The Dutch government plans to hold so-called smoke-free cigarettes to the same rules that apply to ordinary tobacco products. State Secretary Paul Blokhuis of Public Health is implementing an age limit and a ban on advertising on these products, NU.nl reports.
"Around this type of product is often the image that they are a smart alternative to ordinary smoking", Blokhuis said. According to him, that idea is misplaced, "because you can become mortally ill of it."
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.
From July 1st KLM will no longer sell cigarettes or other smoking products on board their flights. The airline finds it "no longer of this time", ANP reports.
The Dutch airline will replace cigarettes and tobacco products in their range with other products.
"KLM places great emphasis on health and sports and the sale of cigarettes does not fit in with this", Boet Kreiken, who is responsible for customer experience at the company, said, according to the news wire.
The airline would not say how much revenue the sale of tobacco products still generates.
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.
Restaurants, bars and cafes in the Netherlands may no longer have smoking areas, the court in The Hague ruled on Tuesday in a lawsuit filed by non-smokers association Clean Air Nederland (CAN), RTL Nieuws reports.
The Netherlands banned smoking in restaurants and the like in 2008, but added an exception for specially designated smoking areas that must comply to certain rules. The court now ruled that this exception for smoking rooms is contrary to the World Health Organization's rules on combating tobacco use.
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.
The Uganda Media Council banned the screening of Dutch film De Eetclub at the Euro-Uganda Film Festival and anywhere else in the country because it "glorifies homosexuality", and features scenes of smoking, drinking and sexual intercourse. The embassy of the Netherlands in Kampala posted the Uganda Media Council's objections on their Facebook page.
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.
Dutch youth smoke less, drink less, use fewer drugs and are less often in trouble with the law, according to Statistics Netherlands 2016 Youth Monitor which was published on Thursday, the Telegraaf reports.
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.
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.
In an open letter on their website on Thursday, doctors' association KNMG called for a ban on selling tobacco and cigarettes in supermarkets, gas station stores, bookstores and drug stores.
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
The number of people suffering from cardiovascular disease in the Netherlands will increase by more than half a million by 2040. In that year 1.4 Dutch people will have had a heart attack or stroke or will be suffering from heart failure, compared to 850 thousand in 2011, according to calculations public health institute RIVM did for the Heart Foundation
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.
The Dutch are the least informed and least concerned about the dangers of smoking and secondhand smoke.
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.
The street-level assassination of 60-year old Beyhan Demirci, who was shot while standing on her balcony, is possibly a case of mistaken identity, police revealed on Tuesday. The victim was shot by unidentified assailants standing on the street below in Amsterdam Nieuw-West on January 14th.
Approximately one third of new cancer cases in the Netherlands can be prevented by a healthier lifestyle. That concludes TNO, which was commissioned by the Dutch Cancer Society (KWF Kankerbestrijding) to examine the "lifestyle factors" that influence the development of cancer.
According to research into alcohol usage amongst teenagers aged between 11 and 16 years of age in The Netherlands, there appears to have occurred a "spectacular" shift over the last ten years, with the binge drinking trend seemingly remaining in the past, Het Parool reports.
Throat cancer is currently more often caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV). The number of throat cancer cases cause by HPV in the Netherlands has gone up sixfold in the last 20 years. Despite that dramatic increase, it does seem that this form of throat cancer is generally more easily treatable than other forms, the Volkskrant reports.
The smoking ban for the entire hotel and restaurant sector is in all likelihood not going to be instated on the scheduled 1st of July.
The section of the Dutch population who smoke has remained equal to 2012 at 25 percent. E-cigarettes are on the rise, however. Last year, 3 percent of the population has an e-cigarette every now and then, whereas in 2012, only 1 percent did.
