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Glasgow gift card ban on tobacco “not possible”, say officials
Around £9m of Scottish Government funding is being used to provide Scotland Loves Local Gift Cards to 84,500 households who qualify for council tax reduction.
The cards, expected to be worth £105, can be used in hundreds of shops - including on alcohol - but councillors had initially agreed to exclude the purchase of tobacco products.
However, officials have now reported the restriction isn’t possible as the programme is designed nationally.
“As most food retailers also sell tobacco, the intended benefits of the scheme would not be deliverable if these businesses were excluded,” a report stated.
Council staff will work with Scotland’s Towns Partnership to ensure “messaging to participating businesses is done in a way that discourages the spending of gift cards on tobacco”.
Attempts to prevent tobacco sales had been brought forward by the city’s Conservative group, and were accepted by council leader Susan Aitken, who said the party had originally wanted to stop people using the card to buy alcohol too.
Source: Glasgow Evening Times, 20 June 2022
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UN climate talks end in acrimony and accusations of betrayal
Rich countries led by the US and the EU were accused of betraying poorer nations over the issue of finance to combat climate change, after two weeks of tense UN climate talks in the German city of Bonn ended acrimoniously.
The fraught discussions marked the first major UN climate meeting since the COP26 summit in Glasgow last year, with global negotiators laying the groundwork for an agreement at the COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh this November.
But observers said the meeting, characterised by infighting, stalling and political game-playing, had rendered the talks disappointing. The unsatisfactory outcome ratcheted up pressure on the Egyptian host country to engender consensus in the five months ahead of COP27, they said.
The frustration of UN secretary-general António Guterres with the lack of progress in Bonn was evident as he lashed out at the fossil fuel industry for deploying “the same scandalous tactics as Big Tobacco”. It had invested in “pseudoscience and public relations — with a false narrative to minimise their responsibility for climate change”, he said in a speech on Friday.
Source: Financial Times, 17 June 2022
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US: Smoking bans no longer a threat to casino revenue
For decades, it was accepted wisdom in the casino industry that eliminating smoking would automatically lead to revenue declines and customer losses.
But a new report examining how the coronavirus pandemic has changed gamblers' habits says that may no longer be the case.
The report issued on Friday 17th June by Las Vegas-based gaming consultancy firm, C3 Gaming, comes as several states, including New Jersey, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania, are considering banning smoking in casinos.
The consultancy firm says its report was done independently and was not financed by any outside party.
It notes that the pandemic changed several key aspects of the casino experience, including the elimination of daily housekeeping in many places, closing of buffets and an end to room service — all of which customers have become used to. It suggests smoking will be the next such change to be accepted.
The report stated: “Data from multiple jurisdictions clearly indicates that banning smoking no longer causes a dramatic drop in gaming revenue . In fact, non-smoking properties appear to be performing better than their counterparts that continue to allow smoking.”
Source: ABC News, 17 June 2022
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Australian schools install vape detectors inside bathrooms to alert teachers to children who are vaping
Schools across Australia are installing silent vape detectors to alert teachers to students who are vaping in bathrooms.
The new technology triggers a silent alarm system that emails alerts to teachers, who then lock students inside the bathroom so they can check them for vapes.
St Bede's College in Mentone, Melbourne, is one of the schools that has implemented the latest vape-detecting technology.
Deputy principal Mark James told the Herald Sun, “Of course staff don't want to be checking the toilets, but we try and do everything in our power to stop the kids from engaging in activities that are harmful to themselves.”
One Year 12 student said his peers had become concerned about the use of the new technology and feared they would be accidentally locked inside the bathroom even if they weren't carrying contraband.
It is illegal to vape or smoke on school grounds in Australia, or for businesses to sell vapes to people under 18 years old.
Source: Daily Mail, 20 June 2022
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