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** 16 January 2023
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** UK
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** Brits back ban on smoking: 52% want an 'immediate' end to cigarette sales – and over 70% say UK should follow New Zealand's example and phase them out (#1)
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** London councils crackdown on illegal vapes (#2)
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** International
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** Mexico banned smoking in public places (#3)
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** Parliamentary activity
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** House of Lords: Alcohol Duty Bands (#4)
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** UK
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** Brits back ban on smoking: 52% want an 'immediate' end to cigarette sales – and over 70% say UK should follow New Zealand's example and phase them out
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**
A majority of Brits want an immediate ban on cigarette sales, according to a poll today. Research for MailOnline found that 52% would support an 'outright' block on buying them - with 31% backing it 'strongly'. Just 24% were against the move in the survey by Redfield & Wilton Strategies.

Sentiment in favour of phasing out of cigarettes was even greater, with 71% endorsing a policy such as that being introduced in New Zealand that will mean no one born after 2008 can buy tobacco. Only a tenth opposed the idea, according to the poll.

The findings could fuel the belief of some MPs and health experts that public opinion is approaching a “tipping point”, similar to when the UK ban on smoking in pubs, bars and restaurants was introduced in 2006 and 2007.

Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting revealed at the weekend that Labour will consult on phasing out the sale of cigarettes as part of 'fresh radical thinking' to ease pressures on the NHS. Streeting said he was 'genuinely curious' about how the New Zealand law, which is being accompanied by a range of other measures to make smoking less affordable and accessible, will work.

But use was found to have increased by 25% among the under-30s in England during the Covid pandemic, the equivalent of more than 600,000 new smokers. Smoking rates in the UK have fallen from about half of the population in the 1970s to around 15%.

According to estimates by Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), the annual costs to the NHS of treating illnesses associated with smoking is £2.4 billion, with further costs in social care (£3.6 billion) and productivity losses (£13.2 billion).

A Government-commissioned independent review published last year recommended increasing the legal smoking age from 18 by one year every year. Ministers have previously set an objective for England to be Smokefree by 2030.

Source: The Daily Mail, 13 January 2023

See also: Khan review - Making smoking obsolete ([link removed])
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Read Here ([link removed] )


** London councils crackdown on illegal vapes

London councils are cracking down on shops selling colourful vapes to children, some of which can contain over the legal levels of nicotine of more than 20mg/ml.

Town halls across the capital have launched undercover operations in a bid to prosecute shops supplying the e-cigarettes to underage customers after a reported rise in use among teenagers.

In Britain it is illegal to sell cigarettes or vapes with nicotine to anyone aged under 18 and businesses can be prosecuted if they are caught.

Barking and Dagenham council said it had launched investigations into three shops after its Trading Standards team sent teenagers aged 13 and 14 into businesses to buy the products on December 30. Meanwhile Sutton council seized 2,000 illegal vapes, unsafe cuddly toys plus over 60 accessories worth around £27,000 in raids last month.

While seizures in Kingston revealed even more illicit products, from illegal vapes to 77 nicotine wraps, 35 kilos of shisha and heaters - all worth an estimated £26,000. Since April 2022 Hammersmith and Fulham Council has confiscated 12,500 illegal cigarettes, almost 7kg of rolling tobacco and more than 20kg of shisha from local shops.

According to ASH, the number of 16 to 18 year-olds who say they use e-cigarettes doubled in the past 12 months.

Vaping is considered to be substantially less harmful than smoking traditional cigarettes, a major review of nicotine products by researchers at King’s College London found. Though the review noted more action is needed to tackle the devices being use among children.

Source: Evening Standard, 14 January 2022
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See also:
* ASH Smokefree GB survey 2022 - Use of e-cigarettes among young people ([link removed])
* OHID review - Nicotine vaping in England: 2022 evidence update ([link removed])

Read Here ([link removed] )


** International
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** Mexico banned smoking in public places
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Mexico has brought into force one of the world's strictest anti-tobacco laws by enacting a total ban on smoking in public places. The move, which was first approved in 2021, also includes a ban on tobacco advertising.

Several other Latin American countries have also passed legislation to create smoke-free public spaces. However, Mexico's legislation is considered to be the most robust and wide-ranging in the Americas.

Mexico's existing 2008 law - which created smoke-free spaces in bars, restaurants and workplaces – now extends to include parks, beaches, hotels, offices and restaurants. There will also be a total ban on the advertising, promotion and sponsorship of tobacco products, meaning that cigarettes cannot even be on show inside shops.

Vapes and e-cigarettes are also subject to tighter new restrictions, particularly indoors.

The Pan American Health Organisation has welcomed the step and applauded the Mexican government for implementing the ban. The organisation says that tobacco use is the single most preventable cause of death in the world, responsible for nearly a million deaths in the Americas each year, either through direct consumption or exposure to second-hand smoke.

Source: BBC, 15 January 2023
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Read Here ([link removed])


** Parliamentary activity
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** House of Lords: Alcohol Duty Bands
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**
Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe on January 12th put forward a question in the House of Lords: “To ask His Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to increase the top rate of the new alcohol duty bands, forecasted to take effect from August 2023.” Parliamentary Secretary at HM Treasury Baroness Penn was responding.

During questions, Baroness Finlay of Llandaff pointed to alcohol-related harms and lost productivity while Lord Rennard raised the increasing affordability of alcohol, as well as the £1.4 billion that could be collected annually if alcohol duties were to rise in line with inflation, that could help to fund the treatment of alcohol-related harm in the NHS.

Responding for the Government, Parliamentary Secretary at HM Treasury, Baroness Penn:
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** Stated that the reforms make an important move to taxing all alcohol by strength rather than the previous system of minimum-unit pricing.
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** Stated the approach has public health at its heart.
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** Stated that “we aim to keep alcohol duty rates under review during the yearly budget process and to balance the impact on businesses with public health objectives. The Chancellor will reserve his decision on future duty rates for the Spring Budget 2023.”
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** Restated announcement that the freeze to UK alcohol duty rates had been extended for six months, to 1 August 2023.
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**
Read the full transcript of the debate on the Hansard ([link removed]) website.
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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.

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