News dall’estero_19 giugno 2018
The Times, 19/06/2018 (allegato)
France to close its cannabis coffee shops
French coffee shops that sell cannabis based products are to be closed by the government even though their wares are scarcely more intoxicating than camomile tea.Officials admitted they had been caught out by the sudden appearance of dozens of shops offering weed made from cannabidiol (CBD), a chemical found in cannabis that does not give users a high.Agnès Buzyn, the health minister, said that the shops were exploiting a loophole in France’s stringent antidrug legislation, which she pledged to close. Denouncing the establishments as a threat to public health on the grounds that they encouraged people to take drugs and to smoke, she said that the government would find a way of putting them all out of business within weeks.“We’re not fighting like mad to ensure that the French stop smoking [tobacco] for them to start smoking cannabis,” she said. Under French legislation CBDbased products are authorised if they contain less than 0.2 per cent of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is the main psychoactive constituent of cannabis .Such CBD products, which are already popular in Switzerland, started to appear in France this year. Now hardly a week goes by without a local newspaper announcing the opening of a coffee shop on its patch. Most of the shops sell CBD (or le weed light as it has been nicknamed) over the counter for up to €30 a gram and do not offer the opportunity to smoke cannabis on the premises. Others offer sweets, teas, oils and other products derived from CBD. […]
Dumbarton & Vale of Leven Reporter, 18/06/2018
Scotland: Health board backs ASH Scotland’s smokefree charter
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC), has signed ASH Scotland’s Charter for a Tobacco-Free Generation, which seeks to make Scotland tobacco free by 2034. The charter is designed to drive down smoking rates, with smoking remaining the biggest single preventable cause of ill health and premature death in Scotland. The NHSGGC director of public health and board member John Matthews OBE said, “our work already focuses on key charter principles and by signing the ASH Scotland charter we are committing the board to further sustained action to reduce tobacco-related harm by encouraging people not to start, supporting them to stop or protecting them from tobacco smoke.”
http://www.dumbartonreporter.co.uk/news/16298646.NHSGGC_back_ASH_smoking_free_charter/
Daily Record, 18/06/2018
Scotland: Ban on smoking outside South Ayrshire cafes could be removed
Labour Councillor Phil Saxton is to table a motion calling for a rethink of South Ayrshire’s three-year-old ban on smoking outside cafes, which has been labelled a threat to small businesses Councillor Saxton, who is looking for “compromise” is now expected to lead calls for a mixed smoking zone outside cafes or bars which use council-owned pavements. That vote is scheduled to take place on the 28th of June when the council holds its last full meeting before the summer recess. It is understood that members are currently divided on the issue.
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/ban-smoking-outside-cafes-could-12736312
The New York Times, 19/06/2018
US: Smoking hits another all-time low
About 14% of US adults were smokers last year, down from about 16% in 2016, government figures show. The findings come from a national health survey by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. K. Michael Cummings, from the tobacco research program at the Medical University of South Carolina, said “everything is pointed in the right direction,” but that the new figures mean there are still more than 30 million adult smokers in the country. Experts say a comprehensive suite of tobacco control campaigns, cigarette taxes and smoking bans have contributed to this overall decline. The launch of electronic cigarettes and their growing popularity has also likely played a role, since e-cigarettes heat liquid nicotine into a vapour without the harmful by-products generated from burning tobacco.
https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2018/06/19/health/ap-us-med-smoking-rates.html
CNBC, 18/06/2018
US: Tobacco companies’ websites to post court-ordered warnings
Tobacco companies must now include statements on their websites that clarify the health impact of smoking and secondhand smoke, the addictive nature of smoking, that cigarettes labelled “low tar” and “light” are no less harmful, and the way in which nicotine delivery has been enhanced by cigarette design. The statements were ordered on the 1st of May as part of a 2006 federal court decision that found major cigarette manufacturers, including R.J. Reynolds and Philip Morris, had defrauded the public about the health risks of their products. The companies affected are Philip Morris USA and its parent company Altria, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco and Lorillard, which is now owned by Reynolds American. Robin Koval, CEO and president of the Truth Initiative, a tobacco control nonprofit, has said “the corrective statements are fine, but we would have rather seen corrective action from the tobacco industry.” He also points out that these statements will have little impact on smoking in young people, since such websites are not available to those under 21.
US News & World Report, 18/06/2018
US: Vermont tobacco control group calls for smokefree area
A tobacco control group in Vermont has urged Montpelier leaders to create a half mile long smokefree zone in the city’s downtown area. The Central Vermont New Directions Coalition will present a petition to the Montpelier City Council later this month, and so far the group has collected about 1,500 signatures. Coalition member Ann Gilbert says the organisation is trying to protect families and elderly residents who visit the downtown area, claiming that a smoking ban is a big part of creating a health community.
National news Bureau of Thailand, 18/06/2018
Thailand: Uttaradit province runs tobacco control campaign on social media
A tobacco control campaign is underway in the Uttaradit province of Thailand to encourage community health leaders to create tobacco control video clips for distribution on various social media platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram, highlighting the dangers of cigarettes. The Uttaradit Mass Communication Club will be working with ASH Thailand and other health and public relations volunteers to discourage smoking and call for strict enforcement of the Tobacco Control Act 2017.
http://thainews.prd.go.th/website_en/news/news_detail/WNSOC6106180010080
Mail Online, 19/06/2018
Australia: Secret website selling cheap tobacco
Australia is the most expensive place in the world to buy cigarettes, with the average cost at nearly $40 a packet. The Treasurer, Scott Morrison, has also planned the second of four consecutive 12.5% tobacco excise increases for the 1st September. This is expected to add another $3 to the price of a typical packet. However, some smokers are now using a secret website called ‘Ciggies World’ to buy packets of cigarettes at prices up to 70% lower than retail price. Whilst a packet of Marlboro Gold cigarettes retails for about $30 in Australia, the Ciggies World website sells a pack of 20 for $4. Although the prices are comparatively cheaper, smokers may have to wait for over a month before they receive their cigarettes, and could be forced to pay unexpected taxes.
