smoking

Dutch kids are still among the happiest in Europe and tend to have a good relationship with their parents, but more are experiencing pressure from their school work, according to a study by Utrecht University, the Trimbos institute and SCP. The researchers also found that the majority of 16-year-olds drink alcohol despite being underage, and that condom use is declining, NOS reports.

Lidl Nederland will be the first supermarket to stop selling cigarettes. The chain announced that it will phase out sales until no more cigarettes are sold in Lidl Nederland stores by 2022 at the latest, ANP reports.

According to the supermarket chain, the sales figures for cigarettes declined over the past years and cigarette sales are no longer profitable. But Lidl also took measures to discourage the sale of smoking products, like placing all cigarettes out of sight in stores last year.

The Netherlands is immediately withdrawing from an international committee that gives the tobacco industry advice on measuring nicotine, tar and carbon monoxide in their products, according to newspaper Trouw.

The national institute for public health RIVM and the Dutch food and consumer product safety authority NVWA believe that the tobacco industry has too much influence on the committee, and therefore decided to withdraw. According to the newspaper, eight of the 10 members in the Dutch committee come from the tobacco industry.

The Public Prosecutor decided to drop a lawsuit filed against the four large tobacco producers in the Netherlands accusing them of aggravated assault and forgery, among other things. "Smoking is deadly and the design of cigarettes does add to this, but the tobacco manufacturers have not acted in violation of either the law or the current regulatory framework", the Prosecutor said in a statement on Thursday.

The Dutch Network for Addiction Care, an umbrella organization for various organizations dealing with addiction, is joining a major lawsuit against the tobacco industry. "The cigarette is a criminal product and all 'dealers' must be dealt with. This product is so harmful. It's unbelievable that it is just in the supermarket", spokesperson Robert van de Graaf of the network said to AD.

Dutch cancer fighting association KWF is suing four major tobacco companies for aggravated assault resulting in death and forgery. According to the association, the tobacco companies deliberately incorrectly inform smokers about the damage smoking actually causes, AD reports.

KWF is filing charges against the largest tobacco manufacturers in the world - Imperial Tobacco Benelux, British American Tobacco, Philip Morris and Japan Tobacco International.

A majority in Dutch parliament passed a motion calling for a ban on displaying cigarettes and tobacos in every supermarket. The motion by PvdA parliamentarian Marith Volp also includes a deadline of enforcing this measure by December 1st, AD reports. 

According to the motion, reducing the tobacco addiction is so important that tobacco products should be hidden from view, especially in places children and young people frequent. 

Antisocial passengers are causing more and more problems on planes, according to th Environment and Transport Inspectorate. In the first three quarters of this year the Inspectorate received 723 reports of antisocial behavior. That is the same number as in all of 2015, AD reports.

The most common problems are smoking in the plane with 38 percent of the complaints, antisocial behavior with 35 percent and alcohol with 27 percent of complaints having to do with intoxicated passengers.

Smoking costs Dutch society between 21 and 43 billion euros per year. That amounts to about 2 thousand euros per Netherlands citizen per year, according to a study done by SEO Economic Research

Three health organizations have joined forces and launched a campaign for a "smoke free generation". The campaign aims to have children grow up in a smoke-free environment and without the temptation to start smoking. Figures released by Statistics Netherlands on Friday shows that one in three smokers recently tried to quit smoking and failed. Young smokers and female smokers have a particularly hard time quitting.

There is still no cure for dementia, but researchers have discovered that in 30 percent cases the brain disorder can be prevented by healthy lifestyle. High blood pressure appears to be the biggest risk factor for dementia today.