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ASH Daily news for 06 July 2010

HEADLINES

  • Sales of food, drink and tobacco increase across Europe

    Food, alcohol and tobacco retail trade volume, which accounts for 16%, 4% and 3% of household expenditure, increased from April to May across the EU; Finland, Denmark and the UK the most expensive member states.

    A report released July 5 by European Statistical site Eurostat revealed that the volume of retail trade across all 27 European Union member countries was up by 0.4% in May 2010 against May 2009.

    The data shows that when compared with May 2009, the countries experiencing the greatest increase in volume of retail trade in May 2010 were Denmark (+3.8%), Poland (+3.5) and Estonia (+ 1.7%).

    The volume of retail trade for food, drinks and tobacco rose on average 0.3% in the Euro area as a whole from April 2010 -May 2010, however comparisons between May 2010 and May 2009 show that the volume of retail trade of food, drinks and tobacco increased by 0.3% in the Euro area but declined 0.2% on average in the EU27.

    The EU statistical office estimates that spending on food, alcohol and tobacco accounts for 16%, 4% and 3% of household expenditure respectively. A report published by Eurostat on June 18 2010, found that Denmark is the most expensive country in the EU for food, and Finland the most expensive for alcohol. Tobacco is the most expensive in The United Kingdom and Ireland where various estimates place the average cost of a pack of cigarettes upwards of €7.50 (£6.30).

    The Euro area or zone is defined as being a collective of countries which use the Euro as their currency, and the EU 27 includes all countries that are part of the European Union, regardless of whether they have adopted the Euro or not. Euro Area countries are Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland. The additional 11 countries that make up the EU27 are, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia , Lithuania, Hungry, Poland, Romania, Sweden and the United Kingdom. 

    Source: The Independent - 05 July 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/cqWuRv

  • Canada shelves fruit-, candy-flavoured cigarettes

    Canada is pulling flavoured cigarettes and cigars off store shelves today to discourage children and youth from picking up the habit.

    The legislation makes it illegal for retailers to sell cigarettes, cigarillos and blunt wraps which contain specific additives or flavourings aimed at youth.

    Prime Minister Stephen Harper says the government is committed to protecting youth from "unscrupulous marketing practices by the tobacco industry."

    He is calling on tobacco producers and retailers to respect the spirit of the legislation, as well as its legal obligations.

    The Canadian Cancer society is applauding the tough new law, calling it the "best legislation in the world restricting flavoured tobacco."

    The society says tobacco products flavoured with candy, ice cream and fruit flavours can be a trigger for kids who would never otherwise start smoking.

    Retailers have had the past nine months to remove the flavoured products from their shelves. Store owners now caught selling the flavoured tobacco products will be subject to potential enforcement action, including fines.

    The cancer society's senior policy analyst, Rob Cunningham, says the law will protect kids from picking up a smoke and will also encourage more adults to quit.

    "It is simply wrong to be having an addictive, deadly product that has flavours like peach or mint or cherry or chocolate," he said. "It is wonderful that these products will be off the market.

    The anti-tobacco legislation was passed into law in October 2009 after receiving support from all political parties.

    While some tobacco manufacturers may try to find loopholes within the new legislation, Cunningham said federal health minister Leona Aglukkaq has promised to deal with any attempts to get around the law.

    According to Cunningham, the ban on flavoured cigarettes and cigarillos is an important step forward for public health, and is particularly significant for teens.

    He added however that more needed to be done to amp up anti-smoking initiatives for youth.

    He pointed to a Statistics Canada survey conducted for Health Canada showed teen smoking from 15 to 19 year-olds had decreased from 20 per cent in 1999 to 15 per cent in 2008, but has since been stalled.

    "In terms of youth we have made important progress in the last decade, but it has been stalled in recent years," he said.

    "We have a lot more to do."

    Source: CTV News - 05 July 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/cqvdQa

  • Smoking causes 8,000 deaths yearly in Wisconsin, study says

    Nearly 8,000 people die every year in Wisconsin because of smoking-related causes, according to a new study called The Burden of Tobacco.

    The study, released on the eve of the statewide smoking ban, was conducted by the University of Wisconsin Tobacco Surveillance and Evaluation Program, the American Cancer Society, and the Wisconsin Division of Public Health's Tobacco Prevention and Control program.

    Every day, two people die from smoking-related causes in Milwaukee. Almost 15% of the deaths in the city were caused by smoking, the study estimates.

    Milwaukee has one of the highest proportions of smokers, with almost one in four people in the city smoking, compared with about one in five, or 19.6%, for the state as a whole. In nearby Ozaukee County, one in seven people smokes.

    "There is still a major problem with tobacco in the state of Wisconsin," said Maureen Busalacchi, executive director of SmokeFree Wisconsin.

    The habit is costing the city about $300 million in health care costs, according to the study. People who are ill or die early because of smoking-related diseases cost the city an additional $174 million dollars in lost productivity. To put that in perspective, that's as if every man, woman, and child in the city was paying $500 to offset the costs of smoking every year.

    "Because we live in fairly segmented communities, many people don't realize anymore that tobacco use continues to be the leading preventable cause of death in the state and nation," said David Ahrens, a UW-Madison researcher and an author of the study.

    To calculate the death rate, the study compiled statistics on illness and disease with survey reports of smoke exposure on the national level. Several studies have correlated the air concentration of cigarette smoke with the increased odds of negative health effects, Ahrens said.

    A tenth of the deaths due to smoking are caused by secondhand smoke, and half a million people in the state are exposed to smoke on a regular basis through their jobs, Ahrens said. That number will go down with the statewide smoking ban that takes effect Monday.

    The ban will definitely reduce the deaths from secondhand smoke, Ahrens said.

    But it will likely also improve the health of smokers as well, he said. In other places that instituted a ban, many people use the restrictions as an impetus to quit, he said. Even die-hard smokers will light up less when they can't do it at work, Ahrens said.

    "They can't go outside eight to 10 times a day and smoke," he said.

    Tom Bachhuber, a doctor at the Sixteenth Street Community Health Center in Milwaukee, sees the effects of smoking every day. He can't wait for the ban to take effect.

    "A lot of our patients are restaurant workers, and they're dancing," Bachhuber said. "I just see roses here, it's going to be good for everybody."

    Source: JS Online - 02 July 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/carPOk

  • France: Cigarette price cut 'a scandal'

    Taxes on cigarettes could be increased further to retaliate against a price cut by manufacturers that comes into effect today.

    British American Tobacco has announced it is dropping the price of a pack of 20 cigarettes in France from €5.50 to €5.30 for two of its brands, Rothmans and Lucky Strike.

    Rolling tobacco manufacturer Drum is also cutting prices today, down from €7 to €6.65.
    Health Minister Roselyne Bachelot said she was shocked by the move, which the government has no power to stop.

    She said she was determined that efforts to prevent people smoking would not be beaten by a price cut. She told RTL: "The only means I have is to increase taxes on tobacco."

    Anti-smoking group the Office Français de Prévention du Tabagisme said the price cut was a "health scandal" and would "attract new smokers, especially young people and women".

    According to the Observatoire Français des Drogues et des Toxicomanies, 29% of adults in France smoke regularly and another 5% occasionally.  

    Source: The Connexion - 05 July 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/dlgkKr

  • Smoking link has stigmatised lung cancer victims, claims new survey

    Lung cancer patients are stigmatised because of the disease's link to smoking, according to a survey.

    Up to 29 per cent of people polled for the Global Lung Cancer Coalition said they felt less sympathy for lung cancer sufferers because of its association with tobacco.

    This was especially true in the nations with the lowest smoking rates, the Ipsos MORI survey of 16,000 people in 16 countries found.

    Dr Matthew Peters, chairman of the Global Lung Cancer Coalition, said: "This research supports what we have suspected for a long time - lung cancer carries a noteworthy stigma.

    "You simply do not see this type of blame culture with any other disease.

    "Lung cancer is the biggest cancer killer in the world. No one deserves lung cancer."

    The report found significant variation in attitudes in different countries.

    Nearly a quarter - 24 per cent - of Brits said they felt less sympathy for lung cancer patients while the figure for Australia was 29 per cent. But just one in 10 people in Argentina felt that way.

    Source: Daily Record - 05 July 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/a71yep

  • Cuba curbs tobacco harvest as cigar sales fall

    Cuba has been forced to cut its tobacco harvest in response to a fall in demand for its famous Cuban cigars.

    This year's harvest of tobacco leaves is down 14% on last year, according to one of the country's state-run newspapers, Guerrillero.

    "There was a reduction in planting due to limitations on resources caused by the economic crisis," the report said.

    Sales of Cuban cigars fell by 8% last year, while production has fallen even further.

    Falling sales have pushed down production by even more. Last year, Cuba produced 73 million cigars for export.

    That compares with the 217 million made in 2006.

    But part of that reduction comes as Habanos, the company that produces and sells the cigars, runs down its stockpiles.

    The hand-rolled cigars are a major export for the Caribbean island, although they are limited by a long-running US trade embargo.

    Spain is the single biggest export market, where the recent introduction of a smoking ban has hit consumption.

    Falling airline passenger numbers has also hit duty-free sales.

    Source: BBC News - 05 July 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/bHIZPE