ASH Daily News for 13 May 2008

No ifs, and certainly no butts

The following is an extract from an opinion peice in The Independant: "Claire Beale on Advertising"

If you are a smoker you will have noticed the Adbins that are popping up outside businesses to help them avoid fines of up to £2,500 for cigarette litter. The Adbins are for all those fag butts and, as you might expect in a society where very little escapes commercial exploitation, the bins carry advertising.

Now Saatchi & Saatchi has leapt upon the Adbin medium for its client Quit, the stop-smoking charity. What better place to post an anti-smoking message than at point-of-disposal? The ad shows a set of lungs, transparent in the middle so that you can see all the discarded cigarette ends inside the bin. Quite disgusting, and guaranteed to take the edge off smoking in the sunshine.

Source: The Independant, 12 May 2008
Link: http://tiny.cc/KNYZO

Wine sales up post smoke ban

A survey of wine lists at venues across the UK has shown that many are not giving customers enough choice. A poll of 500 sites by CGA, on behalf of the Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA), revealed that wine sales have risen 13% since the smoke ban, mainly due to 58% of hosts seeing a uplift in food sales post ban.

The trade body said that operators need to capitalise on the growing popularity of the product. The survey found that 57% of sites have a wine list with 10 or less wines, with just 12% offering a choice of more than 25 wines. Over half of all venues (52%) don’t offer sparkling wine or Champagne – a figure which rises to 69% in the north-east. And brands that consumers are familiar with, like Stowells of Chelsea and Blossom Hill, account for more than 20% of wine sales. White wine is the most popular category, according to 79% of pubs. Pinot Grigio is the best selling wine style.

“This research show that changes in the marketplace are creating opportunities for wine producers and there is clearly the scope to offer new and different wines to consumers and in particular a wider range of sparkling wines,” said WSTA chief executive Jeremy Beadles. "While the smoking ban and the current trading environment have obviously caused serious difficulties for bars and pubs the increase in food availability will create new and interesting openings for wine."

Source: The Morning Advertiser, 9 May 2008
Link: http://tiny.cc/pHJQc

Tobacco display ban could cost retailers £252 million

The ACS (Association of Convenience Stores) has submitted to the Department of Health detailed estimates of the potential costs to a convenience store retailer of implementing a tobacco display ban.

It is estimated that the new equipment required to safely remove tobacco from customers view could cost the convenience industry as much as £252 million. The minimum a single store could expect to pay is £1,850 but this could rise to as much as £4,985 depending on the detailed requirements in any regulation.

ACS Chief Executive James Lowman said: “What we have found is that changing tobacco displays will bring significant and damaging costs to convenience stores. As the picture becomes clearer about what the likely harm to business will be, we have still not seen the convincing evidence that a ban would have the desired effect on underage smoking. If the costs are high and the benefits not clear then the Government should not press ahead.

“We have looked at international comparisons and worked with members to arrive at an analysis of costs, although we have only considered the costs of removing the equipment and replacing it. If you consider the cost of upheaval and loss of trade during any changeover the actual cost may be much more. Some of the big issues we cannot yet cost accurately include the shortage of equipment, materials and labour to change tens of thousands of shops, as well as the likely disruption to trade during any changeover".

ACS has also called upon the Department of Health to produce evidence that would suggest a display ban is effective in reducing smoking rates among young people. Evidence ACS has collated from other countries, including Iceland and Canadian states, is not conclusive and in some cases even shows an increase in the smoking rates among young people. 

The Department of Health will shortly be releasing a consultation on the next steps in tobacco control. The consultation forms part of the wider Cancer Strategy and Ministers have already indicated that display bans will feature in their thinking. Mr Lowman continued: 'This Government has to contemplate the possibility that the display ban is a bad idea that won't have the desired effect. Rather than causing this level of disruption they could usefully target their attention on measures that will make a real difference. What we have made clear is that we believe that targeting proper interventions at bootleggers who sell tobacco on the streets and making it illegal to buy tobacco and supply it to an under 18 are both far more likely to change behaviour.”

Source: Retail Bulletin, 10th May 2008
Link: http://tiny.cc/zYMlY

Japan: Smokers to face age test

A Japanese company is developing a vending machine that counts wrinkles and skin sags to check a smoker's age. It plans to use face recognition technology to prevent anyone under the legal age of 20 buying cigarettes. From July, vending machine companies could be prosecuted if tobacco is sold to anyone under the legal limit. Purchasers who failed a digital camera "age test" would need to show the machine an ID card to establish they were legally allowed to smoke.

The Fujitaka company system compares facial characteristics including bone structure, sags and crow's feet against a record of more than 100,000 people. Spokesman Hajime Yamamoto told Reuters: "With face recognition, so long as you've got some change and you are an adult, you can buy cigarettes like before. The problem of minors borrowing identification cards to purchase cigarettes could be avoided as well".

The company says the system gets it right in nine out of ten cases. The remaining 10% would be sent to a "grey zone for baby-faced adults" where they would be asked to insert their driving licence or identification card.

Japan has 570,000 tobacco vending machines. The country's finance ministry has already given permission for an age-identifying smart card and a system to read the age from driving licences. But it has yet to approve the face-identification method owing to concerns about its accuracy.

Underage smoking has been on the decline in Japan, but a 2004 survey showed 14% of boys and 4% of girls aged 17 and 18 smoke every day.

Source: BBC News, 12 May 2008
Link: http://tiny.cc/7K4fk

US: New guidelines for treatment of tobacco dependence released

The U.S. Public Health Service released an updated version of the clinical guidelines for treating tobacco dependence. Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence: 2008 Update contains strategies and recommendations designed to guide doctors and other medical professionals to help smokers quit. The guidelines, updated for the first time since 2000, call attention to the need for clinicians to understand that there are multiple effective treatment options for tobacco dependence. The guidelines emphasise the benefits of group and individual counselling sessions and the use of medications in helping smokers to be successful in their quit attempt.

There is also new evidence of the need to consider tobacco use as a chronic disease and to treat it as such through multiple interventions. The guidelines highlight the need for tobacco dependence treatment strategies to be integrated into the health care system as there is new evidence that health care policies, such as insurance that covers tobacco dependence treatment as a benefit, impact the likelihood that smokers will receive effective treatment and successfully quit smoking. 

Tobacco use remains the world's most preventable cause of death, claiming the lives of 438,000 Americans each year and millions more globally. Smoking accounts for at least 30 percent of all cancer deaths and 87 percent of lung cancer deaths. It is associated with an increased risk of at least 15 types of cancer.

"There are 45 million smokers in the U.S. and 70 percent of them say they would like to quit smoking," said John R. Seffrin, Ph.D., chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society. "This updated clinical guideline on the treatment of tobacco dependence provides physicians and other health care providers, administrators and insurers, and smokers themselves, with clear, useful information on how to stop smoking and stay tobacco-free. It is critical that clinicians utilize these guidelines to stay current on the latest information that will help their patients to quit and to do so successfully. The Society is proud to endorse this important resource in the fight to reduce tobacco use."

Source: Medical News Today, 12 May 2008
Link: http://tiny.cc/MzXjB