View this email in your browser ([link removed])


** 16 August 2022
------------------------------------------------------------


** UK
------------------------------------------------------------


** Fire crews believe Birmingham Broad Street blaze started by poorly discarded cigarette (#1)
------------------------------------------------------------


** International
------------------------------------------------------------


** Australia: Cancer experts ask Victorian MPs to ban smoking in Crown casino’s high-roller rooms (#2)
------------------------------------------------------------


** Malaysia: Decriminalise smoking, vaping and possession of smoking products under GEG bill, says think tank (#3)
------------------------------------------------------------


** US: E-cigarette use to reduce cigarette smoking may not increase nicotine dependence (#4)
------------------------------------------------------------


** Southern states named least healthy in the US (#5)
------------------------------------------------------------


** UK
------------------------------------------------------------


** Fire crews believe Birmingham Broad Street blaze started by poorly discarded cigarette

A fire which broke out in a 42-storey building on Broad Street, Birmingham is thought to have started because of a "carelessly disposed of cigarette".

West Midlands Police said the fire, which happened on Sunday 14 August, occurred in a void area between the buildings Lee Longlands, a furniture store, and The Mercian, a new build multistorey office and apartment block.

Smoke could be seen rising from The Mercian, which suffered the most damage. Almost 200 residents in the Mercian apartments had to be evacuated and put up in temporary accommodation while fire crews checked for hotspots.

Fire crews carried out checks in both buildings throughout the night before allowing residents to return this morning.

West Midlands Fire Service said: "A single female resident self-presented to West Midlands Ambulance paramedics at the scene with smoke inhalation but was discharged at the scene.”

"There were no other reported casualties."

The Fire Service added: "The cause was determined to have been careless disposal of a cigarette into a void area, which then ignited a rubbish fire that spread to the Mercian building."

Source: ITV News, 15 August 2022
------------------------------------------------------------
Read Article ([link removed] )


** International
------------------------------------------------------------


** Australia: Cancer experts ask Victorian MPs to ban smoking in Crown casino’s high-roller rooms

------------------------------------------------------------


** The “high-roller rooms” at Victoria’s Crown casino remain the only enclosed venues in the state where smoking is allowed, but cancer experts have urged state politicians to vote to remove the casino’s longstanding exemption from secondhand smoke laws.

Legislation was introduced earlier in August to tackle gambling-related harm and money laundering at the venue, following the Finkelstein Royal Commission ([link removed]) which looked into the company’s suitability to hold its casino license. The reforms also include a ban on smoking in Crown’s high roller rooms, aligning the casino with those in other jurisdictions including Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory.

Smoking was banned in all other enclosed licensed pubs, clubs, bars and gaming rooms in Victoria in July 2007. Health experts have been calling for the high-roller rooms at Crown to be subject to the same ban ever since.

More than 15 years later, the chief executive of Cancer Council Victoria, Todd Harper, said politicians had another opportunity to do the right thing when the lower house considers the legislation on Tuesday. If it passes it will still need to go through the Legislative Council.

“Employees in Victoria’s bars and clubs have been able to work in a safe, smoke-free environments … so it is disappointing that Crown employees have had to wait so long for similar protections,” Harper said on Tuesday.

“I ask all members of parliament to support the protection of Crown employees from the harms of secondhand tobacco smoke.”

Source: The Guardian, 16 August 2022
------------------------------------------------------------
Read Article ([link removed] )


** Malaysia: Decriminalise smoking, vaping and possession of smoking products under GEG bill, says think tank
------------------------------------------------------------


** A think tank in Malaysia, The Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy, has urged the Parliamentary Special Select Committee (PSSC) reviewing the tobacco generational endgame (GEG) bill to remove Clause 17 of the legislation.

The clause criminalises smoking, vaping and the possession of any tobacco products or smoking devices by those born in 2007 and onwards.

The thinktank’s chief executive officer Azrul Mohd Khalib said the law should instead put the burden on retailers, companies and corporations to not sell or supply tobacco and vape products to the GEG generation.

He said: "Clause 17 makes the proposed legislation vulnerable to accusations of selective prosecutive, creates stigma and discrimination and marginalises a group of people who will need support and assistance.” […]

"The legislation should ensure that it is an offence to legally sell or supply tobacco or vape products to those born from Jan 1, 2007. It should not criminalise individual possession or usage. This is the approach taken by New Zealand through its Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Bill. We should do the same.”

Azrul stressed that anyone addicted to nicotine has the right to be treated equally under the law, with compassion and dignity.

Therefore, he said the GEG bill should not be allowed to disproportionately affect young people, people from low-income groups and vulnerable populations.

Source: New Straits Times, 15 August 2022
------------------------------------------------------------
Read Article ([link removed] )


** US: E-cigarette use to reduce cigarette smoking may not increase nicotine dependence
------------------------------------------------------------


**
------------------------------------------------------------


** New research from the Penn State Centre for Research on Tobacco and Health, suggests e-cigarettes may help people decrease dependence on combustible cigarettes without increasing overall nicotine dependence.

520 participants interested in reducing their cigarette intake but with no plans or interest to quit smoking were instructed were randomly assigned an e-cigarette that delivered 36, 8, or 0 mg/mL of nicotine, or a cigarette substitute that contained no tobacco and instructed to reduce their normal cigarette usage by 50%, compensating the reduction with their substitute or e-cigarette.

Participants self-reported their cigarette and e-cigarette dependence at one, three and six months using validated measures of dependence. Urine samples were also collected throughout the study to measure cotinine, a biomarker for nicotine exposure.

At six months, all participants in the e-cigarette groups reported significant, decreased cigarette consumption, with those in the 36 mg/mL group smoking the least number of cigarettes per day. Those in the e-cigarette groups reported significantly lower dependence than those in the cigarette substitute group.

E-cigarette dependence did not significantly change throughout the study, with the exception of participants in the 36 mg/mL group who saw significant, increased dependence over the course of the study, yet still much lower when compared with cigarette dependence.

Whilst the 36mg group showed the highest e-cigarette dependency at 6 months, urine cotinine levels remained consistent across all groups for the duration of the study, suggesting that there was no increase in overall exposure to nicotine during the study.

Source: Medical Xpress, 15 August 2022

See also: Nicotine & Tobacco Research - Changes in Nicotine Dependence Among Smokers Using Electronic Cigarettes to Reduce Cigarette Smoking in a Randomized Controlled Trial ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
Read Article ([link removed] )


** Southern states named least healthy in the US
------------------------------------------------------------


**
------------------------------------------------------------


** NiceRx, an online pharmacy platform has gathered data on obesity, smoking rates, exercise levels and diet from 49 of 50 US states to generate a “health score” for each, rating the overall health of each state from zero to ten.

Southern states such as Mississippi (1.46 health score), Alabama (2.08) and Kentucky (2.15) achieved the lowest overall health scores, whilst western states including Washington (8.4), Utah (7.94) and Colorado (7.68), as well as northeastern states such as Massachusetts (8.36), Vermont (7.94) and Connecticut (7.82) achieved the highest.

The report considered nine factors in generating health scores for each state: obesity rates, cigarette use, life expectancy, searches for fitness classes, number of adults that exercise regularly, binge drinking rates, how often residents ate fruits and vegetables and the number of survey respondents that self-reported having “excellent health”.

Mississippi was found to have the highest rate of obesity in the country, with 39.7% of residents being dangerously overweight. Mississippi is followed by nearby West Virginia (39.1% of the population is obese), Alabama (39% ) and Louisiana (38.1%).

The same states find themselves among those with the highest rate of cigarette use as well - West Virginia (23.8% of adult residents use cigarettes), Kentucky (23.6%), Louisiana (21.9%), Mississippi (20.4%), Arkansas (20.2%), Alabama (20.2%) and Tennessee (19.9%).

Source: Daily Mail, 15 August 2022

See also: NiceRx – Healthy States ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
Read Article ([link removed] )
Have you been forwarded this email? Subscribe to ASH Daily News here. ([link removed])

For more information email [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) or visit www.ash.org.uk
@ASHorguk ([link removed])

ASH Daily News is a digest of published news on smoking-related topics. ASH is not responsible for the content of external websites. ASH does not necessarily endorse the material contained in this bulletin.

============================================================
Our mailing address is:
Action on Smoking and Health
Unit 2.9, The Foundry
17 Oval Way
London
SE11 5RR

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])