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Cigarette butts: how the no 1 most littered objects are choking our coasts
As part of the Guardian’s “About Seascape: the state of our oceans” series, exploring “dramatic changes taking place in our oceans, and the innovations under way to tackle them”, journalist Ashifa Kassam discusses the immense impact cigarette littering is having on coastal and ocean life.
Kassam highlights the sheer volume of cigarette littering, with an estimated 4.5tn tobacco filters littered each year, according to the UN, who describe cigarette butts as “the most discarded waste item worldwide”.
The “particularly potent” plastic filters used in over 90% of commercial cigarettes may be the most harmful cigarette component littered, as the plastic and microplastic is broken down by sunlight and carried into oceans and waterways where it is mistaken for food by ocean animals.
Kassam highlights recent legislation to combat cigarette litter in Spain which “allows local councils to ban smoking on their beaches and impose fines of up to €2,000 (£1,700).” 550 of the country’s more than 3,000 beaches have been made smokefree. However, with the northern region of Cantabria in Spain recently dropping the ban on smoking along its coast, Kassam cites a Spanish lawmaker: “It’s a pity. It’s always like that. You take a step forward, but of course you always have to keep on fighting.”
Source: The Guardian, 18 August 2022
See also: ASH - Tobacco and the Environment
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Gambling giant Entain could lose UK licence after record £17m fine
Entain, the gambling firm behind Ladbrokes and Coral, could lose its licence to operate in the UK after it was told to pay a record £17m settlement over its inaction as individual customers spent hundreds of thousands of pounds.
The Gambling Commission highlighted multiple failings in Entain’s online and high street business, all of which occurred after the government announced a review of gambling laws that has led the industry to promise to improve controls to tackle addiction and prevent money laundering.
The “completely unacceptable” incidents, which triggered Entain’s second regulatory settlement in three years, included carrying out just one chat interaction with a customer who spent long periods gambling in the middle of the night over 18 months, depositing £230,845.
In a series of other incidents, customers lost hundreds of thousands of pounds, without being subjected to checks on their source of funds.
The failings took place as the industry lobby group, the Betting and Gaming Council, was publicly pushing back against proposals designed to prevent vulnerable people incurring punishing losses, such as strict affordability checks.
A gambling white paper, containing an array of similar reforms aimed at tightening up laws governing the £11bn-a-year industry, was due to be published in June but has been delayed, while the Tory party chooses a new leader.
The commission’s regulatory settlement with Entain includes terms forcing the company to implement an “improvement plan” to tighten up controls designed to prevent money-laundering and tackle gambling addiction.
Source: The Guardian, 17 August 2022
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Northwest Territories has the highest tobacco tax in Canada again
Canada’s Northwest Territories (N.W.T), are again charging the highest rate of taxes on cigarettes in the country.
This month, the territorial government increased the tax on cigarettes by approximately 13%, meaning people will pay about four cents more in tax for each cigarette they buy, for a total of 34.4 cents of tax.
The tax rate on loose tobacco is rising higher, increasing by almost 74%. People will pay 21 cents more in tax per gram of loose tobacco, for a total of 47.3 cents in tax — meaning the taxes for a 200-gram tin will go from $54.40 to $94.60.
N.W.T. Department of Finance spokesperson Matthew Mallon said the goal is to use high taxes as a way to change the behaviour of residents and discourage tobacco use. It also makes more funding available for public programs and services.
Denzie Hurst, a health promotions officer with the N.W.T. government said: "Evidence shows that increasing tobacco taxes and price is just the single most effective — and cost-effective — way of reducing tobacco use”.
"It's not only an incentive for people to quit because they're going to save a ton of money, but it's also going to prevent those youth from starting."
Source: CBC News, 17 August 2022
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Over 400,000 Dutch smokers invited to get screened for lung cancer
About 400,000 Dutch smokers and former smokers in three regions will receive an invitation to participate in an experimental population screening for lung cancer in the coming months, the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam announced. This experiment will focus on smokers and former smokers between the ages of 60 and 79, as lung cancer is most common in this age group.
Doctors have asked for a population screening for lung cancer for years because the disease is much more treatable if detected early. A 2020 study found that early detection with a CT scan can reduce mortality by 25 percent or more in smokers and ex-smokers. In the Netherlands, that amounts to 1,500 to 2,500 fewer lung cancer deaths per year.
Lead researcher Carlijn van der Aalst said “Only three out of a hundred people are still alive after five years if the tumor is discovered at a late stage. At an early stage, that is still about 60 out of 100”.
This experimental population screening will take place in the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Italy, and France and target Dutch residents in Amsterdam, Bilthoven, and Friesland.
Source: NL Times, 17 August 2022
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