Review of the year

And finally this year …

Thanks to everyone who has followed Forest online, supported our work, or merely read this blog.

For a brief summary of our year's work click here or on the image (left).

In addition, and for what it's worth, here are my favourite pictures of the year. They were taken by Dan Donovan during Smoke On The Water, our annual boat party.

Picture #1 (above) features Claude Werner and to me it sums up what, and who, Forest primarily represents – unapologetic, unrepentant smokers in full social mode.

Picture #2 (below) is simply a lovely image. Dan is a great photographer and we're lucky to have him as part of the team.

Enjoy the evening. See you next year.

UK smoking rate up in 2015 (allegedly)

Today's You and Yours on Radio 4 was devoted to smoking – well, giving up smoking, to be precise.

The studio guest was Robert West, professor of health psychology at University College London.

Martin Dockrell, formerly of ASH now with Public Health England, also featured. And I made a brief appearance talking about plain packaging.

I've nothing much to say about the programme but one thing did stand out. According to Prof West research suggests that smoking rates in the UK have increased in 2015.

At least, I think that's what he said. (Dockrell sounded a bit sceptical.)

The revelation was based on a study of 20,000 people and while several hypotheses were put forward no-one knew why it had happened or whether it is just a blip.

Presenter Winifred Robinson described it as "worrying" while West said there must be a doubling of effort to reduce smoking rates which, he said, are 22 per cent for men, 17 per cent for women.

Oddly the favoured method seemed to involve family and friends nagging smokers until they quit which suggests the tobacco control movement is running out of ideas.

If you want to listen to the programme click here.

Amused by smoking cessation advice on #youandyours @BBCRadio4 Friends/family telling me to quit just used to make me dig my heels in

— Amy Richards (@39tuesdays) December 31, 2015

Happy Christmas!

Tobacco Products Directive declared lawful

The EU's Tobacco Products Directive has been declared lawful.

Responding to challenges to the labelling and packaging of tobacco, the ban on menthol cigarettes and restrictions on e-cigarettes, the Advocate General at the Court of Justice of the European Union has announced she considers the new directive to be valid.

In her Opinions issued today, Advocate General Juliane Kokott concludes that the new EU tobacco directive of 20141 was lawfully adopted. This applies in particular to the standardisation of the labelling and packaging of tobacco products (such as size, minimum content, warnings andvpermitted information), the EU-wide prohibition on sales of menthol cigarettes applicable from 20 May 2020 and the special rules for e-cigarettes.

None of the arguments invoked by Poland — supported by Romania — against the prohibition on menthol cigarettes is well founded, with the result that Poland’s action for annulment must be dismissed. The examination of the questions posed by the English High Court, before which several undertakings challenged the implementation of the directive into law in the UK, also reveals no factors such as to affect the validity of the directive.

Concerning the special rules for e-cigarettes, Advocate General Kokott states that those rules differ appreciably in several respects from the rules for conventional tobacco products. For example, the special rules for e-cigarettes provide for, inter alia, a duty to submit a notification with a six-month standstill period, specific warnings, a maximum nicotine content of 20 mg/ml, a leaflet requirement, a separate prohibition on advertising and sponsorship and annual reporting obligations.

Those special rules are, however, relatively moderate, both in comparison with the rules for conventional tobacco products and by international standards, and are ultimately not disproportionate. Advocate General Kokott emphasises in that regard that e-cigarettes are a novel and — for large parts of the population at least — still relatively little known product for which there is a rapidly developing market.

In addition, it is not manifestly wrong or unreasonable to accept, in adopting internal market harmonisation measures, that e-cigarettes possibly cause risks to human health and that that product could — above all in the case of adolescents and young adults — develop into a gateway to nicotine addiction and, ultimately, traditional tobacco consumption.

Also in the case of e-cigarettes, the EU legislature was entitled to take the view, having regard in particular to the fundamental differences between the Member States’ rules and the cross-border dimension of the problem, that rules at Union level are required.

You can download the full press release here.

Deborah Arnott, CEO of ASH, has reacted as follows:

"The Advocate General's Opinion is very clear: the Directive is lawful and the UK is allowed to go further in standardising the pack. We await the final judgement of the European Court of Justice but it is unlikely to differ from the Opinion."

Interesting that Deborah 'friend of the vaper' Arnott hasn't commented on the dismissal of the legal challenge brought by e-cigarette manufacturer Totally Wicked.

Perhaps she's not bovvered.

ASH hit by 25 per cent cut in public funding

The Department of Heath has cut its annual grant to ASH by 25 per cent.

The news was revealed yesterday in an answer to a parliamentary question by Conservative peer Lord Naseby:

Action on Smoking and Health
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 8 December, how much grant the Department of Health will provide to Action on Smoking and Health in the current financial year, and whether they will place a copy of any grant application and award letter in the Library of the House.

Replying on behalf of the DH, Lord Prior of Brampton wrote:

The Department will provide a grant of £150,000 to Action on Smoking and Health in the 2015/16 financial year. This grant is awarded under Section 64 of the Health and Social Care Act 1968.

£150k represents a 25 per cent cut on ASH's previous grant of £200k a year so the Government is moving - albeit slowly - in the right direction.

Helpfully Lord Prior provided a copy of the signed award letter, including the "detailed deliverables" of the grant.

You can download and read it here.

Note: Lord Naseby asked – and received answers to – several more questions about ASH and the group's debatable use of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health to further its cause.

I'll post more on this subject later. In the meantime you can read the Q&As in full here.

Tasmania can go to hell

Currently in Glasgow where it is extremely wet and windy.

At eleven o'clock this morning I was at BBC Scotland's impressive HQ overlooking the Clyde at Pacific Quay.

I was there to record an interview about plain packaging for You and Yours (Radio 4). I was under the impression there was going to be a report in today's programme but after we finished they told me it won't be broadcast until New Year's Eve.

While I was there I got a request for a comment on whether vaping should be allowed in hospital grounds. I'm sure you can guess my response so I'll wait and link to the report if and when it's published online.

Media request number three came via another phone call just after lunch. BBC Three Counties radio wanted me on their drive time programme to discuss the proposal to raise the smoking age in Tasmania from 21 to 25.

I'm sure we'll hear more of this absurd idea (why should adults aged 18-24 be discriminated against on such an arbitrary basis?) but on this occasion the item got dropped because of a shocking story that took place in the station's own region.

"In the circumstances," the producer told me, "it doesn't seem appropriate to talk about smoking."

What I think he was saying was that, compared to an horrific story involving the torture and death of a teenage girl, the issue of smoking was unimportant.

That's not what public health campaigners want to hear, of course. They want smoking cessation to be headline news, day after day.

On this occasion I was more than happy to take a back seat. Tasmania can go to hell.

Ireland and Scotland press ahead with laws to ban smoking in cars with children

Well, that was an unexpectedly busy day, media wise.

It began with the overnight news that the Irish Government was about to announce the "long-awaited regulations" needed to enforce the legislation banning smoking in cars with children.

The story was quickly picked up by other media in Ireland and before many people were at work Forest's response was already online.

See If you smoke in a car that has a child in it, you will be fined €100 (Journal.ie)

Forest Eireann spokesman John Mallon was also invited to appear on Newstalk's Pat Kenny Show, one of Ireland's top radio shows.

After that he did several more interviews for other radio stations including RTE's flagship Drivetime programme.

As luck would have it the Scottish Parliament chose the same day to pass the Smoking Prohibition (Children in Motor Vehicles) Bill.

Again we had to whip out a response with the result that Forest was quoted by the BBC, the Scotsman and STV (MSPs pass legislation to ban smoking in vehicles with children) amongst others.

One radio station asked me to record our response on my iPhone and email the audio file to them so they could use a clip on their news bulletins.

That was easier said than done because I was in the centre of Cambridge at the time and it was quite difficult finding somewhere quiet.

When I thought I'd found a suitable spot I was interrupted – the first time by an extremely noisy skateboarder, the second time by an equally loud dustcart.

Eventually I found a dark alleyway, recorded my piece, and sent it off. A few minutes later they said it was fine, although it sounded a bit odd to me.

Meanwhile, back in Ireland, John Mallon has another interview lined up for the morning so we'll see what tomorrow brings.

On the bright side, it can't be any worse than today.

Brighton – common sense prevails

Brighton Council's health and wellbeing board met yesterday and confirmed that it would not be recommending an extension of smoke-free areas to beaches, parks & squares.

You can view a webcast of the discussion by clicking here. It's item #9 (The Public Consultation on Extending Smoke-free Spaces) and you can go direct to that part of the meeting by clicking on the relevant link.

Some of the comments were quite interesting. One councillor seemed to suggest it would be ten years before the idea was proposed again.

Another suggested the Swansea consultation on the same issue had attracted a similar response which, if correct, is also hugely encouraging.

Credit to the health and wellbeing board, and to chairman Daniel Yates in particular, no-one struck me as being a fanatical anti-smoking zealot.

Their comments were mostly quite measured and if they were disappointed by the parks and beaches result they hid it well.

What seemed to please the board most was the large number of responses which only goes to show how important it is that people engage with councils on matters such as this.

The more enlightened and open-minded councillors will listen and use their common sense. I'd like to think too that they recognise that policies should be evidence-based and it's not just about the ability to enforce restrictive regulations.

As for media coverage, I mentioned last week how BBC Radio Sussex had tried to spin the story. Well, this is where they got the angle from – Brighton Council!

Plans to increase the number of outdoor smoke-free areas in Brighton and Hove will be considered by top council and NHS representatives at a meeting on Tuesday 15 December.

The city’s health and wellbeing board will be asked to agree smoke-free zones at the entrances to school gates and children’s centres, and also in children’s play parks.

Public health officials could also be asked to work with restaurants and pubs to encourage smoke-free outdoor areas on a voluntary basis.

However, the board will be asked not to extend smoke-free places to parks and beaches.

The proposals take into account the findings of a public consultation to which more than 1,900 people responded. A majority of respondents – both smokers and non-smokers – agreed that play parks and school and children’s centre entrances should become smoke-free.

A majority of residents agreed that it was anti-social to smoke where people were eating and drinking. Many non-smokers said they would be more likely to use restaurants and pubs with outdoor seating if they were smoke-free.

However, there was little general support for smoke-free parks and beaches.

The chair of the health and wellbeing board, Councillor Daniel Yates, said: “I believe the measures that are being suggested are a common-sense approach and an appropriate reflection of the views of our residents and visitors.

“We’re delighted with the level of response to this consultation."

See More smoke-free areas proposed for Brighton & Hove (Brighton Council).

Thankfully the local press recognised the real story and reported it as follows:

• Bid to ban smoking on beaches and parks in Brighton and Hove to be dropped (The Argus)
• Smoke-free beaches plan stubbed out (Brighon and Hove Independent)
• Smoking ban on Brighton beaches set to be dropped (Brighton & Hove News)

Anyway, as I reported at the weekend, I've searched in vain for any national coverage of this important development.

Hope springs eternal, though, so watch this space.

Update: BBC News has the story here – Beach smoking ban bid dropped.