In the News November 22nd
Tuesdays News at a glance:
Smoke’s negative effects should guide marijuana and tobacco policy – Restricting or banning e-cigarettes will condemn millions of Indian smokers to death – If “doing the right thing” is not to become a competitive disadvantage, then regulations must be enforced – CDC-Funded Pasadena Health Department Campaign Calls Vapers “Stupid Sheep” – Industry lights up Next Generation Nicotine Delivery conference – E-cigarette proponents defend product at Quinte West council – BAT suggests regulations to bridge vaping products
Smoke’s negative effects should guide marijuana and tobacco policy
Policy Options
Canada is in the process of introducing increasingly stringent measures to discourage use of tobacco, while simultaneously moving forward with a plan that, regardless of its intentions, tacitly legitimizes the recreational use of marijuana through its legalization. These two very different approaches to smokable leaf products fail to give due attention to a crucial similarity between smoking tobacco and smoking marijuana: the smoke.
Making good on its campaign promise to legalize marijuana, on June 30 of this year the government launched a Task Force on Marijuana Legalization and Regulation, whose recommendations on a new regulatory framework for the sale and distribution of marijuana are to be guided by a public health approach. To this end, the accompanying government discussion paper talks about minimizing harms associated with legalization.
Restricting or banning e-cigarettes will condemn millions of Indian smokers to death
ET Health World
India is at par with all other regional countries with regards to their consumers demand for e-cigarettes to be safely regulated and available, but falls behind most of the countries in the region with regards to awareness of e-cigarettes and the benefits they can introduce to smokers.
Factasia represents the interests and rights of the consumers throughout the region. India has not had any surveys at all on the use of e-cigarettes, or the understanding of the smokers of e-cigarettes. In fact our survey has clearly shown that smokers in India have very little awareness of e-cigarettes which are understood by scientists, researchers and tobacco association activists around the world to be 95 to 99% less harmful than conventional cigarettes. So, as a consumer group its necessary for us to understand what consumers actually understand about the segment.
If “doing the right thing” is not to become a competitive disadvantage, then regulations must be enforced
IBVTA
From 22nd November, only vape products (e-cigarettes and e-liquids) that comply with all the requirements of the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 (TRPR) can be manufactured or imported to the UK.
Whilst IBVTA members have worked hard and spent a significant sum of money to meet this deadline, it must be noted that some companies have been entirely (and often wilfully) ignorant and unprepared for their responsibilities under new regulations.
If “doing the right thing” is not to become a disincentive, as well as a competitive disadvantage, it is vital that these new regulations are policed and enforced from day one (22nd November). With this in mind, IBVTA has written to all politicians calling on them do what they can to raise the issue of policing and doing what they can to ensure that non-compliant vape products are not being sold within their constituencies.
CDC-Funded Pasadena Health Department Campaign Calls Vapers “Stupid Sheep”
Michael Siegel, TobaccoAnalysis
Federal taxpayer money is being used in a campaign that calls vapers “stupid sheep,” according to an article in the Pasadena Independent. The article reports that a major print advertisement in the campaign contains a headline that reads: “Don’t follow the herd. Vaping effects are unknown, stupid sheep.”
An article in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune also reports that: “The advertisements compare e-cigarette users to ‘stupid sheep.'”
The campaign is being funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
A Billion Lives – Demand Film
Coming to a Cinema near You – Reserve your tickets Now!
Wed, Nov 16, 2016
Odeon Greenwich
Wed, Nov 23, 2016
Odeon Swansea – Odeon Southampton – Odeon Southend
Tues, Dec 6th
Odeon Panton St, London – Odeon Edinburgh
Weds, Dec 7th
Odeon Warrington
Mon, Dec 12th
Odeon Streatham, London
Tues, Dec 13th
Odeon Richmond
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZV3Lupn1xw4]
Industry lights up Next Generation Nicotine Delivery conference
Simon Clark, Taking Liberties
As I mentioned last week I was a panellist at the third Next Generation Nicotine Delivery conference in London.
A two-day event, the second day coincided with the fourth E-Cigarette Summit, also in London, which struck me as a terrible bit of planning.
I’m told the date of the Next Generation conference was confirmed first. Nevertheless organisers of both events should have tried harder to avoid a clash.
I’ve written about the E-Cigarette Summit before and I suspect the views I expressed last year are equally valid now. But I’ll come back to that later.
Unlike the E-Cig Summit the Next Generation conference was industry led and there was far greater emphasis on markets, regulations and the actual products.
E-cigarette proponents defend product at Quinte West council
Intelligencer CA
A Trenton business owner is hoping politicians make “an informed decision” based on science and fact before they vote on a potential bylaw to ban e-cigarettes in public places.
Rowan Warr-Hunter is owner of Stinky Canuck in Trenton and Napanee. He’s also on the board of directors for the Electronic Cigarette Trade Association of Canada.
Warr-Hunter was in council chambers Monday, a direct response to a delegation two weeks ago by a representative of the local branch of the Canadian Cancer Society.
Earlier this month Karen White asked council to ban the use e-cigarettes from city owned property. But Warr-Hunter argues the request is not based on scientific fact, saying the Cancer Society was “unprepared” to ask city council to impose a ban.
BAT suggests regulations to bridge vaping products
Diane Caruana, VapingPost
The author of this article is a spokesperson from British American Tobacco, (BAT), the second largest tobacco manufacturer in the US, who is greatly investing in electronic cigarettes and research about the products.
Dr James Murphy, Head of Reduced Risk Substantiation at BAT who gave a keynote speech at the at the Next Generation Nicotine Delivery conference held last week in London, said, “Despite their short history, products like electronic cigarettes have gone through many changes and can now be categorized in multiple generations.”
He added, “The many innovations and technological breakthroughs that allow for this rate of development are so rapid that it is impractical to create complete new data sets every time a product is tweaked. This would drastically impact the innovation process, the availability of new and improved products and their value as a public health tool.”
Smoking and want to quit? We need volunteers to take part in a study looking at the effects of e-cigarettes on blood vessels. Please RT! pic.twitter.com/xiOCVCvYTs
— BHF CoRE Glasgow (@BHFCoREGlasgow) November 22, 2016
Call to Action
Changing how YOUR Council sees vaping
Vapers in Power
There is only one council in the entire country with a decent attitude towards vaping.
Thanks to the work of Freedom to Vape we now know that the vast majority of councils lump vaping in with smoking, against the advice of both Public Health England and the Health and Safety Executive.
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