Vapers Digest 10th March
Friday’s News at a glance:
Harry’s Blog 117: An Unholy Trinity- Who Smokes Menthols? 2020 Update from a Federal Survey – A Mom Debunks the Teen Vaping ‘Epidemic’ – Massachusetts’ Tobacco Ban – ETHRA: It’s Time To Act – CVA Warns Of Imminent Disaster – MEPs Opinions on Restrictions – Embrace the Vape on No Smoking Day – Australia’s policy on vaping – TGA prescription vape model has failed – Quitting smoking is tough – Tobacco Fairs, Free NRT and Few Vapes – Finding harm reduction products in Cambodia – What drives public perceptions of e-cigarettes? – Nicotine Science and Policy Daily Digest
Harry’s Blog 117: An Unholy Trinity
Harry Shapiro
On 15th March, Bloomberg Philanthropies (BP), the World Health Organization (WHO), and Vital Strategies (VP) will co-host the inaugural Partnership for Healthy Cities Summit with London Mayor Sadiq Khan. The Summit will bring together mayors and other city leaders from the Partnership global network to discuss strategies to combat the global burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and injuries.
Michael Bloomberg is the WHO Global Ambassador for Noncommunicable Diseases and Injuries. He says in the WHO press release announcing the summit, “Noncommunicable diseases and injuries are leading causes of death around the world, but they are preventable, and the Partnership for Healthy Cities is tackling them with the kind of urgency we need more of.”
Who Smokes Menthols?
2020 Update from a Federal Survey – Brad Rodu
Four years ago, I discussed the characteristics of Americans who are menthol smokers, based on data in the CDC’s 2015 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), the agency’s main instrument for monitoring U.S. smoking trends, including consumption of menthol products. Despite the FDA’s strong interest in banning menthol smokes, the CDC did not collect menthol information again until 2022. Since that data is not yet public, I am using the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) to update my analysis.
The FDA and its prohibition partners promote a menthol ban as a way to save Black smokers’ lives. An examination of all U.S. cigarette smokers and those who smoke menthols, as shown in the table at the left, shows the facts are far more nuanced.
Quitting smoking is tough but…
We should maximise products that help – Mark Jenkinson
Smoking is a habit still undertaken by a significant percentage of the population, and it is a habit that is not easily broken. However, with No Smoking Day 2023 approaching, I am proud to say that I successfully quit smoking some years ago – and I wonder if the myriad aids to quitting had been around then, whether I might have quit earlier, or indeed more easily?
I started smoking at a very young age and, like many others, I tried to stop a number of times. Despite the health risks, I enjoyed smoking and I believe that it was my right to do so. Unlike many former smokers, I am now ‘cold turkey’ as I no longer use any nicotine products.
Mom Debunks Teen Vaping ‘Epidemic’
Alli Boughner
Among the all-too-frequent consumer panics stoked by the American news media, few have matched the hand-waving, rafter-shouting, blue-in-the-face intensity of the supposed “youth vaping epidemic.”
“Teen Vaping Is A ‘Huge Deal’ That’s ‘Happening Right Under Parents’ Noses,’” CBS claimed in January. “Teen became addicted to vaping at just 14 years old,” screamed another recent headline from the New York Post. Not to be outdone, “1 in 6 high school students vape, smoke or use tobacco, study finds,” USA Today warned.
“Llevo nueve años lejos del tabaco gracias al vapeo, en mi opinión nos quieren cortar las alas por que hay mucho dinero en juego”, dice nuestro usuario José María. Firma la petición para que @sanidadgob tome nota ⬇️https://t.co/BDIjcfKvaX
— ANESVAP (@anesvap) March 9, 2023
— Phil (@phil_w888) March 10, 2023
Massachusetts’ Tobacco Ban …
Went as Badly as You’d Expect – Jacob Grier
In November 2019, Massachusetts became the first state in the U.S. to ban the sale of all flavored tobacco and nicotine products, including flavored electronic cigarettes and menthol cigarettes. Four additional states have since imposed flavor bans on some products and similar policies are under consideration in many other jurisdictions. Such bans are popular among legislators and anti-smoking groups, but the latest data from Massachusetts highlight the ban’s unintended consequences. The state’s experiment in prohibition has led to thriving illicit markets, challenges for law enforcement, and prosecution of sellers.
Four from Dave Cross, Planet of the Vapes:
ETHRA: It’s Time To Act
ETHRA (European Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates) is advising European vapers that the European Commission has launched the second part of its “Evaluation of the Legislative Framework for Tobacco Control”. The questionnaire aims to collect perceptions on the current framework for Tobacco Control, including the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) and Tobacco Advertising Directive (TAD). Vapers have until 16 May to contribute.
“This is one of the most important public consultations to date and it is essential that a large number of consumers and consumer associations take part,” says ETHRA.
CVA Warns Of Imminent Disaster
Member of National Assembly Enrico Ciccone recently implored Minister of Health Christian Dube to implement the 7 recommendations from a public health report on vaping. These recommendations include banning flavoured vape products, requiring a permit to sell vaping products, limiting the number of vaping stores near schools, and implementing a tax on vaping products. The Canadian Vaping Association warns that these ill-informed vaping recommendations would be a public health disaster.
The CVA says: “In either an effort to score cheap political points, or a complete misunderstanding of the role of harm reduction, MNA Ciccone called vaping products junk and a danger to the youth of Quebec. ‘Won’t someone think of the children’ is a rhetoric tactic as old as time.
MEPs Opinions on Restrictions
ECigIntelligence, an organisation specialising in market and regulatory analysis, legal tracking, and quantitative data for the global tobacco and nicotine alternatives sector, has published its third annual survey of MEP’s opinions on new nicotine products. The World Vapers’ Alliance “celebrated” the findings.
Members of the European Parliament are less aware of key issues surrounding new nicotine products than in previous years, despite being asked to vote on important new legislation concerning the topic in the coming months, according to a new survey.
Embrace the Vape on No Smoking Day
The United Kingdom must double down on embracing vaping as part of the annual No Smoking Day celebrations, says the World Vapers’ Alliance. The World Vapers’ Alliance, a global vaping consumer organisation, has urged the UK government to keep incorporating vaping as a smoking cessation tool and utilise ‘No Smoking Day’ as an opportunity to push back against pressure to treat vaping like smoking.
Michael Landl, Director of the World Vapers’ Alliance, said: “The UK is a smoking-cessation champion and harm reduction leader worldwide. Smoking rates have fallen by more than 29% in the last decade since vaping became widely popular, and the government must double down on embracing vaping.
Australia’s policy on vaping –
“It’s not about the science” – Colin Mendelsohn
THE VIEWS OF AUSTRALIA’S RESPECTED HEALTH AND MEDICAL ORGANISATIONS on vaping nicotine are out-of-step with leading organisations in other western countries.
Why does Cancer Council Australia oppose vaping, yet leading UK cancer charity Cancer Research UK strongly supports it? Why does the Australian Medical Association want harsh restrictions when the British Medical Association supports wider access? Why is the Commonwealth Department of Health hostile to vaping when the New Zealand Ministry of Health and UK National Health Service encourage its uptake?
Answer: it’s not about the science
National Health and Medical Research Council releases flawed advice on e-cigarettes – Colin Mendelsohn
TGA prescription vape model has failed
Theo Foukkare
Research commissioned by AACS shows that more than 1.2 million adult Australians vape, with 88 per cent of all nicotine purchases made illegally through the black market.
And with only 277 publicly available authorised GPs nationally, out of over 30,000, it’s not hard to see why.
Moving to a stricter, regulated model will enable tighter regulation, pre-market testing, strict packaging requirements, ingredients disclosure, banning of flavours that appeal to children, responsible retail licensing frameworks, ban on marketing and advertising, and a ban on social media.
What drives public perceptions of e-cigs?
A mixed-methods study exploring reasons behind adults’ perceptions of e-cigarettes in Northern England
Background: Despite growing evidence that e-cigarettes are likely less harmful than cigarettes, perceptions of equal or more harm have increased worldwide. This study aimed to identify the most common reasons behind adults’ perceptions of the (i) relative harm of e-cigarettes compared with cigarettes and (ii) effectiveness of e-cigarettes for smoking cessation.
Methods: Adults (N = 1646) from Northern England were recruited through online panels from December-March 2017/2018, using quota sampling to guarantee socio-demographic representativeness. Qualitative content analysis of open-ended responses was performed with codes representing reasons for a given perception about e-cigarettes. Percentages of participants who gave each reason for each perception were calculated.
Tobacco Fairs, Free NRT and Few Vapes:
A Conversation in Cuba – Kevin Garcia
Winning a prize for my laughable “dancing” skills at a bar in Havana was a major surprise. But it should have surprised me less that the gift bag I was awarded contained a box of cigarettes.
Tobacco is firmly entrenched in Cuban culture. The country is famous, of course, for its cigars, and its tobacco crop is one of its largest sources of income from foreign trade. Cuba’s smoking rate, as of 2015, was 37 percent. Although it’s gradually falling, it’s about three times higher than in the United States. Almost 20,000 Cubans die of smoking-related causes each year.
Harm reduction products in Cambodia
World Vapers’ Alliance
If you’re a vaper and planning to visit Cambodia in the near future, this guide will aim to provide all the information you need to know.
You probably have questions about the availability of vape devices, liquids, and flavours in Cambodia, but before you start dreaming about all the exotic flavours you could discover, let me break the bad news to you: vaping is unfortunately banned there.
Cambodia banned vaping back in 2014 along with shisha products. To top it off, just to prove how serious they were, they banned it again in 2021.
No Smoking Day: UK must double down on embracing vaping
On this Day…2022
A look back at how things have moved on or otherwise….
Alternative tobacco products
May help smokers kick the habit? – Henrylito D. Tacio, Edge Davao
A former official of the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that smokers who cannot stop smoking should be allowed to use alternative tobacco products (ATPs) in order for them to kick the addictive habit.
“Like many other interventions in daily life – seat belts in cars, motorcycle helmets, safe needle exchange in drug addiction, to name a few – (the ATPs can help) reduce health harms linked to smoking,” said Prof. Tikki Ella Pangestu, who used to be the director of WHO’s Department of Research Policy and Cooperation.
Australia Tightens the Screws Further on Vaping
Colin Mendelsohn, Filter Magazine
Australia is planning to strengthen its regulations to prevent smokers from switching to vaping nicotine. The draft National Tobacco Strategy 2022-2030 proposes “additional measures to further restrict the marketing, availability and use of all e-cigarette components.” Australia is already the only Western democracy to require a nicotine prescription to vape. Vaping is framed as a threat to public health, rather than an opportunity to improve it.
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