Latest news with #PeterBrennan
Boston Globe
27-05-2025
- Health
- Boston Globe
Are nicotine pouches like Zyn healthier than cigarettes? Here's what you need to know.
As nicotine pouches establish themselves as the 'next big thing' of the tobacco industry, here's what you need to know: What are nicotine pouches? Nicotine pouches are small, breath mint-sized microfiber pockets filled with nicotine powder, either from a tobacco plant or made in a lab, that are tucked between the user's cheek and gums. Advertisement Zyn is a brand of nicotine pouches, the most popular for the product based on Across brands, the pouches are sold in small cans with around 15-20 pouches in each for roughly $6 a can. The pouches are also made in multiple flavors, but those products' sale is limited in many communities, including in Massachusetts by a 2020 ban on Mountains are reflected in the windows of the international headquarters of Zyn parent company Philip Morris International, in Lausanne, Switzerland. Laurent Gillieron/Associated Press Who's using them? The pouches have quickly gained traction — the cans are seen anywhere from the desks of Advertisement In the first quarter of 2025, Zyn shipments increased by 53 percent from2024, according to Philip Morris. 'There used to be a couple brands, and now it seems like there's a lot of new competitors jumping in,' said Peter Brennan, executive director of the New England Convenience Store & Energy Marketers Association. The rise in use among young people is worrying doctors and public health officials — nicotine pouches were the second most commonly-used tobacco product among middle and high school students in 2024, lagging behind only e-cigarettes, according to the Much of the draw for young people to nicotine pouches, said Elise Stevens, an assistant professor at UMass Chan Medical School and director of the school's Center for Tobacco Treatment Research and Training, is built-in to the product — the pouches are easy to use and very discreet, packed in a small, colorful tin. Once they're placed in someone's cheek, they're barely noticeable. 'This can be something that is really appealing to young people because it can be hidden from teachers or from others in places where you're not supposed to smoke or vape,' said Stevens. Containers of Zyn, a smokeless nicotine pouch, are displayed for sale among other nicotine and tobacco products at a newsstand on Feb. 23, 2024, in New York. Bebeto Matthews/Associated Press Are nicotine pouches bad for you? The short answer from doctors and public health officials: a resounding 'yes.' The experts are worried what health effects will arise a few years down the line from the products, namely dramatic increases in gum disease cases. Advertisement However, the pouches can offer a form of harm reduction for a select group of people, said Sharon Levy, chief of the Division of Addiction Medicine at Boston Children's Hospital. For older adults who are already addicted to nicotine from cigarettes, the pouches can provide an alternative to move away from smoking. The switch is not a treatment for substance use disorders, she said, but rather just switching the use to a potentially less harmful form. The US Food and Drug Administration in January authorized the marketing of 20 Zyn products nationwide — two nicotine concentration amounts for 10 different flavors — on the basis of lower health risks than other tobacco products. What are the health risks of using nicotine pouches? The broad use of nicotine pouches is relatively new, so the long-term health impacts will have to wait. While nicotine does not introduce the body to the same chemicals as cigarette smoke, researchers have found numerous The risk of addition is one of the most immediate concerns voiced by doctors. Nicotine in any form is highly addictive, said Levy, but the most addictive products are ones that get nicotine to the brain the fastest at the highest concentrations, making nicotine pouches a 'very addictive form,' she said, especially for children and young adults, whose brains are more susceptible to addiction and are first being introduced to nicotine through the pouches. Advertisement Maren Halpin can be reached at
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Marshall Symphony welcomes Jeans ‘n Classics for 2025 show
MARSHALL, Texas (KTAL/KMSS) — Jeans 'n Classics return to Marshall for the first time in eight years. Jeans 'n Classics last graced a Marshall stage in 2017, playing with the Marshall Symphony in a downtown show. Jeans 'n Classics travels across North America, performing a fusion of orchestral music with various styles and artists. More local news During their last visit in 2017, they joined the Symphony to combine classical styling with music from James Bond movies. A Night at Woodstock, An Evening of Pink Floyd, Disco and Motown, One Vision – The Music of Queen, Soulful – A Celebration in Honour of Black History Month, and The Song Remains the Same – The Music of Led Zeppelin are just some of their 45 different productions. The next performance in Marshall will be Don't Stop Believin' – The Music of Journey. More local events Led by arranger and guitarist Peter Brennan, Jeans 'n Classics has collaborated with over 100 orchestras in North America over the past 27 years and has nearly 1,000 original orchestrations. They return to Marshall May 31, 2025, for a show at Memorial City Hall. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Sunday World
06-05-2025
- Business
- Sunday World
Meet the price-busting Wexford pint of stout that's become a hit in the UK
'We are probably the only pub outside Dublin or Cork not selling Guinness, Murphy's or Beamish and still surviving.' An Irish pub which began brewing its own price busting pints of stout for €4.50 has proved such a success it has now won a deal serving it in one of the UK's biggest brewery chains. Brennan's bar in Enniscorthy Co Wexford is selling its own brand stout alongside O'Hara's Red Ale and Carling lager for a tasty €4.50. So popular has Brennan's Irish Stout being that not only is it now stocked in T&R Theakston Brewery's pubs in the UK but last week it was the only Irish beer to win a gong at the London Beer Awards. Brennan's pub in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford 'I created Brennan's Irish Stout a few years ago during lockdown and then it ended up going on sale here when Guinness and Murphy's stopped brewing,' owner Peter Brennan tells the Sunday World. 'We brew in Ireland, this is the homeplace for the beer. We are contract brewing at the moment, and are planning to build a small brewery in Wexford. 'Our stout is in between Murphy's, Beamish and Guinness. It's that kind of taste. 'It's now on sale in other bars in Wexford, and some in Cork and Dublin, while it has also recently gone nationwide in the UK across the country thanks to Theakston. 'We are a small family business, and we just want to build slowly and strong. You have to have to pick the right pubs and build slowly.' Punters enjoying a pint of Brennan's Theakston is the 16th largest brewer in the UK, and also one of the oldest. Peter grew up in nearby Courtown Harbour before moving to England in the 1980s, where he worked and in pubs in the Midlands area. 'We used to run the Peaky Blinders pubs, the Garrison, the Old Crown, the Marquis of Lorne,' he notes. 'The programme kind of made the Garrison famous.' Peter's mother Ellen is a native of Enniscorthy, owning the former pub the Boolavogue Inn in the 1970s. His dad Pat was from Sandymount in Dublin and also worked in the pub trade, while his granddad was a cooper. Peter Brennan and his wife Bernie raise a glass News in 90 Seconds - Tuesday, May 6th 'My mother and father used have the Holiday Inn and the Mariner in Courtown many years ago,' he adds. 'My dad sadly passed away, but my mum still helps out at the age of 82. 'I came back to Ireland just over 20 years ago.' He is married to wife Bernie and they have two daughters, Emer (18) and Lily (13). 'We took over the pub called The Tavern about a year ago, and it's over 100 years old,' he maintains. 'When we opened we never installed Guinness, we just sold Brennan's stout. We are probably the only pub outside Dublin or Cork not selling Guinness, Murphy's or Beamish and still surviving. Enjoying a pint of Brennan's 'I like to support other craft breweries, so we have beers from like the Wicklow Wolf, Wicklow brewery. We have a brewery from Cork we work with. We have another brewery from Dublin.' While he has the trio of pints for €4.50 – which match the same prices the pub last week we featured and which we suspect is Ireland's cheapest seller of Guinness and Heineken at €4.50 a pint, McNulty's of Creeslough Co Donegal – he also has more expensive brands. 'We have a craft cider, Fallen Apple, that's €5.80,' he confirms. 'Then we have Heineken and Coors for €5.80. Then we have Wicklow Wolf for €5.80 'Spirits are around €6, and a small bottle of wine €6.75. We also have a selection of bottles of beer, including Miller, Birra Moretti and Erdinger for €4 a bottle, while a bottle of Estrella is just €3.' He admits the prices go down well with locals and visitors alike. 'It's a mixture of locals and tourists as well,' he points out. 'One of our loyal customers, Michael 'Spider' Nolan, comes in every day to drink Brennan's stout and then goes around the other pubs of Enniscorthy and then comes back to us to get one last Brennan's and then his taxi home.' They also lately teamed up with local Enniscorthy butchers M&M Meats to produce pork and leak stout sausages, and won a gold medal at a recent national meat awards. Peter admits he finds the prices in some Dublin pubs 'exorbitant' – a prominent couple in Temple Bar are now charging €11.45 for pints of lager, and €10.45 for Guinness. 'We were up there last week, it was amazing, it would blow your mind,' he complains. 'You go to some bars, the price of wine can be absolutely crazy for my wife. You can kind of expect to pay that bit extra. But if you cross the river you would get cheaper pints. 'I think that's a bit harsh (laughs), but they're getting away with it. €10.45 for a Guinness, it's a lot isn't it? 'But they're running a great show at the same time, they have a lot of staff, they bring in a lot of employment., They have big overheads with rates and insurance, there's music a lot of the time 'It's very hard in this industry. I'm in it over 30 years and it's not easy out there. Some people are too overpriced though.'
