• Tobacco News
• England’s smoking ban linked to annual five percent drop in emergency admissions for asthma
• Cancer Research wins second ban on ads attacking plain cigarette packs
• Plain packaging lobbyists under fire over links to tobacco company
• Dalligate: Leak of OLAF’s Dalli inquiry raises heat on Commission
• Bob Blackman MP: Saying no to the tobacco industry
• Experts propose strategies to reduce, end tobacco use
• Match of the Day: QPR’s anti-smoking scheme (video)
• “Saving Lives and Preventing Misery”, Memoirs of Professor John Crofton, by Dr David Kilpatrick
• Parliamentary News
• Northern Ireland: Tobacco Retailers Bill: Second Stage
• Committe Meeting: New clause on smoking in cars
• Parliamentary question: E-cigarettes
• Industry Watch
• How UK tobacco firms stay one step ahead of the regulator: study
• USA: Reynolds American first-quarter cigarette volume slumps
• Protest as BAT announces that price hikes offset declining cigarette sales
• Altria to launch e-cig in response to fall in cigarette sales
• Imperial Tobacco to develop e-cigarettes as profits drop
• Philip Morris Int’l 1Q profit falls nearly 2%
• Japan Tobacco expects record full-year profit
• Recent Research
• Early dialogue most effective in deterring teen tobacco, alcohol use
• Protection from secondhand smoke in countries belonging to the WHO European Region
• Light smokers are less likely to receive advice to quit from their GP
• Expansion of the marketing license for NRT
• Will the European Union’s new tobacco tax legislation lead to reductions in smoking prevalence?

• World No Tobacco Day 2013
• ASH Scotland 40th Anniversary Conference: Towards a Generation Free From Tobacco
• Towards a generation free from tobacco
• UK National Smoking Cessation Conference

England’s smoking ban linked to annual five percent drop in emergency admissions for asthma

See also:
– Emergency asthma admissions drop following smokefree law, University of Bath
– Short-term impact of the smokefree legislation in England on emergency hospital admissions for asthma among adults: a population-based study, Thorax

Cancer Research wins second ban on ads attacking plain cigarette packs

This is  the second time the Advertising Standard Autority has ruled that Gallaher’s claims in adverts about plain packaging were ‘likely to mislead’.

See also:
– Plain packet message for tobacco was ‘misleading’, The Times (£)
– Ad watchdog bashes plain packs claims, City AM
– Tobacco group will continue to ‘express our concerns’, ITV
– Further adverts from Japan Tobacco International ruled misleading, Cancer Research UK

Plain packaging lobbyists under fire over links to tobacco company

Peter Sheridan, a former assistant chief constable in Northern Ireland, and Roy Ramm, previously a commander at Scotland Yard, warned in a letter to the government that standardised packaging would encourage smuggling. However, both men failed to declare that they were part of a group called the Common Sense Alliance that has links with British American Tobacco (BAT).

Deborah Arnott, chief executive of ASH, said: “It beggars belief that Peter Sheridan and Roy Ramm can try to claim they were acting in a personal capacity when one is a director and the other a founder member of an organisation funded by BAT. The government has legal obligations to protect public health policy from commercial interests and it can only do this if the tobacco industry is transparent about its lobbying activities”.

Dalligate: Leak of OLAF’s Dalli inquiry raises heat on Commission

Malta Today, a newspaper, published on 28 April a leaked report of OLAF’s investigation into Dalli, Malta’s former European commissioner. The leaked version, which is missing two pages and 20 annexes, contains no direct evidence that Dalli was aware of an offer made by a Maltese businessman, Silvio Zammit, to influence – through his links with Dalli – imminent tobacco legislation, in exchange for €70 million.

See also:
– Dalligate – the OLAF report, Times of Malta
– Witness reveals she had lunch with OLAF investigator after interrogation, Times of Malta
– Whistleblower MEP claims EU cover-up over Dalligate, Public Service Europe

Bob Blackman MP: Saying no to the tobacco industry

Experts propose strategies to reduce, end tobacco use

Match of the Day: QPR’s anti-smoking scheme (video)

The club’s Health Stars initiative aims to promote better health and wellbeing in the local community.

“Saving Lives and Preventing Misery”, Memoirs of Professor John Crofton, by Dr David Kilpatrick

His memoirs describe his childhood years, his student days and climbing holidays, his war years in the RAMC, his radical approach to the treatment of TB, his roles as Edinburgh University Vice-Principal and President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, and finally his extensive public health campaigns waged after his retirement from medical practice.

Northern Ireland: Tobacco Retailers Bill: Second Stage

Committe Meeting: New clause on smoking in cars

Parliamentary question: E-cigarettes

Norman Lamb: There are a number of products on the market which claim to contain nicotine, such as electronic cigarettes, which are widely available but are not licensed medicines. Currently, any nicotine-containing product (NCP) which claims or implies that it can treat nicotine addiction is considered to be a medicinal product. This approach has allowed NCPs which do not make such claims to be used and sold without the safeguards built into the regulation of medicinal products.

In March 2011, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) published the outcome of a public consultation on whether to bring all NCPs within the medicines licensing regime. The response to the consultation highlighted the need for further information to inform a decision. Since this time, the MHRA co-ordinated a programme of research to advise on:

an investigation of the levels of nicotine which have a significant physiological effect through its pharmacological action;

the nature, quality and safety of unlicensed NCPs;

the actual use of unlicensed NCPs (excluding tobacco products) in the marketplace;

the efficacy of unlicensed NCPs in smoking cessation; and

modelling of the potential impact of bringing these products into medicines regulation on public health outcomes.

The MHRA is currently bringing to a conclusion this period of scientific and market research with a view to a final decision on the application of medicines regulation later this year.

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How UK tobacco firms stay one step ahead of the regulator: study

The study, published in the journal Addiction, reveals how tobacco companies would use premium brands to absorb tax increases, as such brands are usually bought by high-income earners who are less likely to be deterred by increasing prices.

Such a tactic ensures that a price gap can be maintained between budget and premium brands, helping maintain their customer base and, by extension, protect their profits.

USA: Reynolds American first-quarter cigarette volume slumps

Protest as BAT announces that price hikes offset declining cigarette sales

British American Tobacco (BAT) said that in the first quarter of the year, price hikes had driven a 1% rise in revenues. This was despite a 3.4% fall in the amount of tobacco it sold.

See also:
– BAT Sales Top Estimates as Higher Prices Offset Lower Volume, Washington Post
– BAT feels pinch as smokers kick the habit, The Times (£)
– Asian sales keeps fire burning under British American Tobacco, The Times (£)

As the meeting was taking place at Banqueting House in Whitehall, a group of about 70 young people from various parts of the country were protesting outside, calling for standardised packaging to be introduced. They later went to the House of Lords to meet MPs to discuss the subject.

Images of the protest and the meeting can be seen on our flickr account here.

Altria to launch e-cig in response to fall in cigarette sales

Profitability grew 16% for the quarter, aided by higher pricing for cigarettes and smokeless products, as well as a credit tied to a landmark tobacco settlement.

Imperial Tobacco to develop e-cigarettes as profits drop

See also:
– Imperial sees revenues and profits fall in first half, London South East

Philip Morris Int’l 1Q profit falls nearly 2%

Japan Tobacco expects record full-year profit

Early dialogue most effective in deterring teen tobacco, alcohol use

Protection from secondhand smoke in countries belonging to the WHO European Region

Methods A new methodology system was developed to evaluate the smokefree legislation according to the principles provided by the WHO guidelines for the correct implementation of Article 8 of the FCTC. For each law, six main sectors and 28 facilities were evaluated.

Results Overall 68 laws from 48 countries from the WHO European Region were reviewed. ‘Education’ and ‘Public transport’ were the most protected sectors from SHS. Many WHO European laws do not provide protection from SHS across all public sectors. For example, 48.5% of general health facilities and 71.2% of restaurants are unprotected from SHS. The level of protection provided in the 28 facilities studied was low; many WHO European laws still allow smoking under certain conditions, permitting smoking in designated and/or ventilated areas.

Conclusions Nine years after the adoption of the WHO FCTC there are still legal formulas in which smoking is allowed in several facilities, through the inclusion of separated areas, ventilated areas and other conditions. Tobacco control efforts still face the challenge of eradicating the legal clauses that prevent 100% smokefree environments.

Martínez, C., et al., Protection from secondhand smoke in countries belonging to the WHO European Region: an assessment of legislation, Tob Control doi:10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2012-050715

Light smokers are less likely to receive advice to quit from their GP

Objectives: To assess whether Dutch and English light smokers (< 10 cpd) are less likely to receive advice to stop smoking during a consultation with their GP than moderate-to-heavy smokers (≥ 10 cpd).

Methods: We compared data from two series of national surveys: the Dutch ‘Continuous Survey of Smoking Habits’ and the English ‘Smoking Toolkit Study’. We included respondents to both surveys from February 2010 to December 2011, aged 16+ years, who consulted their GP in the previous 12 months.

Results: A total of 7734 smokers responded to the surveys in the Netherlands and 10 383 in England. The percentage of Dutch smokers who received advice to quit from their GP was 22.6% (95% CI = 21.5–23.7) compared with 58.9% (95% CI = 57.6–60.2) of English smokers. Light smokers were less likely to receive advice to quit than moderate-to-heavy smokers, both in the Netherlands (OR = 0.57, 95% CI = 0.50–0.65) and in England (OR = 0.64, 95% CI = 0.57–0.72).

Conclusion: Smokers in the Netherlands are less than half as likely to receive advice to quit from their GP as smokers in England. In both countries, light smokers are less likely to receive advice to quit from their GP than moderate-to-heavy smokers.

Kotz, D., et al., Light smokers are less likely to receive advice to quit from their GP than moderate-to-heavy smokers: A comparison of national survey data from the Netherlands and England, European Journal of General Practice, doi:10.3109/13814788.2013.766792

Expansion of the marketing license for NRT

Methods: Data were taken from 10,497 smokers who took part in the Smoking Toolkit Study, which involves monthly representative household surveys of adults aged 16+ in England. Incidence of use of NRT for smoking reduction and/or temporary abstinence and attempts to stop smoking in 2009 was compared with the 2 years following the expansion of the marketing license.

Results: Expansion of the license was not associated with an increase in incidence of NRT use for harm reduction, which was already substantial prior to the change. The odds of a quit attempt were lower in the second year following the license change relative to the year before, but there was no change in the success of quit attempts.

Conclusions: Expansion of the UK marketing license for NRT to include smoking reduction without the intention of quitting was not associated with an increase in use of NRT for this purpose. It was followed by a reduction in the incidence of quit attempts (but not their success) although this may have been a continuation of a pre-existing decline.

Beard, E., et al., Was the Expansion of the Marketing License for Nicotine Replacement Therapy in the United Kingdom to Include Smoking Reduction Associated With Changes in Use and Incidence of Quit Attempts?, Nicotine Tob Res(2013) doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntt044

Will the European Union’s new tobacco tax legislation lead to reductions in smoking prevalence?

Introduction: The European Union (EU) requires member states to apply minimum taxes on manufactured cigarettes. One of such taxes has operated in Spain since 2006. This study evaluates the impact of this reform of the tax regime on manufactured cigarette prices and on smoking prevalence, drawing implications for European tobacco tax policy.

Methods: Quasi-experimental design with treatment and control territories. We analyze series for prices before and after the reform and use cross-sectional health surveys to implement differences-in-differences estimators for smoking prevalence.

Results: Under the minimum tax regime, prices increased three times faster in the treatment territory. However, the new regime did not affect smoking prevalence among males, either shortly after its enactment or 3 years hence. For women, we find no significant effects on prevalence in the short run, and point estimates ranging between −3.36% and −4.3% 3 years hence, although only one of these is statistically significant.

Conclusions: The new tax regime affected cigarette prices in the intended direction. However, we find only weak evidence for a reduction in prevalence among women. The availability of cheap, fine-cut tobacco appears as the most likely cause for the poor results in terms of smoking prevalence. EU member states that have introduced a minimum tax on manufactured cigarettes might achieve little in terms of reductions in smoking prevalence if they allow a tax gap between fine-cut tobacco and manufactured cigarettes. In this sense, it is unfortunate that EU legislation consecrates a differential treatment for the two products.

López-Nicolás, A., et al., Will the European Union’s New Tobacco Tax Legislation Lead to Reductions in Smoking Prevalence? Evidence From a Quasi-experiment in Spain, Nicotine Tob Res (2013) doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntt038

31 May 2013 – World No Tobacco Day 2013

The theme for World No Tobacco Day 2013 is: ban tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship.

20 June 2013 – ASH Scotland 40th Anniversary Conference: Towards a Generation Free From Tobacco

Themes to be explored include industry and regulation, protection from second-hand smoke, youth smoking prevention, cessation services in our communities and the role of advocacy in driving policy.

There will be a special focus on addressing health inequality and new ways of working with hard-to-reach groups.

20 June 2013 – Towards a generation free from tobacco

27 June 2013 – UK National Smoking Cessation Conference