Vapers Digest 14th September

Monday’s News at a glance:

Australia’s tobacco problem is disappearing from the till. Is it disappearing from people’s lives? ~ Lung Foundation Australia demands rigorous scrutiny of tobacco excise reform. Its own proposals deserve the same treatment. ~ Banning Flavored Vapes Can Make People Buy More Cigarettes, New Study Finds ~ Australia’s Tobacco Tax Experiment Has Failed. It’s Time to Admit It. ~ How Australia has Lost Control of the Nicotine Market? ~ Canada Set to Loosen Nicotine Pouch Regulations? ~ Várhelyi’s Nicotine Math Doesn’t Add Up ~ Consumer Access to Modern Nicotine Products ~ Irish PM backs vape ban and claims vapes are ‘nearly worse than cigarettes’ ~ Germany plans fresh vape tax rise as industry warns half the market is already illicit ~ First Juul, now Zyn: New York is punishing the generation that quit smoking ~ Trump’s FDA followed the science on vaping. Politicians are furious ~ National campaign calls for better access to nicotine pouches ~ Pakistani tobacco users want regulation, not bans, national survey finds ~ Is Science Impacting Policy or Policy Impacting Science? GTNF 2026 ~ GSTHR Estimates 200 Million People Use Non-Combustible Nicotine Products as 28 Countries Show Rising Use Alongside Falling Smoking Rates ~ Reynolds Seeks to Join Altria Lawsuit Challenging FDA PMTA Rule and Calculation of 180-Day Deadline

Two From Alan Gor

Australia’s tobacco problem is disappearing from the till. Is it disappearing from people’s lives?

A government can count every taxed cigarette and still misunderstand the market in cigarettes, because falling legal sales can mean several different things: people might be quitting, smoking less, switching products or buying from someone who does not collect tax. Each possibility has different implications for public health, government revenue and the effectiveness of the law.

Lung Foundation Australia demands rigorous scrutiny of tobacco excise reform. Its own proposals deserve the same treatment.

Mark Brooke’s defence of Australian tobacco policy has a credibility problem: the standard of evidence changes depending on whose proposal is being examined. For an excise cut, the Lung Foundation Australia chief executive demands detailed modelling of smoking initiation, quitting, relapse, consumption, disease, healthcare costs and illicit trade. For his own proposal to eliminate 80 per cent of tobacco retail licences and reserve sales for large supermarkets, his article supplies no equivalent modelling. An excise cut is an experiment, while his preferred restrictions are presented as a credible alternative, a distinction asserted far more confidently than it is demonstrated.

Three From K. Farsalinos, MD, MPH, PhD, Science & Public Health

Banning Flavored Vapes Can Make People Buy More Cigarettes, New Study Finds

A new economics study looked at what happened when Canadian provinces banned or restricted flavored vape (e-cigarette) sales between 2018 and 2023. The study covered 9 provinces and 516 province-month observations.

Key Takeaways

Flavored vape sales collapsed almost completely, as expected.

But cigarette sales went up — about 9.6% higher in provinces with flavor bans, and possibly as much as 21.5% under a different statistical method.

Australia’s Tobacco Tax Experiment Has Failed. It’s Time to Admit It.

Australia has spent more than a decade taxing cigarettes on the theory that pain at the checkout would eventually get people to quit. It hasn’t. What it has actually built, according to the federal opposition’s June 2026 report, is one of the most lucrative black markets in the country’s history, plus a public health establishment that still can’t bring itself to call the policy a failure.

How Australia has Lost Control of the Nicotine Market?

“When Best Practice Falls Short.” Australia has long been praised as a world leader in tobacco regulation, shaping global standards via plain packaging and strong public‑health initiatives. Yet this image hides a serious strategic misstep. By rigidly following WHO‑endorsed “best practice” measures—namely heavy excise taxes and a medical‑only framework for nicotine vapes—Australia has unintentionally sparked a sovereignty crisis. The government has effectively abandoned its duty to oversee the market, handing control over to criminal networks.

Two From Clearing The Air

Irish PM backs vape ban and claims vapes are ‘nearly worse than cigarettes’

Ali Anderson

Ireland’s prime minister has signalled support for an outright ban on vapes, claiming they are “nearly worse than cigarettes” despite evidence that nicotine vaping is far less harmful than smoking.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin made the comments at the end of Fianna Fáil’s think-in in Tullamore, County Offaly, on Tuesday. His remarks followed discussions about using planning restrictions to limit the number of vape shops.

Germany plans fresh vape tax rise as industry warns half the market is already illicit

Tim Hong

Germany is planning another rise in vape taxes, as an industry association warns that illegal products already account for an estimated half of the market.

The government’s draft legislation, submitted to the Bundestag on 7 September, proposes annual increases in e-liquid duty from January 2027 to 2030.

But MPs from the governing CDU/CSU and SPD parties want a bigger initial increase, according to reporting by Lebensmittel Praxis, drawing on the German press agency dpa.

Two From Washington Examiner

First Juul, now Zyn: New York is punishing the generation that quit smoking

Daniel Idfresne

New York imposed a 75% tax on the wholesale price of alternative nicotine products, including pouches and gum, on Tuesday. Albany says it will protect younger residents from Big Tobacco’s predation. But ex-smokers are most affected: switching away from cigarettes is now pricier and less safe. Meanwhile, the black market for these products will boom.

Trump’s FDA followed the science on vaping. Politicians are furious

Evan Swarztrauber

There is a built-in incentive for regulators like the Food and Drug Administration to be cautious. Saying no rarely begets significant backlash. Saying yes means owning every negative headline for the next decade or more. So when the FDA does say yes, it’s worth paying attention.

National campaign calls for better access to nicotine pouches

Mick Favel, CTV News

A campaign is underway to ease the restrictions of nicotine pouches across the country, in hopes of allowing them to be sold at more locations.

In 2024, nicotine pouches were federally restricted to be sold at pharmacies only.

However, a consumer group is looking to change that.

Pakistani tobacco users want regulation, not bans, national survey finds

Lead Pakistan

515-respondent study finds most current tobacco and nicotine users trust their own families on health information more than they trust the government. A new national survey finds that most of Pakistan’s current tobacco and nicotine users want smoke-free alternatives such as vapes and nicotine pouches brought under strict government regulation rather than banned outright. 87% back a regulated, legal framework over prohibition, according to the Tobacco Harm Reduction Perception Survey, Pakistan, released today by the Endit Foundation.

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

Vapers rise ‘to more than 3 mil’ in Britain

BBC

The number of vapers in Great Britain has topped three million for the first time – four times the number in 2012, according to a survey by Action on Smoking and Health.

Most use e-cigarettes because they have quit smoking and 40% are smokers who are trying to give up. The estimations are based on a survey of 12,000 British adults.

New data shows smokers…

Are getting the message – ASH

Findings from a new survey [1] for Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) published today show that GB smokers are getting the message that switching to vaping can improve their health.

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