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** 17 May 2023
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** UK
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** Smoking lowering London's productivity and hitting capital's economy by £2.6bn a year (#1)
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** Free vapes to be offered to e-cigarette users if they recycle their used ones through Royal Mail (#2)
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** Opinion: Vaping boom and bust: from bans to starter kits, how the world is responding (#3)
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** ASH mourns former director David Pollock (1942-2023) (#4)
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** UK
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** Smoking lowering London's productivity and hitting capital's economy by £2.6bn a year
Smoking is costing London £2.6bn a year according to new figures, as campaigners call for a levy on big tobacco companies.
The biggest cost to smokers and the wider economy was smoking-related ill-health, with smokers facing job losses and reduction in wages as a result of their habit, as well as being more likely to die prematurely, economic analysis commissioned by charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) found.
The new analysis also shows that smokers lose a large part of their income to tobacco - an estimated £1.9bn in London each year, or on average £2,451 per smoker.
Smoking is still the leading cause of preventable ill-health and death in the country and has a significant impact on health and social care costs.
There are 792,000 smokers in London, according to the figures, costing the capital £3bn in loss of productivity and healthcare, social care and fire costs, the report found.
Smoking-related hospital admissions and primary care treatments cost £242.3m yearly, while it costs local authorities in London £125.7m each year on care for smoking-related illnesses in later life.
Productivity losses, including smoking-related ill-health and loss of earnings, totalled £2.6bn.
Tracy Parr, programme director at London Tobacco Alliance and Stop Smoking London said the latest figures were a "stark reminder of the devastating impact smoking".
"The tobacco industry makes billions of pounds in profit while smokers and their families suffer.
"Collective action against tobacco dependence holds the potential to make a profound difference in curbing smoking-related harm by boosting prevention and treatment efforts, creating a healthier, more vibrant future for London," she said.
Deborah Arnott, Chief Executive of Action on Smoking and Health, said "smoking is a massive burden on society"
"It costs individuals in terms of their health and wealth and it costs us all when smokers are too ill to work.
“Recent announcements by public health minister will not be enough to meet the government’s ambition for England to be smoke free by 2030.
"We urgently need a levy on tobacco companies to pay for services which support people to quit smoking and to prevent uptake among young people.”
Source: ITV News, 16 May 2023
See also: ASH – Ready Reckoner ([link removed])
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** Free vapes to be offered to e-cigarette users if they recycle their used ones through Royal Mail
Royal Mail is to collect used vapes from people’s homes as part of a major scheme to reduce environmental damage from single-use vapes.
A major scheme to recycle single-use vapes is to be launched this month, with consumers given free vape sticks in exchange for returning used products.
Under the plans, to be initially rolled out in London, Birmingham and Manchester at the end of May, consumers will be able to send used vapes off to a recycling center through Royal Mail at no cost.
E-cigarette users will also be able to return their products at partaking vape shops in London with the scheme expected to be rolled out nationwide in the next six months.
It comes amid warnings that the explosion in popularity of disposable vapes is causing serious damage to the environment.
Research commissioned by Material Focus, an environmental campaign group, found that 1.3 million single-use vapes are thrown away every week – enough to cover 22 football pitches each year.
Discarded vapes contain enough lithium batteries to maintain 1,200 electric vehicles.
Users will be incentivised to recycle their products with a reward scheme that will see a free vape sent out for every 10 vapes returned through the scheme.
The vape and e-cigarette industry has been heavily criticised for the environmental damage of its products.
A total of 138 million disposable vapes were sold in the UK last year, with the vast majority of devices unlikely to be recycled.
Source: The i, 16 May 2023
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** Opinion: Vaping boom and bust: from bans to starter kits, how the world is responding
Michael Safi, a correspondent with the Guardian, writes of how the vaping industry has evolved from a relatively small community of enthusiasts to the industry it is today. He discusses how the emergence of cheap, disposable vapes has changed the vaping market and raised fears about an increase in youth vaping.
Safi states that concerns over both the environmental cost of disposable vapes and their popularity with teenagers is driving new legislation around the world, most notably Australia who recently completely banned recreational vaping. Other countries are unlikely to be as draconian but are considering additional regulation.
Safi gives the example of the UK, which on one hand has offered one million smokers vaping starter kits to help them quit whilst also trying to curb the growth in underage vaping. He highlights research from the UK Office for Health Improvement and Disparities which concludes that “vaping is not danger-free, but “poses a small fraction of the risks of smoking” in the short and medium term.”
Safi also explores the example of India where vapes have been banned but are still widely available via the black market.
Source: The Guardian, 17 May 2023
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See also: OHID - 2022 Vaping evidence review ([link removed])
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** ASH mourns former director David Pollock (1942-2023)
Action on Smoking and Health is sad to announce the passing of David Pollock, who was a director of ASH between 1991 and 1995. Following his time with ASH, he wrote “Denial & Delay: The Political History of Smoking and Health, 1951–1964”, published in 1999. You can read more about David and his work on his Wikipedia ([link removed](humanist)) .
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Read Here ([link removed](humanist))
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