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** 25 June 2020
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** UK
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** Closure order on Swindon newsagent's accused of selling illicit tobacco (#1)
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** International
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** Guardian podcast: How did Jordan end up with the highest smoking rate in the world? (#2)
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** Australia: Two MPs are calling on government to reverse plans to ban all imports of e-cigarettes and refills (#3)
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** UK
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** Hundreds-of-pounds worth of black-market cigarettes were found in a Hollywood style hydraulic compartment hidden in a Swindon tobacconists. Police and Trading Standards officers found illicit cigarettes and hand rolling tobacco worth an estimated £9,400 over two raids last week.
Boxes were found in a secret hydraulic lift in a store room at the back of the shop. A remote control, which had been hidden in a washing-up scourer, lifted the hiding place from the floor.
PC Michael Diffin of Wiltshire Police said it was suspected the shop was a front for an organised criminal gang involved in the supply of illegal tobacco. The case is being investigated by trading standards.
In a statement put before the court, Peter Jones of the Swindon Borough Council trading standards team said: “The illicit tobacco trade has links to various knock-on effects within our communities. Illicit tobacco products are often available from a range of sources within local communities at cheaper prices undermining the effectiveness of taxation, making it harder for smokers to quit and undercutting the process of legitimate retailers and making it easier for children to start smoking and enabling them to become addicted at a young age.”
It is estimated that nationally, around 9% of cigarettes and a third of hand-rolling tobacco sold are illicit.
Source: This is Wiltshire, 25 June 2020
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** International
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** On the Guardian’s ‘Today in Focus’ podcast, international correspondent Michael Safi tells Anushka Asthana about why he decided to look into smoking rates in the Middle Eastern Kingdom of Jordan. They have become the highest in the world, with two-thirds of Jordanian men smoking tobacco, according to a government study carried out in 2019 in collaboration with the World Health Organization. Jordanian men who smoke daily consume an average of 23 cigarettes a day, the survey found.
But Michael’s story soon turned into an investigation as he began to uncover what public health advocates say is widespread interference in policymaking by multinational tobacco companies.
Source: The Guardian, 24 June 2020
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** Two Australian MPs have called on the government to reverse plans to ban all imports of e-cigarettes and refills. Fines of up to $220,000 will be enforced from July 1 on people who are caught importing e-cigarettes or refills containing nicotine liquids or salts. Retailers and users of e-cigarettes had previously turned to buying the products from overseas after their sale was banned within Australia.
Queensland MPs Matthew Canavan and George Christensen have launched a petition against the plan, saying they want to see the products regulated rather than banned. The petition, citing evidence from the UK that vaping is a safer alternative to cigarettes, has received more than 40,000 signatures since being launched on Wednesday (24 June). The petition claims that prohibiting access to a 'commonly used' product could create more problems.
Under the new regulations, individuals would need to visit a doctor and be issued with a prescription to purchase nicotine containing e-cigarettes or refills. Even valid prescription holders would still be prohibited from purchasing the devices from overseas themselves. Vaporisers and refills containing nicotine would have to be imported by doctors or medical suppliers via a courier or cargo service with express permission from the Department of Health.
The prohibition would last for 12 months while the government conducts a public consultation on the regulation of nicotine products by the Therapeutic Goods Administration. The regulation would see nicotine products added to the Poisons Standard making them prohibited permanently with the exception of tobacco cigarettes and nicotine replacement products such as gums and patches.
Source: Mail Online, 25 June 2020
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