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- Category: February 2021
As COVID-19 continues to ravage America’s health and economy, Connecticut’s politicians have finally set their sights on what really matters right now: flavored tobacco products. State lawmakers recently joined officials in Bridgeport in calling for a ban on flavored tobacco products, mirroring similar proposals in Maryland and California and existing bans in states such as Massachusetts. There are clearly pertinent public health concerns that these bills attempt to address — tobacco smoking causes the premature deaths of more than 480,000 Americans a year.
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- Category: February 2021
A recent overdose in Newmarket led police to discover a new strain of the dangerous drug, fentanyl, that they said was new to investigators.
According to York Regional Police, the fentanyl was orange and pink and mixed with nicotine oil before being consumed through a vape pen.
Police warn that two milligrams of fentanyl - the equivalent of four grains of salt - is enough to kill the average adult. Combined with alcohol or other drugs, the risk of death increases.
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- Category: February 2021
By law, businesses selling vaping products are allowed to market their products by distributing free samples via third-party marketing firms. However, health entities in the UK have pointed out that a loophole in the current regulatory framework means it is legal for marketing companies to hand out vapes to minors.
ASH pointed out that a marketing team promoting Vype, has recently approached and offered a free sample to a 17 year old girl, in return for her email address. Before being handed the product, the girl was at no point told that the product contains nicotine or asked to verify her age.
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- Category: February 2021
Herbal smoking can ease respiratory symptoms including Covid. Such misleading claims are being used by online marketing websites to sell herbal cigarettes/bidis to the underage. This has been a significant finding of a study from the Oral Health Sciences Centre (OHSC) at the PGI.
Out of the initial 1,044 records retrieved, 73 retail web pages were included in the final analysis which revealed 24 brands, produced by 18 manufacturers offering 189 different flavours in packs of 5 to 20 sticks.
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- Category: February 2021
A bill sponsored by a Williston lawmaker would treat electronic cigarettes the same way tobacco is treated.
Sen. Brad Bekkedahl introduced Senate Bill 2189, which would add electronic smoking devices to the state’s tobacco laws, meaning retailers would need a license to sell them, the same as is required for cigarettes, cigars and smokeless tobacco. It would also impose a tax on electronic cigarettes.
The bill passed the Senate 39-8 and is waiting for a hearing in the House of Representatives.
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- Category: February 2021
A new report by WHO/Europe about women and the tobacco epidemic has been launched. The report, “Through a gender lens: women and tobacco in the WHO European Region”, has revealed that, although tobacco use among women is decreasing overall, the rate is going down at a much slower pace than in men, and in some countries it is increasing.
The global noncommunicable diseases action plan includes a target to reduce global prevalence of tobacco use by 30% by 2025 relative to 2010. [...]
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- Category: February 2021
What are the most addictive drugs? This question seems simple, but the answer depends on whom you ask.
From the points of view of different researchers, the potential for a drug to be addictive can be judged in terms of the harm it causes, the street value of the drug, the extent to which the drug activates the brain’s dopamine system, how pleasurable people report the drug to be, the degree to which the drug causes withdrawal symptoms, and how easily a person trying the drug will become hooked.
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- Category: February 2021
According to the CDC, smoking cigarettes kills more than 480,000 people every year in the United States. Smoking also significantly increases your chances of developing lung, throat, and mouth cancers; heart disease; blood clots; and having a stroke. But despite understanding these facts, millions of Americans have difficulty quitting smoking. That’s because the main component of cigarettes (or cigars, vapes, dip, etc.) is nicotine - a highly addictive substance that releases dopamine in the brain, says Dr. Raymond Rezaie.
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- Category: February 2021
BAT Korea reaffirmed its plan to reach a wider audience with potentially-reduced risk products on Tuesday as it cited the success of recent digital marketing efforts to promote e-cigarettes.
“Sales promotions for Glo Pro last month took place both online and in-store and it was especially well received online and we managed to sell out the stock we prepared quicker than expected,” said Yu Jung-min, head of offline activation at BAT Korea during an online press event.
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- Category: February 2021
Did your business receive an FDA enforcement letter regarding operations in the vaping space? If so, the United States Vaping Association wants to hear the details of your case.
USVA is planning to file a preliminary injunction in order to halt enforcement action.
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- Category: February 2021
In a release on its website, the FDA explained that these two finalized foundational rules for the premarket review of new tobacco products, provide additional information on the minimum requirements for the content, format and review of premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs) and substantial equivalence (SE) reports.
FDA Commissioner Stephen M. Hahn, M.D., explained that these two requirements will enable for greater transparency. “The finalization of these foundational rules is an important milestone in the FDA’s regulation of tobacco products. [...]
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- Category: February 2021
A new survey has found one in four Canadian adults reported using cannabis at least once within the period of one year.
The Commonwealth Fund survey compares Canada’s health systems to 10 other peer countries.
An average of nine per cent of people in the other countries reported the same pot use.
Tracy Johnson, director of health systems analysis for the Canadian Institute for Health Information, says it is not surprising considering Canada is the only country in the survey where cannabis is legal.
She says that means people surveyed in Canada may have felt more comfortable being honest about their marijuana use.
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- Category: February 2021
IT'S NO SECRET THAT cigarettes are bad for your health. It's common for those who smoke to say they want to quit and maybe even make efforts to stop, but then they end up lighting up again. Quitting smoking improves health and reduces the risk of an early death. "Smoking is the number-one cause of preventable death in the U.S.," says Thomas Ylioja, clinical director of health initiatives programs and a tobacco cessation expert at National Jewish Health in Denver.
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- Category: February 2021
Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S. but two recent reports say Arizona needs to do more to help people break free from using tobacco products.
“We certainly need a lot more resources here in Arizona to help people quit smoking,” said JoAnna Strother, senior director of advocacy for the American Lung Association, one of two organizations, along with Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, to grade the state’s actions.
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- Category: February 2021
According to a recent survey, over 80 per cent of respondents believe cigarettes, bidis, smokeless tobacco use is a very serious problem and 88 per cent support strengthening of the current tobacco control law to address this menace.
Eighty per cent or more support banning smoking in all public places, eliminating special smoking areas in airports, hotels, and restaurants, banning sale of loose cigarettes and bidis and advertising of tobacco products at selling points.
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- Category: February 2021
In one of the most ambitious pitches in the cigarette industry’s history, Philip Morris International is making a play for ethical investors. At a shareholder event Wednesday, the tobacco giant set a new target to make more than 50% of group revenues from smokeless products like its IQOS heated-tobacco sticks by 2025, up from 24% today. The company, which sells the Marlboro brand outside the U.S., will also move into goods that contain no nicotine at all, such as botanicals to aid sleep or products that can deliver medicine through the respiratory system.
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- Category: February 2021
The Maltese are more likely to experience outdoor smoking in areas frequented by kids and teens, than other Europeans.
41% of Maltese respondents in a Eurobarometer survey reported the presence of smokers in outdoor places intended for teens or children like parks and playgrounds compared to only 31% of all respondents in the EU and the UK.
Moreover 84% of Maltese have been exposed to smoking in outdoor terraces of eating or drinking establishments compared to 70% of respondents in the EU and the UK.
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- Category: February 2021
New research shows chocolate-flavored e-cigarettes are "particularly harmful" to the lungs. In fact, scientists found all 10 flavors tested caused some level of toxicity in the cells lining the lungs, resulting in cell death in some instances. The toxins also significantly reduced the ability of immune system cells to remove bacteria and regulate inflammation. [...] The data show that the chemical profiles of the e-liquid flavors studied (apple, banana, bubblegum, cappuccino, cherry, chocolate, cinnamon, mango, peppermint and tobacco) contained as many as 15 chemicals.
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- Category: February 2021
“It’s easy to give into peer pressure and do what everyone else is doing without first thinking about the long-term effects,” Ashley Bartels, a 22-year-old recent graduate of Ball State University in Indiana, tells Verywell. “Everyone I know uses some sort of vaping product still—even during COVID; I definitely think they are more addictive than smoking actual cigarettes.”
Bartels is right. A new study out of the University of South California Institute for Addiction Sciences analyzed Twitter posts about JUUL cessation during the pandemic and found, not surprisingly, that JUUL is tough to quit.
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- Category: February 2021
The Philippine E-Cigarette Industry Association (PECIA), which counts around 200 active members that comprise major players in the local e-cigarette market, participated in the online consultation conducted by Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) implementing rules and regulations (IRR) covering the provisions of Republic Act Nos. 11346 and 11467.
These laws govern the increase in excise tax on alcohol, tobacco products, heated tobacco products and vapor products. These are important concerns that have substantial impact on the business sector but also on public health, at large.