Tobacco Asia

Volume 20, Number 5

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30 tobaccoasia E-CIGARETTE NEWS 电子烟新闻 UK Rise in Smoking Cessation Due to E-Cigs A new study by researchers from University College London has discov- ered that the rise of e-cigarette use in England is linked to higher rates of successful quitting attempts by smokers of regular cigarettes. This would also suggest that concerns that vaping undermines motivation and attempts to quit smoking are misplaced. There is a growing consensus among health organizations in the UK that believes e-cigarettes could have a significant effect on reducing disease and premature deaths among regular smokers because they allow users to inhale nicotine without the deadly toxins present in tobacco smoke. However, there are still those whose concerns are that e-cigarettes could reduce smokers' motivation to quit because they offer a socially acceptable way to consume nicotine in places where tobacco smoking is now banned. The new study analyzed two sources of information: the Smoking Toolkit Study, which gives the researchers 10 years of data gathered in a monthly survey of smoking, quitting, and e-cigarette use among adults in England; and quarterly data on numbers of adults using National Health Service (NHS) stop smoking services in England and their quit rates. From their analysis, the researchers said that the use of e-cigarettes may have resulted in 18,000 long-term smokers quitting smoking in 2015. The researchers did, however, point out that the observational nature of their study, which is designed to look for links, cannot show that e-cigarette use has directly led smokers to quit conven- tional cigarettes. Yet, given that the study shows an increase in e-cigarette use is linked to an increase in success of quit attempts, they suggest this conflicts with the suggestion that "an increase in population use of e-cigarettes under- mines quitting in general." They also discovered that increased use of e-cigarettes does not appear to be linked with a detectable change in overall attempts to stop smoking, opposed to successful attempts, where they did find a link. Also, they found that a rise in e-cigarette use is tied to a decline in prescription nicotine replacement treatments, leading to speculation that this could be because e-cigarette users have already tried these alternatives, but that would have to be further investi- gated to be certain. Tattoos and E-Cigs Keep Down- town Retail Alive According to Springboard, 1 in 10 retail sites in UK town centers is unoccupied. After the recent collapse of the BHS department store chain, even more space has become empty. Tattoo parlors have been rushing to fill those spots. The number of tattoo parlors in the UK has gone up by 79% over the last six years to 2,288, according to retail industry analyst LDC. Also filling the void are vape shops. Over the last six years, the number of tobacconists, primarily e-cigarette vendors, has more than quadrupled to 1,783. Analysts say that these newer entrants are a short-term fix and predict more churn in the years ahead as the UK economy weathers Brexit and more stores succumb to the rise of e-com- merce. They believe that British consum- ers, who are global leaders in online shopping, increasingly head to local shops for services and experiences rather than physical goods -- but trends like vaping and tattoos can change quickly. TAIWAN E-Cig Regulations Promised Officials from Taiwan's Heath Promo- tion Administration (HPA) has promised to push for amendments to the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act to regulate e-cigarettes and increase taxes on ordinary cigarettes in response to the demands of ant-smoking lobbyists. HPA director-general, Wang Ying-wei, has been reported as saying that introducing new regulations for e-cigarettes is warranted given the sharp increase in their usage among young people, with agency surveys showing that use of the products roughly doubled between 2014 and last year to 3% of junior-high school students and 4% of high-school students. If passed, the amendments would be a first in regulating e-cigarette products that do not contain nicotine. Nicotine-contain- ing versions of the devices are already not permitted under the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, but are still widely available. The chief executive of the anti- smoking John Tung Foundation, Yao Shi-yuan, said his organization received many reports of "vitamin water" e-cigarettes which are marketed as healthy because they do not contain nicotine. He feels that the widespread availability of different forms of e-cigarettes shows the failure of the regulations. "If we could regulate this with just the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, there would not be stores selling the products," he said, adding that there are also e-cigarette bars that allow users to try different varieties, in addition to widespread availability online and at night markets." Taiwan International Medical Alliance secretary-general, Huang Song-lih, said fillers used for e-liquids are also currerntly unregulated due to the absence of application procedures under the Pharmaceutical Affairs Acts, creating a situation in which users cannot be sure of what they are inhaling. CHINA/UK DHgate.com Opening UK Warehouse China's largest B2B-focused cross-bor- der e-commerce platform DHgate.com announces the launch of its overseas product distribution warehouse in Manchester, England and a focus on e-cigarettes and vapes in the British market, with an omni channel strategy that will allow for speedy delivery of the world's most popular e-cigarette brands to local retailers and consumers in response to the high demand in the UK. DHgate.com sees the market demand for e-cigs and vapes in the UK is a great opportunity for it to supply British merchants with the world's most popular brands, most of which come from China. Euromonitor states that 95% of e-cigarettes worldwide are produced in Shenzhen, China and that there are 2.6 million e-cigarette and vape users in the UK. It also said that worldwide, the market for these goods have reached the US$6 billion mark, and analysts predict that if legislation remains as is, the vaping sector could grow to US$50 billion by 2030.

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