Nicotine and tobacco products contain characterizing flavours that mask their harshness, ease their use and increase their acceptability. Recent estimates indicate that flavour use is common, and thousands of flavours are now available for electronic nicotine delivery systems. Non-traditional flavours, like fruit and confectionery, are particularly appealing to young people, and use of these flavours is also increasing among adults, especially among adult smokers who are trying to quit smoking. Flavours in all nicotine and tobacco products have been shown not only to increase the appeal and first use of the products but may also contribute to extent of use, progression from experimental to regular use and dependence. Another concern is that chemicals in flavours may contribute to the toxicity of these products. Flavours are not regulated uniformly in nicotine and tobacco products or among countries. Some countries ban all flavours in all products, others have bans on only some flavours (e.g. excluding menthol), while others include only certain products (e.g. traditional products, such as cigarettes and smokeless tobacco) in regulations. This report on flavours in nicotine and tobacco products calls for adoption of common terminology for flavours in nicotine and tobacco products and consideration of policy for reducing the availability of flavoured nicotine and tobacco products on the market to those for which there is clear evidence of benefit in assisting smokers in quitting use of traditional smoked tobacco products.
This report presents the recommendations of a WHO Expert Committee responsible for reviewing information on dependence-producing drugs to assess the need for their international control. The first part of the report contains a description of the procedure for the review of dependence-producing substances. This is followed by a critical review of five psychoactive substances (amfepramone, amineptine, buprenorphine, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol and tramadol). The report also discusses the substances that were pre-reviewed by the Committee, four of which (ketamine, zopiclone, butorphanol and khat) were recommended for critical review at a future meeting. The final section discusses the problems of the terminology used in reporting abuse-related adverse drug reactions and describes how confusion affects the reporting of adverse effects using the example of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.
This report presents the recommendations of an international group of experts convened by the World Health Organization to consider matters concerning the quality assurance of pharmaceuticals and specifications for drug substances and dosage forms. Of particular relevance to drug regulatory authorities and pharmaceutical manufacturers, this report discusses the latest volume of The International Pharmacopoeia and quality specifications for pharmaceutical substances and dosage forms, as well as quality control of reference materials, good manufacturing practices (GMP), inspection, distribution and trade and other aspects of quality assurance of pharmaceuticals, and regulatory issues. The report is complemented by a number of annexes, including recommendations on good trade and distribution practices for pharmaceutical starting materials, guidelines on the WHO scheme for the certification of pharmaceutical materials moving in international commerce, draft procedures for assessing quality control laboratories and procurement agencies for use by United Nations agencies, and guidelines for preparing a laboratory information file and a procurement agency information file.
