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Glasgow: Nearly £100,000 worth of illicit cigarettes seized in police raid
More than 211,000 cigarettes and 4.6kg of hand rolling tobacco were found in a property in the Govanhill area of the city on Tuesday during a joint raid from police and officers from Glasgow City Council Trading Standards. The estimated cost of the cigarettes is £90,000.
Police sergeant Lynn Donnelly of Gorbals Police Office said: “We work closely with our partners to deter such criminality. I would encourage anyone with information about illegal cigarettes or tobacco within the local community to contact Glasgow City Council Trading Standards, Police Scotland […] or Crimestoppers anonymously online or by [phone].”
Source: STV News, 27 October 2022
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US study: Smoking and vaping had overlapping adverse health effects, dual product use may be worse
Two related studies, one in humans and the other in rats, have reported that cigarettes and e-cigarettes have similar biomarkers of cardiovascular disease. This is according to new research published today in the American Heart Association’s peer-reviewed journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology (ATVB). The studies examined the impact of smoking and vaping on arterial flow-mediated dilation (FMD), which is the ability of the blood vessels to widen and is an indicator in the development of cardiovascular disease.
In the rat study, they found that blood vessel dilation was reduced after use of cigarettes and e-cigarettes, with the extent of the reduction ranging from 20–46%. The researchers suggested that blood vessel damage does not appear to be caused by a specific component, rather it appears to be caused by a common irritation response that triggers a vagus nerve-dependent mechanism that leads to blood vessel damage.
The second study involved 120 humans who either smoked, vaped or did not smoke or vape. They found blood from tobacco smokers had higher levels of certain circulating biomarkers of cardiovascular risks, and the blood from e-cigarette users had elevated levels of other circulating biomarkers of cardiovascular risks.
Source: ScienMag, 26 October 2022
See also - Impairment of endothelial function by cigarette smoke is not caused by a specific smoke constituent, but by vagal input from the airway | Chronic e-cigarette use impairs endothelial function on the physiological and cellular levels
Editorial note: The human study shows that blood vessel function is impaired, both in people who smoke and in people who vape, compared to people who do neither. However, most of the people who vape in the study are likely to be ex-smokers (as that is the main reason why people take up vaping) so it is not possible to say what the contribution of vaping by itself is. It is important to note that blood vessel function has been shown to improve when people switch from smoking to vaping. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6928567/. The recent evidence update on vaping published by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) found that people who vape have “significantly lower exposure to harmful substances” associated with cardiovascular disease than smokers and concluded that “in the short and medium term, vaping poses a small fraction of the risks of smoking.” More studies are needed to establish the health impact of vaping in the longer term.
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Altria enters joint venture with Japan Tobacco to sell heated tobacco products
Altria, the cigarette maker behind the Marlboro brand in the US, has launched a joint venture with Japan Tobacco in its latest push into the market for “smokeless tobacco”. The partnership in heated tobacco will give Altria a fresh chance to gain a foothold in the $28bn smokeless tobacco market after several unsuccessful attempts.
Altria will invest $150mn in the joint venture Horizon Innovations, and will hold a 75% stake. Japan Tobacco will have a 25% stake. Previous efforts by Altria include e-cigarette brands MarkTen and Green Smoke, which Altria abandoned in 2018 citing sluggish sales. Subsequently, Altria took a 35% stake in the e-cigarette manufacturer Juul Labs, which has since had its products banned by the US Food and Drug Administration and is facing possible bankruptcy. This month, Altria also exited a partnership with Philip Morris that gave it US commercialisation rights for IQOS, a line of heated tobacco products and e-cigarettes. PMI paid $2.7bn to regain the rights.
Source: Financial Times, 27 October 2022
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Parliamentary questions
PQ1/2: Electronic cigarettes
Asked by Andrew Rosindell, Conservative, Romford
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential merits for children's health of increasing the level of fines for underage sales of vaping products. View transcript.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of UK Vaping Industry Association guidelines on (a) packaging, (b) labelling and (c) flavour names guidelines on limiting the appeal of e-cigarettes to (i) people who have never smoked and (ii) young people. View transcript.
Answered by Dr Caroline Johnson, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Health and Social Care
We have no plans to make a formal assessment of the UK Vaping Industry Association’s guidelines. However, we are considering the recommendations made in ‘The Khan review: making smoking obsolete’, including measures to prevent young people and non-smokers from starting to vape.
No assessment of the potential merits of increasing the level of fines for underage sales of vaping products has been made. Under the regulations, if an individual is found guilty of selling nicotine inhaling products to a young person under 18 years old, they may be fined up to £2,500. A business found to be repeatedly selling nicotine inhaling products to children could receive a Restricted Sales Order or a Restricted Premises Order from the court.
Source: Hansard, 25 October 2022
Asked by Andrew Gwynne, Labour, Denton and Reddish
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department plans to take steps to achieve a smoking-free target by 2030. View transcript.
Answered by Dr Caroline Johnson, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Health and Social Care
We are currently considering the recommendations made in ‘The Khan review: making smoking obsolete' and further information will be available in due course.
Source: Hansard, 27 October 2022
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Ministerial appointments
Neil O’Brien OBE has been re-appointed as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department of Health and Social Care.
Maria Caulfield has been appointed as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department of Health and Social Care, as well a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Women), in the Department for International Trade.
A Public Health Minister has not yet been appointed.
To see the full list of ministerial appointments, follow here.
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London Tobacco Alliance – New website and socials
The London Tobacco Alliance’s new website is also now live, where you can get join the alliance and sign-up for their newsletter. You can also follow them on Twitter and LinkedIn.
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Let’s talk e-cigarettes podcast – new episode
Professor Jamie Hartmann-Boyce interviews Dr Leonie Brose, Reader in Addiction Education and Nicotine Research at King's College London, who discusses the findings of a randomised controlled trial with Dr Markos Klonizakis and the team at Sheffield Hallam University on the medium- and longer-term cardiovascular effects of e-cigarettes in adults making a stop-smoking attempt.
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New Health Foundation analysis: Public health underspend starves England's most deprived areas of vital services
A new analysis by the Health Foundation reports public health funding has been cut by 24% on a real-terms per person basis since 2015/16 with some of the largest reductions in spend over this period made to stop smoking services and tobacco control. The analysis demonstrates the stark consequences of these cuts, which have been greatest in the most deprived communities.
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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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