Stop Smoking Clinics Slashed – Remove Vaping From TPD Campaign – EU President Flagrant Breach Of Smoking Law – Study Shows Less Risk Of Lung & Heart Disease – JUUL Faces India Ban – JCB Does NOT Dig Vaping – BAT and McLaren and That Vape Shop Bungling Burglars Video!
UK Stop Smoking Services Slashed By Half
Due to Government cutbacks almost half of the UK’s NHS funded Stop Smoking Services have been closed.
A new report from ASH [Action On Smoking and Health] and Cancer Research UK [CRUK] says in particular smokers who are less well off and pregnant women are now at risk, whilst the gap between smoking rates of the rich and poor remains the same.
I’ll have a larger article on the study – A Changing Landscape: Stop smoking services and tobacco control in England – next week.
Kruti Shrotri of Cancer Research UK said:
Smokers in disadvantaged circumstances generally find quitting harder but are around three times more likely to quit successfully with the help of stop smoking services.
We can’t deny those most in need of vital help that could save their life.
Whilst this is worrying especially given health bodies such as Public Health England stress smokers looking to quit via vaping for instance will have greater chances of success by accessing these services.
However my article Smokers Turning Their Backs on NHS Stop Smoking Clinics shows exactly as the title suggests…
Call To Remove Vaping Products From The TPD!
One million signatures are required to get the European Union to formally consider removing vaping from the Tobacco Products Directive the much maligned TPD.
The call to action comes from a new group under the banner of ‘Let’s demand smarter vaping regulation!’ initiative‘ – EU initiatives are designed to get the EU to act on the wishes of Europeans but need public support with the deadline in 12months time.
The authors – seven vapers from various EU countries say:
We call on the EU Commission to repeal Article 20 of Directive 2014/40/EU and create bespoke legislation which clearly sets vaping products apart from tobacco & pharmaceutical products.
Something I think we can all agree and get involved with.
The meat and bones of the ‘initiative’ reads:
Remove Article 20 of Directive 2014/40/EU and replace with bespoke scientific, evidence-based legislation in line with the functioning of the internal market that distinguishes vaping products from tobacco & pharmaceutical products;
Ensure new legislation based on mandatory compliance with robust product quality, safety & manufacturing standards, together with responsible marketing practices that ensure youth protection;
Vaping policy should foster innovation and ensure smokers and vapers have clear information and access to tobacco-free less harmful alternative
Wise words indeed…
I’ve said it before – vape advocacy makes for strange bedfellows and this is the case here with Imperial Brands – makers of lit tobacco such as JP and vape product BLU – funding the initiative with a $10,000 donation.
The initiative will launch in April and I’ll make sure I’ll keep you all informed. In the meantime you can find out more HERE
Smoking Indoors – ‘One Rule For Them…’
Speaking of the EU and the curious case of it’s alright for him to smoke indoors but not the public…
It wasn’t just losing a couple of crucial Brexit votes last week that had UK Prime Minister Theresa May all runny eyed and gasping for breath…
In a meeting with her – the President of the EU Jean-Claude Juncker apparently chain smoked in a windowless room…
Like I said one rule for them one rule for us…
Thanks to the NNA’s excellent Dick Puddlecote for spotting this flagrant breach of the EU’s strict indoors no smoking policy…
Incidentally according to some reports whilst Belgium and Brussels has operated a strict indoors no smoking ban since 2007 enforcement is ‘weak’ to say the least…things that make you go ummmm…
New Study Shows Less Risk Of Lung or Heart Disease From Vaping
Scientists from PMI’s Switzerland based research lab the Cube say a 6 month long study shows there’s less risk of heart and lung disease from vaping… and that’s using e-liquids with or without nicotine.
Phillip Morris Inc – makers of Marlboro and IQOS – joined forces in the research with parent company Altria and say this is the first study of its kind and used mice as the ‘model’.
The results were released at the 58th Annual Society of Toxicology Meeting in Baltimore and a Dr. Julia Hoeng, PMI’s Director of Systems Toxicology said:
These results are a powerful addition to the evidence showing that switching to e-cigarettes is a much better choice than continuing to smoke.
This study truly is a landmark study, not just demonstrating the reduced toxicity and disease risk between e-cigarettes and cigarettes but also evaluating the role of nicotine and flavors.
PMI has spent over $6billion researching and developing smoke free products – the IQOS which is a heat not burn tobacco based device and the IQOS Mesh device that uses e-liquid.
India Ready To Dual It Out With JUUL
JUUL has been eying the Asian market for some time but any plans they may have had to launch in India might have to be put on the back burner.
However JUUL is most definitely in India according to an article by BuzzFeed who say some kits are selling for as much as $100 on the grey/black market – something I suggested might happen in America in my short story the Rise of the Vapesters…truth stranger than fiction!
In an exclusive story Reuters news agency say the Indian Health Ministry is calling for a complete block on the some might say controversial vape device.
However a spokesman for JUUL said whilst the Indian market was being considered there was no ‘definite’ plan.
On reading an earlier article about JUUL’s plans to target India, Health Secretary Preeti Sudan wrote to the government and said:
[the government should]…prevent entry of such products in our markets.
Novel products such as ‘JUUL’ are harmful and addictive and could potentially undermine our tobacco control efforts.
It is felt that the young generation would be particularly vulnerable to such products and gimmicks.
Despite close to a million deaths in the country from tobacco related illness the Indian Government is anti-vaping to say the least with many states banning or considering an outright ban on e-cigarettes.
JCB Bans Vaping and Smoking
JCB – the global giant of manufacturing construction machinery has banned vaping and smoking on all its sites in the UK.
The company who is the largest employer in Staffordshire made the announcement on last week’s No Smoking Day saying they were doing it to protect their employees health.
Staff can now seek advice to quit smoking from the occupational health team who says a company spokesman had been readying for the ban since January:
From March 13, 2019 – National No Smoking Day – all JCB premises in the UK will become smoking and vaping free as part of the company’s commitment to the health and well-being of employees.
In readiness for this, the company’s occupational health team has been working closely with colleagues since the beginning of 2019 to help them to quit smoking.
JCB has already provided more than 200 employees with free nicotine replacement patch kits and advice leaflets, as well as indicating where further support is available in their local community.
All very ‘worthy’ of them however I’m afraid it’s been proven for one nicotine patches don’t work…and for two there’s NO evidence of any harm from so called passive vaping…
I hope the NNA add JCB to their ‘wall of shame‘…unless of course the company wakes up and looks at the ‘digger picture’…ouch sorry…
BAT and McClaren Working For A Better Tomorrow
Formula One is back [Zzzz lol] and the World Health Organization is getting all revved up about Big Tobacco sponsorship of some of the big motor racing teams.
Whilst straight out lit tobacco branding is banned outright companies like BAT [British American Tobacco and our old friends PMI [Phillip Morris Inc] are now almost subliminally promoting their new vape products.
In the case of BAT it’s the logo ‘A Better Tomorrow’ – whilst with PMI it’s ‘Mission Winnow’.
A spokesman for WHO said:
WHO urges governments to implement their domestic laws banning tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship in the strongest possible ways.
This may include issuing penalties applicable under domestic laws and taking preventative action, such as by preventing screening of events that violate domestic laws.
However BAT’s Chief Marketing Officer Kingsley Wheaton said it was great news for the McLaren team and indeed the worlds vapers:
This is a global technology partnership with McLaren, with which to accelerate our Transforming Tobacco story.
That Transforming Tobacco story is about giving consumers alternative ways to enjoy tobacco and nicotine and gradually move them from combustible cigarettes to a new range of products. And we believe the outcome of that will be, for BAT and for our consumers, a better tomorrow.
McLaren has an applied technologies unit. What are they good at? Battery technology, aerodynamics, advanced materials. These are all things we need to be able to give our consumers more satisfying products.
Whilst we’ve had a few vape products that are styled around racing cars I’m very interested in particular of the idea of a McLaren and BAT battery for vape devices…
BAT currently produces vape brands: Vype – Vuse and VIP among others.
For the record the World Health Organization is as anti vaping as you can get…strange times we live in…
…and finally…Bungling Vape Shop Burglars Hunted!
I know burglary isn’t a laughable subject…but this one is…
Hapless or should that be idiotic thieves were caught on CCTV burgling a Canadian vape store and Bonnie and Clyde these two idiots ain’t!
They make such a complete hash of robbing the store the video has now gone viral – thanks in part to the wondrous commentary given by owner of the Flamingo Vape Shop Cam Rochon.
He told a local radio station in Winnipeg:
…thought we’d have some fun with it, make some jokes about them, because if you saw the footage, you can’t stop laughing.
As you can see the bungling bandits make a right hash of things at one point breaking a rubbish bin then filling it full of empty boxes that all fell out the bottom!
What makes me chuckle is yes they stole three expensive Purge mech mods…but they also took three SMOK kits lol…like I said they ain’t the sharpest knives in the block…
Cam is now offering a $2k reward for any information leading to the couples arrest.
