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Health fears for Stockton youngsters as 'entrepreneur' pupils caught selling vapes to peers
Concerns about Teesside youngsters using e-cigarettes have been raised following reports that pupils have been caught selling them to peers outside school gates. This is despite the sale of e-cigarettes to under 18s being illegal in the UK.
Stockton Council’s Health and Wellbeing Board heard how health officials were working on vapes at the moment. The Board also discussed the importance of continuing to promote vapes as a smoking cessation tool whilst ensuring young people do not get hold of them illegally. Stockton’s smoking cessation service has a “stop and swap” service - to provide a refillable e-cigarette kit to people trying to quit with sufficient liquid to last 12 weeks.
Stockton Trading Standards teams have reported seizing more than 3,000 illegal vapes in the past year.
Cllr Steve Nelson, cabinet member for health, leisure and culture added: “You look at the way some of these vapes are being marketed - and the names of them - and they’re being marketed in the names of sweets. They’re literally being targeted at children.”
Source: Gazette Live, 28 July 2022
Editorial note: The article contains a quote from Cllr Ann McCoy saying: “We know from many reports some young people are vaping who may not have even taken up smoking.” ASH/YouGov Smokefree GB survey data of 11-18 year olds shows that use of e-cigarettes remains largely confined to current or former smokers in 2022. The overwhelming majority, 92.2% in total, of 11-17 year old never smokers have either never used an e-cigarette (83.9%) or are not aware of them (8.2%). Of 11-17 year old never smokers, 7.5% have ever tried an e-cigarette. This includes 5.6% who have tried e-cigarettes once or twice, 0.9% who use them less than weekly, and 0.5% use e-cigarettes more than once a week.
See: ASH factsheet - Use of e-cigarettes (vapes) among young people in Great Britain
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East London restaurants fined £13k for letting people smoke inside
Three restaurants and bars in East London have been fined more than £13,000 in total after letting people smoke inside on multiple occasions. Environmental Health Officers discovered breaches of the smoke-free rules inside the venues during spot-check visits in late 2021.
Barkingside Magistrates' Court heard the three cases in which owners disregarded smoke-free laws in place for 15 years. Under the Health Act 2006, smoking tobacco or anything containing tobacco, or smoking any other substance, in enclosed or substantially enclosed premises is an offence.
Councillor Khayer Chowdhury, Ilford Council's cabinet member for crime, said: "These prosecutions send out a clear message that failing to operate a smoke-free venue will not be tolerated. And we will take tough and appropriate action against any business breaking the law or breaching the regulations. There are clear and strict rules to protect people from the dangers associated with smoking in public places, yet these premises decided to ignore the legal requirements placed upon them. This is an expensive lesson for all three premises concerned and will hopefully serve as a reminder to anyone who thinks they can flagrantly break the law."
Source: My London, 28 July 2022
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Scotland's drug deaths down for first time in eight years - but remain second highest on record
Scotland has recorded a tiny reduction in the number of people who have lost their lives to drug misuse. New stats from the National Records of Scotland show that the 2021 figure is 1,330 - a 1% fall. It was still the second highest annual total.
Figures for 2020 showed that 1,339 people died from substance misuse – the highest number on record in the country. The new figures show a fall of just 9 deaths. Of those who died from the misuse of drugs, 65% were aged between 35 and 54 years old and more than two thirds (70%) were men. Dundee City had the highest drug misuse death rate of all local authorities, with 45.2 deaths per 100,000 population from 2017 to 2021, followed by Glasgow City, with 44.4 and Inverclyde, 35.7.
The figures follow publication of a report from the Drug Deaths Taskforce which called for a cultural change and to end the discrimination around addiction. It made 20 recommendations with 139 specific actions to be taken by the Scottish and UK Governments. The recommendations include moving towards a care approach rather than a punitive one, and legislation on safe drug consumption rooms. David Strang, ex-chief constable of Lothian and Borders Police, echoed earlier calls for a "public health approach" to the crisis, with an emphasis on treatment rather than criminalisation.
Professor Roy Robertson, Fellow of The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, said: “It would be proper to see policy-makers engaged with educational and academic institutions as well as clinicians, and we’d like to see a strategy that could put addictions on the same footing as other major health departments. Alcohol, smoking, heroin and cocaine account for an incredible amount of health harms and deaths. The impact of gambling, recreational drugs and internet access to an expanding range of substances requires a formal long-term vision”.
Source: ITV News, 28 July 2022
See also: Daily record - Drug deaths in Scotland fall by one per cent but are still second highest ever recorded
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Scottish council staff vote to strike
Thousands of council workers across Scotland have voted to take strike action after rejecting a 2% pay offer.
On Tuesday, Unison announced that a majority of members in a number of council areas had responded in favour of striking following ballots at the beginning of summer, with nine local authority branches exceeding the required 50% turnout threshold required by the Trade Union Act.
Unions have warned that “waste will pile and schools will close” unless a better deal can be negotiated, with pay settlements for council workers being determined by COSLA.
Johanna Baxter, the union’s Head of Local Government said: “Most council workers earn less than £25k per year. It is clear now that local government workers have had enough and are prepared to strike in the coming weeks unless we see a sensible offer, from Cosla, on the table on Friday.”
Source: STV News, 26 July 2022
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Drinkers, smokers seek respite from gloom by trading up
Soaring inflation may have inadvertently led to an increase in demand from some consumers for ‘premium’ branded addictive products such as alcohol and cigarettes.
From British American Tobacco (BAT) to Tanqueray gin maker Diageo, cigarette and alcohol companies cited strong demand for high-end products when they reported results this week. Far from buying cheaper alcohol and tobacco, shoppers are instead reportedly trading up. Sales of luxury tobacco products – cigars, cigarillos and smoking tobacco – are expected to rise 7.5% to over $95 billion, according to Euromonitor.
British American Tobacco (BAT) has raised prices more than its competitors in some categories and is investing more in its high-end New Port and American Spirit cigarette brands, chief executive Jack Bowles said in an interview, adding that "consumers are sticking much more with their [cigarette] brands and that's why we didn't see downtrading. We see premium growing in a lot of places."
Source: Reuters, 28 July 2022
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Cytisine may prove a safe and effective smoking cessation therapy
Research published in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology shows cytisine may be a safe and effective smoking cessation therapy in lung cancer screening volunteers. Cytisine has been licensed and used for smoking cessation in Europe since the 1960s. Current FDA-approved drugs for smoking cessation in the U.S. are varenicline and bupropion. In 2018, the Food and Drug Administration approved a trial in the United States to test the efficacy of cytisine.
Pastorino and colleagues randomised 869 current smokers—470 (54%) were assigned to the intervention arm including cytisine, and 399 (46%) were assigned to the control arm. The primary outcome was continuous smoking abstinence at 12 months, biochemically verified through carbon monoxide measurement.
At the 12-month follow-up, the quit rate was 32.1% (151 participants) in the intervention arm and 7.3% (29 participants) in the control arm. The adjusted odds ratio (OR) of continuous abstinence was 7.2 (95% confidence interval, 4.6 to 11.2). Self-reported adverse events occurred more frequently in the intervention arm (399 events among 196 participants) than in the control arm.
Speaking on the findings, lead author Dr. Pastorino, said: "The efficacy and safety observed in the SMILE RCT indicate that cytisine, a very low-cost medication, is a useful treatment option for smoking cessation and a feasible strategy to improve LDCT screening outcomes with a potential benefit for all-cause mortality."
Source: MedicalXpress, 28 July 2022
See also: Study - Cytisine therapy improved smoking cessation in the randomised SMILE lung cancer screening trial
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Parliamentary questions
PQ1: Electronic Cigarettes: Waste
Asked by Sarah Olney, Liberal Democrat, Richmond Park
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department (a) has made an assessment of the environmental impact of disposable vapes and (b) plans to introduce recycling schemes designed to reduce the amount of electrical waste produced by those products.
Answered by Steve Double, Conservative
The Department has not undertaken an assessment of the environmental impact of disposable vapes in the UK.
The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) regulations place obligations on producers of electrical products to finance the collection and treatment of those products when they become waste. This would include disposable vapes.
At present, consumers are able to dispose of their electrical waste at a local household recycling centre or via retailer take back channels, where these are available.
Cigarette butts are one of the most frequently littered items. In a recent survey commissioned by Defra, they accounted for 66% of the total number of litter items collected.
Source: Hansard, 27 July 2022
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Tobacco control strategy for Wales and delivery plan
The Welsh Government has published it’s new Tobacco Control Strategy. The strategy sets out the nation’s approach to delivering on its Smokefree 2030 ambition, announced in November 2021.
The strategy will be complemented by a series of delivery plans, focused on the following areas:
- Smoke-Free environments
- Continuous improvement and supporting innovation
- Priority groups
- Tackle illegal tobacco and the tobacco control legal framework
- Working across the UK
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Mental Health Foundation Chief Exec to lead Mental Health and Smoking Partnership
The Mental Health and Smoking Partnership, coordinated by Action on Smoking and Health, is delighted to welcome Mark Rowland Chief Executive of Mental Health Foundation as the new Co-Chair of the Partnership. The Mental Health and Smoking Partnership is a coalition of 25 organisations who aim to reduce the disparities in smoking rates between people with and without a mental health condition.
Mark will replace outgoing Co-Chair Rt Hon Prof Paul Burstow who helped to establish the Partnership in 2016 alongside leading addictions expert Prof Ann McNeill, King’s College London. Prof McNeill will continue as Co-Chair.
Mark will bring his wide range of expertise on mental health to support the work of the Partnership. Mark is a Non-Executive Director of the Foundation’s subsidiary, Mental Health at Work and sits on the Government’s National Suicide Prevention Strategy Advisory Group and on the Advisory Group for the Royal College of Psychiatry’s Public Mental Health Implementation Centre.
Mark Rowland, incoming Co-Chair, said:
“We need the public and policy makers to understand that smoking not only damages people’s physical health but also their mental health. There are also psychological and social dividends of stopping smoking on top of the physical benefits.
[…] Ending smoking for all will end needless suffering. However, this will not be achieved without a focus and understanding of the mental health implications nationally and locally. I am looking forward to playing my part in securing the changes needed to make smoking obsolete and deliver better mental health for all.”
Read the full announcement on the Smokefree Action's website here.
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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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