Tobacco Asia

62 tobaccoasia CLOSING NEWS 卷尾新闻 US Marijuana and E-Cigs Less Dangerous than Smoking A July Gallup poll found that Americans say cigarettes, chewing tobacco, cigar,s and pipes are much more harmful to people who use them than marijuana and e-cigarettes. Poll results show that majorities of Americans say cigarettes (82%), chewing tobacco (71%), cigars (56%) and pipes (52%) are all very harmful, while fewer say the same of vaping (38%) and marijuana (27%). However, when the somewhat harmful responses are factored in, all six products are considered harmful by majorities of Americans, with nearly all Americans viewing cigarettes (96%) and chewing tobacco (94%) this way. Seventy-three percent regard vaping as very or somewhat harmful, and 56% say the same about marijuana. While still used the most often by American adults (13% reported regular use and 7% occasional), cigarette use has fallen by half since the 1980s, when an average of 32% of adults said they had smoked a cigarette in the past week. Marijuana is the second most popular, with 5% saying they use it regularly and 8% occasionally. Aldehydes Major Carcinogen in Tobacco Smoke A recent New York University study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has found that aldehydes are the major carcinogens in tobacco smoke. Mao-wen Weng, Ph.D. and col- leagues evaluated DNA adducts induced by the three major tobacco smoke carcinogens: benzo(a)pyrene (BP), 4-(methylnitrosamine)-1-(3-pyridyl)- 1-butanoe (NNK), and aldehydes in humans and mice. The study found that in mice, tobacco smoke induces abundant aldehyde-induced γ-hydroxy- propano-deoxyguanosine (γ-OH-PdG) and α-methyl-γ-OH-PdG adducts in the lung and bladder, but not in the heart and liver. Tobacco smoke does not induce the BP- and NNK-DNA adducts in the lung, heart, liver, and bladder. Additionally, DNA repair activity and the abundance of repair proteins, XPC and OGG1/2, in lung tissues are reduced by tobacco smoke. A diet with polyphenols greatly reduces the TS effects. In tobacco smokers' buccal cells and the normal lung tissues of tobacco- smoking lung cancer patients, but not in lung tissues of nonsmokers, γ-OH-PdG and α-methyl-γ-OH-PdG are the major adducts formed. BP and NNK can induce benzo(a)pyrene diol epoxide-dG and O6-methyl-dG adducts in human lung and bladder epithelial cells, but these inductions can be inhibited by acrolein, which also reduces DNA repair activity and repair proteins. "We found that aldehydes in tobacco smoke are the major driving forces in inducing DNA damage and inhibiting DNA repair, the two major forces that cause cancer," a study co-author said in a statement. PAKISTAN Tobacco Tax Decline Examined A special committee of the Senate met early August to look into the decline in tax revenue from the tobacco industry. The Federal Board of Revenue's (FBR) tax officer who had earlier claimed that revenue collection from the sector was higher was questioned by Senator Kulsoom Parveen, who was chairing the meeting. In response, Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) Javaid Jehangir said they stand by their revenue numbers, which were collected from the data of FBR. Parveen said, "It is the incompetence of FBR and it seems it was sleeping while the revenue of companies kept increasing from billions to trillions." She also said that it was a sorry state of affairs that there was a decline in tax collection. According to the AGP, the intro- duction of a third-tier tax system revealed that sales of tobacco compa- nies jumped 31.64% in fiscal year 2017-18 compared to the previous year. However, there has not been any corresponding effect on tax collection, which increased by a mere 4.5%. BANGLADESH Tobacco Use Drops by 8% Results from a Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) report has shown the use of tobacco has declined by 8% in the last 8 years. The use of tobacco in 2009 was 43.3% and was reduced to 35.3% in 2017. GATS disclosed the report in the Health Ministry's conference room at the Secretariat in August. The survey was conducted by GATS in association with Word Health Organization's Centre of Diseases Control and Preventation and Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. According to the report, in Bangla- desh 37.8 million people above 15 years old smoke. The smokers ratio in 2009 was 58% men and 28.7% women. In 2017, the ratio was reduced to 46% men and 25.2% women. PHILIPPINES Unanimous Vote for Harm Reduc- tion Measures The House of Representatives has unanimously adopted a resolution urging the Department of Health to promote harm reduction measures as part of its National Tobacco Control Strategy, especially the use of electronic cigarettes or vapes as a less harmful alternative for smokers. The resolution, which was co-au- thored by Rep. Anthony Bravo and Rep. Jose Tejada, cited the World Health Organization's observation that in the UK, where strict tobacco control measures are in place and electronic nicotine delivery systems (which include e-cigarettes) are becoming more popular, smoking prevalence, cigarette consump- tion and overall nicotine use appear to be gradually decreasing. It also highlighted the recommenda- tion of Dr. Konstantinos Farsalinos, a leading researcher and expert on tobacco harm reduction and e-ciga- rettes, urging the Philippine govern- ment to create a regulatory framework for e-cigarettes that is reasonable, proportionate, and realistic. AUSTRALIA New Anti-Illicit Tobacco Law Set for Senate New legislation to make it easier to prosecute tobacco smugglers will go to the Senate for debate after passing the lower house on August 14. Under the new law, the origin of illicit tobacco no longer needs to be proven. Plus, there will also be a criminal offence based on "recklessness" of avoiding tax, rather than intent.

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