Category Archives: Smoking

Australian teenagers urge government to help them break vaping addiction

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Submissions to the TGA include comments from 13-19-year-olds who want restrictions in place to help them with nicotine addiction

Teenagers have urged the Australian government to help them break their nicotine addiction, submissions to a major consultation on vaping reforms reveal.

A submission to drug regulator the Therapeutic Goods Administration from South Australia’s commissioner for children and young people, Helen Connolly, included comments from some of the 950 teenagers aged 13-to-19 surveyed by her office about vaping.

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Tobacco-linked organisations and executives fail to declare interests to TGA vaping inquiry

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Known links to tobacco multinationals and vaping lobby groups omitted in submissions to federal government consultation on reform

Organisations and executives with known links to big tobacco and vaping companies have failed to declare them in submissions to a major government consultation on vaping reforms aimed at protecting children from nicotine addiction.

The submission of the Australian Association of Convenience Stores (AACS) chief executive, Theo Foukkare, to the Therapeutic Goods Administration’s vaping reforms consultation on behalf of the AACS states “no” in response to the question: “Have you or your organisation ever received services, assistance or support (whether monetary or non-monetary in nature) from the tobacco industry and/or e-cigarette industry?”

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‘Shocker’: health experts condemn Nationals proposal to relax vaping laws

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David Littleproud says retailers should be permitted to sell nicotine e-cigarettes without a prescription to customers 18 and over

The Nationals proposal to address skyrocketing youth vaping rates by relaxing laws to allow retailers to sell the products to adults is “a shocker,” the president of the Australian Medical Association, Steve Robson, has said, while other health experts have criticised the proposal for being aligned with big tobacco.

On Tuesday Nationals leader David Littleproud told the ABC that retailers should be allowed to dispense nicotine vaping products, but that sales should be limited to people 18 and over, and attractive packaging marketed to children should be banned.

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Tighter import bans on e-cigarettes expected in bid to tackle ‘explosion in illegal vaping’

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TGA to deliver recommendations to the government on how to curtail rise in vaping rates, particularly among young people

Australia’s drug regulator is expected to recommend sweeping import bans on vaping products, as new research shows young people who use e-cigarettes are much more likely to go on to smoke regular cigarettes than those who don’t.

This week the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) will deliver its recommendations to the government on how vaping laws should be changed to tackle rising vaping rates, particularly among young people.

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UK ambassador to Yemen took part in opening of Jordanian cigarette factory

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Michael Aron praised facility part-owned by British American Tobacco at ribbon-cutting event in 2019

A UK ambassador took part in the opening ceremony of a Jordanian cigarette factory part-owned by British American Tobacco (BAT) and praised the new facility in a televised interview, in the latest example of British diplomats breaching strict guidelines against mixing with the tobacco industry overseas.

The envoy stood at the ribbon as it was cut and later appeared in promotional material on the tobacco company’s website, but no record of his presence at the event was kept by the British embassy in Amman because the event was not considered a “formal meeting”.

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Queensland to hold inquiry into health risks of e-cigarettes amid concerns some contain toxic chemicals

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More knowledge needed about whether vaping is a ‘stepping stone’ to smoking and to raise awareness of harmful effects among youth, premier says

The Queensland parliament will hold an inquiry into the health risks, use and prevalence of e-cigarettes, amid concerns that some vaping products marketed as “nicotine free” actually contain the addictive chemical.

Queensland laws allow the sale of nicotine-free vaping devices in tobacco shops. E-cigarettes containing nicotine are only available with a prescription.

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Criminalising nicotine vaping in Australia could cause ‘further harm’, drug experts warn

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Prohibitionist approach risks fuelling the black market, worsening health outcomes and sending people to jail unnecessarily, experts say

The criminalisation of nicotine vaping risks “unintended consequences” including fuelling the black market, causing worse health outcomes and even potentially putting people in prison when we should be trying to keep them out, the Australian Alcohol and other Drugs Council (AADC) says.

It is an offence in all states and territories to supply a nicotine vape to someone without a prescription, and to either possess or use one without a prescription.

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Tobacco companies to be billed for cleaning up cigarette butts in Spain

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Ruling is part of a package of measures designed to reduce waste and increase recycling

Tobacco companies are to be forced to foot the bill for cleaning up the millions of cigarette ends that smokers discard every year under new environmental regulations in Spain.

The ruling, which comes into force this Friday, is part of a package of measures designed to reduce waste and increase recycling. It includes a ban on single-use plastic cutlery and plates, cotton buds, expanded polystyrene cups and plastic straws, as well as cutting back on plastic food packaging.

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New Zealand passes world-first tobacco law to ban smoking for next generation

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The country is believed to be the first to implement an annually rising legal smoking age

New Zealand has introduced a steadily rising smoking age to stop those aged 14 and under from ever being able to legally buy cigarettes in world-first legislation to outlaw smoking for the next generation.

Associate health minister Ayesha Verrall said at the law’s passing on Tuesday: “Thousands of people will live longer, healthier lives and the health system will be $5bn better off from not needing to treat the illnesses caused by smoking, such as numerous types of cancer, heart attacks, strokes, amputations.”

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Australian government to crack down on nicotine e-cigarettes as rates of teen vaping skyrocket

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Exclusive: Guardian investigation finds many children do not know they are consuming highly addictive nicotine in vapes until it is too late

So many Australian children are now addicted to nicotine from vaping that the federal health minister, Mark Butler, will propose reforms aimed at curtailing the e-cigarette industry.

Many children do not know they are consuming the highly addictive chemical until it is too late, experts say.

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New Zealand smoking rates fall to lowest on record, but vaping on the rise

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Overall smoking rate falls to 8% as country pursues goal of becoming smoke-free by 2025, but many may be switching to vaping instead

The number of people smoking in New Zealand has fallen to a historic low, as the country pushes forward with ambitious plans to wipe out smoking in a generation.

Data released on Thursday showed the number of people smoking daily had fallen to 8%, the lowest rates since records began, and down from 9.4% last year.

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China bans fruity vapes – but not their export to the UK

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Popular disposable brand will still be able to sell products in Britain, despite being accused of flouting advertising regulations

China has banned the sale of flavoured e-cigarettes as part of a wide-ranging crackdown on the industry. The new rules mean vapes that have flavourings other than tobacco – such as those that taste fruity or sweet – cannot be sold on the domestic market.

But they can still be manufactured in China to be shipped around the world, including to the UK, where Chinese-made brands such as Elfbar, known for its range of flavoured disposable vapes, are popular.

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Behaviour adviser urges English schools to crack down on pupils’ vaping

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Headteachers say more children are using vapes, forcing them to take action to tackle the problem

The government’s school behaviour adviser has called on headteachers to crack down on vaping among pupils, calling it “a huge health hazard” and an “enormous distraction”, amid reports that more children are using the devices, including some of primary age.

Tom Bennett said vaping was now as big an issue in schools as cigarettes once were, with children becoming “addicted to the practice and the chemicals involved”.

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Juul to pay $440m after years-long investigation into teen vaping

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E-cigarette company, whose products are blamed for a surge in youth vaping, also faces new marketing restrictions

The electronic cigarette maker Juul Labs will pay nearly $440m to settle a two-year investigation by 33 states into the marketing of its high-nicotine vaping products, which have long been blamed for sparking a national surge in teen vaping.

William Tong, the Connecticut attorney general, announced the deal on Tuesday on behalf of the states plus Puerto Rico, which joined together in 2020 to investigate Juul’s early promotions and claims about the safety and benefits of its technology as a smoking alternative.

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Child vaping risks becoming ‘public health catastrophe’ in UK, experts warn

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There are fears that the e-cigarette boom has the potential to create a generation of young people hooked on nicotine

Lindsey Smith’s son was 14 when he bought his first vape. Engrossed in videos of YouTubers making “ghost puffs” with the vapour, he decided he wanted to try it for himself.

At first he would spend hours trying to copy the strangers online – sitting in his bedroom and practising exhalation techniques to create the ghost-shaped clouds he was seeing on his screen.

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Juul can keep selling vaping products as it appeals ban, FDA says

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Regulators say ‘scientific issues’ warrant further review of its decision to bar products from sale in US

The Food and Drug Administration will continue to allow Juul to sell its products while the vaping company appeals a recent ban, the agency said on Tuesday.

The FDA wrote on Twitter that there were “scientific issues” warranting additional review of the agency’s ruling last month, which ordered the company to remove its e-cigarettes from the US marketplace.

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FDA ban on Juul e-cigarettes temporarily halted

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The company requested the hold while it appeals the sales ban which would have required it to immediately halt its business


Juul can continue to sell its electronic cigarettes, at least for now, after a federal appeals court on Friday temporarily blocked a government ban.

Juul filed an emergency motion earlier Friday, seeking the temporary hold while it appeals the sales ban.

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FDA to order Juul to take e-cigarettes off the market in the US – report

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FDA had delayed decision in September as it weighed the public health impact of the products

The US Food and Drug Administration is preparing to order Juul Labs to take its e-cigarettes off the market in the United States, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Shares in the tobacco giant Altria Group, which owns a 35% stake in the maker of vaping products, fell 8.5% following the report. The decision could come as early as Wednesday, the Journal report said.

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Written warning on every cigarette in Canadian world-first

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‘Poison in every puff’ message proposed amid government concern photo warnings on tobacco packages have lost impact

Canada is poised to become the first country in the world to require that a warning be printed on every cigarette.

The move builds on Canada’s mandate to include graphic photo warnings on tobacco products’ packaging, a policy that started an international trend when it was introduced two decades ago.

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England going smoke-free by 2030 depends on No 10 willpower

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Analysis: The question is not what is in the Khan review but whether its recommendations will be implement

• Plan to raise smoking age to 21 to be unveiled amid cabinet splits

While much has been made recently of the danger posed by soaring obesity levels, tobacco remains the biggest public health threat the world has ever faced.

Despite its risks being known for decades, 1.3 billion people globally still use tobacco products. They kill 8 million people every year, and more than one million of whom die from exposure to second-hand smoke.

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