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November 2nd, 2015:

BAT moves from packaging to sue TGA on nicotine inhalers

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/health/bat-moves-from-packaging-to-sue-tga-on-nicotine-inhalers/story-fn59nokw-1227590164902

One of the largest tobacco ­companies in the world has sparked another­ legal battle with the Australian government, over its refusal­ to allow its electronic cigarette to be classified as a legal health product.

British and American Tobacco has launched legal action against the Therapeutic Goods Administration claiming that the health authority did not even consider an application to have its Voke nicotine inhaler listed, much like other nicotine products that could help smokers quit the habit.

BAT’s nicotine product arm, Nicovations, has filed a claim in the Federal Court claiming that the TGA erred by not even reviewing­ the application, with Britain’s Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency recently allowing the product to be licensed like other nicotine-quitting products.

“Nicovations is disappointed that the Therapeutic Goods Administr­ation has refused to evaluate our application for Voke in Australia,’’ BAT said in a statement. “We’ve been forced to seek a review of the TGA’s decision not to assess our application.”

The big tobacco companies took the Australian government all the way to the High Court recent­ly in a failed bid to have laws forcing them to sell cigar­ettes in plain packaging overturned.

In a statement, BAT said the inhaler could prove more effective than other quitting products such as patches or gums, with the inhaler working on a different system to other e-cigarettes and not requiring heating.

“Nicovations would like to see the Australian government take a pragmatic and proportionate approach to regulating next generation nicotine products,’’ the statement said. “It seems unreasonable that adult smokers in Australia currently can’t legally access these types of products.”

Despite e-cigarettes still being illegal for sale in Australia, hundreds­ of thousands of people here are now estimated to use the products, which have been approved­ for use in Britain and in the EU.

While not commenting on the case, the TGA directed The Australian to its current advice on the products, which claims its hard line on e-cigarettes is based on nicotine’s classification as a “dangerous poison”. But it accepted­ it had not conducted an assessment of the products for quality and safety.

“Unlike Nicotine Replacement Therapy products, which have been rigorously assessed for efficacy and safety and, therefore, approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration for use as aids in withdrawal from smoking, no assessment of electronic cigar­ettes has been undertaken and, therefore, the quality and safety of electronic cigarettes is not known,” the TGA states on its website.

A recent independent paper by the British Health Department evaluating the use of e-cigar­ettes found they were about 95 per cent less harmful than smoking cigarettes, could benefit poorer smokers and release negligible amount of toxins to bystanders.

“On the evidence, we believe e-cigarettes have the potential to make a significant contribution to the endgame for tobacco,’’ it said. “With opportunity comes risk, and a successful approach will be one that retains vigilance and manages these risks, while enabling a flourishing and innov­ative market with a range of safe and effective products that smokers want to use to help them quit.”

Study Shows the Reason Why People Like to Smoke While Drinking

CTA SAYS: placing the onus on licensees to enforce the laws in their premises will prevent people smoking in bars as at present

TCO is way understaffed so it acts only on complaints, and days later, with no patrol capabilities

If nicotine addicts cannot go out and socialize in enforced NON SMOKING bars where the laws are actually legally enforced by the licensees, they will quit

http://www.foodworldnews.com/articles/49313/20151102/study-shows-reason-why-people-smoke-drinking.htm

Smoking while drinking? This is the most common scenario in bars and pubs. Despite the fact that the number of tobacco users already decreased, we can still count the number social smokers increasing especially for young men and women. The question is, what is it about drinking that changes the health conscious to become smokers overnight? According to Medical Daily, a recent study found that many drinkers want the stimulant effects of nicotine which helps them not to feel sleepy while drinking alcohol.

An estimated 90 percent of alcoholics also smoke tobacco this is according to the National Institute of Health. They said that even people who are not alcohol dependent are also known to smoke only when they start drinking. The connection between drinking and smoking has been acknowledged, scientists are still unsure what really makes them crave to start smoking.

To investigate the theory of what really makes people smoke when they are drinking, a team of researchers from the University of Missouri, gave rats fitted with sleep-recording electrodes nicotine and alcohol. After observing the effects of the two drugs on the rats’ brains, the team came to an interesting conclusion: Nicotine’s stimulant effect helps to ward off the sleepiness caused by alcohol consumption.

It affected the rat’s basal forebrain, it is the area of the brain associated with reflexes, learning and attention. On the other hand, alcohol which is a depressant inhibits the nervous system. Therefore, it is proven that it would help counteract the sleeping effects and increase alertness. In a past research it has been found that nicotine helps enhance the effects of alcohol. It actually adds to the “high” that alcohol gives and in turn increases the desire to drink more.

However, as we all know along with being two of the most widely used drugs, these are also some of the deadliest drugs. An average of about 6 million deaths each year is caused by smoking and about 3 million is because of excessive use of alcohol according to the World Health Organization