Vapers Digest 6th November
Friday’s News at a glance:
Parliament Matters ~ ASH Welcomes New Vape Rules ~ Experts urge adoption of tobacco harm reduction ~ Accelerating the End of Smoking: Inside the New Approaches Interview Series ~ Are nicotine pouches safer? ~ Istanbul Tobacco Control Conference Pushes War on Safer Nicotine Alternatives ~ Europe’s Nicotine Crackdown Risks Turning a $10 Billion Market Over to Illicit Sellers ~ Nicotine Pouch Use Triples Among US Tobacco Users ~ British study ties nicotine pouches to quitting success for non-vapers as Ottawa holds firm ~ EXCLUSIVE: Spain to block Tobacco Tax Directive, calling for lower rates on rolling tobacco. ~ FDA Recognizes Nicotine Harm Reduction as Brussels Questions Science ~ US FDA Rethinks the Continuum of Risk ~ Vapes and Quitting Smoking: The Facts May Surprise You ~ Palau and the absurd case for international nicotine prohibition ~ Malaysia’s Poisons Board Backs New Vape Nicotine Exemption After Unanimously Opposing 2023 Proposal ~ Unworkable | FDA Signals PMTA Overhaul, But Will It Deliver? | RegWatch
Two From Dave Cross, Planet Of The Vapes
Parliament Matters
All things must pass, so sang George Harrison, and the same goes for our delightful trips to Parliament together to discover how our politicians plan on treating vaping. Join me one final time as we laugh at some of the questions posed and mock the replies offered up by the Department for Health and Social Care.
ASH Welcomes New Vape Rules
Anti-smoking charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) has welcomed the new rules on nicotine and vaping products which came into force at the end of October. The new legal requirements restrict sales and giveaways of all nicotine and vaping products, and include a new minimum age of 18 for all nicotine product sales (which wasn’t the case previously).
Nicotine Pouch Use Triples Among US Tobacco Users
EMJReviews
NICOTINE pouch use among US adult tobacco users more than tripled between 2021 and 2024, research shows. The findings highlight a substantial shift in nicotine consumption patterns, particularly among younger adults, men, and individuals already using other tobacco products.
Nicotine Pouch Use Rises Across Demographic Groups
A repeated cross-sectional study examined nicotine pouch use among 1,583 US adults aged 21 years and older who had used tobacco within the previous 12 months in 2021, alongside 1,355 comparable participants in 2024.
Ever using nicotine pouches increased from 16.4% in 2021 to 31.1% in 2024. More notably, current nicotine pouch use rose from 3.0% to 10.2%, representing more than a threefold increase.
Peter Beckett, Clearing The Air
The Spanish government is set to block the EU’s proposed tax hike on tobacco and nicotine products, citing its demands for a lower rate for hand rolling tobacco.
Madrid made the demand at a meeting of top EU diplomats known as the Council of Permanent Representatives last Wednesday, according to sources.
Spain’s intervention threatens to derail a deal that EU governments have spent months negotiating, with the Irish Presidency hoping to secure an agreement when finance ministers meet on 9 November.
FDA Recognizes Nicotine Harm Reduction as Brussels Questions Science
PouchForum
The US Food and Drug Administration has authorized another 24 nicotine pouch products under a new programme designed to accelerate scientific reviews. More significantly, the agency explicitly recognizes the potential of nicotine pouches to help smokers move away from more harmful products. The approach stands in sharp contrast to the European Commission, which continues to question whether switching from cigarettes to smoke-free alternatives reduce health risks at all.
On 30 October, the FDA authorized 24 products from the Velo Mini Pouch and Mini Pouch 2 ranges, all containing 4 mg of nicotine. The decision brings the total number of authorized nicotine pouches in the United States to 67.
US FDA Rethinks the Continuum of Risk
Timothy Donahue, Tobacco Asia
Bret Koplow isn’t dancing around tobacco harm reduction anymore.
The new permanent director of the US Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) made that clear in Lisbon, outlining a regulatory direction focused on protecting youth while expanding access to lower-risk products for adults who smoke — and ensuring they understand the difference.
Speaking at the Global Tobacco and Nicotine Forum (GTNF), Koplow described an agency looking to move faster on product reviews, rethink its approach to flavored e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches, and do something CTP has historically struggled to do: clearly communicate that not all tobacco and nicotine products carry the same risk.
Vapes and Quitting Smoking: The Facts May Surprise You
Yonkers Times
When adults who smoke look into Vapes, they may find confident claims in both directions. The reality is more specific: vaping is not harmless, but research suggests nicotine vaping can help some adults stop smoking. That does not make it right for everyone, and it is not a reason for people who do not smoke to start. These facts separate what current evidence can support from what remains uncertain, with a focus on safer decisions and appropriate help.
Fact 1: Cigarette smoke and vape aerosol are not the same
Burning tobacco creates smoke containing many harmful chemicals. Vape devices heat a liquid to create an aerosol, which is different from cigarette smoke but is not simply clean air or water vapour. Products and ingredients vary, and inhaling aerosol can expose users to substances that may affect health.
Palau and the absurd case for international nicotine prohibition
Roger Bate, The Center for Global Health Accountability (CGHA)
An initial analysis of the Palau research
The central finding
International nicotine prohibition is an absurd response to the arrival of cleaner ways to consume an ancient stimulant. Public health has spent decades trying to separate nicotine consumption from the diseases caused by tobacco. When technology makes that separation easier, a campaign to subject the molecule itself to international drug control moves in the wrong direction. The result could be to restrict the alternatives people use to escape smoke while entrenching the markets that already cause the greatest harm.
Palau’s initiative exposes a profound confusion about the purpose of public health. A country with a widespread carcinogenic chewing habit is helping to put nicotine itself before the machinery of international drug control.
Malaysia’s Poisons Board has endorsed Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad’s proposal to exempt liquid and gel nicotine used in vaping products from the Poisons List under the Poisons Act 1952 (Act 366), according to a November 2 report by Malaysian health policy publication CodeBlue.
The reported decision contrasts with the Board’s unanimous opposition to a similar proposal in 2023. It follows a Kuala Lumpur High Court ruling in May 2026 that invalidated the earlier exemption and the government’s withdrawal of its appeal in August.
Unworkable | FDA Signals PMTA Overhaul, But Will It Deliver? | RegWatch
Brent Stafford, Regulator Watch
FDA says it wants a more predictable PMTA process. That’s welcome news for an industry that has spent years navigating shifting standards, mass denials and regulatory limbo. But will it deliver?
In this episode of RegWatch, Tony Abboud of the Vapor Technology Association takes us inside the push for reform, from the campaign to save flavored vaping to the case for clear scientific standards. Abboud explains what a workable pathway could mean for American businesses and why the fight is far from over.
What will replace the broken rule, and will it be enough to save vaping?
