As it tries to move away from selling traditional cigarettes, a giant tobacco company in the UK says cannabis will be a part of its future.

In an effort to accelerate its transformation, British American Tobacco says it will reduce the negative health effects associated with its products.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/cannabis-may-have-originated-in-china-study-398674">Cannabis may have originated in China: Study</a> &nbsp;

In March, BAT acquired a 19.9 per cent stake in Canada-based medical marijuana manufacturer Organigram.

Additionally, the company signed a deal to research cannabidiol (CBD)-based adult cannabis products.

In analysing the future of BAT's portfolio, Jack Bowles, boss of the company, said the company is eyeing other markets beyond nicotine products as an additional wave of growth.

Bowles believes cannabis-related products will be part of the company's future growth. The company is currently testing a trial of a CBD vape product in Manchester.

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He added that despite the fact that CBD vaping is part of the future, the immediate challenge is to present alternatives for smoking and nicotine to reduce harm.

The tobacco giant's half-year results to the end of June saw revenue rise 8.1 per cent to £12,18billion.

Vuse, Velo, and Glo contribute more than a third of the company's revenues in the UK.

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Non-combustible product users —&nbsp;including vapes — grew by 2.6 million from 16.1 million, making it the company's largest gain in new customers.

After the end of coronavirus lockdowns, some countries were able to resume cigarette sales following a ban. BAT reported that cigarette sales have recovered in some developing nations since the end of the lockdowns.

In markets such as Brazil, Turkey and Pakistan, sales of brands such as Dunhill, Kent, Lucky Strike and Rothmans increased in the first half of the year.

However, combustibles revenue, which includes cigarettes and heated tobacco products, has fallen three per cent to £10.5bn, the company reported.

As it tries to move away from selling traditional cigarettes, a giant tobacco company in the UK says cannabis will be a part of its future. In an effort to accelerate its transformation, British American Tobacco says it will reduce the negative health effects associated with its products.

As it tries to move away from selling traditional cigarettes, a giant tobacco company in the UK says cannabis will be a part of its future. In an effort to accelerate its transformation, British American Tobacco says it will reduce the negative health effects associated with its products. Also read | Cannabis may have originated in China: Study In March, BAT acquired a 19.9 per cent stake in Canada-based medical marijuana manufacturer Organigram. Additionally, the company signed a deal to research cannabidiol (CBD)-based adult cannabis products. In analysing the future of BAT's portfolio, Jack Bowles, boss of the company, said the company is eyeing other markets beyond nicotine products as an additional wave of growth. Bowles believes cannabis-related products will be part of the company's future growth. The company is currently testing a trial of a CBD vape product in Manchester. Also read | Colombia authorises export of dried cannabis flowers He added that despite the fact that CBD vaping is part of the future, the immediate challenge is to present alternatives for smoking and nicotine to reduce harm. The tobacco giant's half-year results to the end of June saw revenue rise 8.1 per cent to £12,18billion. Vuse, Velo, and Glo contribute more than a third of the company's revenues in the UK. Also read | Urgent action required on vaping videos on TikTok: Study Non-combustible product users — including vapes — grew by 2.6 million from 16.1 million, making it the company's largest gain in new customers. After the end of coronavirus lockdowns, some countries were able to resume cigarette sales following a ban. BAT reported that cigarette sales have recovered in some developing nations since the end of the lockdowns. In markets such as Brazil, Turkey and Pakistan, sales of brands such as Dunhill, Kent, Lucky Strike and Rothmans increased in the first half of the year. However, combustibles revenue, which includes cigarettes and heated tobacco products, has fallen three per cent to £10.5bn, the company reported.

Tobacco giant eyes cannabis, says it's the future

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/pakistan-diluted-proposed-tobacco-health-warnings-after-philip-morris-bat-lobbying-140702/amp">British American Tobacco</a> (BAT) must stop&nbsp;advertising its e-cigarettes from any public account on&nbsp;Instagram, including influencers' accounts, the&nbsp;UK's&nbsp;advertising&nbsp;watchdog&nbsp;ruled on Wednesday.

The&nbsp;Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) also directed the company to&nbsp;remove&nbsp;posts&nbsp;related to its e-cigarette, Vype, on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/instagram-in-trouble-as-nearly-50-million-users-data-gets-leaked-online-220423">Instagram</a>&nbsp;that were under investigation.

The ASA decision stems from a probe into seven&nbsp;Instagram&nbsp;posts&nbsp;by Vype after&nbsp;some&nbsp;health groups raised complaints in March that they were&nbsp;advertisements likely to appeal to those below 18 years of age.

The complaints from Action on Smoking and Health, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and Stopping Tobacco Organizations and Products also alleged the company had&nbsp;used models who appeared to be under 25 which is prohibited in the&nbsp;UK.

The&nbsp;ads must not appear again in the form complained about, the ASA said in a statement, upholding complaints that the company had&nbsp;breached online&nbsp;advertising laws and used under-25 models through those&nbsp;posts.

The agency, however, did not uphold the complaint that&nbsp;BAT&nbsp;had&nbsp;deliberately targeted anyone other than&nbsp;adults through its&nbsp;Instagram&nbsp;posts.

Though&nbsp;UK&nbsp;laws ban online&nbsp;advertising of e-cigarettes, manufacturers are allowed to provide factual product information such as the name, content and price of the product on their own websites, according to the EU's Tobacco Products Directive.

The ASA's ruling, however, said that social media accounts were not the same as a website, and therefore&nbsp;BAT&nbsp;could not use the platforms for disseminating factual or promotional content on <a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/bangladesh-plans-to-ban-e-cigarettes-amid-growing-health-concerns-265604">e-cigarettes</a>.

"The ASA's ruling is a huge step forward in preventing tobacco companies from using social media to&nbsp;advertise to young people in the UK&nbsp;and around the world," said Mark Hurley, director of international communications at the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

Tobacco companies have been pouring millions of dollars into their<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/us-to-ban-all-flavoured-e-cigarettes-249640"> e-cigarette</a>&nbsp;businesses as sales of traditional&nbsp;cigarettes decline. But a spate of vaping-related deaths and illnesses and high teen&nbsp;addiction to the products have raised concerns over the safety of these devices.

BAT, the maker of Dunhill&nbsp;cigarettes, reported vaping products revenue of 189 million pounds for the first half of this year, up from 118 million pounds in the same period a year ago.

"We will abide by the ASA's decision and recommendation to&nbsp;remove&nbsp;the relevant&nbsp;posts&nbsp;and amend our&nbsp;Instagram&nbsp;account setting," said Simon Cleverly,&nbsp;BAT's group head&nbsp;of corporate affairs.

British American Tobacco (BAT) must stop advertising its e-cigarettes from any public account on Instagram, including influencers' accounts, the UK's advertising watchdog ruled on Wednesday.

British American Tobacco (BAT) must stop advertising its e-cigarettes from any public account on Instagram, including influencers' accounts, the UK's advertising watchdog ruled on Wednesday. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) also directed the company to remove posts related to its e-cigarette, Vype, on Instagram that were under investigation. The ASA decision stems from a probe into seven Instagram posts by Vype after some health groups raised complaints in March that they were advertisements likely to appeal to those below 18 years of age. The complaints from Action on Smoking and Health, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and Stopping Tobacco Organizations and Products also alleged the company had used models who appeared to be under 25 which is prohibited in the UK. The ads must not appear again in the form complained about, the ASA said in a statement, upholding complaints that the company had breached online advertising laws and used under-25 models through those posts. The agency, however, did not uphold the complaint that BAT had deliberately targeted anyone other than adults through its Instagram posts. Though UK laws ban online advertising of e-cigarettes, manufacturers are allowed to provide factual product information such as the name, content and price of the product on their own websites, according to the EU's Tobacco Products Directive. The ASA's ruling, however, said that social media accounts were not the same as a website, and therefore BAT could not use the platforms for disseminating factual or promotional content on e-cigarettes. "The ASA's ruling is a huge step forward in preventing tobacco companies from using social media to advertise to young people in the UK and around the world," said Mark Hurley, director of international communications at the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Tobacco companies have been pouring millions of dollars into their e-cigarette businesses as sales of traditional cigarettes decline. But a spate of vaping-related deaths and illnesses and high teen addiction to the products have raised concerns over the safety of these devices. BAT, the maker of Dunhill cigarettes, reported vaping products revenue of 189 million pounds for the first half of this year, up from 118 million pounds in the same period a year ago. "We will abide by the ASA's decision and recommendation to remove the relevant posts and amend our Instagram account setting," said Simon Cleverly, BAT's group head of corporate affairs.

UK ad watchdog asks British American Tobacco to remove some Instagram posts on e-cigarette

Walmart Inc told the staff on Friday it will stop selling e-cigarettes and electronic nicotine delivery products at its US stores, amid a growing crackdown on surging teenage use of such products, reports of vaping-related lung disease and some deaths.

In an internal memo seen by Reuters, the retailer said growing federal, state and local regulatory complexity and uncertainty were behind its decision.

Walmart's move comes on the heels of bans on sales of flavoured vaping products in New York and Michigan and after the Trump administration announced plans to remove all flavoured e-cigarettes from store shelves as officials warned that sweet flavours had drawn millions of children into nicotine addiction.

President Donald Trump and other top US officials also expressed concern about the growing use of such products as health officials investigate the matter.

One possible culprit identified so far is a line of illicit marijuana vape products sold under the brand names "Dank Vapes" and "Chronic Carts."

The New York State Department of Health identified "Dank Vapes" and "Chronic Carts" as products containing Vitamin E acetate, a thickening agent in THC oil that has been a focus in its investigation of the illnesses.

Leading makers of nicotine e-cigarettes, including Juul Labs Inc, British American Tobacco Plc and Imperial Brands Plc said last week their products did not contain Vitamin E compounds.

Last week Amazon.com Inc said it took down vape paraphernalia in line with its policies, although the company did not specify the exact products it removed.  

In May, Walmart raised the minimum age to purchase tobacco products to 21 in all its stores and said it would stop selling fruit-flavoured e-cigarettes. The move came after the US Food and Drug Administration called out the company for illegally selling tobacco products to minors.

The regulator also called out other retailers like Kroger Family Dollar, which is owned by Dollar Tree 7-Eleven, Casey's General Stores and Sunoco which were among more than half a dozen convenience store and gas station chains cited for illegally selling tobacco products to minors.

The companies did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether they plan to follow Walmart's decision and stop selling the products.

Walmart shares were little changed in late trading, while shares of Altria Group Inc were up nearly 2 per cent.

Walmart Inc told the staff on Friday it will stop selling e-cigarettes and electronic nicotine delivery products at its US stores, amid a growing crackdown on surging teenage use of such products, reports of vaping-related lung disease and some deaths.

Walmart Inc told the staff on Friday it will stop selling e-cigarettes and electronic nicotine delivery products at its US stores, amid a growing crackdown on surging teenage use of such products, reports of vaping-related lung disease and some deaths. In an internal memo seen by Reuters, the retailer said growing federal, state and local regulatory complexity and uncertainty were behind its decision. Walmart's move comes on the heels of bans on sales of flavoured vaping products in New York and Michigan and after the Trump administration announced plans to remove all flavoured e-cigarettes from store shelves as officials warned that sweet flavours had drawn millions of children into nicotine addiction. President Donald Trump and other top US officials also expressed concern about the growing use of such products as health officials investigate the matter. One possible culprit identified so far is a line of illicit marijuana vape products sold under the brand names "Dank Vapes" and "Chronic Carts." The New York State Department of Health identified "Dank Vapes" and "Chronic Carts" as products containing Vitamin E acetate, a thickening agent in THC oil that has been a focus in its investigation of the illnesses. Leading makers of nicotine e-cigarettes, including Juul Labs Inc, British American Tobacco Plc and Imperial Brands Plc said last week their products did not contain Vitamin E compounds. Last week Amazon.com Inc said it took down vape paraphernalia in line with its policies, although the company did not specify the exact products it removed.   In May, Walmart raised the minimum age to purchase tobacco products to 21 in all its stores and said it would stop selling fruit-flavoured e-cigarettes. The move came after the US Food and Drug Administration called out the company for illegally selling tobacco products to minors. The regulator also called out other retailers like Kroger Family Dollar, which is owned by Dollar Tree 7-Eleven, Casey's General Stores and Sunoco which were among more than half a dozen convenience store and gas station chains cited for illegally selling tobacco products to minors. The companies did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether they plan to follow Walmart's decision and stop selling the products. Walmart shares were little changed in late trading, while shares of Altria Group Inc were up nearly 2 per cent.

Walmart to stop sales of e-cigarettes in US stores: Company memo