May 2017

A triumph of the busybodies: the EU begins its crackdown on smokers and vapers<br />
One day last summer I walked into my local e-cigarette shop and bought their entire stock of my favourite vape juice. For good measure, I also bought their entire stock of the same flavour in a higher nicotine concentration and 10 bottles of the same flavour with zero nicotine to be mixed at home.<br />
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It cost me the best part of &pound;300, but I knew it was my last chance. On previous visits, I had noticed the shelves getting barer. Less popular flavours like mine were being discontinued, so I bought the lot. The stock has never been replenished and I have bought nothing from them since.&nbsp;

‘Smoke in public and face jail’ says Philippine president Duterte<br />
First it was drug dealers, now smokers are in the crosshairs of the Philippine president.<br />
People who smoke in public could face a four-month prison sentence or a $100 fine after a decree passed by Rodrigo Duterte aims to clamp down on those who light up.<br />
The law which was announced on Thursday (18 May) will forbid tobacco use, as well as e-cigarettes, in all public spaces including pavements.&nbsp;

&nbsp;New Washington laws cover liquor samples, wine auctions, tasting rooms.<br />
Customers sampling liquor at Washington craft distilleries can have their half shot with water or soda.<br />
Charities can auction wine to raise money.<br />
Craft distilleries can get a license to store their liquor in a warehouse<br />
Wineries can have twice as many tasting rooms, where they can sell growlers and kegs of their products as well as samples.<br />
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The Trump administration should no longer defend FDA&rsquo;s indefensible vaping ban. Harm reduction &mdash; opting for a product or activity that is not harmless but is better than the existing alternative &mdash; is a common and obvious strategy that we employ almost unthinkingly. For example, many drugs used for chemotherapy to treat cancer are highly toxic and cause a variety of serious side effects, but taking them is better than leaving the cancer untreated.<br />
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Smokers are breathing a sigh of relief, while nonsmokers will be gasping for air now that a draft amendment to the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act has scrapped plans to ban smoking lounges in hotels, restaurants, bars, nightclubs, and cigar lounges, health officials announced on Tuesday. TAIPEI (Taiwan News) —

Growing Lung Cancer Toll On Non-Smoking Women A Mystery<br />
Doctors are seeking to unravel the mystery as to why lung cancer is claiming victims who have never smoked in their lives, including a Silicon Valley entrepreneur who is not letting the disease slow her down.

More than a month after his confirmation hearing, Congress finally voted to confirm Trump&rsquo;s nominee for Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commission. While Dr. Scott Gottlieb&rsquo;s ties to the pharmaceutical industry provoked concern among Democrats, his long history of working within government health agencies and his relatively moderate aspirations for reforming the agency he now helms, won over a majority of Senators.&nbsp;

Cannabis could help prevent memory loss in the elderly, a new study has found.<br />
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Researchers in Germany, who are set to begin human trials later this year, say the drug may even help delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease by slowing the brain’s natural ageing process.<br />
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The &pound;99 billion cigarette giant behind Lucky Strike is trying to be more like Apple<br />
&quot;We are becoming a tech company,&quot; British American Tobacco (BAT)’s Dr. David O&rsquo;Reilly told Business Insider during a recent tour of the company’s research and development (R&amp;D) headquarters in Southampton, England.

President Duterte is just too busy and still cannot sign an executive order declaring a nationwide ban on smoking.<br />
Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial said the tight schedule of the President is the only reason for the delay in the signing of the EO banning smoking in public places all over the country.&nbsp;