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** 23 April 2021
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** UK
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** Should smoking in pub gardens be banned? 'I don't want someone to spark up when I'm eating' (#1)
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** Treasury to look at public health spending (#7)
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** International
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** US: California study finds raising tobacco age of sale reduces 'daily' smoking (#2)
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** Opinion piece: Pandemic stress smoking should not detract from Big Tobacco's huge challenges (#3)
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** US: What US Supreme Court took away from the FTC, Congress can give back (#4)
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** Links of the Week
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** ASH Briefing for local authorities: Pavement licenses and smoking (#5)
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** Job opportunities - Partnership Manager, Research Associate (Data Science) at University of Bath STOP tobacco industry watchdog (#6)
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** UK
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As the reopening of pubs in England on 12th April 2021 has ignited calls for smoking to be banned in outdoor areas outside pubs such as in gardens and on pavements, Berkshire Live asked its readers what they thought of a mooted ban.

The over 1,000 comments received by Berkshire Live were mixed. Some supported a ban, with comments arguing that non-smokers should not have to put up with inhaling smoke in areas that, given current restrictions, both must share. Others felt that a ban would be unfair on social smokers who want to smoke in outdoor areas socially.

Many commenters called for a designated outside area for smokers, particularly given the number of children exposed to smoke in outside areas.

Source: Get Reading, 23 April 2021

See also: BBC Radio Berkshire - Deborah Arnott, Chief Executive of ASH, discusses pavement licenses ([link removed]) (from 2:58:28)
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Read Article ([link removed])


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Councils are facing increased scrutiny from central government over public health spending following concerns raised to ministers at a meeting of the House of Lords’ Public Services Committee on 22nd April 2021.

Ministers were pressed at the meeting on concerns over the level of the public health grant for the current financial year and the impact of funding before the pandemic on public health teams’ preparedness for the crisis. In response Chief secretary to the Treasury Steve Barclay said it was important to look not just at the ‘quantum’ of the public health grant, but also ‘data that shapes and enables effective challenge from the Treasury and the centre as to how effectively that’s being spent’.

He said his ministry would be looking at ‘whether the public heath grant can be, in certain areas, more effectively spent’. He told peers: ‘The National Audit Office reports local authorities where they were spending similar sums were often getting very different outcomes from that spend’.

Also giving evidence to the committee, local government minister Luke Hall said other, unringfenced funding for councils should be taken into account and that councils have 'more money than they are spending to respond to the COVID pandemic’. He added that the finance settlement was ‘frankly much better than most people thought it was going to be’ and had headed off requests for exceptional support in many cases.

Source: The MJ, 22 April 2021
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** International
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** Researchers at UC Davis have found that a California law passed in 2016 raising the age of sale for tobacco products from 18 to 21 has been associated with a greater decrease in smoking amongst 18 to 20-year-olds in California than 21 to 23-year-olds.

The prevalence of ‘daily’ smoking among 18 to 20-year-olds went from 2.2% in 2016 to nearly 0% in 2019. However, the study did not find a decrease in non-daily smoking. Researchers explained that this might be because ‘daily’ smokers are more likely to buy their own cigarettes and so more likely to be impacted by sales restrictions.

There was also no associated decrease in ‘ever’ or ‘current’ smoking patterns. Explanations for this include pre-existing declines in smoking nationwide, enforcement challenges at the state level and increased use of alternatives such as e-cigarettes that were still classified by the study as smoking.

Source: Mirage News, 23 April 2021
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Amidst research showing more people have been smoking since the COVID-19 outbreak in countries throughout the world, Big Tobacco companies such as British American Tobacco (BAT), Philip Morris International (PMI) and Altria still face significant difficulties.

This week the Biden administration threatened to cut nicotine levels in cigarettes so that they’ll be less addictive. And cigarette use overall remains on a long-term decline, with analysts at Jefferies predicting that in many markets there could be no smokers in 10 to 20 years. Global cigarette volumes likely fell about 3% last year (excluding China and travel retail sales, which collapsed), broadly in line with the downward trend of the last five years.

Big Tobacco is increasingly moving to less harmful alternatives to tobacco, but there are still many questions over how much safer products such as heated tobacco are. Investment in these products carry risks for Big Tobacco companies that make the future of the industry unclear at best.

Source: Bloomberg, 23 April 2021
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** The US Supreme Court voted by 9-0 on Thursday 22nd April to end the practice allowing the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to force scammers and companies that act deceptively to return their ill-gotten gains. The court rules in favour of a criminally convicted payday lender who challenged the FTC.

The FTC, which enforces antitrust law and investigates deceptive practices, had been successful in returning $11.2 billion (£8 billion) to consumers over the past five years. It had forced companies such as Volkswagen Group of America to pay back $5 billion (£3.6 billion) and Yellowstone Capital to pay back more than $9.8 billion (£7 billion).

With this ruling, the FTC can still go after such companies but the process is elaborate and resource-intensive, said former FTC chairman William Kovacic. The agency would now have to first win an administrative process and then go after monetary relief in a district court proceeding to return gains. One such case involving Figgie International took 12 years to resolve. The bar for the Government to win such cases is also higher.

Frustrated members of Congress have turned to legislation to protect the functions of the FTC, considering a bill to allow the FTC to seek ‘’equitable relief’’ for violations of the law that it enforces.

Source: Reuters, 23 April 2021
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** Links of the Week
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Following calls for the introduction of smokefree pavement licenses after the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions for outside eating and drinking areas, this 2020 ASH briefing, designed for local authorities, provides information on how local authorities can designate Smokefree pavement licences and why they are an important public health measure. Find the briefing below.

Examples of councils which have already introduced a Smokefree condition include North Tyneside, Newcastle and the City of Manchester. See below for details. If you know of any other authorities with Smokefree conditions for pavement licences please send details to [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) .

North Tyneside - Pavement License Business and Planning Act 2020 ([link removed])
Newcastle - New pavement cafes to be smokefree ([link removed])
City of Manchester - Terms and conditions of a pavement license ([link removed])
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Read Briefing ([link removed])


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STOP, the University of Bath’s internationally recognised global tobacco industry watchdog, is recruiting for two new positions. You can find the link to these positions below.

The Partnership Manager is a fixed-term role in which the successful candidate manages and coordinates the fast-paced, responsive, and impactful work of STOP with its partners. Applications close on 09th May 2021.

The Research Associate (Data Science) is a fixed-term role in which the successful candidate helps to collect and analyse large data sets and write up the findings for peer-reviewed paper, blog pieces and webpages. Applications close on 09th May.
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For more information email [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) or visit www.ash.org.uk
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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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