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** 20 May 2024
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** UK
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** Will banning cigarettes create a smoke-free generation? (#1)
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** Tax hikes on vapes “a priority” amid fears measures to halt children getting hooked could be 'undermined' by devices being promoted on social media, campaigners say (#2)
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** Alcohol abuse costing £27bn a year in England (#3)
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** UK’s biggest gambling addiction charity accused of ‘promoting’ gambling by campaigners (#4)
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** UK
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** Will banning cigarettes create a smoke-free generation?

Health experts discuss whether gradually raising the age of sale is the only way to stop young people smoking.

Last year, Rishi Sunak announced a radical health policy reform – a gradual smoking ban that means anyone born on or after 1 January 2009 will never legally be able to buy cigarettes. The legal age of sale will increase by one year, every year from 2027 onwards. Last month, the new Tobacco and Vapes Bill began its journey through parliament, and MPs voted to pass the plan by 383 votes to 67. The new legislation will mean the UK’s smoking laws are amongst the strictest in the world.

Spotlight asks health experts what their thoughts are on the ban, and whether they think it is the only way to create a smoke-free generation.

Nicholas Hopkinson, professor of respiratory medicine at Imperial College London, and chair of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) writes that smoking is “uniquely lethal and incredibly addictive”. Professor Hopkinson thinks two things are needed to end the harm of smoking: support those currently smoking to quit and prevent people from starting.

Professor Hopkinson is confident that raising the age of sale will be the first step towards preventing people from taking up smoking, given the clear reduction in youth smoking after the age of sale was raised from 16 to 18 in 2007.

He also points out that the policy has wide support, even amongst those who currently smoke but wish they had never started and from those who sell tobacco.

Finally, Professor Hopkinson suggests that in order to a smokefree future fully realised the government needs to implement any outstanding recommendations of the Khan review, including a “polluter pays” levy and health warnings on cigarettes.

David Nutt, professor of neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London and chair of the charity DrugScience thinks that a gradual smoking ban is not the only way to achieve a smokefree future. Nutt has concerns about the effects of a ban on the black market and the reliability of using retailers as the front line of enforcement.

Alice Wiseman, vice-president at the Association of Directors of Public Health (ADPH) notes that achieving a smokefree future will be more complex than implementing a single policy, yet raising the age of sale is good start considering 83% of smokers start before 20.

Wiseman suggests we need stricter advertising and sponsorship regulations to ensure children are not subject to tobacco industry backed campaigns. In contrast, Wiseman says we need fact based media campaigns that highlight the benefits of being smokefree and the negative impacts of tobacco.

Finally, Wiseman explains that sustained investment in stop smoking services is essential, ensuring accessible and targeted support, especially for pregnant women. Wiseman recognises this requires “time and resources” but that a smokefree future is within our grasp.

Source: The New Statesman, 20 May 2024

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** Tax hikes on vapes “a priority” amid fears measures to halt children getting hooked could be 'undermined' by devices being promoted on social media, campaigners say

Online promotion of vapes risks undermining measures like increasing the taxes on vaping liquid, campaigners have warned.

Their warning comes after a new study suggested young people who spend just one hour a day on social media sites like Instagram and TikTok tripled their chances of picking up vaping.

While ministers plan to increase taxes on vaping liquid by up to £3 from 2026, in a bid to put them out of reach of “pocket money” prices, children are still being promoted vapes in cyberspace.

Action on Smoking and Health's (ASH) deputy chief executive Hazel Cheeseman said their own research indicated almost one in three teens (29 per cent) reported being promoted vapes online with TikTok being the “biggest culprit”.

Speaking on Radio 4 this morning (Friday 17th of May) Ms Cheeseman said promotion of vaping on social media could impact welcome efforts to tackle youth vaping.

“I do think that these online spaces risk undermining the restrictions we’re bringing in, in the real world,” she said.
“Young people are using these disposable vaping products, not because they are disposable, but because they are highly appealing, really available in shops and quite cheap.”

“So addressing the promotional elements, addressing the price of these products is absolutely the right way to go.”
Deborah Arnott, chief executive of ASH also told MailOnline price hikes on vapes were needed and will stop children from using them.

“Increasing the price of these products is a priority but effective regulations need to be comprehensive and well thought out, rather than knee-jerk reactions,” she said.

“Children, who typically don’t have large amounts of disposable income, are price-sensitive. If prices go up, they will buy less. Making these products less attractive and less easily accessible is crucial.

“These strategies need to work hand in hand. The Government needs to act on all fronts, as all these aspects are interconnected and essential for effective change.”

Annual survey results from Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) found children in Great Britain are increasingly aware of vape marketing, including in shops and via social media sites such as TikTok and YouTube.

The 2024 poll of 2,587 children aged 11 to 17 found that 7.6 per cent currently vape, the same proportion as last year, but up from 2.8 per cent in 2017 and 0.8 per cent in 2013.

Source: Daily Mail, 17 May 2024

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** Alcohol abuse costing £27bn a year in England

The cost of alcohol abuse is laid bare in a new study that shows £27bn a year being spent in England on the health and social harms of drinking.

The research that found the extra burden on the NHS, social services, the criminal justice system and the labour market cost at least 37% more than in 2003, when comparable research by the Cabinet Office estimated the costs at between £18.5bn and £20bn.

Using the same methodology, the Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS) calculated that alcohol cost the health service £4.9bn a year, of which more than £3bn was from alcohol-related A&E visits and hospital admissions.

Official figures released in April showed that a record 10,048 people in 2022 died from alcohol-specific causes – the highest level since records began in 2001. Drinking has been linked to numerous health conditions including seven types of cancer, cardiovascular disease, cirrhosis, stroke and digestive problems.

Alcohol also has a much wider impact on individuals and society. The IAS study put the cost of alcohol to the criminal justice system at £14.6bn, with more than 4m alcohol-related crimes. Social services spend nearly £3bn a year dealing with the impact of drinking on individuals and families.

In the wider economy, the study estimates £1bn is lost as a result of unemployment due to alcohol use, and nearly £4bn through lost productivity.

The Commons health and social care select committee is due to hear evidence on alcohol harms next week as part of its inquiry into preventing ill health from drinking, smoking, drugs and gambling.

Dr Katherine Severi, the IAS chief executive, said the data was compelling. “As a country we cannot afford to sit back and do nothing. The government should develop a comprehensive alcohol strategy to tackle this rising harm, which would have a knock-on effect of reducing the financial burden too,” she said.

Dr Sarah Clarke, the president of the Royal College of Physicians, said: “Urgent action is needed to tackle the harm caused by alcohol. The cost to individuals and society is huge and growing year on year. We are calling for increased duty on alcohol, health warnings and nutritional information on labelling and restrictions on alcohol marketing. This will significantly improve public health and help to reduce the strain on an NHS workforce currently facing overwhelming demand.”

Alice Wiseman, the vice-president of the Association of Directors of Public Health, also called for minimum unit pricing and tougher regulation. “The alcohol industry’s huge marketing machine needs to be regulated much more rigorously so that we are no longer bombarded with the message that alcohol is a safe, attractive product,” she said. “What’s needed now is for the government to take action and develop a new alcohol strategy so that we can drive down the increasing, and unacceptable, cost of alcohol harm.”

Source: The Guardian, 17 May 2024

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** UK’s biggest gambling addiction charity accused of ‘promoting’ gambling by campaigners

Britain’s biggest gambling addiction charity is being looked into following a complaint that it was allegedly “promoting” the interests of the gambling industry, which funds it through donations.

The industry regulator, The Charity Commission, told i it has opened a “regulatory compliance case” after receiving a complaint that questioned GambleAware’s independence and claimed it was failing in its charitable duties.

GambleAware commissions gambling treatment, education and research in the UK and is funded by voluntary donations from the gambling industry, which experts have claimed presents “conflicts of interest”.

GambleAware publishes details of donations and pledges received from those that derive an income from gambling in Britain on a quarterly basis.

It received £46,565,912 from gambling operators in the 2022-23 financial year.

The Charity Commission has confirmed that it has opened a case. This is not a finding of wrongdoing, but is the first step the commission can take in examining whether the charity is compliant with the relevant regulations after receiving a complaint.

The complaint, brought by Will Prochaska, a gambling reform campaigner, Annie Ashton, whose husband Luke died of gambling-related suicide, and the Good Law Practice, raises concerns about the quality of treatment commissioned by GambleAware, the education materials it supplies to schools and the self-help tools it provides to the public.

A lesson plan, created for 14-year-olds by GambleAware, includes a note to teachers that “this lesson is not to demonise the gambling industry. They are promoting their trade just like any other potentially risky pastime might, fully sanctioned by law”.

Sir Iain Duncan Smith, a senior Tory MP and former party leader, said the Charity Commission’s involvement was “long overdue”.

He told i he and other MPs in the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on gambling-related harms “have been asking for this sort of thing for some time”.

He said: “We always felt GambleAware was far too close to the gambling industry. As we try to bring in further controls, GambleAware shouldn’t become a way out for them.”

The Government is consulting on plans to change the way gambling research, treatment and prevention is funded so that gambling firms have to make mandatory contributions via a statutory levy. The change is part of wider plans to overhaul gambling laws in Britain, published in 2023.

The Charity Commission can escalate a case to a full statutory inquiry or take actions such as issuing an official warning and directing the disqualification of specific trustees of the charity in question.

The complaint to the Charity Commission criticises one of the self-assessment tools on GambleAware’s website, which is a spending calculator.

Tests by i found that even if you tell the tool you are gambling away more than your earnings and feel distressed about it, the results will tell you to reduce the frequency of your gambling – rather than to quit.

i understands NHS staff would not advise someone to continue gambling if they were reporting these types of symptoms, and do not believe such online self-assessment tools are effective.

Source: The i, 17 May 2024

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ASH Daily News is a digest of published news on smoking-related topics. ASH is not responsible for the content of external websites. ASH does not necessarily endorse the material contained in this bulletin.

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