(Foreword by Freedom to Choose)
On Friday 5th October 2007 ASH will issue this press release. (It was embargoed until midnight on 4th October) We feel, in the
interests of fairness, and responsible reporting, our rebuttal should also feature.
Our responses, paragraph by paragraph, are in bold and may be quoted freely by journalists.
The release can be found here: http://www.newash.org.uk/ash_koz7y86b.htm
ASH is today calling on the Government to develop a harm reduction strategy for tobacco.
ALL of the tobacco manufacturers have their own harm reduction strategies already. They have been working towards a less harmful
product for several years. See:
http://www.bat.com
http://www.imperial-tobacco.com/
http://www.gallaher-group.com/
http://www.the-tma.org.uk/
Or, if you want the real scoop, see this:
http://freedom2choose.info/news_viewer.php?id=261
ASH endorses the key findings of a report published today by the Royal College of Physicians. The report notes that despite a
steady decline in overall smoking rates, the most disadvantaged smokers, who tend to be the most heavily addicted to nicotine, are
still not quitting.
Follow the link to BAT (above) and you will discover that smoker prevalence was decreasing year on year. It falters, flatlines,
and even climbs following restrictions in pubs clubs and restaurants. As much as they try to hide the fact, tobacco sales in Ireland
and Scotland rose following the implementation of their bans. There is an initial dip, NRT sales enjoy a brief sales spurt, and then
tobacco sales begin to rise. Of interest is the BAT information on smuggled tobacco and (foreign) duty paid tobacco which tends to
end up being sold to the less well off.
The report notes that whilst it is the nicotine in tobacco that keeps people hooked, the harm from smoking is caused primarily by
the thousands of poisons in tobacco smoke. Medicinal nicotine, on the other hand, is relatively safe but little has been done to
promote longer term use of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) as an alternative to smoking for those who can’t quit.
Not so. It is far from safe. Please see this link:
http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/533287/
...where you will learn that so-called "clean" nicotine is very harmful, and equally addictive. The pharmaceutical companies now sell
their nicotine gum in a variety of flavours which attract children in the USA to use their products, which are sold over the counter.
No prescription required, age is no barrier.
The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has taken steps to increase the accessibility of NRT but much more
needs to be done. ASH believes that a review of the whole nicotine and tobacco market is needed in order to allow safer nicotine
products to be made available whilst ever stricter measures are applied to tobacco products to deter their use.
Call us cynical, if you must, but this looks more like a massive sales push than any attempt at fostering good health. Read any
statement by ASH and you will struggle to find one that does NOT mention NRT. Yet they maintain that they receive no funding from
pharmaceutical companies. We wonder about that. A lot.
Deborah Arnott, Director of the health campaigning charity ASH, said:
‘This Government has done more than any previous UK government to tackle the tobacco epidemic. However, smoking rates are still only
declining by 0.4% per year with the most disadvantaged in society finding it hardest to quit. Additional measures are needed to
reduce the terrible toll of illnesses and premature death caused by smoking. It is up to the Government to take the lead and to help
those people who are unable to quit smoking.’
An ‘epidemic’ is something that is spreading without control. This particular ‘epidemic’ was well under control before the
spiteful anti-smoker legislation was enacted. As we said earlier, smoker prevalence was in decline. There are many ‘unintended
consequences’ with this vindictive law, but the single biggest mistake it makes is to hurl smokers out in the street where kids can
see them smoking, laughing etc. In Ireland, the biggest rise in smoking was amongst the 18-23 year olds. The Office of Tobacco
Control in Ireland (www.otc.ie ) found another scapegoat, however:
http://www.sadireland.com/office_of_tobacco_control_blames_forgeigners.htm
While the setting up of a tobacco regulatory authority would take some time to achieve, there are interim steps that could be
taken. Specifically, ASH calls on the Government to:
- Sponsor educational campaigns to raise awareness of the relative safety of medicinal nicotine products compared to cigarettes.
- Maintain the VAT reduction on nicotine replacement therapies that was introduced on 1 July 2007
- Work with the MHRA to improve regulation of medicinal nicotine to encourage longer term use among most heavily addicted smokers
who are currently unable to quit.
In addition ASH calls on the pharmaceutical industry to develop new, cheaper NRT products that will be attractive to long-term
heavy smokers unable to quit as a viable alternative to cigarettes.
We are not a pro-smoking group. We are a pro-choice group. We do not advise anyone to start smoking, but if they do, they are
most welcome to join us to campaign for an amendment to this divisive law. One of our aims is to demand an amendment that allows
publicans to decide whether or not they allow their customers to smoke or not. We are the only group in the world that is campaigning
for an amendment that includes a Regulated Indoor Air Quality Standard. When HMG totally ignored all the science that told them quite
clearly that second hand smoke is harmless to 99.99% of the world’s population, they also ignored modern technology, available today,
which will reduce airborne carcinogens by 99.97%. This makes the air in a smoking establishment cleaner than the air in a
non-ventilated smoke-free establishment.
Contrary to public opinion, not all scientists are dancing around the same handbag. There are a growing number of dissenters. See
here:
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/eletters/330/7495/812#98957
