Vapers Digest 16th April
Wednesday’s News at a glance:
Vape Club Responds to Report ~ WHO Dysfunction and Corruption ~ Open Invite to the UKVIA Webinar ~ Wolves Attack Black Market ~ EU tobacco tax reform risks undermining harm reduction: report ~ MEPs fear pro-industry drift of EU tobacco laws ~ Disposable vape use falling in UK ahead of ban ~ The WHO’s Tobacco Control Paradox: Excluding harm reduction proponents bolsters Big Tobacco ~ Is the American Cancer Society Really Interested in Preventing Cancer or Just Punishing Smokers Who Don’t Use Cessation Products Made by ACS Donors? ~ Utahns cross state lines to buy flavored vape products after statewide ban ~ CAPHRA Condemns WHO’s Outdated Tobacco Reporting ~ Queensland Health’s Vaping Report: Policy-Based Evidence, Not Evidence-Based Policy ~ Tobacco and Vapes Bill moves closer to becoming law ~ EU Commission’s New Tobacco Tax Plan: A Direct Attack on Public Health and Poor Common Sense ~ The Netherlands’ War on Harm Reduction: Protecting Cigarettes While Punishing Vaping ~ Greece: Flavour Ban Threatens Public Health Progress ~ Lunch Hour Ep. 131 – Guy Bentley ~ NICOTINE POUCHES TAKE EUROPE BY STORM
Four from Dave Cross, Planet of the Vapes
Vape Club Responds to Report
Last week, Action on Smoking and Health and the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Smoking and Health released “a major new report”, – A Roadmap to a Smokefree Country – setting out its “ambitious plan” to cut the number of smokers by 2 million within this Parliament and put the UK on track for a smokefree future. Vape Club’s Dan Marchant has responded to the report by commenting on how we can achieve a smokefree generation, the benefit of vaping as a smoking cessation tool, and the risks of a thriving illegal vapes market.
WHO Dysfunction and Corruption
The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) has called for an urgent review of funding to the WHO Western Pacific Regional Office (WPRO), and the WHO Southeast Asia Regional Office (SEARO) citing ongoing governance failures, widening health inequalities, and corruption allegations within the organisation’s global leadership.
Open Invite to the UKVIA Webinar
The UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) has long been concerned that misinformation about reduced harm vape products is driving poor decision making. By way of addressing this, the trade body is holding a webinar to address how best to arm healthcare professionals with evidence-backed information. The online event is free and you are invited to register. The webinar takes place on Tuesday 29 April between 9:30 and 10:30 am.
Wolves Attack Black Market
City of Wolverhampton Council Trading Standards officers have also announced a successful raid on a city business supplying illicit vape products including disposables and eliquids. The products were seized following reports made by concerned local residents.
EU tobacco tax reform risks undermining harm reduction: report
Snusforumet
A fresh analysis of the European Commission’s tobacco tax reform plans raises concerns that the revised directive could punish safer nicotine alternatives like snus and nicotine pouches.
The European Commission is preparing to update its Tobacco Excise Tax Directive (TED), the set of rules that governs how tobacco products are taxed across the EU.
But according to a new report from the Tax Foundation, the proposed changes could threaten the progress some countries have made in reducing smoking through safer alternatives like snus and nicotine pouches.
MEPs fear pro-industry drift of EU tobacco laws
Thomas Mangin, Euractiv
A reform of the European Union’s tobacco legislation might not bring public health gains, as the rightward shift in the European Parliament could lead to more friendly rules for the tobacco industry.
That fear, at least, has led some EU lawmakers who want tougher restrictions on tobacco products to question whether revisiting European tobacco legislation is such a good idea, now that more right-wing and far-right lawmakers are sitting in the European Parliament.
Annabel Rackham, BBC
The popularity of disposable e-cigarettes or vapes has fallen ahead of a UK-wide ban on their sale on 1 June, a study suggests.
The percentage of people aged 16-24 who mainly use disposable vapes has dropped by nearly half in the last year from 63% to 35%, University College London (UCL) researchers say.
But researchers believe vape users are switching to refillable and rechargeable vapes in anticipation of the ban – instead of giving up.
The WHO’s Tobacco Control Paradox: Excluding harm reduction proponents bolsters Big Tobacco
Dr Ziauddin Islam, FFO
The World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) Article 5.3 is a cornerstone of global tobacco control, designed to shield public health policies
from the commercial interests of the tobacco industry. By barring tobacco industry representatives from forums like the Conference of the Parties (COP) and Meetings of the Parties
(MOPs), it aims to prevent the manipulation that historically undermined tobacco control. However, this exclusionary approach often unjustifiably extends to tobacco harm reduction
(THR) proponents—researchers, advocates, and organizations promoting alternatives like e cigarettes, oral nicotine pouches, and heated tobacco products—due to perceived or actual
industry ties.
Dr. Michael Siegel, The Rest of the Story
Product A is a flavored product that appeals to youth and has rapidly gained in popularity among youth.
Product B is a flavored product that appeals to youth and has rapidly gained in popularity among youth.
Product A is largely manufactured by companies that have a history of marketing to youth.
Product B is largely manufactured by companies that have a history of marketing to youth.
Product A is potentially addictive.
Product B is potentially addictive.
Two from Australia, Let’s Improve Vaping Education (A.L.I.V.E.)
CAPHRA Condemns WHO’s Outdated Tobacco Reporting
Pippa Starr
The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) today accused the World Health Organisation (WHO) of failing millions by neglecting to update its Global Report on the Tobacco Epidemic since July 2023, while ignoring overwhelming scientific evidence supporting tobacco harm reduction (THR) strategies.
“Two years of silence from WHO on global tobacco trends is two years of missed opportunities to save lives,” said Nancy Loucas, Executive Coordinator of CAPHRA.
Queensland Health’s Vaping Report: Policy-Based Evidence, Not Evidence-Based Policy
09algor
If you ever needed a case study of how public health messaging can be twisted by politics, Queensland Health’s latest vaping report is it.
Released with an air of authority, this 2025 update paints vaping as a looming public health crisis, packed with scary stats, cherry-picked studies, and moral panic. But read between the lines and it’s clear: this isn’t a serious attempt to weigh the evidence. It’s a carefully constructed narrative to justify a policy position that was locked in long before the data came in.
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