Vapers Digest 4th October

Friday’s News at a glance:

ETHRA September news roundup – NNA writes to the House of Commons Library – Cochrane Updates The Evidence – Flavour Ban for Ireland – EU Making a Disastrous Mistake – Sweden is Way Ahead – Harm Reduction Can Save Lives – AMA Promotes Vape Fear – GSTHR Briefing Paper: A smokefree UK? – Ireland’s vape tax puts smokers’ lives at risk – Letter to the Minister for Health – Voices of Harm Reduction Pt 4: Martin Cullip – Spain to ban disposable vapes and flavours – Boom in black market vapes funding organised crime – Denmark to limit strength of nicotine pouches – There is a time and place for everything – One million people in England who weren’t smokers now vape – What does decades of research tell us? – Panama Still Clearing Up The Mess of COP10 – Michigan Vape Bills Would Ban Flavors, Impose 57% Tax – Missing Piece in Tobacco Control – South Africa divided over new smoking laws – Warm Reception?

ETHRA September news roundup

European Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates

ETHRA’s monthly roundup of news: Smoke-Free Environments Recommendation – NNA Ireland expert letter – France to ban ‘puffs’ – Acvoda consumer survey – Health effects of snus in Sweden – Navigating Australia’s new pharmacy only vaping rules – Top 3 Methods to Quit Smoking – Country updates. Read on for more.

NNA writes to the House of Commons

New Nicotine Alliance UK

On 8th August, the NNA wrote to the House of Commons Library following publication of its research briefing concerning “Advertising, marketing and promotion of vaping products”.

We were concerned that the section addressing views of stakeholders did not include those of consumers. We suggested that the document could be amended to include points made in our submissions to the government in recent months. Sadly, we have not yet received a reply.

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Six from Dave Cross, Planet of the Vapes:

Flavour Ban for Ireland

The Irish government has approved Health Minister Stephen Donnelly’s plan to ban disposable single-use vapes and most current eliquid flavours available to smokers and vapers. Donnelly justifies the bans by making the evidence-free claim that flavours are only manufactured to appeal to children and rope them into nicotine addiction.

Taoiseach Simon Harris said: “Vaping is the revenge of the tobacco industry. We live in a country where around 13% of people between the ages of 12 and 17 have vaped in the last 30 days. We need to take action.”

Cochrane Updates The Evidence

The Cochrane Review of electronic cigarettes for smoking cessation has received its latest update and, for the first time, is being promoted in conjunction with Action on Smoking and Health. The benefit of ASH’s involvement means the cross-party committee on smoking and health will direct the findings to Parliament.

The sharing of this Cochrane Review of electronic cigarettes for smoking cessation across Parliament may prove to be very important due to some of the key aspects of vaping the Cochrane team looked at, namely:

EU Making a Disastrous Mistake

The World Vapers’ Alliance (WVA) has expressed its grave concern over the European Union Commission’s recommendation to include vaping in its smoke-free environments definition and plans. The move now effectively equates vaping with smoking, and the result will see vaping banned in all places where smoking is currently prohibited or banned from in future.

Michael Landl, Director of the World Vapers’ Alliance, said: “The Commission is making a disastrous mistake by lumping vaping with smoking. This sends a dangerous message to millions of smokers who need vaping to quit. This falsely equates vaping with smoking, misleading millions into believing vaping is just as harmful when it’s actually 95% less harmful….”

Sweden is Way Ahead

Leading international health experts today backed the European Commission’s call for a tobacco-free generation by 2040 while pointing out that Sweden has already cultivated multiple smoke-free generations through its pioneering harm-reduction strategies. The Scandinavian nation is way ahead of other European nations when it comes to tackling tobacco addiction, Smoke Free Sweden says.

Sweden has seen an extraordinary 55% decline in smoking rates over the past decade by making safer alternatives to cigarettes – such as snus, modern oral nicotine pouches and vapes – acceptable, accessible and affordable.

Harm Reduction Can Save Lives

Improved tobacco harm reduction measures, including better access to nicotine alternatives such as vaping products, could save up to 280,000 lives in Czechia, according to a major new report. The new study by the leading international public health experts, titled Tobacco harm reduction and better treatment of lung cancer, highlights how the deadly toll of tobacco could be massively reduced by incorporating tobacco harm reduction measures into public health policymaking.

Smoke Free Sweden says that while the World Health Organization (WHO) forecasts a modest decline in smoking prevalence in Czechia, from 30% to 26.5% by 2025, smoking still claims 17,600 lives annually in the country.

AMA Promotes Vape Fear

The Australian Medical Association Tasmania branch (AMA Tasmania) is promoting fears about vaping and casting proven facts about the tobacco harm reduction tool as “dangerous myths”. The organisations baseless outburst comes in response to an opinion piece by Senator Tammy Tyrrell carried in the Hobart Mercury newspaper. The AMA Tasmania’s error strewn response took the form of a blog article on its website.

AMA Tasmania begins with a lie from the off: “[We are] very concerned about Senator Tammy Tyrrell’s recent opinion piece in The Hobart Mercury, in which she argues against the new Tasmanian restrictions on vaping….”

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GSTHR Briefing Paper: A smokefree UK?

How research, policy & vapes have cut smoking rates – Michelle Jones

The latest Briefing Paper from the Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction (GSTHR), a project from public health agency Knowledge·Action·Change (K·A·C), focuses on the remarkable shift from smoking to vaping that has taken place in the United Kingdom in recent years. “A smokefree UK? How research, policy and vapes have cut smoking rates” explores some of the reasons behind the UK’s rapid and growing embrace of vaping, and provides another important case study showcasing the potential of tobacco harm reduction through the adoption of safer nicotine products (SNP), following our recent Briefing Paper on the effect heated tobacco products have had in Japan.

Ireland’s tax puts smokers’ lives at risk

Smoke Free Sweden

This week, the Irish government announced a levy of 50 cents per ml of e-liquid as part of its annual budget, adding €1.23 to the cost of a typical vape. This tax is far above the European average of 10-30 cents.

Criticising the move, Dr. Delon Human, a global harm reduction expert and leader of Smoke Free Sweden, said: “Sweden is on the brink of achieving smoke-free status as a result of its progressive approach to safer alternatives like vaping. This contrasts sharply with Ireland’s approach, where smoking rates remain four times higher.

Ireland: Vapes hit with major new tax in Budget – Ali Anderson

Letter to the Minister for Health

thatgotmethinkingblog

We have sent the following letter to the Minister for Health concerning the proposed legislative ban on all flavoured vaping products apart from tobacco. This is a retrograde step in the effort to achieve a ‘smoke-free Ireland. Removing the most popular and widely used means of smoking cessation is not the way to reduce smoking rates. We hope the Minister will consider this information during the discussion around this bill and think again if he wants to be the minister that made quitting smoking more difficult and less available.

The letter, supported by and signed by international tobacco control experts, is available in full below.

Voices of Harm Reduction Pt 4:

Martin Cullip

Martin Cullip is an International Fellow at the Taxpayers Protection Alliance and has been a prominent voice on tobacco and vaping policy since 2008, when he first gained attention with his libertarian blog, “Dick Puddlecote.”

Back when I started in vaping many years ago, you were anonymous blog, but you decided to “out” yourself at one point. Tell us how that happened.

I used to run a transport company and I’d drive the bus every morning. I’d put the news on in the in the bus, and it would say, you know, “the government is clamping down on this”, or “the government is banning this”. And I remember going in the office once wondering “has the government declared war on us or something?”. Because that’s the way it seemed to me.

Three from Ali Anderson, Clearing the Air:

Spain ban disposable vapes and flavours

The Spanish government has moved to ban disposable vapes and a multitude of flavours. Secretary of State for Health Javier Padilla has said that in the coming weeks “the draft amendment to Royal Decree 579/2017 will be available, which will include a ban on disposable electronic cigarettes.”

He said the decision had been made due to disposable vapes being ‘harmful to health and to the environment.’ Mr Padilla added that the proposed law will include a ban on flavoured vapes.

Boom in black market vapes…

Funding organised crime

A spike in black market sales of illegal vapes and fake cigarettes is funding organised crime gangs in the UK, a shock new survey has found.

Figures show 11 out of 12 regions have seen a sharp rise in the illicit trade over the past year, with Scotland reporting the biggest increase of more than 20 per cent. Northern Ireland and the South East of England have seen rises of 15.9 per cent and 14.5 per cent respectively.

Denmark to limit strength of …

Nicotine pouches

Denmark is set to limit the maximum strength of nicotine pouches to just 9mg. Currently there is no upper limit on the amount of nicotine allowed in pouches, a tobacco-free product that is placed between the lip and the gum.

But the Danish government is now consulting on an executive order that would make it illegal to sell nicotine pouches above the low strength of 9mg.

There are also plans to tighten rules on the packaging of vapes and other nicotine alternatives and to ban sweet flavours. Packaging will be required to be ‘neutral and standardised’ with no marketing of flavours and/or fragrances, except for tobacco and menthol.

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There is a time and place for everything

RIP, Andy. Thank you for the many lessons you taught us about caring, laughing, loving, and living life to the fullest. “Nothing about us without us” was the model you lived by. May we all strive to help others with as much compassion as you did.

Sometimes, agendas should be left at home, especially when people are mourning the loss of someone. A world void of compassion is a world not worth living in.

I’m putting a lot of effort into understanding where people are coming from, to “walk a mile in their shoes,” as the saying goes. I want to be less judgemental and do a better job of finding common ground with others.

Smoking levels in the UK

Continue to drop with vaping playing ‘a major role’

The UK Vaping Industry Association welcomes the latest official data which shows that just 11.9% of the UK population now smokes, the lowest level since records began. The most dramatic fall is in the 18-24 age group where smoking has plummeted from 25.7% in 2011 to just 9.8% in 2023.

When the ONS last reported on smoking rates in December 2022, it said that vaping had played a ‘major role’ in the decline. And with the latest data showing that vaping rates are highest in the age group where smoking is declining fastest, there is clear evidence that vaping continues to help smokers quit.

Adult smoking habits in the UK: 2023 – ONS

One million people in England vape despite never having smoked regularly

Expert Reaction to…

Study of vaping trends among adults in England

A study published in The Lancet Public Health looks at vaping trends in adults who have never regularly smoked. Prof Peter Hajek, Professor of Clinical Psychology and Director of the Health and Lifestyle Research Unit, Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), said:

“Some people have genes and circumstances leading them to like nicotine products. Traditionally, they ended up smoking, but some are now discovering vaping without becoming smokers first. If vaping did not exist, they would be smoking. The study authors point this out.

One million people in England ….

Who weren’t smokers now vape – but it’s not as alarming as it sounds

One million people in England are now vaping despite having never been regular smokers, new research has found.

According to a study published in The Lancet Public Health journal, one in 28 adults (1,006,000 people) now use vapes and e-cigarettes despite never having regularly smoked. This figure is up from about one in 200 adults (133,000 people) in 2021 who vape but have never regularly smoked.

Cancer Research UK

Fears a disposables ban may alter perception of vaping harm

Cancer Research UK is concerned about the impact a ban on disposables in the UK could have on vaping harm perception and overall public health.

The organisation was particularly worried a ban on disposables justified on the grounds of protecting youth health would have the unintended effect of associating all vaping products with a negative health impact.

Vaping vs. smoking:

What does decades of research tell us?

E-cigarettes, commonly referred to as “vapes,” were invented in the early 2000s with the explicit goal of helping people quit smoking by transitioning them to something safer. But there are many people, particularly in the United States, who start vaping without ever having smoked a cigarette, leading to fears that vaping will be an on-ramp to smoking — a “gateway drug.” In fact, in the U.S. alone, nearly half a million middle school students vape. And in 2019, the CDC started receiving reports of severe and acute lung injury associated with vaping. By February of 2020, almost 3,000 people had been hospitalized and 68 people had died.

The case for a surgeon general’s report

On e-cigarettes – Michelle Minton

Around 8% of American adults now vape, and just 11% smoke, according to a recent Gallup poll. This puts the U.S. smoking rate at its lowest level in 80 years. But, while American nicotine use has evolved dramatically over the decades, public guidance on the relative risks of nicotine products remains stuck in the past.

The last U.S. surgeon general’s report on nicotine was issued in 1988 when cigarettes were one of the only options for nicotine consumers, and around 32% of adults smoked.

Rights 4 Vapers

We are saddened by the marginalizing language used by those who claim to help people quit smoking. Individuals who smoke should not be labeled as “smokers.” We commend Health Canada for addressing this in 2022. Ms. Callard, Ms. Doucas, and Mr. Hagan should reconsider their superior attitudes and recognize that smoking is not the same as safer nicotine products.

It was difficult to watch two educated women suggest that Minister Saks needs a man to do her job. Minister Saks is carefully reviewing the science and speaking to all stakeholders when considering regulatory changes.

Panama Still Clearing Up Mess of COP10

COPWatch

It has been months since the COP10 delegates left Panama City but, it appears, their brief residency is still causing problems in the country.

Just as when the circus big top leaves town, it is left to the locals to clear up the sawdust and litter, so it is that Panamanian authorities are still beset with the aftermath of the WHO event.

Eldigital Panama reports that the contract for hosting the conference, awarded by the Ministry of Health (MINSA), has attracted a complaint of “alleged crimes of fraud in public procurement, illicit association, ideological falsehood and against computer security.”

“Perverse Incentives” To Stay On Benefits

Yes, vapes should be available

Beyond Australian pharmacies like they are in other countries

Australia is unique in treating vapes as therapeutic devices restricted to behind-the-counter sales at pharmacies. Under our current system, to access a vape a “patient” must first have a consultation with their pharmacist in which their medical history is considered. They will not be supplied a vape unless they have previously tried an alternative cessation treatment or if they want a vape for any other purpose than to quit smoking.

Critically, many pharmacies are refusing to stock vapes. Those that do are limited to selling mint, menthol and tobacco flavours, which are the least popular among adults and ex-smokers who vape.

Vapes Are Legally Available…

Without Prescription in NSW, But Only at Chemists

Health minister Mark Butler’s elaborate scheme to eradicate recreational vaping in the community, had meant that since 1 July 2024, vapes had only legally been available via prescription at pharmacies. However, this came to an end on Tuesday, 1 October 2024, as a Greens amendment to the legislated framework sees the devices now available over the counter at chemists.

Local pollie slams vape laws

Serpentine’s Dr Brian Walker MLC has slammed Labor’s ‘knee-jerk’ anti-vaping laws, and suggested an alternate solution that “follows science rather than the hysteria”.

Speaking on the day that federal regulations which limit vape sales to pharmacies came into force, he explained that the move was riddled with unintended consequences.

“More restrictions on vaping mean only one thing – more tobacco use, and consequentially, more deaths,” the Legalise Cannabis WA MP said.

‘No longer allowed’:

Labor’s vaping changes commence October 1

Michigan Vape Bills

Would Ban Flavors, Impose 57% Tax – Jim McDonald

Michigan lawmakers have introduced a series of bills intended to eliminate access to popular flavored vapes and other low-risk nicotine products, and price the remaining products out of reach for many consumers. The legislation, promoted by anti-tobacco and anti-vaping activist groups, is similar to bills previously introduced in the state.

The eight-bill package includes several components that will negatively affect people who vape or use other low-risk nicotine products:

Youth Cigarette and Vape Use

Down in Indiana, Adult E-Cigarette Use Has Increased – Lindsey Stroud

The Indiana Department of Health has released the 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey results, which biennially track high school students’ behaviors, spanning dietary and physical activity habits to mental health and substance use.

Notably, there’s encouraging news for policymakers focused on youth tobacco and vapor product usage, with combustible cigarette use reaching historic lows and vapor product use continuing a downward trend.

Missing Piece in Tobacco Control

Zabir Saeed Badar

Tobacco-related diseases claim approximately 160,000 lives annually in Pakistan, underscoring a critical public health challenge. Despite various efforts to curb tobacco consumption, existing strategies have proven inadequate in tackling the scale of the problem. There is an urgent need for a more effective approach, and the Swedish model of harm reduction presents a promising solution. This innovative strategy has significantly reduced smoking rates in Sweden and offers Pakistan an opportunity to enhance its tobacco control efforts.

NEW ZEALAND’S NEXT STEPS

Loucas updates us on New Zealand’s latest restrictions

Brazil’s Plan to Lift Vape Ban

Smoke Free Sweden

Brazil is “on the cusp of a public health miracle” as it prepares to legalise vapes in the ongoing war against smoking, according to international health experts.

Lifting a ban on vapes would throw a lifeline to millions of smokers, help to cut rampant illicit trade and offer protection to the underaged, the experts say.

Although vapes are currently prohibited in Brazil, they are widely available on the black market and youths have easy access to unregulated, potentially dangerous illicit products.

South Africa divided over new laws

Seth Thorne

The reintroduction of the Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Bill in hopes of getting the proposed smoking laws passed once again has left many South Africans divided.

Recently, the Department of Health (DoH) re-presented the Bill to the portfolio committee on health, kickstarting the process of getting the laws passed once again after it lapsed at the end of the previous administration.

Warm Reception?

Cheryl K. Olson

A new kind of nicotine alternative is sidling back onto the U.S. market. Modern heated-tobacco products (HTPs) were gone before most Americans knew they even existed. After a limited test, a patent dispute took them off U.S. shelves in 2021.

The gradual return of HTPs has just begun, with a single brand. Within a few years, Americans will likely have access to multiple options now sold in other nations.

Conversations with a close family friend, a former pack-a-day smoker, piqued my interest in the potential of heated tobacco.

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On this Day…2023

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

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Visit Nicotine Science & Policy for more News from around the World

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