Imperial Brands To Invest £75 Million in Canadian Cannabis Brand

The 75 million British pounds that imperial will invest is convertible into a 19.9 percent stake in Auxly over a three-year term. This will grant Auxly global licences to Imperial’s vaping technology and access to its brand, Nerudia. The transaction between the two business is expected to be concluded by the third quarter of 2019, and will build on Imperial’s initial entry into the cannabis market in June 2018, when it bought a stake in Oxford Cannabinoid Technologies (OCT). “Diversifying our NGP portfolio with this investment provides Imperial with further options for future growth and builds on last year’s investment in Oxford Cannabinoid Technologies,” said Imperial’s Chief Development Officer, Matthew Phillips. RTT News reported that Imperial Brands aims to accelerate the delivery of Auxly’s business plan ahead of regulatory change to the Canadian cannabis market, in October 2019.

2019-08-09
vapingpost.com

China Is Drafting First E-Cigarette Standard

"Electronic cigarettes may soon become much more widely available in the world's largest tobacco market: The People's Republic of China. With over 300 million smokers, China has the world's largest smoking population - which directly results in approximately 1 million deaths annually." While the global e-cigarette market has experienced rapid growth over the last decade, reduced-harm products have only recently started becoming popular domestically, despite the fact that the modern e-cigarette was invented in China, and the vast majority of e-cigarette devices exported around the world are manufactured in Shenzhen.

2019-08-09
natlawreview.com

Understanding Nicotine, Stigma, and Public Health’s Use of Scare Tactics

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is responsible for the regulation of tobacco and nicotine products. As a part of its purview of enforcement, the FDA has a statutory responsibility to prevent youth initiation of tobacco products like cigarettes and vapes. While the mission is noble and has some success, the hard truth that remains centers on the uncanny ability of minors to access age-restricted products. Older teenagers (late high school, early college), for instance, are more likely to engage in what some would consider age-inappropriate activities that carry certain associated personal health risks with them. These activities include, naturally, the use of tobacco or nicotine, using marijuana, underage drinking and sexual activity.

2019-08-09
insidesources.com

How Cigarette Smoke Makes Head and Neck Cancer More Aggressive

Head and neck cancer is the sixth most common cancer in the world. The vast majority of cases are head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), a type of cancer that arises in the outer layer of the skin and mucous membranes of the mouth, nose and throat. Cigarette smoking is a major risk factor for developing the disease and reduces treatment effectiveness. Now Thomas Jefferson University researchers studying the effects of cigarette smoke on tumor progression show that cigarette smoke reprograms the cells surrounding the cancer cells, and helps drive HNSCC aggressiveness. The results were published online in the journal Molecular Cancer Research.

2019-08-09
medicalxpress.com

What's Behind a Cluster of Vaping-Related Severe Lung Disease?

Since July, a cluster of 15 cases of severe lung problems requiring hospitalization has emerged in the Midwest. All patients were teens or young adults, and all reported recent vaping. As of today, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (WDHS), in Madison, said it was studying 12 confirmed respiratory cases, and 13 more are under investigation. So far, the affected counties are Dodge, Door, Racine, Walworth, Waukesha, and Winnebago. Patients experienced a plethora of symptoms, the agency reports, including shortness of breath, fatigue, chest pain, cough, anorexia, nausea, diarrhea, and weight loss, with symptoms worsening over days or weeks before requiring admission to hospital. Physicians aren't sure what's causing the severe symptoms but point to a combination of patient age and contents in the e-cigarette vapor as potential factors.

2019-08-09
medscape.com

Medical Cannabis: 'Not Enough Evidence to Prescribe', Say NICE - Despite Law Change

Despite medical cannabis now being legal on the NHS, a limited number of prescriptions have been granted since the law change and some parents are having to pay thousands for import licences and private prescriptions. An NHS England review has blamed the lack of prescriptions on concerns about both the potential harm to mental health and effectiveness of medical cannabis. It said more clinical trials need to be carried out and a "UK-wide paediatric specialist clinical network" should be created to help “very cautious” doctors, by providing expert advice on complex cases. The "forward-looking and positive review" was welcomed by the Medical Cannabis Clinicians Society (MCCC), whose executive director Hannah Deacon spoke to ITV News about the issue. Her eight-year-old son Alfie Dingley, who suffers from severe epilepsy, was the first of a handful of patients in the UK to receive an NHS prescription for medical cannabis, despite rule changes last year allowing doctors to prescribe it.

2019-08-09
itv.com