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Smoking could be prohibited outside hospitality venues via an amendment to legislation intended to allow cafes, pubs and restaurants to serve more people outside during the coronavirus pandemic. A cross-party group of peers has tabled an amendment to the Business and Planning Bill, proposing that pavement licences, allowing venues to expand onto highways and outdoor spaces, should only be granted to venues by a local authority if smoking is prohibited.
During a House of Lords debate on Monday 13th July, Baroness Northover, who tabled the amendment, said: "I remind noble Lords that over 85% of people do not smoke [...] There is a public health issue here, but there is also the issue of making pubs and restaurants appealing to the vast majority of people." The Liberal Democrat former health minister added: "The UK hospitality sector will not recover if we cannot make it an enjoyable experience for the majority of its clients – that includes all those non-smokers and their children – as well as safe and enjoyable for the staff who may already be worried about returning to work."
Lord Greenhalgh, a communities minister, accused the peers of trying to use the legislation as a "backdoor route to try to ban smoking in public places". Insisting the Government had "no plan" to ban smoking in public places, he said: "Excessive regulation would lead to pub closures and job losses. Smokers should exercise social responsibility and be considerate, and premises are able to set their own rules to reflect customer wishes."
Kate Nicholls, the chief executive of UK Hospitality, agreed and said: "With the future of so many businesses and jobs still hanging in the balance, additional restrictions are the last thing we need."
Source: The Telegraph, 15 July 2020
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A higher percentage of people in the North East have stopped smoking during the Covid-19 pandemic than anywhere else in Britain. An estimated 84,000 smokers in the region have quit during the crisis. National figures show over a million Brits have quit smoking during lockdown.
One in five people in the North East have quit smoking in recent months, the biggest decline in 15 years. One person who quit smoking due to coronavirus concerns is Newcastle dad Phil Kyle. The 55-year-old smoked for three decades and had tried numerous times to stop before finally quitting 12 weeks ago. "I am immunosuppressed, which means I am in the high-risk group of developing COVID-19 complications so I am having to shield. I am very concerned about contracting COVID-19 as it would have very serious implications for me, so I thought now was the right time to quit smoking for good," said Phil, from Kingston Park.
This time he sought help from Healthworks Newcastle, the local stop smoking service. With the help of the service, and his "incredibly supportive" wife and daughter he hasn't lit up in months. “The support and advice have been extremely helpful and assisted a lot during my and I am sure others who have embarked on the quit for Covid journey," he added.
Source: Chronicle Live, 16 July 2020
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The American subsidiary of a British-listed company has agreed to pay a $666,543 fine to authorities in the United States for a scheme to supply North Korea with tobacco products. Essentra said on Thursday 16th July that Essentra FZE, its American subsidiary, had reached a deferred prosecution agreement with the US Department of Justice and a corresponding settlement with the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.
Esentra is a FTSE 250 packaging company valued at $853 million that also makes cigarette filters for the big tobacco companies. According to court documents, two employees of Essentra FZE “knowingly and willfully agreed to participate in an illicit scheme of deception and fraud to push multiple transactions equivalent to several hundred thousand dollars through the US financial system to ultimately supply North Korea with tobacco products”.
John Demers, an assistant attorney-general, said that “the company has now committed to working with our prosecutors to bring those individuals responsible for these acts to justice”.
Source: The Times, 17 July 2020
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Tobacco company Philip Morris International (PMI) has claimed that nearly one in eight of those wanting menthol cigarettes have attempted to make their own version to get around the legislation which came into effect on May 20th banning such products. According to the poll conducted by PMI, YouTube videos and online forums to share tips on how to create homemade menthol cigarettes have appeared since the ban.
The poll found 14% of the 308 adults surveyed continued to buy menthol cigarettes on sale illegally from local retailers while 11% opted to quit smoking altogether. 31% of smokers who responded said they had switched to or increased consumption of non-menthol cigarettes. While 20% said they had switched to or boosted their use of either menthol or non-menthol electronic cigarettes.
Deborah Arnott, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health, said: “It’s just laughable for Philip Morris International to suggest that smokers are likely to make their cigarettes more dangerous by adding menthol. Cigarette smoke is hot, toxic and carcinogenic, sticking to the inside of smokers, lungs and blood vessels and causing carnage throughout.”
Source: Express, 16 July 2020
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On Wednesday 15th July ASH launched a paid-for advertising campaign, Today is the Day, funded by the Department of Health and Social Care in local authorities with particularly high smoking prevalence. The Today is the Day campaign builds on the Quit for Covid message, looking ahead to recovery from the pandemic and helping build population health resilience as we head towards winter.
The campaign was launched alongside news that over a million people have quit smoking during the pandemic.
A new Today is the Day Communications Toolkit is also available for all local authorities and partners wishing to engage with the campaign. For more information, email [email protected].
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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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