Tobacco.org

• New law 'offensive' to smokers  

Tough new anti-smoking laws have not filtered down to Cape Town's smokers, who are still puffing away in clubs and pubs.

Amendments to the Tobacco Control Act came into effect on September 4, banning smoking in entertainment areas, including bars, clubs, restaurant patios and walkways, balconies and even in parkades.

The amendments also banned smoking in cars in which children younger than 12 are passengers and put a stop to the sale of products such as sweets and chocolates by cigarette vendors.

While some smokers and restaurant owners claim ignorance of the new laws, others admit that they are aware of the laws and the consequences if caught contravening them.

A snap survey by the Cape Argus showed that many establishments still allow people to puff in walkways and on patios and balconies, while others even allow patrons to smoke indoors.

Jump to full article »

Smokers a declining species  

"YOU don't need a four-pound hammer to kill a mouse."

This is how a legal expert expressed his displeasure at government's proposed tobacco legislation more than a decade ago.

In evidence given at the the time, interest groups questioned whether the Bill was constitutional. Individuals' "constitutional right" to smoke and tobacco companies' right to freedom of speech were cited, but the government remained adamant. . . .

Dr Yussuf Saloojee, the head of the NCAS, writes in Chronic Diseases of Lifestyle in South Africa since 1995-2005 that the ban on tobacco advertising since 2001 may have contributed to less smoking among children.

A spokesman for the Free Market Foundation said the legislation could be compared to the "extreme and obsessive laws enforced by the Nazis".

He said it wasn't the state's duty to prescribe how people should live. . . .

Today most work and public areas are smoke-free.

But is this really due to the government's policing of anti-smoking legislation?

Even Peter Ucko, veteran anti-smoking activist, believes it is due, rather, to self-policing.

Non-smokers -- the majority of people -- welcomed the legislation and do not hesitate to complain when they catch a whiff of tobacco where it isn't supposed to be.

Jump to full article »

Smoking laws: thumbs up? 

The National Council Against Smoking says it has received positive feedback from the public about the new anti-smoking laws.

Parts of the Tobacco Products Control Act came into effect six weeks ago.

One of them prohibits smoking in partially enclosed areas such as verandas, patios and balconies.

The council's Peter Ucko said people have been accommodating.

Jump to full article »

E-cigarettes prove a hot topic for experts 

The National Council Against Smoking says it is working towards having electronic cigarettes governed by the amended anti-smoking law. . . . "Tobacco cigarettes are not only harmful to the smoker," said Ridwaan Ismail of Health-e-Cigarettes, a local company that launched its electronic cigarette this year. . . .

Peter Ucko, director of the National Council Against Smoking, countered this.

He said that electronic cigarettes still contained nicotine, which was addictive.

Jump to full article »

• Electronic cigarettes exempt from new smoking laws 

As smoking laws place more restrictions on when and where one can smoke, electronic cigarettes are becoming the preferred alternative, offering smokers the opportunity to cut down on the harmful chemicals that they inhale and emit while successfully avoiding prosecution.

Smokers of tobacco cigarettes in South Africa will once again have to adjust their habits to avoid smoking in public places and near children due to recent laws passed. . . .

Both odourless and colourless, the vapour is neither toxic nor harmful as a secondary smoke, making it safe to smoke in all public places.

Jump to full article »

The market for tobacco in South Africa increased at a compound annual growth rate of 2.3% between 2003 and 2008 

Tobacco in South Africa to 2013 - a new market research report on companiesandmarkets.com

www.companiesandmarkets.com/Summary-Market-Report/tobacco-in-sou ..

This databook provides key data and information on the tobacco market in South Africa. This report is a comprehensive resource for market, category and segment level data including value, volume, distribution share and company & brand share. This report also provides expenditure and consumption data for the historic and forecast periods.

Jump to full article »

• Smoking laws tightened 

SMOKERS are set to have the number of places where they can light up freely curtailed even further, thanks to amended smoking laws.

Two new Acts, which amend the country’s tobacco control laws, are now in operation and according to the National Council Against Smoking, offer better protection for non- smokers.

“The Acts strengthen the existing law on smoking in public places; regulate the manufacture of tobacco products so as to make cigarettes less likely to start fires; and make them less appealing to children and less addictive,” said the council .

Smokers would no longer be able to smoke in “partially enclosed” public places, such as covered patios, verandas, balconies, walkways and parking areas, which could have serious implications for bars and restaurants.

Owners could now be fined a maximum of R50000 for breaking the smoking laws while the fine for the individual smoker is R500.

Jump to full article »

Smoking law fines 'too harsh'  

Some Durban restaurant owners fear stricter anti-smoking laws will have a negative impact on their businesses.

Smoking in partially enclosed areas of restaurants, pubs and bars - such as covered patios, verandas, balconies, walkways and parking areas - is now illegal and could see owners being fined R50 000 for breaching the laws.

The individual smoker will be fined R500, says the National Council Against Smoking.

Restaurateurs in the greater Durban area have expressed concern over the increased fines.

Spiga d'Oro owner Sergio Santoniccolo said the law was unfair and the government should be focusing on other crimes.

Jump to full article »

Smoking laws fail domestic workers  

Domestic employees are the only workers who aren't protected by the recent amendments to the country's tobacco control laws.

The National Council Against Smoking says the private home is excluded from the reach of the law.

Peter Ucko says legislators, at the time of considering the amendments to the law, decided not to invade the private home.

As a result, domestic employees and children are not protected in these situations, "The fact that a private home is excluded from the ban on smoking in the workplace, it simply means people can continue to smoke in their private homes.

Jump to full article »

Tough new restrictions on smoking 

It will be illegal from Friday to smoke in a car in which a child is a passenger, according to new smoking legislation gazetted in August.

And from Friday, restaurant and pub owners will face higher penalties if their patrons smoke outside designated, legal smoking areas.

The tobacco industry will also no longer be able to use covert forms of marketing to attract young smokers.

A common tactic, said National Council Against Smoking director Peter Ucko, was for cigarette companies to send reps to hand out cigarettes at clubs or parties.

The two amendments to the Tobacco Control Act also make it illegal for adults to smoke in premises used for childcare or schooling.

The law will also now control the substances that can be added to tobacco.

Jump to full article »

• Gloves off on smoking 

They've been a long time coming, but harsh new clampdowns on smoking have been signed into law by President Jacob Zuma, who is among the 78 percent of South African adults who don't smoke.

Owners of pubs, restaurants and workplaces who allow people to smoke in non-smoking areas may have sniffed at the paltry R200 fine they faced up to now, but may think twice of flouting the anti-puffing law now that the fine is R50 000.

Partially enclosed patios, balconies and walkways no longer qualify as open spaces, so smoking is out in those spots, too.

Parents can no longer subject their children to smoke-infested areas of restaurants, and adults may not smoke in a car if any of the passengers are under 12. . . .

It's now also illegal for the cigarette companies to stage "by invitation only" parties or use "viral" marketing to target young people - tactics the industry has resorted to since 2000 when advertising was banned. . . .

If the following post on a local blog is anything to go by, it's a strategy that's worked for them. In answer to the question "which brand do you smoke?" someone shared this: "I used to smoke Stuyvesant red. Then one day at RAU these super hot chickies were doing promos for Rothmans so I signed up!

"Ever since then they've been sending me two packs a month and free lighters, free stuff and party invites! Been smoking Rothmans ever since!"

More big changes are expected in the coming months . . .

Interestingly, two weeks after being ordered by US federal court judge Gladys Kessler to publicise the dangers of smoking and to stop marketing so-called "light" and "mild" cigarettes as healthier than others, the tobacco companies returned to court to effectively ask the judge if they could carry on deceiving their overseas markets about "light" and "low-tar" cigarettes.

Jump to full article »

• Tobacco acts signed into law 

Two pieces of legislation that dramatically increase smoking fines and crack down on tobacco companies have been signed into law, the National Council Against Smoking said on Monday.

The acts also make it illegal for adults to smoke in a car where there is a child under 12, and pave the way for picture warnings such as diseased lungs on cigarette packs.

"The new laws will have dramatic, important and far-ranging effects on public health and the tobacco industry's marketing activities," said council director Yussuf Saloojee.

The acts were passed by Parliament in 2007 and 2008.

Saloojee said fines for smoking or allowing smoking in a non-smoking area increased with immediate effect.

Jump to full article »

• Does your teenager smoke and drink?  

More than a quarter of South African teenagers have "lots" of friends who are smoking and drinking - increasing the risk that more youngsters will take part in this dangerous behaviour.

The finding is from TNS Research Surveys, which interviewed 1 000 South African teenagers ranging in age from 13 to 19 years, from the seven major metropolitan areas. The home survey asked youngsters if they had "lots of friends" who were smoking, drinking and/or using drugs.

The reason for asking about the behaviour of their friends, but not themselves, was to elicit more honest answers, said Neil Higgs, the director of innovation and development at TNS. This was especially important with teenagers under 16, whose caregivers were required to be present during the interview.

The implication of the findings was that teenagers were fairly heavily surrounded by the activity, said Higgs.

The highest concentration of smoking was found in Cape Town, where 44 percent of teenagers interviewed said they had lots of friends who smoked. The rate among 13-year-olds was 15 percent.

Jump to full article »

• E-ciggies help 45% smokers quit 

Forty-five percent of South African smokers who used e-cigarettes were able to quit tobacco smoking within two months, a new SA study shows.

In the first local medical study on the efficiency of electronic cigarettes to help smokers kick the habit, a team of doctors supplied 349 patients with Twisp electronic cigarettes, over a period of eight weeks.

Of Dutch origin, the Twisp e-cigarette is an electronic device that delivers nicotine through vapour but without the tar, carcinogens or smoke found in standard cigarettes.

All participating doctors agreed that e-cigarettes are a significantly more healthy alternative to conventional smoking.

The study's outcome revealed that:

- 6% of smokers quit within two weeks increasing to 45% within eight weeks. . . .

- When asked if an e-cigarette could act as an agent to overcome all the physical and psychological challenges to quit tobacco smoking, all doctors said "yes".

Dr Clifford Hulley, one of the participating medical professionals in the survey, reported that "an e-cigarette is the most effective treatment method on the market for quitting tobacco smoking".

Prof Martin Veller, Head Vascular Surgeon at the University of the Witwatersrand, who also participated in the project, added that e-cigarettes have the appearance of normal tobacco cigarettes but are non-toxic. . . . .

Earlier this year Health New Zealand carried out trials into the safety of e-cigarettes. According to the head of research Dr Murray Laugeson, the test found that e-cigarettes were very safe relative to cigarettes, and also safe in absolute terms on all measurements. . . .

According to Matt Salmon, president of the Electronic Cigarette Association (Eca) in the USA, available data indicates that electronic cigarettes reduce the risk of illness and death to under 1% of the risk posed by tobacco cigarettes "which are responsible for 400 000 deaths per year in the US - more than Aids, drugs, homicides, fires and auto accidents combined".

Jump to full article »

BAT Triggers South African Listing Review, Business Report Says 

South Africa’s National Treasury is reviewing the criteria used to classify whether companies trading on Johannesburg’s stock exchange are foreign companies, Business Report said, without saying where it got the information.

The review was triggered by British American Tobacco Plc’s listing on the exchange last year, the Johannesburg-based newspaper said.

Jump to full article »