The environmental argument for banning menthol cigarettes
Every year, about 4.5 trillion cigarette butts are discarded globally, making them the most littered item on Earth. Around 90 percent of cigarettes have filters made of a biobased plastic called cellulose acetate, which can take up to 14 years to decompose. Nevertheless, cigarette butts are still considered hazardous solid waste, even if they are thrown away properly. In recent years, non-menthol cigarettes have become less...
Illicit Trade Persists After Lockdown
The illicit cigarette trade continues to thrive in South Africa despite recent enforcement actions, according to a new Ipsos study. According to Ipsos’ latest study, shops nationwide are still flooded with illegal tobacco products more than two years after the unconstitutional tobacco sales ban was imposed by the government as part of their response to the...
NTCA Seeks Legal Restrictions on Shisha, Other Tobacco Products
The Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance (NTCA) has expressed concern over what it described as low level of compliance to the law on graphic health warnings on tobacco products in Nigeria. It said one of the major concerns was that other tobacco products such as snuff and shisha, which has become notoriously popular among young people,...
STOP Adds to Industry Allies Database
STOP, a tobacco industry watchdog, has added 25 organizations from 12 countries to its Industry Allies database. Organizations on the list are categorized as front groups, “astroturf” groups or third parties that promote the tobacco industry’s agenda while appearing to be independent. “This update provides further evidence that the tobacco industry uses different types of...
More than 3 million middle and high school students reported using tobacco in 2022
More than 3 million US middle and high schoolers – about 11% of those students – reported current tobacco use in 2022, according to a new study from researchers at the US Food and Drug Administration and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For the ninth consecutive year, e-cigarettes were the most commonly used tobacco...
Opinion: Public health can’t pay for the tobacco industry’s actions
With an ever more complex landscape of tobacco products, we face a daunting moment in tobacco control. The tobacco industry has made a resurgence, taking advantage of youth across media platforms that are rife with disinformation, and causing uptakes in smoking in surprising demographic categories. All of this is happening while gains in life...
