Vapers Digest 10th May
Wednesday’s News at a glance:
Why I’m Still Fiercely Optimistic About Tobacco Harm Reduction ~ April – victory month for harm reduction ~ Tobacco Harm Reduction Will Save Millions Of Lives In Africa ~ Smokers Helpine contradicts Health Canada ~ Think Twice – UK Reaction to Quebec Flavour Ban ~ EU’s revised tobacco rules ‘should make allowances for safer alternatives’ – MEP ~ Vaping and young people: ASH position statement ~ Why an anti-smoking group doesn’t support a ban on vaping ~ Vaping and smoking – winners and loses from the Budget ~ Canberrans could be fined up to $32,000 for possession of e-cigarettes under Government vaping crackdown ~ Vape retailers fear ban on e-cigarettes will send their businesses up in smoke ~ ‘Banning vaping will just lead to more smokers’ ~ Prisoners spending more than £7,000,000 a year on vapes and e-cigs with refills now jail ‘currency’ ~ Why NZ should not copy Australian vape clampdown ~ Another National Survey Finds Youth Vaping Down, Tobacco Use At Record Lows ~ VAEP Key Concepts video 16: Nine Worst Smoking Toxins
Why I’m Still Fiercely Optimistic About Tobacco Harm Reduction
Gerry Stimson, Filter Magazine
Harm reduction is often misconceived as policies and practices introduced by governments and delivered by experts.
In fact, it is always driven by ordinary people who use drugs choosing to put harm reduction into practice. Yes, governments and experts can make it easier for them—or stand in their way. But ultimately, it’s individuals who take action to reduce harms they or people in their lives are facing.
April – victory month for harm reduction
COPWatch
For those valuing a non-dogmatic stance on health issues, one which is rooted in considering the real-life effects of science, and open to contributions from the people most affected – April presented a major success for harm reduction advocates.
For the first time in UN history the notion of harm reduction appeared in the politically negotiated UN resolution on drug policy. Until then harm reduction had only been mentioned in the context of HIV/AIDS.
Tobacco Harm Reduction Will Save Millions Of Lives In Africa
The Business Watch
Earlier this month, a panel of Experts gathered in Johannesburg to discuss how tobacco harm reduction in Africa. International public health experts have urged South African lawmakers to follow the pioneering example of ‘Smoke-Free Sweden’ to save the lives of millions of smokers.
The experts convened a seminar in Johannesburg to report how Sweden is on course to drop below a 5 percent tobacco smoking prevalence rate in the next few months. This is the level at which a country is considered officially smoke-free.
Smokers Helpine contradicts Health Canada
Dr. John’s Blog, oyston.com
Smokers’ Helpline is a free, confidential service operated by the Canadian Cancer Society, offering support and information about quitting smoking, vaping and tobacco use. In over 20 years of operation, it has handled 400,000 calls, and 120,000 people have registered with the program. It is the main helpline for Canadians who smoke and operates in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan PEI and Yukon.
On its website, it says that it is ” evidence-based” and offers “personalized tools to help you quit successfully your way.”
Think Twice – UK Reaction to Quebec Flavour Ban
Louise Ross, Brent Stafford, RegWatch
The Quebec provincial government’s plan to ban flavours in nicotine vaping products appears out of step with the science on vaping and runs in stark contrast with the UK government’s astonishing new plan to provide 1 million smokers a free vaping starter kit to help smokers in England to quit for good.
Joining us today with reaction from the UK on Quebec’s proposed flavour ban is Louise Ross, a clinical consultant at UK’s National Centre for Smoking Cessation and Training, the business development manager for the Smoke Free app, and chair for the New Nicotine Alliance, a registered charity dedicated to promoting issues around tobacco harm reduction.
Vaping: Rethinking Nicotine with Clive Bates https://t.co/jlqN76ben1
— CASAA (@CASAAmedia) May 6, 2023
Tiziana Cauli, Tobacco Intelligence
As the European Parliament prepares for a heated discussion on the revision of EU tobacco regulations, members from all parties and member states are expected to express differing views on the need for stricter rules on novel products.
While most Parliament members (MEPs) are likely to take a conservative approach, some are more open to acknowledging a positive role for alternatives to smoking for harm reduction and the adoption of less limiting regulations on them.
Vaping and young people: ASH position statement
ASH New Zealand
Action for Smokefree 2025 (ASH) shares concerns about increasing youth vaping in Aotearoa. We do not want young people, most of whom have never smoked, to vape. The challenge is to balance preventing young people from vaping while supporting and encouraging adult smokers to switch to vaping as a way to quit smoking.
Smoking remains responsible for almost 5,000 deaths each year in Aotearoa. Vaping is a substantially less harmful option for the 330,000 adult smokers in New Zealand who are at
an increased risk of dying from tobacco use; many want to quit smoking cigarettes.
Why an anti-smoking group doesn’t support a ban on vaping
Ben Youdan, Stuff
Vaping is far less harmful than smoking and is helping millions worldwide to quit the deadly habit.
In Aotearoa between 2018 and 2021, smoking rates fell by an unprecedented 30%, and an almost unbelievable 40% for wāhine Māori.
The reason for such a large shift was a huge switch to vaping, as addicted smokers ditched cigarettes for good.
Vaping and smoking – winners and loses from the Budget
Colin Mendelsohn, colinmendelsohn.com.au
Vapers
The government has made it’s anti-vaping agenda clear. They prefer you smoke instead of vape and plan to “reduce the likelihood of people substituting smoking for vaping”! A public health campaign will “drive and support e-cigarette quit attempts” and “denormalise vaping”.
Canberrans could be fined up to $32,000 for possession
of e-cigarettes under Government vaping crackdown
Lizzie Waymouth, Riotact
In what has been hailed as the most significant smoking reform in decades, the Federal Government announced a ban on single-use, disposable vapes on Tuesday (2 May). It plans to work with state and territory authorities to end the sale of e-cigarettes in retail settings and stamp out the black market in illegal vaping.
‘Banning vaping will just lead to more smokers’
Jane Moore, The Journal
IRELAND SHOULD NOT completely ban the sale of electronic cigarettes or vapes, but there could be more regulation when it comes to who can purchase them, experts have told The Journal.
It comes after Australia announced it will ban recreational vaping, with e-cigarettes no longer being sold in general and convenience stores.
Prisoners spending more than £7,000,000 a year
on vapes and e-cigs with refills now jail ‘currency’
Josh Layton, Metro
Campaigners have sounded warnings over prison conditions after figures showed inmates are spending more than £7 million a year on vapes and e-cigarettes.
The amount spent in canteens has risen every year since 2019 after a smoking ban was phased in by the government across closed jails in England and Wales.
Why NZ should not copy Australian vape clampdown
Dr George Laking, Newsroom
Opinion: I don’t vape or smoke, and I don’t have teenage children, but I have a family member who was a youth smoker and now vapes, and who I would ideally prefer to quit. But I am still happier they are vaping rather than smoking. I have tried both, and it was my good fortune to be addicted to neither. As a cancer specialist, I feel much more worried about the consequences of my youthful forays into smoking than vaping.
Another National Survey Finds Youth Vaping Down, Tobacco Use At Record Lows
Lindsey Stroud, Independent Women’s Forum
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published the long-awaited 2021 results of the National Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). This biennial survey, which is the “largest public health surveillance system in the United States,” monitors various behaviors and attitudes among U.S. high school students, from dietary and physical activity to substance use and mental health.
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