Tag: tobacco industry
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Rethinking Australia’s tobacco revenue plunge
Falling tobacco revenue and a growing illicit market have prompted calls to rethink excise. Neil Francey examines the debate and its implications for tobacco policy.
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Could a national tobacco retail licensing scheme help to combat illicit tobacco in Australia?
Could a national tobacco retail licensing scheme offer a more effective response to illicit trade? Neil Francey examines the case for a coordinated approach.
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Innovation down under 1: what has Australia been doing in tobacco control recently?
Vaping reforms have attracted attention, but Australia has also overhauled its tobacco control laws. Roger Magnusson explains the changes introduced by the 2023 national legislation.
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Paradise at risk: recommendations to control tobacco and alcohol industry interference in Pacific Island Countries and Territories
Tobacco and alcohol industry influence threatens public health across the Pacific. The authors consider how governments can better protect health policy from that interference.
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Vaping law reform: New South Wales in a federal context
There is a lot of vaping-related law reform activity going on in Australia at the moment. This (long) post reviews NSW vaping laws and provides a baseline for understanding the changes that are underway, both at NSW (State) and Commonwealth level. Background The failure to enforce nicotine control laws, together with ludicrously low penalties, have…
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Australia’s vaping train wreck: The Butler Plan to fix it and the devil in the detail
Australia’s Vaping Train Wreck Commonwealth Health Minister, Mark Butler MP, has announced that the Albanese Government is taking strong action to reduce smoking and stamp out vaping – particularly among young Australians – through stronger legislation, enforcement, education and support. This follows public consultation over December 2022 – January 2023 led by the Therapeutic Goods…
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Contraventions of the Australian Consumer Law in the promotion of e-cigarettes
In an article in The Conversation, “Sex and lies are used to sell vapes online. Even we were surprised at the marketing tactics we found”, published on 6 March 2023, Curtain University Professor Jonine Jancey notes that e-cigarettes are not harmless; they contain hundreds of chemicals, many of which are toxic with risks including addiction,…
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Vaping: the madness of the British?
My google search engine thinks Public Health England (PHE) is a vaping organisation. “Vaping organisation UK”. You can try it yourself. E-cigarettes lie at the centre of PHE’s tobacco control strategy, probably drawing attention and commitment away from alternative strategies for reducing smoking rates. In September 2017, PHE encouraged smokers to “stop smoking with an…
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A Foundation for a smoke-free world…funded by a cigarette multinational: more smoke and mirrors?
The Swiss like butter on both sides of their toast. Headquartered in Lausanne, half an hour’s train ride from the World Health Organisation in Geneva, you’ll find the headquarters of the world’s most profitable tobacco company, Philip Morris International (PMI). Makers of Marlboro and other global brands. A few years ago, at the end of…
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Are these photos the pointy end of tobacco control? Or just another example of what the tobacco industry does best?
If the e-cigarette industry in Australia has a martyr, his name is probably Vince van Heerden. More about him in a moment. Advocates for e-cigarettes claim that they are a healthier alternative to smoking, and provide a ray of hope for desperately addicted smokers. However, before you make up your mind, look at how e-cigarettes…
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Democracy is not a spectator sport: more on campaign finance and public health
In October 2015, at the Oceania Tobacco Control Conference, Professor Mike Daube, one of Australia’s best-known public health advocates, gave the closing address. He wore a tie given to him some years ago by an American colleague. It read: “Democracy is not a spectator sport”. On the back were the words: “Made exclusively for Philip…
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Campaign finance: a neglected public health issue
Enjoying the Australian election? Of course you aren’t. But campaign finance and political donations are a neglected public health issue. A few years ago I asked the Chairman of an Australian tobacco company “Why do you do it? Why give political donations at all?” “[F]or the same reasons as Westfield or anyone else”, he answered. …
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California raises the minimum purchase age for cigarettes and e-cigarettes
Last week was a big week for those who think the law should have a role in helping to reduce the 6 million deaths caused each year by tobacco. First, tobacco taxes In 2013, the Rudd government announced a 12.5% increase in the tobacco excise to take effect over 4 years: 1 Dec 2013; 1…
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A tiny illustration of what the tobacco industry is like
Click on this link. It’s a tiny illustration of what the tobacco industry is like. It ought to be placed on the health curriculum of every school. Professor Stephen Leeder once wrote that public health is a “contest of raw political power” (S.R. Leeder, “Ethics in public health” Internal Medicine Journal 2004; 34:435-439). Basically, it’s…