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Australia: Tobacco companies to clean up butts
Tobacco companies will be made responsible for cleaning up cigarette butts in South Australia under legislation to go before state parliament. The Greens will introduce a bill this year forcing cigarette manufacturers to clean up butts left in public places or face penalties if they do not comply.
Greens MP Robert Simms said the move would be a national first and comes after Spain introduced new rules making cigarette companies responsible for collecting discarded butts as well as transporting them for waste treatment.
Simms said on the bill: "Cigarette butts are harmful to the environment and hazardous to our health. It's time for big corporations like tobacco companies to be held to account for the damage they are doing to our environment." He added that butts were the most common items found during Clean Up Australia Day events and the annual cost of dealing with tobacco-related litter in Australia had been estimated at $73 million.
Source: Daily Mail, 11 January 2022
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US: New FDA campaign highlights mental health of teen smokers
While many anti-smoking campaigns focus on the long-term health consequences like an increased risk of cancer, the latest effort in the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) ongoing “The Real Cost of Smoking” campaign examines the immediate mental health consequences for young smokers. The ads are running nationally across TikTok, Snapchat and radio.
The 30-second “Auctioneer” campaign video shows a group of teens bidding for a pack of cigarettes by giving up a good night’s sleep, their ability to concentrate and their peace of mind - symptoms of anxiety that can be caused by cigarette cravings.
Kathy Crosby, director of the Center for Tobacco Products’ Office of Health Communication and Education, said: “Gen Z is very willing to engage in conversations about their mental health, so to introduce them to the science about nicotine withdrawal, cigarette cravings and anxiety is likely to resonate with them in a meaningful way.”
A second video, “Said Every Smoker Ever,” shows a teen claiming that she only smokes socially and will quit while she’s still young. But as she speaks, her words alternate between other voices, eventually showing a series of adults who got addicted. The ad notes that three out of four teens stay smokers, even if they want to quit.
Foote, Cone & Belding (FCB) creative director Gary Resch said: “Most young smokers live with the illusion that they can smoke casually and remain immune to the risks of nicotine addiction. This campaign flips that illusion into disillusionment by using the regretful voices of older smokers who were similarly in denial when they themselves were teens.”
Source: Tech Register, 11 January 2022
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Canada study refutes industry claims that ban on menthol cigarettes leads to increased use of illegal smokes
A new research study has found that banning menthol cigarettes does not lead more smokers to purchase menthol cigarettes from illicit sources, contradicting claims made by the tobacco industry that the proposed ban of menthol cigarettes in the US by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will lead to a significant increase in illicit cigarettes. The study was published in the journal Tobacco Control.
Researchers at the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Policy Evaluation Project at the University of Waterloo evaluated the impact of federal and provincial menthol cigarette bans in Canada by surveying smokers of menthol and non-menthol cigarettes before and after Canada’s menthol ban.
Smokers were asked whether their usual cigarette brand was menthol-flavoured and to report their last brand purchased. Those who were still smoking after the menthol ban were also asked where they last purchased their cigarettes. Results showed that after the ban, there was no significant change in the purchase of cigarettes from First Nations reserves, the main source of illicit cigarettes in Canada.
Dr Janet Chung-Hall, a research scientist for ITC and lead author of the new study said on the findings: “We can add the Canadian menthol ban to the long list of effective policies, such as graphic warnings and plain packaging, whose evaluation disproved the scare tactics by industry—showing that illicit trade did not, in fact, increase.”
Source: ScienMag, 12 January 2022
See also: Study - Illicit cigarette purchasing after implementation of menthol cigarette bans in Canada: findings from the 2016–2018 ITC Four Country Smoking and Vaping Surveys
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Written question
Asked by Liz Twist, Labour, Blaydon
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether it remains his Department’s policy to narrow the gap in healthy life expectancy between areas where it is highest and lowest by 2030.
Answered by Neil O'Brien, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Primary Care and Public Health
The ambition to improve healthy life expectancy by five years by 2035 and reduce the gap by 2030 remains Government policy. A significant proportion of ill-health is preventable. We are focusing on the major conditions which contribute to early mortality and reduce years of good health and factors such as smoking, poor diet and alcohol which disproportionately impact some communities.
The measures include the ambition for England to be smoke-free by 2030 and addressing obesity through working with the food industry to ensure it is easier to make healthier choices and to increase progress on the reformulation of foods. We will set out more information on plans to address health disparities in due course.
Source: Hansard, 11 January 2023
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