We first reported on February 1, 2010 that a study found half the nation, including smokers, support completely banning cigarettes within 10 years. The 2008 Health and Lifestyles Survey compiled nationwide interviews from the [New Zealand government agency] Health Sponsorship Council (HSC) of 1608 people, including 422 smokers, and was published in the NZ Medical Journal. (New Zealanders want cigarettes banned by 2020..)
New Zealanders would live longer if tobacco sales were ended by 2020, according to new research published today, August 13th in the New Zealand Medical Journal - see abstract below.
Maori could expect a five-year gain, while the life expectancy of non-Maori would be three years longer if sales ended by 2020 and the gains projected to 2040, researchers from Otago University, Wellington, say. This was compared to life expectancy if smoking rates stayed the same as they were in the 2006 census. (The Maori are the indigenous people of New Zealand, they are Polynesian and comprise about 14 percent of the country's population.)
Currently just under 50 percent of Maori smoke, and about 22 percent of the whole population, with 4500-5000 tobacco-related deaths annually.
"This is a win-win situation," lead researcher Tony Blakely said. "Making New Zealand free from tobacco sales not only improves everyone's life expectancy, but it also substantially reduces health inequalities between Maori and non-Maori."
If nothing was done, and smoking persisted at current rates it would become an even greater constraint on life expectancy and reduction of health inequalities in future, Prof Blakely said.
That number was down from 64% of New Zealanders who support an end to tobacco sales by 2020, according to a UMR survey released in May. (New Zealand - more than half of the people want to end tobacco sales by 2020..)
References: Life expectancy to rise if tobacco sales phased out, New Zealand Press Association (NZPA), Otago Daily Times, 8/13/2010.
New Zealand related news briefs:
New Zealand - study revives interest in keeping tobacco hidden..;
New Zealand - health board says no to psychiatric hospital smoking ban..;
New Zealand - report on illicit trade and options to control growth of illicit trade..;
New Zealand - ASH Year 10 Snapshot Survey - Dramatic youth smoking decline..;
New Zealand - plain cigarette and tobacco packs could turn teenagers off smoking..;
New Zealand - Tobacco companies target women..;
New Zealand - lobby group of small retailers formed to protest tobacco price hike..;
New Zealand - more than half of the people want to end tobacco sales by 2020..;
New Zealand - revenue department has begun a review of BAT financial transactions..;
New Zealand - increase in tobacco excise forced through Parliament by the Government..;
New Zealand - Christchurch prepares for meeting with tobacco select committee..;
New Zealand - biggest drop in smoking rates seen in a decade..;
New Zealand - Maori affairs committee continues to gather information..;
New Zealand - study quit-smoking products that are acceptabe and effective..;
New Zealand - smoking ban results in decrease in heart attacks..;
New Zealand - BAT attends Maori Affairs select committee meeting on tobacco..;
New Zealanders want cigarettes banned by 2020..;
New Zealand - Maori women - almost 50% smoke..;
New Zealand - more and more teenagers turned off by smoking..;
New Zealand - loophole in the law banning tobacco sponsorship..;
New Zealand - University of Auckland to go smokefree - 1st university in country..;
New Zealand - smoking ban in bars results in less smoking at home..;
New Zealand - study, tobacco displays leads to increase in youth smoking..;
New Zealand - graphic warnings cigarette maker selects less offensive images..;
New Zealand - Maori committee to investigate smoking..;
New Zealand - Tairawhiti Board wants tobacco sold only on prescription..;
New Zealand - health researchers calling on government to ban importation of tobacco..;
New Zealand - 1st trial ever of e-cigarettes..;
New Zealand - BAT reducing prices discouraging people from quitting..;
New Zealand - stop smoking campaigns NOT working..;
BAT awarded worst corporation in New Zealand..;
New Zealand - government may NOT support tobacco display bans..;
New Zealand More Evidence Needed to Ban Tobacco and Cigarette Displays..;
More evidence - tobacco displays increase the risk of teens smoking..;
Horror photos go on New Zealand cigarette packs..;
Country to Eliminate Smoking - The South Pacific nation of Niue;
Ireland to ban tobacco displays..;
Smokefree NZ within 10 years..;
By law, oral snuff cannot (but nasal snuff is allowed) be sold in New Zealand and can be imported only for personal use..
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New Zealand - the majority of New Zealanders support an end to commercial tobacco sales by 2020 - can it happen??
University of South Alabama - tobacco users will pay more for health insurance starting January 1, 2011..
Employees who do not sign a form certifying that they have not used tobacco in any form in the last six months will be subject to a $25 per month increase in their health premiums, according to Wayne Davis, chair of the Fringe Benefits Committee and vice president for Financial Affairs.
A policy of that nature has been needed for some time now. Health care costs can be reduced drastically simply by not using tobacco, and policies like the newly introduced one at South could be good motivation for current tobacco users to quit.
In Alabama, 22.1 percent of adults (783,000 people) are smokers, and smoking-related diseases result in $96 billion in health care costs each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
There is no reason for non-smokers to be forced to help foot a bill of that magnitude when the problem was self-inflicted. Smokers knowingly put their health at risk every time they light up, and every pack of cigarettes has the surgeon general’s warning on it to remind the user.
Aside from removing some of the financial burden from the back of the non-smokers, the policy is also good incentive for current smokers to quit. The new premium will equate to spending an extra $300 per year simply for being a smoker.
There are plenty of other things that money could be used for than extra insurance due to subjecting yourself to bodily harm. Even more money would be saved than the $300 premium if a smoker under the new premium were to quit. Not buying that pack of cigarettes for a price of around $6 every day would save over $2,000 every year (and you could take that nice vacation you’ve been dreaming of for years).
References: Counterpoint: Should Employees be Charged Higher Premiums for Tobacco Use? Non-users Shouldn’t Foot User Hospital Bills by Cameron Adkins, The Vanguard - University of South Alabama 8/16/2010; Tobacco Use to be Penalized by Matthew Peterson MANAGING EDITOR mwp601@jaguar1.usouthal.edu, The Vanguard - University of South Alabama, 8/16/2010.
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NACS Show - FDA CTP workshop to answer questions..
August 16, 2010 - The National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) will hold their show on October 5-8, 2010 in Atlanta, GA.
NACS will host a workshop with officials from the FDA Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) to answer retailer questions regarding compliance with the new law at the NACS Show on Thursday October 7th at 9 a.m. Must be registered for the Show to attend.
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FDA CTP Retailer Compliance Training Sessions..
There is no charge to attend these training sessions. Retailers are encouraged to attend in person or participate by phone or by webcast. Retailers participating in person or by webcast or phone will have an opportunity to ask questions.
Session Dates, Times, and Locations
* Atlanta, GA—September 1, 2010; 1 to 5 p.m. EDT
Atlanta Marriott Downtown, 160 Spring Street, Atlanta, GA 30303
* Chicago, IL—September 8, 2010; 1 to 5 p.m. CDT
Chicago Downtown Renaissance, 1 West Wacker Drive, Chicago, IL 60601
* Dallas, TX—September 22, 2010; 1 to 5 p.m. CDT
InterContinental Dallas, 15201 Dallas Parkway, Dallas, TX 75001
* Los Angeles, CA—September 29, 2010; 1 to 5 p.m. PDT
Los Angeles Downtown Marriott, 333 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA 90071
The FDA CTP held the first of the five retailer training sessions in Boston on Monday, 7/19/2010.
For more information Tobacco Retailer Compliance Training..
What is FDA’s public health mission for regulating tobacco products?
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Ireland - time for major effort to crackdown on tobacco smuggling..
August 16, 20 -
OPINION: Better efforts to tackle tobacco crime would mean more money for schools and healthcare.. MICHAEL O'SHEA
Ireland's budget deficit could rise to 24% of GDP (gross domestic product) in 2010 or about €40bn, following a ruling by Eurostat, the statistics office of the European Commission, on the treatment of public spending on the State nationalised Anglo Irish Bank. (Ireland's budget deficit could rise to 24% of GDP in 2010 following Eurostat ruling by Finfacts Team, Finfacts Ireland, 4/26/2010)
The people will have endure the pain of budget cuts, reduced services and closings to help reduce the deficit. But when Ministers shake their heads and say this is necessary pain, don’t believe them. And when they close down your local primary school, or Garda station; when they charge you more for going to hospital, or take your medical card away, ask them why on earth haven’t they done anything about tobacco smuggling (illicit, illegal, contraband).
By dealing with this scourge [smuggling problem], the Government could wipe hundreds of millions off the toll of cuts they must now make – not just without hurting anyone, but actually doing us some good in the process. The fact is that 6,000 people die each year here from tobacco-related illness, at an annual cost to the taxpayer of about €2 billion.
A few directly related news briefs concerned with tobacco smuggling:[Finance Minister] Brian Lenihan has himself described the crisis as an “epidemic”. And his department admits the exchequer is losing more than €300 million each year from illegal sales – more than a mere drop in the ocean of our deficit. The tobacco industry put that figure at €556 million which, ironically, would almost cover total cutbacks mooted for the health service.
Ireland - tobacco smuggling has reached record levels..;
Ireland retailers claim since display ban smuggling up - denied by health campaigners..;
Ireland - Illicit tobacco trade booms..;
Ireland - no increase in excise duty on tobacco products worry about smuggling..;
Ireland - increase fine for cigarettes imported illegally.. ;
Ireland - modest penalty for cigarette smuggling..;
Ireland - cigarette tax abandoned over smuggling fears..;
But what has the Government response has been underwhelming. Other countries have dealt decisively with smuggling through tough enforcement and sentencing measures, making sure they catch the perpetrators, then putting them behind bars and seizing their assets. We have in effect left the door open so that some of Ireland’s and Europe’s most vicious criminal networks can fill their coffers with near impunity.
Just look at our record. In the three years to March 2010, only nine people were jailed here out of 314 convicted of tobacco smuggling – the longest for a paltry six months. The total fines handed down were €143,674.13, an average of just €457 per person. Compare that to the North, where a fine of £729,000 (€807,000) was imposed in a single case in 2008, or Australia, where a smuggler was fined Aus$11 million (€7.7 million) last year for illegally importing one million cigarettes. (1 US dollar = 0.7808 euro, 1.00 USD = 1.11327 AUS)
What we need is a co-ordinated, national anti-smuggling strategy capable of taking on powerful and well-resourced criminal networks. We all await the World Health Organization's (WHO) solution to the problem of tobacco product smuggling faced by countries throughout the world..
Tax revenue lost through illicit sales in effect sucks funding out of vital services. And international law enforcement agencies agree this trade is helping to fund people trafficking, prostitution rings, arms trafficking and terrorist networks.
There are other effects, too. High smuggling rates have left Ireland’s tobacco control policy in tatters. This is starkly demonstrated in the latest Eurostat figures which put smoking prevalence here at 31 per cent – four percentage points away from a place in the world’s top 10 tobacco-consuming nations. (Ireland - highest tobacco prices in the EU..)
This is scarcely credible given Ireland’s role as a world leader in enforcing important aspects of tobacco control policy, such as our high tobacco tax environment and the workplace smoking ban. The unpalatable truth is that whilst this legislation led to a sharp initial decrease in tobacco consumption, we are now worse off than when we started. Although the lack of investment in smoking cessation is partly to blame, the main driver of demand is the availability of cheap cigarettes.
Further increasing tobacco tax would have the double effect of raising revenue and ensuring a healthier nation. We estimate that a €1 increase in tobacco tax would reduce smoking rates by at least four points from the Eurostat figure and yield an extra €200 million annually to the exchequer.
That can be translated directly into more pain that could be saved. In education, for example, we could avoid primary school closures, any reduction in special needs assistants and any increase in class sizes and still have huge amounts left over.
Reference: State could reap millions if it beat tobacco smuggling, MICHAEL O'SHEA, IrishTimes.com, 8/16/2010.
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