Vapers Digest 12th April

Friday’s News at a glance:

NNA writes to the Regulatory Policy Committee – NNA and vapers.org.uk launch #NoVapeTaxUK – Harm Reduction in the U.S. – WHO Hits New Low – 66% May Go Back To Smoking – Ban Consequences Remain Unknown – ACS Questions Decisive Action – Misunderstanding Grows – Parliament – Pouches are the route to a smoke-free Britain – Canada Relaunches Plan to Ban Most Vape Flavors – The VA Must Innovate on Smoking Cessation – The Truth About ZONNIC – Registry hurting legitmate vape stores – New Report from Smoke Free Sweden – The ACT has decriminalised many illicit drugs – The evolution of novel tobacco and nicotine products – Players, innovation and regulation

Two from the New Nicotine Alliance:

NNA writes to the RPC

On Tuesday 19 March 2024, the Regulatory Policy Commitee submitted a Impact Assessment (IA) for the Tobacco and Vapes Bill. The NNA has written to the RPC to give consumer group comments on the IA.

The NNA believes that the IA does not adequately reflect the balance of benefits and detriments and will have the effect of supporting legislation for which there is an extremely weak rationale and major scope for unintended consequences.

The full Impact Assessment can be found online here. You can read our letter in full here, or below.

NNA launch #NoVapeTaxUK

We are joining forces to encourage all UK vapers and their supporters to ACT NOW, while we have the chance, to resist the highly damaging and ill-thought-out proposed tax on vape liquids.

This is a huge increase and will also disproportionately affect those struggling with the cost of living. The UK government misunderstands the importance of high nicotine levels required for heavily dependent smokers.

ACT NOW – share it, add your story, respond to the consultation and write to your MP. You may have thought you were safe in the UK, compared with the rest of the world, but this budget proposal shows that we need to act now.

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Harm Reduction in the U.S.:

Center Stage (Narcotics) and End Stage (Tobacco)

Brad Rodu, Tobacco Truth

The International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC) “is a global network that works collectively to promote person-centred, rights-affirming drug policies at the national, regional and international levels.” The IDPC published a summary of the 67th session of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs, which ended March 22, reporting that “member states resorted to voting on resolutions for the first time in modern history, and finally included the words ‘harm reduction.’”

The entire summary is worth reading, but I want to point out what it describes as a transformative moment for American representatives:

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WHO Hits New Low With …

“Vaping Increases Seizure Risk” Tweet – Kim “Skip” Murray

The World Health Organization should no longer be considered a leading authority in global health. For years now, it has been responsible for a steady stream of misinformation—particularly, though not only, regarding safer alternatives to smoking tobacco. This seems to be accelerating. And now, the WHO has hit a new low.

On April 8, the WHO posted a tweet that declared: “Vaping increases your risk of seizures, typically within 24 hours of doing it. Don’t let #vaping harm your health.”

More from Skip:

Thinking ’bout THR & Special Edition WTH WHO?

My transformative journey

As a harm reduction advocate with Skip Murray | Ep. 49

Welcome to another episode of Vaping Unplugged Podcast, where we dig deep into the heart of harm reduction in the USA. We’re joined by an incredibly inspiring guest, Skip Murray, whose life story is nothing short of remarkable.

Skip embarked on a transformative journey, turning to harm reduction products in 2015 as a means to quit, marking the beginning of her advocacy journey for healthier alternatives. Her personal story adds layers of depth to her advocacy, as she herself was diagnosed with autism, ADHD, and depression in 2020, showcasing her resilience and strength in facing life’s challenges.

Five from Dave Cross, Planet of the Vapes:

66% May Go Back To Smoking

Evapo, a leading smoking cessation and specialist vaping company, has conducted a survey involving 1,134 participants and found that nearly two thirds of ex-smokers will return to tobacco if the Government restrict vape flavours. The restrictions, proposed earlier this year, are designed to deter children from vaping, but as the research shows, any restrictions on vape flavours could have major unintended consequences and would likely add to the 250 deaths from smoking recorded every day in the UK.

The Government introduced its Tobacco and Vapes Bill to Parliament, announcing measures to increase the restrictions place on vaping. In its bid to make vapes ‘less appealing and accessible to young people’, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his Department of Health team are pushing for eliquid flavours to be limited to just four types, banning flavours such as different fruits or desserts.

Ban Consequences Remain Unknown

Government minister Andrea Leadsom was asked by Adam Afriyie MP whether she had completed a risk assessment of vapers returning to smoking in the event of a disposable vape ban. Despite the possibility of many ex-smokers relapsing, Leadsom and the Department of Health have no clear understanding of what their ban might trigger.

Adam Afriyie, the Conservative MP for Windsor, asked the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care what estimate has been made by the Department of the number of adult vapers that may return to tobacco products as a result of the disposable vapes ban.

‘We’re unsure how many will return to smoking after disposables ban,’

ACS Questions Decisive Action

The Association for Convenience Stores (ACS) has questioned the government’s ‘decisive action’, ruing the limit placed on its submission’s influence and highlighting how the black market sells completely unregulated devices. It has also called for an increase in resources to be made available to Trading Standards departments.

In a blog post on its website, the ACS says that “it’s frustrating that policy-makers still seem to think that banning something will mean it ceases to exist.”

The ACS attacks both the Scottish and Westminster governments for opting for bans because they will “attract the least debate and attention”.

Misunderstanding Grows

More than half of smokers in England wrongly believe that vaping is more harmful or as harmful as smoking, according to a new study led by UCL researchers. The study, published in the journal JAMA Network Open and funded by Cancer Research UK, looked at survey responses from 28,393 smokers in England between 2014 and 2023.

The research team found that public perceptions of e-cigarettes had worsened considerably over the past decade, with an overall increase in the perceived harm of e-cigarettes since 2021, coinciding with a sharp rise in vaping among young people.

In June 2023, 57% of respondents said they thought vaping was equally as harmful as smoking or more harmful, while only 27% thought e-cigarettes were less harmful.

Parliament

In the knowledge that last week’s coverage of Parliament was so thrilling, we would’ve impressed upon Peter Gibson to up his game. Unfortunately, we were unable to message the Darlington Conservative, so you are going to have to make do with his simple questions to ministers.

Peter Gibson posed his first question to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. He wanted to know if a Minister from the Department would be prepared to visit Darlington. He said it was to talk to the Police and Trading Standards about the joint steps they are taking to help tackle the sale of illegal vapes and illicit tobacco – but we all know it was so he could get his name in the Darlington & Stockton Times because he’s predicted to lose the Darlington seat.

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Nicotine pouches are the route to…

A smoke-free Britain – Richard Crosby

There is little doubt that vaping has been an enormous force for good in the public health arena. Smoking rates in the UK have never been lower, which we know will result in a decline in the rates of smoking-related illness, which in turn will lead to countless lives saved or extended. Despite this success, we have yet to reach the UN’s goal of ‘smoke free’, defined as less than 5 per cent of the population smoking.

To do so, consumers need more than just one safer nicotine product to quit smoking. And this is where we see the highly effective nicotine pouch come into play.

Canada Relaunches Plan…

To Ban Most Vape Flavors – Jim McDonald

Canada is on the verge of banning most vape flavors and forcing manufacturers to reformulate existing allowed flavors using only a short list of ingredients approved by Health Canada. The new regulations were approved by the government almost three years ago, but have lain dormant since then.

Unlike most flavored vape bans that prohibit certain flavor descriptors or “characterizing flavors,” the proposed Health Canada rule will give manufacturers a list of under 100 allowable flavoring ingredients, and mandate that only they be used to create e-liquid—and only in tobacco, mint and menthol flavors.

The Truth About ZONNIC:

New Educational Campaign Tackles Misinformation About Nicotine Pouches

Today, Imperial Tobacco Canada (ITCAN) launched a public awareness campaign intended to be the source of truth about ZONNIC nicotine pouches, ITCAN’s new smoking cessation product, by dispelling myths and providing accurate, science-based information about nicotine replacement therapies (NRT) and ZONNIC’s potential role in reducing smoking incidence in Canada .

Frank Silva , President and CEO of ITCAN, stated, “Our new ZONNIC campaign fact checks what’s being said about ZONNIC nicotine pouches and reflects our dedication to harm reduction and our commitment to help reduce smoking rates in Canada .”

To Save Veterans’ Lives…

The VA Must Innovate on Smoking Cessation – Timothy Vermillion

The United States has invested trillions of dollars to equip our armed forces with hardware and technology. Yet over the past few years, our government has overlooked technological innovations that could ultimately save the lives of millions of US service members and veterans, while saving the US health system billions of dollars.

Active-duty military and veterans are more likely to smoke cigarettes than the average American. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, high stress and the need to stay alert contribute to higher rates of tobacco use.

Registry hurting legitmate vape stores

My company, Create A Cig, once operated five thriving vape shops in Louisiana. Because of a law passed last year in Louisiana called a PMTA (premarket tobacco product application) registry, we just closed our Kenner and Harvey locations and laid off eight valued employees. Without action by the Legislature, our three remaining stores are living on borrowed time.

The PMTA registry, while perhaps well-intentioned, has drastically limited the vaping products we can sell, cutting our sales in half and reducing our inventory selection by 90%. This change not only affects our bottom line but also drives our adult customers to seek products in neighboring states or through online vendors, inadvertently fostering an illicit market.

Vaping Registries Hurt Local Businesses, While Illegal Imports Continue

New Report from Smoke Free Sweden:

1.4 Million Lives Could Be Saved If Brazil Adopted Sweden’s Strategy

Almost 1.4 million Brazilian lives – equivalent to the population of Porto Alegre – could be saved if Brazil implemented Sweden’s ‘smoke free’ and tobacco harm reduction (THR) strategy, a major new report from Smoke Free Sweden reveals.

The authors, from international movement Smoke Free Sweden, will launch their new report, Lives Saved: Integrating Harm Reduction Into Tobacco Control at an event in Brasilia today.

My evidence at the Parliamentary Inquiry

Into Vaping, 12 April 2024 – Colin Mendelsohn

I gave evidence at the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into vaping today. The myths and rampant misinformation being fed to the Inquiry are breathtaking. I tried to introduce the actual evidence and explained that vaping is beneficial overall to public health.
Key message: The NSW Parliament must decide whether to allow the current failed model to continue under criminal control or to take control and regulate the market.

The ACT has decriminalised illicit drugs

But has some of the strictest penalties for possessing nicotine vapes

If you’re caught with an unprescribed nicotine vape in the nation’s capital, the law states you can be fined 320 times more than if you were possession of a gram of heroin.

Under current legislation, law enforcement theoretically has the power to penalise individuals up to $32,000 and place them in jail for two years if they’re found to have liquid nicotine without a prescription.

But the penalty for being found with small quantities of illicit drugs like heroin, ice, and MDMA is a $100 fine or a referral to an addiction treatment service.

Colin Mendelsohn unpacks the use…

Of nicotine pouches in Australia

Nicotine pouches such as Zonnic and Zyn have taken many countries by storm, but in Australia heavy handed restrictions on nicotine have limited legal access to pouches. In today’s episode, Colin Mendelsohn updates us on the rise of nicotine pouches in Australia, and the science supporting the claim that they are safer than smoking.

Holding the smoke…

Students find new way to hide vaping

Attempts to combat vaping could have perverse outcomes as students try to avoid detection and organised criminals eye off a market that only recently became illicit.

An inquiry has been told schools are taking a health-focused approach to getting children to quit while a senior police officer has warned against criminalisation.

The evolution of novel tobacco…

And nicotine products over the last decade

Novel tobacco and nicotine products, such as heated tobacco, nicotine pouches and herbal heated sticks, have seen a significant evolution in the past decade.

They have had an impact on the whole market, which expanded globally despite facing several regulatory issues, including flavour bans, product restrictions and taxation.

Episode 17: Jeffrey Zamora

Taxpayers Protection Alliance

Jeffrey Zamora, President of Asovape Costa Rica, President of ARDT Iberoamerica, and Director of Social Media and Audiovisual Producer for INNCO, as well as a Good COP expert, joins the Across the Pond team to discuss Good COP, additional harm reduction conferences taking place in Panama during COP10, Latin and South American countries’ embracing of harm reduction for persons who use drugs, and a recent study he and others from around the world are working on which examines e-cigarette use among persons who never smoked.

Players, innovation and regulation

Freddie Dawson

In some ways you could say e-cigarette design has almost come full circle over the ten years that ECigIntelligence has been covering the industry. But really that’s the case in name only. What are termed disposables now have little in common with what used to be called disposables back in the cigalike era at the start of vaping’s mainstream takeoff.

Amazingly, disposable cigalikes are somehow still available for purchase despite such products not offering much in the way of satisfaction, unable as they are to efficiently convert nicotine e-liquid into an aerosol for inhalation.

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On this Day…2023

A look back at how things have moved on or otherwise….

E-cigarettes on the NHS

Christopher Snowdon, Velvet Glove Iron Fist

The British government is going to start giving e-cigarettes to some smokers, particularly pregnant women. It is also going to start clamping down on underage sales.

I’ve been calling for the latter for some time. I’ve been sceptical of the former but I’m coming round to the idea. I still think that if you can afford to smoke, you can afford a disposable cigarette, but the biggest problem with e-cigarettes at the moment is that people think they are much more dangerous than they are. That has led to fewer smokers switching to them than would be the case if people were well informed.

As I wrote in a report for the IEA last year…

UK’s World-First Plan to Give Vape Kits

To a Million People Who Smoke – Kiran Sidhu

The United Kingdom will be offering free nicotine vape kits to one million people who smoke cigarettes. Nothing like this has ever been done on such a scale, and the move solidifies the UK’s reputation as a world leader in tobacco harm reduction.

On April 11, a government press release stated that almost one in five people who smoke in England will be “provided with a vape starter kit alongside behavioral support,” to encourage smoking cessation in a “world-first” national “swap to stop” scheme.

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