Vapers Digest 10th March

Wednesday’s News at a glance:

Veteran Tobacco Control Leader Issues Plea for Ceasefire Between Advocates ~ Will Puff Bar Force FDA to Regulate Synthetic Nicotine? ~ IQOS Continued to Drive Down Japan Cigarette Sales in 2020; U.S. Cigarette Sales Steady ~ Good Morning Britain’s Dr Amir Khan debunks vaping myths in appeal to Yorkshire smokers ~ New film by Yorkshire cancer charity aims to counter myths over vaping in bid to cut tobacco risks ~ Vaping Demystified ~ 1account To Launch ID App for Vapers ~ Vaping Industry condemns US ‘Vape Mail’ ban ~ Second Voices 4 Vape Conference ~ WV Governor Bids to Make Smoking Much More Affordable Than Vaping ~ A Sweet Defeat for Paternalism ~ COVID Lockdowns Got People Smoking More

Veteran Tobacco Control Leader Issues Plea for Ceasefire Between Advocates

Consumer Advocates for Smoke-Free Alternatives Association, CASAA

If anyone is taking suggestions for the most underreported story of the past six months (and the months that follow), CASAA would like to nominate “The Growing Number of Seasoned Tobacco Control Professionals Questioning the Unrelenting Attack on Vaping and THR.”

The latest entry into the chorus of people challenging the near-puritanical approach to tobacco and nicotine policy comes from Clifford Douglas, J.D., formerly the American Cancer Society’s Vice President for Tobacco Control, and founder and director of the ACS’s Center for Tobacco Control.

Will Puff Bar Force FDA to Regulate Synthetic Nicotine?

Jim McDonald, Vaping 360

Puff Bar is back, and its new synthetic nicotine-based e-liquid could push Congress or the FDA to address the long-festering issue of vaping products made with nicotine not derived from tobacco.

The gray market Puff Bar device and its shadowy owners have succeeded in the retail market by ignoring FDA regulations and building a huge distribution network in traditional tobacco outlets like convenience stores and gas stations.

IQOS Continued to Drive Down Japan Cigarette Sales in 2020; U.S. Cigarette Sales Steady

Brad Rodu, Tobacco Truth

Japan is experiencing an unprecedented decline in cigarette consumption.  Japan Tobacco International reports (here) that cigarette sales dropped 8% in 2020, largely due to sales of reduced-risk products.  The dominant such product in Japan is Philip Morris International’s IQOS heat-not-burn HeatSticks.

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Good Morning Britain’s Dr Amir Khan debunks vaping myths in appeal to Yorkshire smokers

Kristian Johnson, Yorkshire Live

A celebrity doctor from Yorkshire is urging smokers to quit cigarettes in favour of vaping products.

Bradford GP Dr Amir Khan, who is a regular guest alongside Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid on Good Morning Britain, has teamed up with Yorkshire Cancer Research to debunk myths about vaping.

New film by Yorkshire cancer charity aims to counter myths over vaping in bid to cut tobacco risks

Yorkshire Post

Yorkshire has the highest smoking rate in the country and every year 4,500 new cases of smoking-related cancer are diagnosed. In 2018 over 3,000 people in the region died of lung cancer alone.

Yorkshire Cancer Research says it is not claiming vaping is 100 per cent safe – but want to push the message that it is far less harmful than smoking and can and should be used to help get people to quit tobacco.

Vaping Demystified

Yorkshire Cancer Research

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Must watch: Vaping Demystified video from @yorkshirecancer (UK). Takes a non-judgemental, pragmatic approach to the actual at-risk population, deals with nonsense propaganda claims and misunderstandings, tells the story that needs to be told.https://t.co/YgeemyPmBR

— Clive Bates (@Clive_Bates) March 10, 2021

Vaping made me miss the bucket when I tried to kick it.

— Roolean (@Roolean1) March 8, 2021

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THREE from Dave Cross, Planet Of The Vapes

1account To Launch ID App for Vapers

1account, a leading technology provider to online vendors of age restricted products and services, has created a new advisory board to support its ambitious plans in the vaping sector, which includes the roll out of a new B2C (business to customer) ID app to prevent under-age access to vape devices and e-liquids online and offline.

Vaping Industry condemns US ‘Vape Mail’ ban

The UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) is deeply concerned by news that UK businesses are being impacted by the United States’ so-called ‘Vape Mail’ ban, part of a congressional spending bill passed under former President Trump. By 5th April leading carriers such as UPS, FedEX, DHL and the US Postal Service itself will be off-limits for vaping shipments.

Second Voices 4 Vape Conference

A second Voices 4 Vape e-conference is going to take place discussing “the highly restrictive, disproportionate regulations and bans that continue to be imposed on safer products”. The event is free to attend online on 21 March. It will feature members from The Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association (CASAA) and Aotearoa Vapers Community Advocacy (AVCA).

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WV Governor Bids to Make Smoking Much More Affordable Than Vaping

Alex Norcia, Filter Magazine

In a recent series of town hall events in his state, West Virginia Governor Jim Justice made good on a promise from his 2021 State of the State Address: He announced that he would phase out personal income tax. This proposal, submitted days ago to the state legislature for review, introduces a 60 percent reduction for all tax filers. It’s a move that Justice—the wealthiest man in West Virginia—believes will raise wages, bolster home values and drive more business to his state.

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On this Day…2017

Surprisingly bold claims

Given the lack of real world applicability

Tom Pruen in reply to “Benzene formation in electronic cigarettes”

I am somewhat dismayed by the claims made, given the circumstances that are required to generate alarming results.
On the one hand, a sealed product contains high levels of benzoic acid, but does not generate any measurable levels of benzene. User fillable devices contain only much lower levels. Having identified a maximum level of 2mg/ml in the user fillable devices, rather than attempting to generate some data using this level, which might have some real world value, the authors use 9mg/ml.

Should we encourage smokers 

With severe mental illness to switch to electronic cigarettes?

Ratika Sharma, Coral E Gartner, David J Castle, Colin P Mendelsohn

Although smoking rates in Australia have declined significantly in recent years, the very high smoking prevalence in patients with severe mental illness (SMI) has remained unchanged (Cooper et al., 2012). In all, 70% of patients with schizophrenia and 61% of patients with bipolar disorder smoke, compared to 16% of those without mental illness (Cooper et al., 2012). People with SMI have substantially poorer physical health and a reduced life expectancy by 15–20 years compared to the general population.

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