Vapers Digest 27th September
Wednesday’s News at a glance:
Meet the Man Behind the FDA’s Nicotine Fix ~ FDA monkey nicotine study: “taxpayer-funded torture” ~ The danger of keeping the public in the dark about tobacco alternatives ~Swedish snus wants place in EU tobacco directive ~ This product can help millions quit smoking …if we’re allowed to talk about it ~ Here’s Why Everyone Should Consider Picking Up A Vape ~ Putting vaping first for Stoptober ~ Nicotine In the News
Meet the Man Behind the FDA’s Nicotine Fix
Jennifer Maloney, The Wall Street Journal
Scott Gottlieb was once a critic of the Food and Drug Administration, arguing it should move faster. Now as its leader, he has taken an idea that had been discussed inside the agency for years — removing almost all the nicotine from cigarettes — and is racing ahead with it.
FDA monkey nicotine study: “taxpayer-funded torture”
Jim McDonald, Vaping360
DA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb stopped experiments that included implanting devices in monkeys that allowed them to self-administer nicotine. The suspension of the experiments at an FDA facility in Arkansas followed objections from primatologist Jane Goodall, and a group called the White Coat Waste Project that seeks to eliminate government-funded animal experiments. Goodall wrote the FDA head on Sept. 7, asking him to end the research.
The danger of keeping the public in the dark about tobacco alternatives
Diane Caruana, VapingPost
Misinformation about the relative benefits of alternative tobacco products such as e-cigarettes and smokeless tobacco as smoking cessation tools, is leaving millions of smokers unaware about the options that could potentially save their lungs and their lives. A critique by public health experts Dr. Lynn Kozlowski of the School of Public Health and Health Professions at the University of Buffalo, and David Sweanor of the Center for Health Law, Policy and Ethics at the University of Ottawa, pointed out that many smokers are still unaware about the risk differences in regular cigarettes and smokeless alternatives.
A Billion Lives – Demand Film
Coming to a Cinema near You – Reserve your tickets Now!
Swedish snus wants place in EU tobacco directive
Sarantis Michalopoulos, EURACTIV.COM
Sweden’s moist smokeless tobacco snus, which is currently banned across Europe, is trying to find its way into the EU tobacco directive, with supporters pointing to evidence suggesting it is appropriate for the protection of public health. But the European Commission has made it clear it has no plans to revise the directive. Snus, a moist oral tobacco snuff, has been banned in the EU since 1992.
This product can help millions quit smoking …if we’re allowed to talk about it
André Calantzopoulos, Financial Post
Canada ranks among the healthiest countries in the world. Yet there are more than four million men and women in Canada who smoke cigarettes — and that’s despite vivid warnings and universal awareness of the serious health risks. In March, the government announced a goal to reduce the number of people who smoke to five per cent of the population by 2035. Respectfully, we believe the goal could be much more ambitious than “5 by ’35.” Faster progress is entirely realistic, especially given the country’s commitment to innovative approaches to public policy.
Here’s Why Everyone Should Consider Picking Up A Vape
Steve Birr, Daily Caller, Daily Vaper
Nicotine has wide-ranging health benefits, according to public health experts, but confusion and fear over the properties of the stimulant are suppressing further research and education. Tobacco use is well known as the leading cause of preventable death globally, but smokers and the public remain largely misinformed about the effects of nicotine. Polls show a large majority of smokers still believe nicotine causes lung and oral cancers, while the harm actually comes from the carcinogenic smoke produced by tobacco when burned. Professor Karl Fagerstrom, a leading expert in addiction treatment and creator of the Fagerstrom Test for Cigarette Dependence, said in the Journal of Smoking Cessation, “there is no evidence for the abuse of pure nicotine.”
Putting vaping first for Stoptober
Junglist, Planet Of The Vapes
Last week it was announced that the Stoptober campaign for 2017, which starts on 1st October, will feature TV ads that include vaping as a suggested quit method for the first time. The TV ad can be seen on the PHE website here. Offering support via an app, online community and face-to-face advice, the ad states “Plus you can use gum, patches and now, e-cigarettes. Keep it up for twenty-eight days and you are five times more likely to quit for good.”
Nicotine In the News
Harry Shapiro, Nicotine Science and Policy
As you can see, this is blog number 33 and so I hope I am not repeating this little anecdote, even though it does bear repeating. There used to be a BBC TV political comedy called Yes Minister in which the senior civil servant Sir Humphrey Appleby was consistently trying to derail any initiative by his Minister Jim Hacker, which might not be in the interests of the civil service. One failsafe tactic, should the Minister suddenly announce such a move, would be for Sir Humphrey to say, ‘That’s a very brave decision, Minister’ At which point Hacker would turn pale and instantly drop the idea. Because no politician who is actually in power wants to be regarded as ‘brave’ as that invariably means a risky enterprise which could end in the sack, reshuffled to some low-level post, a loss of votes or even the loss of a parliamentary seat entirely.
On this Day…2016
A look back at how things have moved on or otherwise…
Young adults say vaping helped them quit smoking, restrictions are dangerous
Michele Munz, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Evan Wright, 18, started smoking cigarettes and cigars early in high school. He sometimes smoked three cigars a night and began to have serious breathing problems, he said.
A year ago, he started vaping, which delivers nicotine in an appealingly flavored aerosol without all the toxic chemicals that come from burning tobacco. His breathing problems went away.
“Every day, I get the urge to go buy a cigar or a pack of cigarettes, but I pull out the vape and inhale the strawberry pina colada, and I’m good to go,” said Wright, of Des Peres, Missouri.
To Play The Game, You Should Really Understand The Rules
Dick Puddlecote
They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but then some with very little knowledge have made a lucrative living on the back of their ignorance.
Take Simon Chapman, for example. Fresh from a triumphant tour of Europe including a London stopover – on expenses, natch – chatting to a dozen of his pals, the increasingly irrelevant fossilised tobacco control brick-brain has been pouring forth again. This time about the upcoming industry GTNF conference.
Visit Nicotine Science & Policy for more News from around the World
