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** 14 December 2020
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** UK
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** Shopkeeper caught with illicit cigarettes and tobacco behind the counter (#1)
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** Profile: Dr June Raine (#2)
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** International
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** Pakistan: Survey reveals strong support for tobacco control measures (#3)
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** UK
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** A shopkeeper who was caught with illicit tobacco behind the counter tricked a man into taking on his store in a bid to distance himself from the crime, officials have revealed. The shopkeeper was given a suspended 12-week sentence, ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work, and to pay a contribution of £1,000 towards prosecution costs at Lincoln Crown Court for possession of counterfeit and incorrectly labelled tobacco product.
After initially receiving a written warning from Lincolnshire Trading Standards in October 2017, the suspect went to extreme lengths to distance himself from the shop to try and avoid getting caught. The Bourne shopkeeper hoodwinked a Polish man, unable to read or write in English, into taking on the shop by signing various leases and business documents. The man believed he was merely renting a room on the property.
When Lincolnshire Trading Standards investigated the shop, they found 5,740 illicit cigarettes and 750g of illicit hand rolling tobacco behind the counter and seized. As a consequence the business has now been closed down.
Source: Lincolnshire live, 12 December 2020
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** Dr June Raine is the current chief executive of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) which recently approved the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. Dr Raine was a key figure at the MHRA when it licensed nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) for harm reduction in 2010. This BBC Radio profile discusses more about her life, character and career.
Source: BBC Radio Sounds, 12 December 2020
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** International
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** The Studying Tobacco Users of Pakistan (STOP) survey has found that 66% of the smokers surveyed reported a desire to quit and 28% had attempted to quit at least once in the last twelve months, but these attempts were often short-lived and unsuccessful.
The survey found that 98% of smokers were in support of tobacco control measures with at least 94% indicating strong support for at least one of the proposed measures including a ban on smoking, taxation, smoke-free cars, and increasing the age of sale for tobacco to 21. The authors recommend that the government introduce a levy on cigarettes to raise revenue which can be spent on health priorities such as smoking and COVID-19.
In Pakistan, 19.1% of adults consume tobacco contributing to around 160,000 deaths per year. The tobacco industry has influence on policy making, the study authors said.
Source: The Nation, 14 December 2020
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