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New research from Imperial College London and University College London has found that smoking may lead to higher levels of isolation and loneliness. The study, published in The Lancet Regional Health Europe, found that smokers saw their social contact reduce over time and became less socially engaged than non-smokers. The study’s author, Dr. Keir Philip from Imperial's National Heart & Lung Institute, said that the findings help dispel the idea that smoking is a social activity.
The research used data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), with 8,780 people aged 50 or older in England assessed for their social isolation and loneliness over 12 years. The researchers found that current smokers were more likely to be socially isolated at the start of the study, for isolation to increase over time, and to live alone and have fewer social interactions with family and friends and less frequent engagement with community and cultural activities. This remained even when controlling for factors like age, sex, and socioeconomic status.
The authors proposed a number of factors for the findings, including physical and mental health problems amongst smokers limiting socialising, less social acceptance of smoking, and the expansion of smokefree legislation. Professor Nick Hopkinson, another study author from Imperial's National Heart & Lung Institute, said: "These findings are another reason for the government to press on with introducing the policies needed to achieve its ambition for a smokefree 2030. These include a 'polluter pays' levy on tobacco industry profits and raising the legal age for tobacco sales from 18 to 21 years."
Source: Medical Xpress, 5 January 2022
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Smokefree Sheffield has launched a new campaign to empower smokers to quit by reminding them they are ‘strong enough’ to quit. The campaign includes adverts across the city on buses, poster sites and social media.
Greg Fell, Sheffield’s Director of Public Health, said: “Smoking is an addiction and we must support people to break the cycle of addiction. Our message to smokers this new year is ‘you are strong enough to quit’, and if you’re ready, we have an outstanding local stop-smoking service, with advisors who will find the right way for you.”
Smokefree Sheffield also highlighted the financial benefits of quitting, saying doing so could see smokers get up to £5,000 back in their pockets each year. Mr Fell added that “January can be a hard time financially for a lot of people, but it is also a great time to make positive changes in your life. Quitting smoking not only improves health but also means people have more money to spend on other things, and that’s a great way to see instant rewards and benefits.”
Source: The Star, 5 January 2022
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Two Yorkshire men who led a 12-man gang that supplied northern England with illicit cigarettes worth £10 million have been made to pay back a chunk of their profits or face more time in prison. The two men were convicted of tax fraud and jailed at Sheffield Crown Court in 2021 having run a factory making illicit cigarettes that officials in 2015 said was the largest they had ever seen.
One of the men has been ordered to pay back £412,000 and the other £2,760 whilst confiscation proceedings against other members of the gang are ongoing. At the time in 2015, the factory discovered had more than 24 tonnes of tobacco inside along with 500,000 cigarettes. The produce was distributed to locations in the North East and South Yorkshire.
Source: Yorkshire Post, 5 January 2022
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Business secretary Kwasi Karteng has announced that Jan Du Plessis, former chairman of British American Tobacco (BAT) from 2004 to 2009, is the preferred candidate to be chair of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) accountancy regulator, more than 18 months after the last chair resigned.
Du Plessis, a British-South African businessman, was also knighted in the new year honours. As well as BAT, Du Plessis also worked for tobacco company Rothmans and controversial mining firm Rio Tinto. As the finance director for Rothmans, the company was complicit in cigarette smuggling for which it was later heavily fined in Canada. Whilst Du Plessis was at BAT, the company persisted with making cigarettes in Myanmar via a joint venture with the military dictatorship.
Source: Private Eye [print], 18 December 2022
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Research conducted by the Local Government Chronicle covering 50 councils has revealed that 68% are considering raising their council tax to the maximum amount allowed without a referendum, which would mean a 2.99% increase for upper and single tier authorities (1.99% for general council tax and 1% for social care) and 1.99% or £5 for district councils.
The analysis indicates that nine of the first 10 county councils for which information is available are set to raise council tax by the maximum level in 2022-23, with 86% of unitary councils examined proposing to do the same. All eight of the metropolitan districts that have announced their plans are proposing to raise council tax over the next financial year, but only three-quarters of them are proposing a maximum rise. Of the 12 district councils whose plans were available, all but one have proposed raising council tax next financial year, most by something approaching the maximum.
Source: LGC, 5 January 2022
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Spain has passed a law allowing localities to ban smoking on beaches and to fine offenders €2,000 (£1,672). The law, approved in the Spanish senate on December 23 having been introduced as an amendment by a green party, follows a government recommendation that municipalities promote smokefree beaches. The law is primarily aimed at reducing cigarette butt litter.
Source: The Times, 23 December 2022
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A survey conducted by the Beijing Municipal Commission of Public Health has found that the percentage of people over the age of 15 who smoke in Beijing has dropped to an all-time low of 19.9%. In the fourth major survey since the city passed a ban on indoor smoking in 2015, the figure is down from 20.3% in 2019, with 73,000 fewer Beinjingers now smoking, and down 630,000 since 2015. A further 19% of Beijingers say they want to quit versus 16.2% in 2019.
Despite these reductions, more than one in three men (36%) still smoke, but the figure is only 2.7% for women. Exposure to secondhand smoke in Beijing remains a significant problem despite the 2015 smoking ban, though rates of exposure have dropped from 40.4% in 2019 to 31.5% in 2021. Beijing restaurant owners contacted by The Beijinger said that there is little enforcement of the regulations, whilst polls show that secondhand smoke in the workplace remains a big problem.
Source: The Beijinger, 6 January 2022
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PQs 1&2: Tobacco: Sales and Regulation
Asked by Alexander Stafford, Rother Valley
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Office for Health Improvements and Disparities' investigation into possible breaches of the prohibition of characterising flavours in tobacco products, if the Government will make it its policy to remove from the market products found to be in breach of regulations; and what penalties companies found to be in breach of regulations will face.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Office for Health Improvements and Disparities' investigation into possible breaches of the prohibition of characterising flavours in tobacco products, for what reason the timetable for testing of selected tobacco products continues into early 2022; and which external organisations have been appointed to undertake that testing.
Answered by Maggie Throup, Public Health Minister
King's College London and Roswell Park were jointly appointed to undertake testing of a range of products to support the investigation into potential breaches of the prohibition of characterising flavours in tobacco products. Unfortunately, issues have arisen with the export of cigarettes to Roswell Park. The Department is working, including with the Food and Drug Administration, to resolve the issues and we hope to start testing in early 2022.
Source: Hansard, 6 January 2022
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