Vapers Digest 8th July
Monday’s News at a glance:
New Government for Vaping – The Harm Reduction Role of High-Nicotine Vaping – Free from smoking but not free to buy the products that got me here – Why Australia’s new vaping regulations are certain to fail
New Government for Vaping
Dave Cross, Planet of the Vapes
Following the general election, the Labour Party has formed a new government and Prime Minister Keir Starmer has appointed the ministers who will influence vape policy. We look at who is in post and what this might mean moving forward. We will cover Wes Streeting’s appointment as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care in a separate article.
Labour planned on supporting the Conservative’s Tobacco and Vapes Bill in the last parliament. Then, Keir Starmer said: “We must take preventative public health measures to tackle the biggest killers and support people to live longer, healthier lives. That starts with smoking. Labour will ensure the next generation can never legally buy cigarettes … Labour will ban vapes from being branded and advertised to appeal to children to stop the next generation from becoming hooked on nicotine.”
The Harm Reduction Role of …
High-Nicotine Vaping – Kiran Sidhu
Many people who quit cigarettes say that vaping at higher nicotine levels was key to their ability to make the switch. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom is considering taxing vape products at higher rates if they have higher nicotine strength. In this context, a new study found that higher-nicotine vaping has risen significantly in the UK.
The study, conducted by researchers at University College London (UCL) and published in the Addiction journal, looked at 7,314 adults in England who vape, and changes in the nicotine levels they used between July 2016 and January 2024. It showed a sharp rise in people using e-liquids at or above the UK’s highest legally available nicotine level of 20 milligrams/milliliter.
You do realise that every single comment condemned this tweet? Ah no self-awareness!
So the folks directly impacted here (smokers and former smokers) have been ignored.
You *will* find out the hard way that coercion doesn’t work.
#communitynotes inbound https://t.co/HUMyp22teO— Alan Beard (@Alan_Beard1) July 8, 2024
Free from smoking but …
Not free to buy the products that got me here – Skip Murray
The quote, “If a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it; he is obligated to do so,” is attributed to Thomas Jefferson during the period around the American Revolution. But those who share the quote are on the wrong side of history. There is no proof he ever said it.
Almost 250 years after Jefferson didn’t say those notorious words, we’re sitting on the wrong side of history when it comes to nicotine policies. Our laws and regulations, while well-intentioned, often fail to consider the potential unintended consequences.
Why Australia’s new vaping regulations
Are certain to fail – Colin Mendelsohn
On this Day…2023
A look back at how things have moved on or otherwise…
Health and Social Care Committee
New Nicotine Alliance
On Wednesday 28 June, the government’s Health and Social Care Committee held an oral evidence session on youth vaping. It consisted of two panels of witnesses who gave evidence and were questioned by MP members of the committee.
We watched proceedings on Parliament TV and were disappointed that much of the discussion wasinaccurate and often ill-informed. In light of this, we have written to the committee today to highlight the many inaccurate, misleading, or false statements and remarks during the hearing. We hope committee members will recognise these areas of concern and take them into account when considering their future recommendations.
The full parliamentary session online at this link, and the transcript has been published here. You can read our letter in full here, or below.
Astounding Smoking & Vaping Statistics
Brad Rodu, Tobacco Truth
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) just released the full data set from the 2022 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). Earlier, the agency published “Early Release of Selected Estimates Based on Data From the 2022 National Health Interview Survey,” a document that reflected the CDC’s propensity to cherry-pick data in order to portray all forms of tobacco as deadly and evil.
The chart at left shows the prevalence of smoking and vaping among American adults over the years the survey collected information on vaping — 2014 to 2022. Note that the smoking rate, denoted by the black and gray columns, started out at 16.8% and has since declined to 11.6%, for a drop of about 31%. During that time, the vaping rate increased from 3.7% in 2014, to 6% last year.
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