Vapers Digest 1st July
Monday’s News at a glance:
ETHRA June news roundup – Potential EU Flavour Ban? – CAPHRA Calls for Honest Debate – Totally Wicked Blackburn Sponsorship Ends – New vape regulations start today – “The ends do not justify the means” – Let’s talk e-cigarettes, June 2024 – Youth Vaping Declining Among Montana High Schoolers – Supreme Court Chevron Ruling – Reynolds Launches Nicotine-Free Flavored Disposable Line – The Wrong Answer – The rise in vaping amongst young people – Consumers lead campaign to end smoking – Evidence to the Italian Senate Inquiry
ETHRA June news roundup
European Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates
ETHRA’s monthly roundup of news: ETHRA letter to the Council of the European Union – Eurobarometer 2024 – Global Forum on Nicotine 2024 – Australia’s vape policy failure – New vape regulations start today: what you need to know – Flavour bans hamper smoking cessation – Country updates. Read on for more.
Potential EU Flavour Ban?
Michelle Jones – ECigClick
We have some upsetting news as it has become apparent there is a potential EU flavour ban on the horizon. As the UK has withdrawn from Europe this will not affect us as such but our Buddies in Ireland will be under this legislation.
Also EU law can prompt UK authorities to take similar action – and any bans may have the public asking why the UK are not following the lead. This has come about due to the EU revising the EUTPD (European Tobacco Products Directive). In the UK we have our own TPD which limits nicotine strengths and tank / bottle sizes.
Two from Dave Cross, Planet of the Vapes:
Totally Wicked Sponsorship Ends
Vape company Totally Wicked has ended its shirt sponsorship with local football team Blackburn Rovers. Both the club and the successful ecig company say the move comes following the “conclusion of the current agreement”, but observers note that both the Blackburn and Totally Wicked have been attacked in parliament by zealots trying to ban vape advertising on the front of football shirts. Totally Wicked is expected to continue its support of the club’s Trust programme.
In a statement, Blackburn Rovers FC said: “Rovers’ long-term partnership with principal sponsor Totally Wicked will end at the conclusion of the current agreement, however the local business will continue to be staunch supporters of the club going forward.
CAPHRA Calls for Honest Debate
The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) is calling for a more honest and transparent debate on tobacco harm reduction (THR) following the recent Global Forum on Nicotine (GFN) 2024. “The forum highlighted significant concerns about the World Health Organization’s (WHO) stance on THR, with experts and consumer advocates urging for a shift in the global narrative to save lives,” said Nancy Loucas, Executive Coordinator of CAPHRA.
The GFN 2024, held in Warsaw, brought together leading scientists, policymakers, and consumer advocates to discuss the future of safer nicotine products. A key session focused on the role of consumer advocates in promoting science-based communication and harm reduction strategies. The session underscored the need for consumer voices to be heard in regulatory debates, emphasising the principle of “nothing about us without us”.
Tobacco control in Ireland often cites Australia as an example we should follow. Here is why we should not. Excellent refutation of Aus vaping policy.https://t.co/HzmoA3cHCC
— NNA Ireland (@IrelandNna) July 1, 2024
I probably wouldn’t have watched this video if jessica didn’t mention public health hero Louise Ross.
I suggest you watch it too, although you can probably skip the thinly veiled attempt to undermine Ross tacked on to the end. https://t.co/UrdSuo2V13
— Phil (@phil_w888) July 1, 2024
New vape regulations start today
Colin Mendelsohn
VAPES ARE ONLY LEGALLY AVAILABLE from pharmacies with a doctor’s prescription from today, under Mark Butler’s prohibitionist Vaping Reforms Act. From 1 October 2024, a prescription will only be necessary for nicotine concentrations over 20mg/mL.
All vape shops are required to close today. Vapes are only permitted for smoking cessation or for the management of nicotine dependence. Recreational vaping is banned.
However, it is expected that most vapers will continue to access supplies from the usual black market sources, such as tobacconists, convenience stores, and via social media. Some vapers will go back to smoking
‘I’m like a fine wine connoisseur’: Vapers fuming at Australia’s new laws
“The ends do not justify the means”
Alastair Cohen
A leading tobacco control expert from University College London, has taken aim at Australia’s new vape laws – passed by the Senate last week – which limit the sales of vaping products to pharmacies only.
Dr Sharon Cox, a Senior Research Fellow at UCL who is affiliated with Cancer Research UK, writes in the Journal Addiction that “Australia’s e-cigarette policy is failing to deliver equitable and effective public health policy”.
Let’s talk e-cigarettes, June 2024
Associate Professor Jamie Hartmann-Boyce and Associate Professor Nicola Lindson discuss the new evidence in e-cigarette research and interview Louise Ross from the National Centre for Smoking Cessation and Training (NCSCT).
Louise Ross has worked in smoking cessation for over 20 years and consults for the NCSCT, and is part of the senior team on the Smoke Free App, a digital service for helping people stop smoking. NCSCT is a social enterprise committed to supporting the delivery of effective evidence-based tobacco control programmes and smoking cessation interventions provided by local stop smoking services, and by colleagues in the NHS and the social care sector.
For further information about NSCST: https://www.ncsct.co.uk/
Youth Vaping Declining
Among Montana High Schoolers, Unfortunately Recent Increase in Smoking
Lindsey Stroud
The Montana Office of Public Instruction (MOPI) has published the 2023 results for the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) among Montana high school students. For those concerned about youth smoking and tobacco use, the results are both encouraging and alarming. While vaping has decreased overall, youth combustible cigarette use is on the rise, suggesting that the overemphasis on vaping may have inadvertently exposed youth to more harmful tobacco products.
Supreme Court Chevron Ruling
Could Impact FDA Vaping Rules – Jim McDonald
The Supreme Court today overturned a decades-long precedent that gave federal agencies an almost insurmountable advantage when defending their regulations against legal challenges. The court’s decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo (and a related case, Relentless v. Department of Commerce) could affect pending vape industry challenges to FDA regulation, and could even lead to changes in the FDA’s approach to regulating vaping products.
June 28 – Sometime this afternoon, hours after the Chevron decision was announced, the Supreme Court updated the dockets of the four vaping-related petitioners seeking review of lower-court decisions (see the last section of this article). The court scheduled a conference on Monday, July 1, to discuss all four cases for a second time.
Reynolds Launches Nicotine-Free…
Flavored Disposable Line – Jim McDonald
Tobacco giant R.J. Reynolds is introducing nicotine-free disposable vapes available in six non-tobacco flavors today in the United States. The products will not be sold under the company’s Vuse brand, but will instead be branded SENSA.
Reynolds, a subsidiary of British American Tobacco (BAT), says SENSA will be sold with the same marketing restrictions as its nicotine-containing Vuse products, some of which have been authorized by the FDA. Reynolds will require retailers to sell only to customers 21 or older, although that isn’t a legal requirement in many states. It will also be displayed in stores next to age-restricted products, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The Wrong Answer
Peter Clark
Recently, Costa Rica’s Ministry of Health issued “Resolution MS-DM-RC-2381-2024” prohibiting the sale and importation of synthetic nicotine and cannabinoid vaping products. This measure appears to be a response to the uptick in vaping-related illnesses and injuries. The ban will remain until regulators promulgate rules guiding the “use and commercialization” of electronic vaping devices.
The ban might be an effort to protect public health, but there are several downsides to banning vaping. Costa Rican officials should look to the example of other countries implementing failed e-cigarette bans because prohibition never works.
The rise in vaping amongst young people
The use of flavoured disposable vapes has skyrocketed over the last couple of years. There is no doubt that if you walk down the streets of London today, you would inevitably see somebody using one. Although these kinds of vapes should be seen as a positive alternative to smoking tobacco, lots of people have fears over the potential long term effects of vaping and the popularity of them amongst young people. I spoke with Louise Ross, the Chair of the New Nicotine Alliance, about why some of the negative perceptions of vaping may have been blown out of proportion.
Consumers lead campaign to end smoking
Consumer groups worldwide are at the forefront of a global campaign to end smoking and save smokers’ lives by urging governments to adopt a science-based approach and recognize smoke-free alternatives as better substitutes to combustible cigarettes.
The groups said despite the significant scientific evidence supporting the effectiveness and relative safety of smoke-free products, some influential voices continue to create obstacles for consumers.
Attending the 11th Global Forum on Nicotine (GFN), these groups said smoke-free alternatives such as vapes, heated tobacco, and oral nicotine pouches offer consumers better choices. These innovative devices are part of the tobacco harm reduction (THR) strategy.
Evidence to the Italian Senate Inquiry
Colin Mendelsohn
My evidence to the Italian Senate Inquiry into vaping. Lessons to be learned from comparing the different regulatory models in Australia and New Zealand
On this Day…2023
A look back at how things have moved on or otherwise…
New Wave Of Anti-Vaping Press Articles?
Michelle – EcigClick
For some reason a lot of the UK media have gone above and beyond their usual anti-vaping stance. I smell a bit of a rat?
What the bloody hell is going on? I am used to seeing perhaps 1 or two negative articles a week, but this past week it has gone crazy?
Is there somebody panicking about the UK Government being “Pro-Vaping” and wanting to change the narrative? We know this happens in the USA with “Bloomberg” influences.
In Scotland, the poo is hitting the fan about Disposable vapes and it is looking like they may get banned. Is this influencing the press – to try and win Scottish readers?
New Finnish Coalition Government
Pulls Back on Nicotine Pouch Ban – Richard Crosby
After months of regulatory wrangling, Finland’s moral crusade against nicotine pouches may be coming to an end. Now, it looks as though the election of a coalition government will see the product heavily regulated but not banned, which is encouraging news for anyone with a serious interest in reducing smoking-related deaths and illness in the country.
Sanna Marin’s Social Democrats finished third in a tight general election. Now, Petteri Orpo of the conservative National Coalition Party will seek to form a coalition with the right-wing populist Finns Party. Their draft coalition program includes a more sensible approach to nicotine pouches.
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