Vapers Digest 22nd October

Wednesday’s News at a glance:

30000 Vapes Seized ~ All Go in Barking and Dagenham ~ UK Government’s Adulterated Vapes Campaign ~ Philippines Vape Ban Slammed ~ The People of Kenya Have Spoken, and they Want Safer Smoking Alternatives ~ Stop the insanity. Vaping reduces health costs; not causes them. ~ Ireland Is Failing at Smoking Cessation. Now It Will Tax Vapes Hard. ~ The Rebellion: The People Take the Mic ~ PMI Launches VEEV in South Africa, Expands Smoke-Free Portfolio ~ Small Tobacco Firms Sue Virginia Over Flavored Vape Restrictions ~ TPA Brief Criticizes WHO Tobacco Treaty for Ignoring Evidence ~ PMI Reports Strong Q3 Based on Smoke-Free Surge ~ USA: Illegal Vapes ~New science review on vape ingredients criticised for unrealistic testing ~ EXCLUSIVE: Belgian Deputy Prime Minister to host public anti-nicotine seminar during COP 11 ~ Double Down on Education, Not Flavour Bans: CVA Responds to Misinformation from Nicotine Control Groups ~ New TPA Report Exposes WHO Tobacco Treaty as a Cautionary Tale of Secrecy & Ideology ~ Avail Vapor co-founders launching new international e-cig company ~ ARE BELGIAN VAPE LAWS HELPING OR HURTING PUBLIC HEALTH?

Four from Dave Cross, Planet of the Vapes

30000 Vapes Seized

Officers from the Constabulary’s Foreign National Offender (FNO) Unit and Protecting Vulnerable People Exploitation Teams (PVPE) joined immigration, HMRC and Trading Standards colleagues in targeting stores across Warrington linked to immigration crime and the sale of illegal tobacco, vapes and cigarettes.

All Go in Barking and Dagenham

Barking and Dagenham Council has launched new reporting tool to protect young people from health risks of illegal vapes as it celebrates a haul of £19,000 worth of illegal products. Young people in Barking and Dagenham are being encouraged to use a new anonymous reporting website, Save Something Save Someone, launched by London Trading Standards, to raise concerns about the sale and use of vapes in their local area.

UK Government’s Adulterated Vapes Campaign

Ignoring the calls for the government to address growing misunderstanding about the relative safety of vaping, the Department of Health and Social Care and Ashley Dalton MP are focussing on highlighting vapes adulterated with THC. THC, or delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, is the primary psychoactive compound in cannabis that causes a ‘high’ sensation.

Philippines Vape Ban Slammed

After years of following the evidence the Philippines’ Government has been slammed by the Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) for its new vape ban, which the organisation says, “throws the baby out with the bathwater”. CAPHRA has condemned what it calls a “reckless policy that strips Filipino consumers of safer alternatives”.

The People of Kenya Have Spoken, and they Want Safer Smoking Alternatives

Joseph Hart, The Daily Pouch

There is a continuous amount of friction between what citizens want and what health bodies think we should have. Nowhere is that chasm more pronounced than in the Kenya Tobacco Control space. It has some of the loudest, most brainwashed voices in tobacco control. It also has its fair share of people who bravely represent citizens’ interests.

Stop the insanity. Vaping reduces health costs; not causes them.

Rights 4 Vapers

Ireland Is Failing at Smoking Cessation. Now It Will Tax Vapes Hard.

Kiran Sidhu, Filter

On November 1, the Irish government will impose a tax on all vaping e-liquids, regardless of whether they contain nicotine. The country will then have the highest taxation rate, at €0.50 per milliliter, of any European Union member.

The government intends to follow up on the tax hike with further measures to restrict vape flavors, packaging and advertising, and ban disposables.

The Rebellion: The People Take the Mic

Alan Gor, Australia Let’s Improve Vaping Education (A.L.I.V.E.)

In the first two parts of this series, Public Health Theatre: Now Playing Across Australia, and The Sequel: Prohibition Strikes Back, we exposed how a nation once known for evidence-based health policy became trapped in a moral crusade. We unpacked the spin, the silence, and the strange rewriting of data that turned harm reduction into heresy.

Those pieces revealed a system more focused on control than compassion, where everyday Australians who quit smoking through vaping were painted as villains, and where “public health” had become a stage play scripted by bureaucrats, “academic advisors”, and applauded by media echo chambers.

Four From Tobacco Reporter

PMI Launches VEEV in South Africa, Expands Smoke-Free Portfolio

Philip Morris South Africa (PMSA) launched its VEEV e-cigarette this week, completing the company’s trio of smoke-free products in the country alongside IQOS heated tobacco and ZYN nicotine pouches, according to BizCommunity. This makes South Africa one of just 20 countries globally offering all three categories, underscoring PMSA’s commitment to providing adult smokers with scientifically backed alternatives to combustible cigarettes.

Small Tobacco Firms Sue Virginia Over Flavored Vape Restrictions

Two Virginia-based vape distributors — NOVA Distro Inc. and Tobacco Hut and Vape Fairfax, Inc. — filed a federal lawsuit last week challenging the state’s upcoming restrictions on flavored vapor products. The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, names Attorney General Jason Miyares and other state officials as defendants.

TPA Brief Criticizes WHO Tobacco Treaty for Ignoring Evidence

The Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) released a new policy brief today (October 20), “FCTC: The Wrong Lessons Learned,” by Roger Bate, a fellow at the International Center for Law and Economics, criticizing the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) for drifting from its original mission of evidence-based policy. The paper argues that the treaty’s decision-making process has become obscured, ideological, and resistant to scientific debate—particularly around harm reduction products such as e-cigarettes and oral nicotine.

PMI Reports Strong Q3 Based on Smoke-Free Surge

Today (October 21), Philip Morris International reported strong third-quarter 2025 results, with adjusted diluted earnings per share rising 17.3% to $2.24, while reported EPS increased 13.2% to $2.23. The company said it achieved record smoke-free gross profit, supported by higher volumes and favorable pricing. Net revenues grew 5.9% on an organic basis, and adjusted operating income rose 7.5%, driven by strong performance in smoke-free products, despite a 3.2% decline in cigarette volumes.

USA: Illegal Vapes

Tobacco Insider

An Ohio Appeals Court ruled that the state Attorney General (AG) cannot use consumer protection laws to enforce U.S. FDA’s premarket tobacco product authorization (PMTA) requirements for e-cigarettes. The case arose after the Ohio AG sued a retailer for selling e-cigarettes without authorization from the U.S. FDA and failing to disclose that fact to consumers. The court dismissed the suit, finding that enforcement of premarket rules falls solely under the FDA’s authority as established by the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and the Tobacco Control Act. It concluded that the state’s claim depended entirely on federal law and the state could not have brought the case without relying on federal rules; therefore, the state’s claim was pre-empted.

Two From Clearing The Air

New science review on vape ingredients criticised for unrealistic testing

Ali Anderson

A new paper claims vape liquids can release harmful chemicals when overheated.

Experts say the tests used in the study don’t match how people actually vape.

Human studies show no measurable breathing or eye problems after short-term exposure to high levels of propylene glycol.

Harm reduction scientists say some research keeps repeating old claims about harm without looking at real-world use.

EXCLUSIVE: Belgian Deputy Prime Minister to host public anti-nicotine seminar during COP 11

Alastair Cohen

Belgium’s Deputy Prime Minister and former Health Minister Franck Vandenbroucke will host a livestreamed seminar on novel nicotine products, with a focus on vaping, during the WHO’s biannual conference on tobacco control in November.

According to documents seen by Clearing the Air and corroborated by sources, the veteran Socialist politician will invite Ministers from around the world to join the livestream. It is unclear what role, if any, consumers or the wider public will have.

Double Down on Education, Not Flavour Bans: CVA Responds to Misinformation from Nicotine Control Groups

The Canadian Vaping Association, GlobeNewsWire

The Canadian Vaping Association urges provincial and federal health ministers to focus on youth prevention and education programs that provide a pathway for youth to quit vaping and smoking.

“It is deeply concerning witnessing certain nicotine control groups and Alberta students lobbying the government for prohibitionist policies rather than offering solutions to address youth vaping. Rather than reducing harm, restrictive policies of this nature have consistently fuelled the growth of an illicit market, which operates without regulation and often with more dangerous, high-strength products,” says Sam Tam, President of the Canadian Vaping Association, “removing regulated harm reduction options leaves adult smokers with nowhere to turn except back to tobacco use, which kills 1 in every 2 users, and is the leading cause of preventable death in Canada. This move would undo decades of progress made by the federal government in reducing smoking rates and jeopardizes Canada’s goal of achieving less than 5% tobacco use by 2035.”

New TPA Report Exposes WHO Tobacco Treaty as a Cautionary Tale of Secrecy & Ideology

Kara Zupkus, Taxpayers Protection Alliance

The Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) today released a new policy brief, “FCTC: The Wrong Lessons Learned,” by Roger Bate, fellow at the International Center for Law and Economics (ICLE). The brief argues that the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) has strayed from its original promise of evidence-based, transparent policy and now too often excludes scientific dissent and blocks consumer-driven innovation that helps adult smokers quit.

“A treaty built to reduce smoking-related deaths should evaluate tools by outcomes, not ideology,” said Bate. “When safer alternatives like e-cigarettes and oral nicotine are demonized despite real-world success, the losers are adult smokers—and the taxpayers funding policies that don’t work.”

Avail Vapor co-founders launching new international e-cig company

Jack Jacobs, Richmond Biz Sense

Several years after their multi-state vaping retail chain went up in smoke, James Xu and Donovan Phillips are getting back in the e-cigarette game and looking abroad for their market launch.

The business partners and founders of the now-defunct Richmond-based Avail Vapor recently unveiled Fav, an e-cig device company that’s rolling out its product in European countries next month.

On this day…2021!

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

How Vape Bans Increase Tobacco Use

James Dunworth – Ashtray Blog

I remember my local pub a decade ago. Just outside, the smokers would gather, sipping their beer and blowing streams of smoke into the air by the road. Even when I vaped, I would join them, as quite often that was where the most interesting conversations were.

Backlash Against the FDA Grows

As Vape Company Ramps Up Legal Fight – Alex Norcia

On October 20, My Vape Order (MVO) petitioned a federal court of appeals for “an emergency motion for a stay pending a review and for expedited consideration” on the company’s vapor products that have been removed from the market.

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