Home / Media Room / News / ASH Daily News / ASH Daily news for 06 September 2010

ASH Daily news for 06 September 2010

HEADLINES

  • Letter to the Editor: Under-age smokers

    Below is a Letter to the Editor, published in The Times.  Leading charities urge the Government to put children at the heart of public health policy.

    Sir, We urge the Government to put children at the heart of public health policy. If it gives the green light to legislation already on the statue book it will protect children by putting tobacco products out of sight in shops and removing vending machines.

    Tobacco displays are a form of advertising and the more teenagers are exposed to displays the more likely they are to take up smoking. Ireland, Iceland and Canada have already taken action with successful results. The tobacco industry has made specious claims about this policy, but its predictions have not been fulfilled in the countries that have taken this step.

    Smaller retailers will have until October 2013 to implement this measure, which is well beyond the expected duration of the current economic downturn.

    Vending machines are the easiest way for children to buy cigarettes, and under-age smokers use them more than adults. It is inconceivable that an age-restricted product like fireworks could be bought without a face-to-face transaction, and cigarettes should be no different. 100,000 people still die from smoking each year in the UK.

    Given that more than 80% of smokers start before they are 19, we needs to do everything we can to make sure underage smoking keeps fallin. We urge the Government to resist pressure from those who make money from tobacco.

    HARPAL S KUMAR
    Cancer Research UK

    DEBORAH ARNOTT
    ASH

    DR HAMISH MELDRUM
    British Medical Association

    NEIL CHURCHILL
    Asthma UK

    PETER HOLLINS
    British Heart Foundation

    RALPH BERNARD
    British Lung Foundation

    SIR RICHARD THOMPSON
    Royal College of Physicians

    PROFESSOR STEVE FIELD
    Royal College of General Practicioners

    Times paywall subscription required

    Source: The Times, 06 September
    Link:

  • Anti-smoking group dismisses claims cigarette display ban would increase tobacco smuggling

    Health campaigners have dismissed fears that a ban on displaying cigarettes in shops would increase smuggling as “tobacco industry scare tactics”.

    In December last year the Government announced plans to force shop owners to store all tobacco products under the counter.

    They believe it will curb teenage smoking.

    But tobacconists, including Kirklees councillor Mohammed Sarwar, say it will ruin their trade and encourage smokers to buy counterfeit and illegally imported cigarettes.

    Clr Sarwar said: “Cigarette sales are going down already as people buy them from somewhere else, maybe the black market.

    “We don’t want a ban on the displays, it will affect small shops.

    “Supermarkets can cope without it as they’re getting sales on other products.”

    Last month a new survey by the Tobacco Retailers Alliance found that almost three-quarters (72%) of corner shopkeepers in Yorkshire and Humberside believed a ban on tobacco gantries would increase the number of smokers getting tobacco from the black market.

    The findings come as the new coalition government considers whether to revoke the display ban legislation agreed by the previous government in 2009.

    Health Minister Andrew Lansley has expressed concern that the move would not reduce youth smoking following claims that smoking rates in Canada rose following a display ban there.

    John Abbott, the Yorkshire Spokesman for the Tobacco Retailers Alliance, said: “There is a huge black market in tobacco in this country, and that really affects tobacco sales in small shops like mine.

    “Putting tobacco under the counter will make smokers feel like they’re doing something illegal when they buy tobacco from a shop.

    “If they think that, they might as well get it from a smuggler who sells it at half the price I can.

    “Retailers like me ask customers for ID if we think they are under-age, but the criminals who sell smuggled and counterfeit tobacco aren’t bothered and will sell tobacco to anyone.”

    But John McClurey, former North of England President of the National Federation of Retail Newsagents, described information circulated by the tobacco industry as “scare tactics”.

    Mr McClurey said he had been to Ireland where a display ban had been in place since July 2009.

    He said: “I was amazed at how enthusiastic Irish retailers were.

    “Complying with the legislation had not been expensive and sales to adults haven’t been affected.

    “Displays aren’t really aimed at existing smokers – after all nine out of ten smokers know what brand they want before they come in and the rest will make their decision largely on price.”

    A spokesman for Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) said international evidence showed that smuggling did not increase following a cigarette display ban.

    He said: “As in the UK, Ireland has a long-standing problem with tobacco smuggling and the trend in duty paid cigarettes remains unchanged.

    “Similarly, Canada has had a long-term problem with tobacco smuggling and manufacturers have sought to blame the tobacco display ban.

    “In fact, the two have proved to be unrelated and tobacco industry sources recently reported that Canadian sales of duty paid cigarettes have increased by 20% as the illicit market has fallen.”

    Source: Huddersfield Examiner, 04 September 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/dnAhIA

  • Roll your own tobacco breaks £1bn barrier

    The UK market for roll-your-own tobacco is now worth £1bn a year after sales rose almost a fifth in the past year.

    Retail sales of RYO tobacco hit a new high of £1.026bn in the 12 months to July, according to data from AC Nielsen.

    RYO sales rose 19% by value and 16.5% by volume over the period. Volumes have now shown double-digit rises three times in the past five years.

    “This is a significant milestone for the RYO market,” said a spokesman for Imperial Tobacco’, whose brands include Golden Virginia and Drum. “We are proud that Golden Virginia continues to lead the market, accounting for around half of this figure.”

    Overall tobacco sales in 2009 stood at £11.3bn.

    Source: The Grocer, 03 September 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/bqir13

  • Smoking role in inflammation explained

    Smoking shuts off a key enzyme in airways that regulates the body's response to inflammation, U.S. researchers say.

    The study, published online in Science Express ahead of print in the journal Science, finds smoke inhibits the enzyme -- Leukotriene A4 Hydrolase. The shutdown means white blood cells are not stopped after successfully responding to inflammation.

    University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers identified a previously unknown substrate of LTA4H -- proline-glycine-proline. PGP recruits neutrophils -- white blood cells -- that rush to the scene and attack the cause of the inflammation. When the job is over, LTA4H shuts off PGP and ends the body's neutrophils response.

    "We found, however, that cigarette smoke inhibited LTA4H, preventing it from shutting down PGP," J. Edwin Blalock said in a statement. "A continued presence of PGP means a continued response of neutrophils, a never-ending cycle that supports chronic inflammation."

    Blalock notes PGP is a biomarker for several lung diseases involving chronic inflammation including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and cystic fibrosis. Defining the role of PGP may have important ramifications for the design of new anti-inflammatory drugs.

    Source: UPI, 06 September 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/cFp1x8

  • Record sales of smokers' pensions

    Smokers and people with weight problems are buying a tailored pension income in greater numbers, according to research.

    Enhanced annuities provide bigger pensions for those with serious medical conditions or lifestyle choices that might lower their life expectancy.

    Now sales of these annuities reached record highs at the start of the year, pension consultants Towers Watson said.

    They rose by 41% in the first half of 2010 compared with the previous six months as people shopped around.

    The Towers Watson research showed enhanced annuity sales in the UK rose to £1.26bn in the first half of 2010.

    Sales hit records of £582m in the first three months of the year, and £676m in the second quarter, the figures show.

    "The continued growth of the enhanced annuity market has a number of ramifications," said Andy Sanders, senior consultant at Towers Watson.

    "For those lives that do not qualify for an enhancement, average expectations of life are longer and need to be reflected in lower levels of pension income offered.

    "Providers, whether active in the enhanced annuity market or not, need to carefully assess the mortality assumptions in their pricing to suitably reflect the expectations of life of the consumers seeking their products," he added.

    An annuity is a policy that gives people a guaranteed pension income.

    Anyone who has built up capital in a personal pension policy during their working life can convert it into a regular pension income for the rest of their life.

    Enhanced annuities, also known as impaired life annuities, account for about a third of annuities sold in the open market in the UK, Towers Watson said.

    Source: BBC News, 02 September 2010
    Link: http://bbc.in/c7AyeH