Plain cigarette packs could reduce Maori health gap, committee told

The health gap between Maori and non-Maori will hopefully reduce when all tobacco products have plain packaging, according to a submission to a parliamentary committee today.
Maori smoking rates were five times that of non-Maori, and the loss of whanau members prematurely from tobacco-related illness was a loss to Maoridom, said Zoe Martin-Hawke from Maori tobacco control leadership group Te Ara Ha Ora.
Ms Martin-Hawke's was one of several submissions both for and against the Smoke-free Environments (Tobacco Plain Packaging) Amendment Bill, heard before the Health Select Committee in Auckland today.
Tobacco use among Maori was one of the key health inequalities between Maori and non-Maori, Ms Martin-Hawke said.
"The New Zealand Government should be applauded for already restricting most tobacco advertising, however there is still one place left for industry to advertise and that is on tobacco packaging."

Tala Pasifika - the National Pacific Tobacco Control Service - was also in favour of the bill.
Pacific people responded to colour and vibrancy, and when Pasifika children saw the bright colours of cigarette packets, they were drawn to them, Tala Pasifika programme manager Edward Cowley told the committee.
Plain packaging decreased that attractiveness, and it would give Pasifika children one less reason to start, he said.
British American Tobacco general manager Steve Rush said the company acknowledged tobacco was harmful and supported trade restraints, however plain packaging would not work.
The bill wouldn't reduce smoking rates, but would remove intellectual property rights and breach several World Trade Organisation agreements, he said.
The Government had a number of alternatives to plain packaging, such as cracking down on home-grown tobacco, which was untaxed and carried no warnings.
Plain packaging would also create a dangerous precedent which could lead to plain packing for alcohol and soft drinks, Mr Rush said.
New Zealand Association of Convenience Stores chairman Roger Bull said in Australia, the policy had been "anything but successful" with no impact on the quantity of tobacco sold.
In fact, tobacco sales had increased by 5.9 per cent in the year following the introduction of plain packaging, Mr Bull said.
The association represents more than 750 convenience stores throughout New Zealand, and tobacco sales represented around 40 per cent of retailers' total business sales, he said.
"We are concerned that this proposal will add considerable cost to small retailers in addition to the burden imposed by the retail display ban in 2012."
Action on Smoking and Health New Zealand director Stephanie Erick said plain packaging would make tobacco less attractive and less addictive and was an important step to achieve the Government's goal of a smoke-free New Zealand by 2025.

Philippines may soon make smoking warnings graphic

A Philippine legislative committee approved a bill on Tuesday that would compel cigarette manufacturers to print illustrations of smoking hazards on cigarette packs to curb smoking in a country where tens of thousands die yearly from tobacco-related diseases.
The committee composed of both senators and congressmen passed the bill directing the Department of Health to issue 12 templates of pictures and illustrations that warn about the dangers of smoking.
The full Senate and House of Representatives are expected to formally pass the bill before it is signed into law by President Benigno Aquino III, who backed an earlier "sin tax" law that raised taxes on tobacco and alcohol products.
The illustrations, which could include pictures of cancerous lungs and throats, will occupy the lower half of the front and back panels of a cigarette pack. The current warning contains only words, saying that smoking is dangerous.
Philippine health officials said in 2012 that 17.3 million of the country's 96 million people smoke — one of Southeast Asia's highest rates — and 87,000 die per year from tobacco-related diseases.
"This is a big victory for health advocates," said Dr. Anthony Leachon, president of the Philippine College of Physicians.
Leachon said images of damaged body parts, such as before-and-after pictures of a lung ravaged by smoking, will have a greater impact, especially on non-smokers.
The bill also instructs the Department of Education to include the hazards of smoking in the school curriculum.
In recent years, more than 40 countries or jurisdictions have introduced cigarette labels with graphic anti-smoking warnings. The World Health Organization said in a survey done in countries with graphic labels that a majority of smokers noticed the warnings and more than 25 percent said the warnings led them to consider quitting.
The Philippine bill follows the passage in late 2012 of a "sin tax" law, which raised the excise tax on tobacco and alcohol products to discourage their use and raise revenues for health programs.
A recent survey commissioned by the Department of Health indicated that the law helped reduce smoking among the poor and young people, the main targets of the law.
It said that smoking prevalence among the very poor dropped from 38 percent in December 2012 to 25 percent in March this year. Smoking among people aged 18 to 24 also fell from 35 percent to 18 percent during the same period.

Many College Students Smoke Pot and Drive

Parents worry about their kids going off to college and drinking and driving. While this is a real concern, there may be another substance they should be worrying about.

In a recent study, many college-aged kids reported driving after smoking marijuana.

Many of these college-aged kids also admitted to riding in a car when the driver had been smoking marijuana.

This research was led by Jennifer H. Whitehill, PhD, of the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.
The investigators interviewed 315 students, aged 18-20 years, by phone the summer before they went to college. The students were asked about their alcohol use, their drug use, and how many times they consumed drugs or alcohol in the 28 days before the interview.
A year later, the same students were asked those questions and others about driving after drinking alcohol or smoking marijuana, and about riding with a driver after the driver had consumed these substances. By that time, the students were enrolled in college. In addition, they were asked questions about how much alcohol they drank and whether or not they wore seat belts when in the car.
In college, the past-28-day prevalence of marijuana use was 29.7 percent for male and 13 percent for female students. When it came to alcohol, 66.7 percent of males and 63.8 percent of females reported using alcohol in the previous month. The prevalence of having used both marijuana and alcohol on the same day was 23.2 percent for male and 8.5 percent for female students.
Of those who used marijuana in the previous month (20.3 percent of the students), 43.9 percent of male and 8.7 percent of female students drove after using marijuana.
When students reported using marijuana, they also often rode with a driver who had used marijuana (51.2 percent of males and 34.8 percent of females).
The majority of students (65.1 percent) drank alcohol, and of these, 12 percent of males and 2.7 percent of females drove after drinking, and 20.7 percent of males and 11.5 percent of females rode with a driver who’d been drinking.
Those who drove after drinking or using marijuana were twice as likely to ride in a car with someone who had used alcohol or drugs.
Among students who used substances, marijuana users had a higher prevalence of driving and riding after marijuana use than alcohol users had for driving or riding after alcohol use.
The study authors noted that other studies have shown that driving after marijuana use is perceived as safer than driving after alcohol use and done more frequently. This study seems to suggest the same. The authors noted that the mistaken assumption that it is safer to drive under the influence of marijuana than alcohol is a concern, as through legislation, marijuana may become more available than it has been in the past.
The investigators noted numerous limitations to this study, including that they did not assess the time between substance abuse and driving, and that drinking and smoking marijuana were self-reported.
They pointed out how important this study is in stressing that young adults need to be made aware that driving after using marijuana is dangerous. In fact, these researchers stated that statistics show that nationally, cannabis use is involved in 12 percent of fatal crashes among 16- to 20-year-olds.
Cliff Hamrick, LPC, a counselor in Austin, Texas, told dailyRx News that he thinks it's easy for people to forget that marijuana is a powerful drug.
"While I agree with efforts to decriminalize marijuana usage, I believe it is important to remember that marijuana is a drug that can have an effect on one's cognitive, emotional, and behavioral functions," Hamrick said.
"Often, it feels like those who support the decriminalization of marijuana want to swing the pendulum in the opposite direction and pretend that marijuana is a completely harmless drug. As marijuana use becomes more mainstream in society, mental health professionals will need to educate our clients that marijuana is as potent and dangerous drug as alcohol or prescription pills," he said.
In an accompanying editorial, Mark Asbridge, PhD, of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, mentioned that it is even possible that marijuana and alcohol, when taken together, may cause more impairment because of a synergistic effect (the effect may be greater than simply adding the two together).
But he ended on a positive note. “As we learned from our multipronged efforts to combat drinking and driving, it took many years before the desired effects of legislation were realized. By focusing energy on the problem of driving after marijuana use and drawing on our successes and failures in responding to drinking and driving, we may not have to wait as long this time to realize change," Dr. Asbridge wrote.

Favorite actors smoked on screen

Hollywood actors have a very big influence on young people and children. They all want to become like them. That is why many times teenagers act like them and follow their behavior from TV. In many movies the actors are smoking, and those that are watching them and take example.

The best Hollywood actors John Travolta, Leonardo DiCaprio, Sharon Stone and Julia Roberts have been accused of encouraging young people to start smoking by lighting up on screen.

In United States was conducted a research and was published in the British Tobacco Control journal. The research sustains that students that have age from 10 to 19 are more likely to start smoking, because their favorite actors smoked on screen. This is in comparison with those teenagers that have like idols movie stars who don’t smoke.

In New England was made a survey where have participated over 630 students from rural schools, they were asked about their smoking habits and what they thought about smoking. In the end they were asked to tell the name of their favorite actor movie.

The researchers then assessed on-screen smoking by 43 movie stars in films made between 1994 and 1996. They found teens whose favorite stars smoked on screen were far likelier to smoke than their classmates, whose favorite actors never smoked, and the more the actor smoked, the more positively the teen thought about smoking.

DiCaprio, Stone and Travolta, had more than three movies were they have showed that they smoke. So the fans of these actors are 16 times likelier to express a positive opinion about smoking than those who chose "non-smoking" stars.

Mass media portrayals of smoking among favored movie stars contribute to adolescent smoking which is a causal link in what remain the leading cause of premature death and the number one preventable public health problem in the developed world.

We just have to be careful not to be influenced about our stars movies, because they are really different in the real life.

Pakistan Tobacco Company

Pakistan Tobacco Company (PAKT) is an associate of a leading global tobacco group, the British American Tobacco Company (BATC), which has a legacy spreading over more than 100 years. The BATC has presence in more than 180 countries and is known for its high quality tobacco brands.

From crops to commercialisation, the company is involved in every aspect of the cigarette manufacturing. The product portfolio of PAKT is well-diversified. It has different varieties to offer to a wide range of smokers, from low-price to premium quality, high-priced cigarettes.

British American Tobacco Company started its operations here back in 1947 and is the first multinational to lay its foot on Pakistan. In 67 years since, it has grown from a company operating with a warehouse near Karachi Port to having two state-of-the-art facilities employing more than 1,700 employees today.

PAKT has products that cater to all markets and all consumer choices from low-income to prestige brands. It has six different brands to offer its consumers, Dunhill and Benson and Hedges are the premium quality brands. They were re-launched in Pakistan in the 2000's, and have since been performing well.

John Player Gold Leaf, the largest urban brand in Pakistan, is the most familiar brand. In the low range segment, Pakistan Tobacco Company offers Capstan by Pall Mall (CbPMO), Embassy and Gold Flake. Embassy is the leading volume brand, and the most popular brand in Punjab. It's locally tailor-made taste has enabled it to achieve high brand loyalty.

ANNUAL HIGHLIGHTS Even though the government undertook some significant crackdown drives during 2013, the year did not see any drastic change in the enforcement environment as the consumers continued to be attracted towards the cheaper, duty-evaded brands. Altogether, the legitimate tobacco industry has lost over Rs 80 billion to illicit trade during the last five years.

PAKT dominates with a significant market share in the industry. During CY13, the company's brands seemed to perform well against the competition. Net turnover increased by about 18 percent to reach Rs 30.6 billion in CY13. It seems that the industry registered sales growth in the last year in part due to speculative buying, and in part due to the price-hike following the government's FY14 budgetary increase in sales tax and excise duty.

The company had sold 40.6 billion cigarette sticks back in CY12. So while the CY13 volume figures are not available yet (PAKT is yet to release its 2013 annual report), one can assume that there would have been considerable growth in sales volume, as the company's gross turnover (a more accurate indication of sales volume) had grown by 19 percent year on year in CY13.

PAKT continues to face cost pressures. That was visible in an increase in cost of sales, which grew by 15 percent year on year in CY13. The growth could be attributed to inflation and higher sales volume. The company has multiple cost savings and productivity initiatives aimed at rationalising the cost base. As this growth was proportionately lower than the top line growth, the gross profit margin jumped to 34.6 percent in CY13, compared to 32.6 percent the previous year.

Meanwhile, PAKT's selling and distribution expenses increased by 14 percent, while the administrative expenses jumped by 24 percent. But the overall financials remained positive. Not only did 'other operating expenses' decline by 56 percent year on year, the 'other operating income' also offer support through its 43 percent growth during the year.

Thanks to healthy top line growth and reasonable increase in costs, the tobacco giant firmed up its profit margins in CY13. PAKT eventually closed CY13 with a massive 81 percent increase in its net profits, which reached Rs 3.12 billion. That threw up a net margin of 10.2 percent and an EPS of 12.23 rupees per share.

OUTLOOK Rising awareness among the masses, rising cost base, down-trading, the law-and-order situation and narrow product margins are expected to affect the volumetric sales of tobacco over CY14. In order to fill the shortfall in its revenue, the Federal Government is also expected to raise the federal excise tariff on cigarettes.

PAKT operates in a favourable demographic, is the market leader and the largest player. However, its improved margins are under threat from illegal cigarette market and cigarette smuggling from neighbouring countries like Iran and Afghanistan. It is said that nearly a quarter of cigarettes available in the market are sourced from illegal channels. That not only hurts legitimate tobacco industry, but also dents government's tax revenues to an extent. This trend is a market distorter and must be dealt with by the government through laws as well as enforcement drives.