Tobacco Asia

Volume 19, Number 3

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34 tobaccoasia E-CIGARETTE NEWS 电子烟新闻 WHO SAID WHAT? US E-cig Use Soars A recent online Reuters/Ipsos poll of 5,679 Americans suggests e-cigarette usage is significantly higher than government estimates. The survey, conducted between May 19 and June 4, 2015, shows nearly 10% of adults (and 15% of adults under 40) now vape. That's nearly four times the 2.6% figure the US government estimated in 2013. The difference might be a result of the significant increase in vaping over the past two years: the Reuters poll showed almost 70% of vapers started within the last year. Reuters reported that the surge in use comes as conventional cigarette smoking has declined in the US to about 19% of adults. Indeed, health and smoking cessa- tion seemed to be at the center of why survey respondents supported vaping: almost half of the vapers surveyed said they were motivated to switch by friends and family, and 40% listed the ability to smoke indoors and lower cost compared to cigarettes as reasons. Approximately 80% of vapers said e-cigs were "a good way to help people quit smoking," as opposed to less than 40% of non-vapers polled. The vapers polled were twice as likely as non-vapers to describe e-cigs as "healthier than the traditional ciga- rettes," but also more likely to believe that individuals could become "addicted to e-smoking." Despite listing health benefits or savings as a reason to start vaping, approximately 75% of vapers polled still smoke combustible cigarettes. Vaping products could threaten sales of more traditional nicotine replacement therapies (NRT) such as nicotine patches and gum. According to Euromonitor, US NRT sales rose 0.2% to US$900 million in 2014 – but Euromonitor said it expects NRT sales to drop this year due in part to the increased use of e-cigarettes. Singapore Singapore Ban Singapore's Ministry of Health has announced plans to ban existing and emerging tobacco products in two phases as a "pre-emptive measure to protect public health against the known and potential harms of such products". "Besides protecting the public from the health risks associated with the consumption of emerging tobacco products, the ban is aimed at ensuring that the targeted emerging tobacco products do not gain a foothold or become entrenched in the Singapore market," the Ministry said. In addition to preventing these products from "stimulating demand for and thereby increasing the prevalence of tobacco consumption", it will also prevent such products from becoming "gateway" or "starter" products for non-smokers, it added. In a statement released on June 15, the ministry said that under the first phase, tobacco products that are currently not available in Singapore will be banned with effect from December 15, 2015. The second phase will cover a ban on products already available in the market and will take effect from August 1, 2016. The delay in the ban is to allow for businesses to "adjust their operating models and deplete their existing stocks of such products". Products banned in first stage: - Smokeless cigars, smokeless cigarillos or smokeless cigarettes; - Dissolvable tobacco or nicotine; - Any project containing nicotine or tobacco that may be used topically for application, by implant or injected into any parts of the body; and - Any solution or substance, of which tobacco or nicotine is a constituent ie intended to be used with an electronic nicotine delivery system or vaporiser (or what is commonly referred to as an e-cigarette). Second stage ban includes: Nasal snuff; Oral snuff; and Raw, chewable tobacco products US E-cigs Linked to Quitting Two new studies looking at whether e-cigarettes help smokers quit tobacco have found that while some of them can, it depends on the type and how often it is used. The two studies were based on a survey of around 1,500 smokers in Britain in December 2012, followed up one year later. The research, hailed by experts, suggests daily use of so-called "tank" e-cigarettes, designed to be refilled with nicotine-containing liquids, is most likely to help smokers quit. "Tank" models look quite different and have refillable containers of nicotine "e-liquid". Many experts think e-cigarettes, which heat nicotine-laced liquid into an inhalable vapor, are a lower-risk alternative to smoking, but their use and safety are still questioned. Researchers who conducted the two new studies, published in the journal Ad- diction and Nicotine & Tobacco, said they show that smokers wanting to use e-cigarettes to quit should use them daily and try the "tank" kind. "Our research indicates that daily use of tank models that can be refilled with liquid may give smokers a better chance "I can find […] no communication of any kind in which the CDC informs the public that e-cigarettes are devoid of tobacco. In every important communication about e-cigarettes that the CDC has transmitted, the agency hid from the public the fact that e-cigarettes do not contain tobacco." - Dr. Michael Siegel, Department of Community Health Sciences, Boston University School of Public Health

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