Fewer People Using Tobacco Globally, Despite Big Tobacco’s Huffs And Puffs
News outlets report on dramatically tumbling tobacco use over a generation, though "Big Tobacco" is working hard to reverse the trend, including trying to influence global health policies, the WHO says. Also in the news, a tobacco ban advances in Vermont; nicotine pouches are a growing trend; and more.
CBS News and AFP:
Tobacco Use Falling Worldwide But Big Tobacco Fighting To Reverse Trend, WHO Says
The number of adult tobacco users has dropped steadily in recent years, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday, but it warned Big Tobacco is working hard to reverse that trend. In 2022, about one-in-five adults around the world were smokers or consumed other tobacco products, compared to one-in-every-three in 2000, the United Nations health agency said. A fresh report looking at trends in the prevalence of tobacco use between 2000 and 2030 showed that 150 countries were successfully reducing it, the WHO said. (1/16)
Reuters:
Global Tobacco Use Tumbles Despite Industry Lobbying
Global tobacco use has tumbled in a generation with one in five people smoking versus one in three in 2000, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday. The drop comes despite what the U.N. global health agency said were ongoing efforts by Big Tobacco to seek to influence global health policies to its own advantage. (Farge, 1/16)
In related news on tobacco use and lobbying —
NBC5:
Tobacco Ban Advancing Throughout Vermont Legislature
A bill in Montpelier is making its way throughout the statehouse that would ban all forms of flavored tobacco products, including menthol. It’s garnering mixed reactions from many. Some lawmakers have been trying to get this ban passed for years because they say the flavors are getting the youth addicted to nicotine. (1/12)
NCAA.org:
Student-Athletes Report Drop In Binge Drinking, Use Of Narcotic Pain Medication And Spit Tobacco
In 1985, the NCAA began conducting studies to examine student-athletes' use of drugs, alcohol and tobacco. The study's 10th and current iteration shows declines in the use of narcotic pain medication and spit tobacco, as well as binge drinking, among student-athletes. ... Overall, 15% of all men's sport student-athletes reported using spit tobacco within the last year, which is down from 22% in the 2017 study. The percentage of users has steadily decreased since 2009. (1/9)
The Guardian:
Australian Students Handed ‘Wellbeing Shots’ Made By Subsidiary Of British American Tobacco – As Experts Fear New Front In Health Wars
As students at the University of Sydney prepared for their end-of-year exams in late 2023, a trio in brightly coloured jumpsuits pulled up to the campus in a van, armed with tiny bottles labelled “Ryde wellbeing shots”. They approached students as they studied on the campus lawns, asking them to share their strategies to cope with exam stress and filming their responses for TikTok. The students gave sensible answers – healthy diet, exercise, meditation, taking breaks between periods of study. The “Ryde Response Team” handed out bottles of Ryde, which contains ingredients such as taurine, lemon balm and ginseng extract, telling the students that one 60ml shot could “revive” them and give them focus. ... What was not revealed to students, and is not on the Ryde product label, is that the Water Street Collective is a wholly owned subsidiary of British American Tobacco. The Ryde website only once mentions British American Tobacco, and only as BAT. (Davey and May, 1/14)
Nicotine pouches are the latest craze —
The Messenger:
Nicotine Pouches Are The Latest Craze — How Dangerous Are They?
Nicotine pouches are marketed as smokeless products intended to help people to stop smoking or vaping, but they are trending among teens, which is causing alarm in the public health sector. Videos about using Zyn, a popular pouch brand, are all over TikTok, with some of the videos getting millions of views — though some of the highest-performing videos are from doctors warning against using the products. (11/29/23)
Tortoise:
Schools Warned Of Rise Of “Snus” Nicotine Pouches
More than 200 schools across the UK have received information packs this week warning about the rise of “snus” – small nicotine pouches that are placed between the user’s gums and lips. Based on a Swedish tobacco product, the nicotine-only pouches have become popular with footballers, who have been spotted using the products on social media. Children are able to buy packs relatively easily because the pouches aren’t (yet) classified alongside tobacco products like cigarettes and can be sold to under-18s, despite worrying tales of bleeding gums and sickness. In the EU, the product is banned across most of the bloc. Politico reports that the EU’s tobacco legislation could be altered to further restrict and manage the sale of snus, much like e-cigarettes. The lesson of flavoured vapes is that the law needs to catch up faster. (1/16)
On vaping —
AP:
Dangers Of Vaping: Public Health Experts Call For Surgeon General Report
Sixty years ago, the U.S. surgeon general released a report that settled a longstanding public debate about the dangers of cigarettes and led to huge changes in smoking in America. Today, some public health experts say a similar report could help clear the air about vaping. Many U.S. adults believe nicotine vaping is as harmful as — or more dangerous than — cigarette smoking. That’s wrong. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and most scientists agree that, based on available evidence, electronic cigarettes are far less dangerous than traditional cigarettes. (Stobbe, 1/15)
