Vapers Digest 20th January
Friday’s News at a glance:
“Next Time It Could Be You”—The McCarthyism in Tobacco Control – Global survey of consumer organizations – Tobacco Controllers, Denying Harm Reduction Facts – The collusion of popcorn lung and fear – Experts Urge The USA To Act – Would You Support A Ban? – 1.4 Tonnes of Illegal Vapes Seized – ETHRA Makes Dutch Submission – A Catastrophe In The Making – Appeals Court Reignites Triton Case Against FDA – AVM Will Hold Public Q&A Session – Health Canada begins to balance public communications – Its no more a Quit or Die journey – Italy takes a wrong turn – Breakdown | Assessing the War on Vaping – Regulation of nicotine vaping products – Nicotine Science and Policy Daily Digest
“Next Time It Could Be You”-
The McCarthyism in Tobacco Control – Martin Cullip
At the end of November, an extraordinary episode caused outrage: the expulsion of Karl Erik Lund from a conference on e-cigarettes held in France. Dr. Lund is one of the world’s most prominent researchers on tobacco harm reduction. Currently with the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, he has published important papers about snus and has testified on behalf of plaintiffs suing the tobacco industry. He has received a preventative medicine award from the Norwegian Medical Association, among many other roles and accolades.
Yet on November 26, the French Cancer Research Institute (INCa) removed Lund from his position as co-chair of the conference’s scientific committee, canceled his presentation and banned him from even attending, despite the fact he was one of the organizers.
Global survey of consumer organizations
Advocating for safer nicotine products
Tomasz Jerzyński, Jessica Harding, Gerry V. Stimson
The study investigated the role and activities of organizations that advocate for the adoption of and access to safer nicotine products (SNPs), such as nicotine vaping products (e-cigarettes), Swedish-style snus, nontobacco nicotine pouches, and heated tobacco products, as safer alternatives to combustible cigarettes and other high-risk tobacco products, following a harm reduction approach. The aim was to map the number and locations of nicotine consumer organizations globally and describe their history, legal status, membership, structure, objectives, working methods and activities, and funding.
We identified active organizations through the use of existing networks and referrals. All identified organizations were contacted and asked to fill in an online self-completion survey through the representatives of the organizations. The data collected were cleaned and anonymized. Categorization and analysis of variable distributions were carried out. Responses to open–ended questions were analyzed qualitatively.
Tobacco Controllers…
Denying Harm Reduction Facts, Promote Orwellian Newspeak
Brad Rodu, Tobacco Truth
Joanna Cohen is the Bloomberg Professor of Disease Prevention and the Director of the Institute for Global Tobacco Control at Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health. Together with other editors of the prohibitionist journal Tobacco Control, she published a screed aiming to change the words people use to talk about tobacco, and particularly reduced risk products.
Dr. Cohen, in a public email, further claimed that common, accurate terms such as “e-cigarette and heated tobacco products” serve “tobacco industry interests… We should not be doing the tobacco industry’s work for them.”
Switching to vaping nicotine is less harmful than continuing to smoke cigarettes.
While vaping has risks, evidence also suggests that vaping can help adults quit smoking.
For more resources to help you quit, visit: https://t.co/MiVuMFDvlv #NNSW2023 pic.twitter.com/yTlK3VALPV
— Health Canada and PHAC (@GovCanHealth) January 20, 2023
The collusion of popcorn lung and fear
Kim Murray | Taxpayers Protection Alliance
While the popcorn industry and connoisseurs of the salty treat will celebrate National Popcorn Day on January 19th, proponents of tobacco harm reduction (THR) shudder when they hear the word “popcorn,” as vaping products, also known as e-cigarettes, have been falsely associated with a lung condition colloquially termed “popcorn lung.”
A rare lung condition, Bronchiolitis obliterans, affects the small airways. The condition was nicknamed “popcorn lung” after eight former employees of a microwave popcorn factory were diagnosed with fixed obstructive lung disease. Diacetyl, a flavoring agent that gives foods and other products a buttery flavor, was identified as a potential cause. Bronchiolitis obliterans, which can occur after exposure to some chemical agents, has been found in lung transplant patients, and is sometimes an effect of a viral infection.
Five from Dave Cross, Planet of the Vapes:
Experts Urge The USA To Act
Harm reduction experts have called upon the USA to take action to correct misinformation and ensure that it communicates clearly and factually in future. Writing in the journal Addiction, Michael Pesko, Michael Cummings, Clifford Douglas, Jonathan Foulds, Thomas Miller, Nancy Rigotti and Kenneth Warner say that health misinformation is harmful and sows mistrust when it comes to the adoption of public health recommendations and policies.
In their open editorial, the experts offer up some examples of serious e-cigarette misinformation “promoted by the United States public health officials, which have persisted despite new data challenging the validity of the original assertions.”
Would You Support A Ban?
Vapers almost exclusively by current and ex-smokers, but would you join in with the calls to completely ban tobacco products? In the wake of a Labour MP announcing that they might consider adopting a New Zealand approach to phasing in a ban on tobacco sales, survey company YouGov has revealed that a majority of the UK supports the position. Frighteningly, the majority of the respondents previously said the same thing should happen for vaping.
New Zealand recently passed a law that will ban cigarette sales to future generations. No Kiwi born after 2008 will ever be allowed to purchase tobacco products as part of a plan to deliver what Health Minister Ayesha Verrall calls “a smoke-free future”.
1.4 Tonnes of Illegal Vapes Seized
Trading Standards teams from across the North East, working together as the North East Trading Standards Association, have removed thousands of non-compliant vaping products from sale. A total of 1.4 tonnes of illegal disposable vaping products seized from retailers during operations over the past six months have been sent for destruction.
The North East Trading Standards Association is the partnership between the Trading Standards services of Darlington Borough Council, Durham County Council, Gateshead Council, Hartlepool Borough Council, Middlesbrough Borough Council, Newcastle City Council, North Tyneside Council, Northumberland County Council, Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, South Tyneside Council, Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council, and Sunderland City Council.
ETHRA Makes Dutch Submission
European Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (ETHRA), the umbrella group for nicotine consumer organisations across Europe, has made a submission to the Dutch consultation looking at banning nicotine pouches. It argues that “safer nicotine products are key to a successful tobacco control strategy”.
European Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates is the voice of 27 million1 EU consumers of safer nicotine products. ETHRA is a consortium of 25 grassroots consumer associations in 17 European countries, supported by experts in tobacco control and nicotine research.
A Catastrophe In The Making
Taiwan’s vaping ban is a public health catastrophe in the making, says the World Vapers’ Alliance. The country has pushed through legislation to deliver a complete ban on vaping, yet has chosen to go easier on heated tobacco products and allowed the continued sale of tobacco products (albeit taking a small step to restrict use).
The World Vapers’ Alliance (WVA) says it “amplifies the voice of vapers worldwide and empowers them to make a difference in their communities. Our members are vapers associations and individual vapers from all over the world.”
Appeals Court Reignites Triton Case
Against FDA, Key to Flavored Vapes – Alex Norcia
On January 19, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered that the cases of Triton and Vapetasia, two US-based vapor companies that filed petitions for review against the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), be reheard en banc. The move negates a previous 2-1 decision that sided with the agency. The FDA had previously issued marketing denial orders (MDOs) to Triton, a manufacturer of a variety of vaping products, and Vapetasia, an e-liquid brand.
En banc rehearings, which require a stable of judges to weigh in on a case, are rare; in the Fifth Circuit, fewer than 1 percent of cases are reheard in this way. In the end, 16 judges voted on whether to rehear Triton and Vapetasia’s case—meaning at least nine of them must have voted in favor.
Mexico’s Government Thinks ….
Criminalization Will Stamp Out Smoking – Helen Redmond
If you thought Mexico’s drug war was only about illegal drugs like fentanyl or cocaine, you would be wrong. The country’s war on nicotine has just dealt people who smoke cigarettes or vape a serious blow. A law took effect on January 15 that imposes a total ban on smoking in all public places—you can now only smoke in your home or outdoors on private property. It simultaneously imposes tighter restrictions on nicotine vapes, which also cannot legally be used in public places.
There is also a total ban on the advertising, promotion and sponsorship of tobacco products. For shops that sell cigarettes, it is now against the law to openly display them.
AVM Will Hold Public Q&A Session
With FDA’s Brian King – Jim McDonald
FDA Center for Tobacco Products Director Brian King will, for the first time, participate in a public conversation about vaping and harm reduction next month. The virtual event will be moderated by American Vapor Manufacturers Association (AVM) legislative director Gregory Conley and newly-named AVM vice president Allison Boughner.
“The Future of Vaping in the US: A Conversation with FDA’s Dr. Brian King” will be held on Feb. 24 at 1:00 p.m. EST, and is open to the public. Participants must register in advance, and AVM has provided an opportunity to submit questions for King.
Health Canada begins to balance …
Public communications around vaping
I was pleased to see a change in Health Canada’s communications this year. Vaping is referenced as a reduced-risk option for smokers in a Statement from Health Canada on behalf of the Minister of Health, along with the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health. Vaping has also been added to the Quit Planner, an online tool provided by Health Canada to assist smokers in their efforts to stop using combustion-based nicotine products.
From the Health Canada Statement published on January 16th, 2023: “Moreover, evidence suggests that while vaping products are not harmless, vaping exposes people who smoke to lower levels of harmful chemicals than continuing to smoke.”
Its no more a Quit or Die journey:
Lessons from THRJourno articles published in 2022 – Odeh Paul Agabi
Quitting smoking is difficult as nicotine in cigarettes makes smokers hooked to smoking. When cigarette is burned, it produces pleasing effects in the brain, but these effects are temporary and therefore you reach for another cigarette. A lot of smokers would rather continue smoking than try and quit and still be burdened with withdrawal syndromes.
The more you smoke, the more nicotine you need to feel good. When you try to stop, you experience unpleasant mental and physical changes. Many who have tried quitting come down with withdrawal symptoms due to nicotine dependency. To buttress the above points, let me share a story from Allison Boughner an ex-smoker as published in an article by World Vapers Alliance.
Breakdown | Assessing the War on Vaping
RegWatch
Could the war on vaping in the U.S. finally take a turn in favor of tobacco harm reduction? It’s a legitimate question even though the cause has suffered major losses, such as the California flavor ban.
Joining us today to help answer this question is Dimitris Agrafiotis, a.k.a. the VapinGreek.He’s a global advocate for vaping, former executive director of the Tennessee Smoke Free Association, and one of the most well-known advocates in the world of vaping. Should public health be trusted on vaping?
Italy takes a wrong turn
By equating vaping with smoking
Italian Health Minister Orazio Schillaci announced new measures against traditional cigarettes and novel tobacco and nicotine products to achieve the European Cancer Plan’s goals. The new measures, announced yesterday in a hearing before the Chamber’s Social Affairs Commission, include a ban on indoor vaping, smoking in open-air places, and further plans to extend advertising ban on nicotine products.
Michael Land, director of the World Vapers’ Alliance (WVA), said that the Health Minister’s measures contradict scientific evidence of the positive impact of vaping on fighting tobacco:
Regulation of nicotine vaping products
Colin Mendelsohn
Disposable Vapes –
The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
Disposable vapes are a heated issue within the vaping community and increasingly within political debates. Germany is already discussing a complete ban on disposables and plans to push for an EU-wide ban. I started a Twitter poll last week to get a feeling of what the vaping community thinks about disposables. Obviously, this is not a representative survey, but it gives us a good understanding of the general sentiment. We see a split vote, with 36% of respondents thinking disposables are generally a good thing and 44% evaluating the impact of disposables overall as unfavourable.
On this Day…2022
A look back at how things have moved on or otherwise….
Study: Snus use has no impact…
On cardiovascular disease risk – Snusforumet
A new study from the United States reveals that the risk of cardiovascular disease among snus users is no higher compared to people who have never used tobacco.
Habitual smokers run an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease compared to non-smokers.
But using smokeless tobacco products like snus doesn’t result in any increased risk, according to a new study led by researchers at UCLA.
Signs of Anxiety in the Anti-Vaping Camp
Alex Norcia
On January 14, a collection of public health nonprofits and tobacco control groups—including the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (CTFK), the American Heart Association and Truth Initiative—sent a letter to Mitch Zeller, the director of the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP). The groups—many of which are funded by billionaire Michael Bloomberg and all of which want to clamp down on vaping—urged the agency to “expedite” its decisions on products that remain on the market without authorization. It had been more than four months, they noted with palpable agitation, since CTP had blown past court-ordered deadline to review vapor companies’ premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs)—submissions, the FDA has stressed, that would be considered on a case-by-case basis.
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