ongoing lawsuit against e-cigarette companies amid rising concerns over their safety.
One of the men’s attorney’s, Greg Bentley, said: “It’s unconscionable that these products are out there, and they are randomly exploding all across the country.
“This is an unregulated industry, that is causing tremendous harm across the world.”
In October, the US banned e-cigarettes from checked baggage on airlines to protect against the risk of in-flight fires.
Pupils ‘use e-cigarettes as gateway to smoking’
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/14102547.Pupils__use_e_cigarettes_as_gateway_to_smoking_/
SCHOOL pupils are using e-cigarettes as a gateway to smoking, according to a new study which raises concern over the “misleading promotion” of the products.
The research also found that most high school students find the fruity, sweet-like flavourings of e-cigarette liquids attractive.
It was suggested that some pupils use e-cigarettes to dupe their parents, who would otherwise smell tobacco on their clothes.
Others told researchers that they had seen fellow pupils openly selling and smoking e-cigarettes in class.
The study was led by researchers from Edinburgh and Stirling University, and published by the Royal Society for Public Health.
The team – led by Dr Marisa de Andrade – interviewed 182 13-to-16 year-old students from seven schools across Fife.
The study said: “In one school, it was suggested that up to 30 students used e-cigarettes and some then went on to use cigarettes.”
Pupils from the school told researchers: “I think that’s why most people go on from e-cigarettes to actual cigarettes, just to see what it’s like, the actual ones, and then they get addicted to it.”
Another added that e-cigarette users “might not feel like they’re getting anything from the e-cigs, like a kick from it, they might get a better kick from a fag”.
Others told of the growing popularity of vaping, with one saying: “At one point I just saw everyone walking around with them … we all had one.”
Another teenager from the same school told the researchers “people in the school were selling them” and a pupil had been seen smoking in class.
They said: “I thought it was a pen until I saw the smoke coming out of his mouth in English.”
Several of the students also told researchers that e-cigarettes are more acceptable than regular cigarettes as they do not “leave a trace of smell”.
One said: “Your parents won’t know either because if you’re out with friends and they’re all smoking and that, and you decide you want to have one then they’ll smell it on you.
“But if you have an e-fag then they can’t smell it on you at all.”
In the course of their research the academics also found that many of the students compared e-cigarettes with sweets.
One pupil said that vaping device itself “looks like sweets” as others told them “I just wanted to try it because it was, like, a fruity flavour.”
Another described the smoke of e-cigarettes as “a powdery flavoured thing … almost like a sherbert” as others said that – like sweets – the e-cigarette fluids are “really cheap” and readily available in newsagents and corner shops.
One said: “I work in a shop and at the till area … there is a massive line, it’s like a metre long, of different flavours. There is blueberries, bananas , Red Bull, Lucozade flavours, apple.”
The study concludes: “Much more needs to be done to protect children from misleading messaging and promotion.”
Sheila Duffy, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) Scotland, said: “E-cigarettes are less harmful than tobacco but are not completely safe and we believe there should be restrictions on advertising that targets children.”
Public Health Minister Maureen Watt said: “The Scottish Government agrees that electronic cigarettes need appropriate regulation.
“While we accept that the devices may potentially help people smoke fewer cigarettes, or even stop altogether, we recognise that there are also risks involved.
“We have included a range of provisions to regulate the sale of these products in the Health Bill which is being considered by the Scottish Parliament at the moment.
“It contains measures to regulate e-cigarettes including age restrictions, proxy purchase, marketing restrictions and the creation of an e-cigarette retailers register.”
She added: “Local authorities are responsible for ensuring schools are health promoting.”
Marked Decline in Compliance with New York City’s Tobacco Laws
New Study Shows Marked Decline in Compliance with New York City’s Tobacco Laws After Increasing Age to Purchase Tobacco Products from 18 to 21
http://www.healthcanal.com/public-health-safety/68823-new-study-shows-marked-decline-in-compliance-with-new-york-city%E2%80%99s-tobacco-laws-after-increasing-age-to-purchase-tobacco-products-from-18-to-21.html
Non-Compliance Highest Among Independent Retailers; ID Check Compliance Highest Among Chain Stores
In a study examining compliance with New York City’s new law that raised the legal age for purchasing cigarettes to 21 years of age, researchers with New York University (NYU) and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) found that compliance with identification (ID) checks has significantly decreased since the law was made effective. Prior to the change in the law, 29% of retailers sampled were non-compliant. Following the change, a full 38% of retailers sampled did not ask for ID when selling cigarettes to young people. Researchers also examined new minimum price laws for cigarettes and found a similar pattern.
The research, Retailer Compliance with Tobacco Control Laws in New York City Before and After Raising the Minimum Legal Purchase Age to 21, published today in the journal, Tobacco Control, examines the effectiveness of the first law in the nation’s largest city to increase the legal minimum age for purchase and possession of tobacco products from 18 to 21 following the city’s minimum cigarette price law, both aimed at reduction of smoking rates, especially among youth. In May 2007, the Institute of Medicine recommended increasing the purchase age of tobacco to 21 (T21) but there has so far been little empirical evidence of the effectiveness of this policy recommendation.
In the first part of the data collection effort, field researchers purchased 421 packs of Marlboro Gold cigarettes at 92 bus and subway stops before the new law took effect in August 2014. Seven months later, after the change in the age was made effective, field researchers returned to the same areas and repeated the procedure. Compliance with ID checks had significantly declined, as had compliance with the minimum price law. Sales prices also declined significantly –by about 18 cents – the study found. Compliance with both laws was substantively lower in independent stores as compared to chain stores.
“This study reveals a troubling pattern of non-compliance with ID check and minimum price laws among some retailers in New York City,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Diana Silver, an associate professor of public health policy at NYU’s College of Global Public Health. “Without serious attention to strengthening enforcement of its current laws, New York City will fail to realize the full potential of its efforts to reduce smoking,” she added.
Researchers point to several potential reasons why effectiveness of the new law has been limited, including lack of awareness among retailers. The T21 law did not go into effect until nine months after its enactment, but retailers may still have been unaware of the change. In addition, researchers note that enforcement measures for retailer tobacco laws involve five distinct city and state agencies, all with unique protocols and no additional resources allocated for inspection, prosecution, and follow-up of those violating the new laws.
States are federally required to ensure that non-compliance with ID check laws is no higher than 20 percent. “While we recognize that our sample cannot be generalized to the city as a whole, the levels of noncompliance with ID check laws is especially troubling,” said Dr. James Macinko, one of the study’s authors. “In addition, sales below legal minimum prices present additional challenges for controlling access to cigarettes not just among youth, but among the entire city’s population,” he concluded.
“Harmonizing the age of purchase and possession of tobacco with alcohol is achievable, but we need better evidence about how such laws work together or at odds with one another. And better enforcement of these laws is absolutely critical if we hope to achieve population level public health gains,” said Dr. Silver.
In addition to Dr. Silver, study authors include Dr. Margaret Giorgio, Jin Yung Bae, Geronimo Jimenez, and Dr. James Macinko (UCLA). The Institute for Human Development and Social Change at NYU funded the study.
About the NYU College of Global Public Health
At the College of Global Public Health (CGPH) at NYU, we are preparing the next generation of public health pioneers with the critical thinking skills, acumen and entrepreneurial approaches necessary to reinvent the public health paradigm. Devoted to employing a nontraditional, inter-disciplinary model, CGPH aims to improve health worldwide through a unique blend of global public health studies, research and practice. CGPH is located in the heart of New York City and extends to NYU’s global network on six continents. Innovation is at the core of our ambitious approach, thinking and teaching.
To learn more about CGPH, visit http://publichealth.nyu.edu/
BAT steals march on rivals with ‘smokeless’ tobacco
http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/business/Industry/article1635640.ece?CMP=OTH-gnws-standard-2015_11_21
A CIGARETTE alternative that still contains tobacco but claims to be safer could soon hit British stores.
British American Tobacco will start testing its first “heat, not burn” product in an undisclosed European market by the end of the month. If it is a success, sources say a launch in Britain will follow shortly after.
The product, known as iFuse, works in a similar way to an electronic cigarette. It heats nicotine liquid to create a vapour, but unlike a regular ecigarette, the vapour passes over a tobacco section at the end of the device.
BAT says the iFuse is safer than a cigarette because the process of heating — rather than burning — reduces the amount of harmful chemicals released by the tobacco.
…