Vapers Digest 11th August

Monday’s News at a glance:

Tied Up in Notts – Report Shows Lives Can Be Saved – Regulatory Void Fuels Zombie Vape Problem – Looking Forward to COP 11 with Martin Cullip – Ziauddin Islam’s Post – Patents Wars – Exclusive: USPS blocks shipping of illicit vapes in boost for Big Tobacco – Sharing Expertise -Wherever you go, there you are – Yet Another Anti-Vaping Echo Chamber: Why This “Community of Practice” Misses the Point – Opinion: Pharmacist advocates for easier access to Health Canada-approved nicotine pouch – Spain resorts to ‘ideological’ defence of pouch ban proposal – AIIMS-Delhi researchers call for relook at ban on e-cigarettes – TOP HARM REDUCTION FIGURES REFLECT ON THE #GFN25 CONFERENCE

Three From Dave Cross, Planet of the Vapes

Tied Up in Notts

A joint operation between Nottingham City Council’s Trading Standards team and Nottinghamshire Police has resulted in the closure of a shop on Mansfield Road, Nottingham, following the discovery of illegal goods being sold from the premises. The raid unearthed illicit disposable vapes along with nitrous oxide cannisters.

Report Shows Lives Can Be Saved

A new report released by the international health experts at tobaccoharmreduction.net highlights a stark disparity in smoking rates between Sri Lanka and countries with progressive nicotine policies. Male smoking prevalence in Sri Lanka stands at 17.7% – more than three times the rate in Sweden, where safer nicotine alternatives are accessible, acceptable and affordable for adult smokers looking to quit.

Regulatory Void Fuels Zombie Vape Problem

A regulatory void fuels illicit markets and poses risks to public health, warns the Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA). The words of warning demanding proportionate regulation came in response to recent concerns about dangerous “zombie vapes” and the desire to protect consumers across Asia Pacific region.

Looking Forward to COP 11 with Martin Cullip

Joseph Hart, The Daily Pouch

Martin Cullip is an International Fellow at the Taxpayers Protection Alliance’s Consumer Centre, and a fearless advocate for tobacco harm reduction, smokeless nicotine alternatives, and, most of all, common sense. As an accomplished public speaker and writer, he’s been trashing the nanny state for almost two decades, bringing passion, wry humour, and serious knowledge to bear in the fight against nonsense.

With the Eleventh Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP11) to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) around the corner, we caught up with Martin to discuss his presence at the public, inclusive counter-event Good COP that will also be held in Geneva at the same time.

Ziauddin Islam’s Post

Ziauddin Islam, LinkedIn

The rise of illegal nicotine pouch sales in #Australia is a wake-up call for smarter regulation, not stricter bans. As reported by 2FIRSTS, unapproved nicotine pouches are flooding the market, often imported without TGA oversight. This isn’t just a compliance issue—it’s a missed opportunity to support tobacco harm reduction.

Nicotine pouches offer a safer alternative to smoking, delivering nicotine without the harmful combustion of traditional cigarettes.Evidence suggests they can help smokers transition away from deadly tobacco products, reducing health risks and saving lives. But Australia’s current approach—treating pouches as prescription-only medicines—pushes users toward black markets, where unregulated products pose real safety concerns.

Patents Wars

Tobacco Insider

Patent Wars, archetypal to the technology and software sphere, is a legal fight between corporations or individuals to secure patents for litigation, whether offensively or defensively. Technology-driven transformation to the Reduced-Risk Products has ignited the Patent Wars in the Tobacco Industry, especially since 2018 – with no clear winner so far.“Only lawyers win in patent wars: companies would be better off allocating their time and money on R&D instead of fighting patent wars”. Is this the ugly truth? We don’t know. But, here is a chronology of most recent events.

Exclusive: USPS blocks shipping of illicit vapes in boost for Big Tobacco

Emma Rumney, Reuters

The U.S. Postal Service has cracked down on distributors of unregulated vapes using its services for business shipments, letters reviewed by Reuters show, in a blow to a multi-billion dollar industry that has dented Big Tobacco’s sales.

The letters, previously unreported, show that USPS wrote to major New York-based distributor Demand Vape, blocking it from using its services after New York City’s Law Department, which represents the city’s government and officials in legal matters, provided evidence that its shipments broke laws.

Sharing Expertise

Skip Murray, Skip’s Corner – Let’s Talk!

We often hear of the importance of “expertise.” Sometimes we forget that there are many ways to be an expert. The people listed below share their expertise about nicotine via their blogs. I did not tuck them into boxes of types of experts, because all kinds are essential. Instead, I’ll list them in reverse alphabetical order. This list is not about “pro” or “con,” it is about the many voices who are sharing their knowledge, perspectives, and input into the conversation about the use of nicotine.

These are blogs belonging to individuals, not institutions, organizations, commercial entities, regulators, or political parties (except for a few featuring guest authors). Some of the authors write primarily about nicotine, and some write occasionally on the topic.

Wherever you go, there you are

ny2nz, Substack

As a woman of a certain age (aHEM), the older I get the more I “get” it. By that I mean I see things as they are, not as I wish them to be; the ability to do math in my head. All things that were foreign to me before the half century mark.

If I had the math ability in school that I have now I would have done so much better and maybe been an astronaut (or not), or a doctor (or not). There really is no point in questioning or regretting though because ultimately when “the student is ready the teacher appears”. It is either a sign of maturity or insanity, I’m not questioning it as it works for me. One of the more interesting insights of this “maturity” (aHEM) is a fine tuned bullshit detector combined with discretion. (Who has time to fight every battle, so you lose some, to ultimately win the war).

Yet Another Anti-Vaping Echo Chamber: Why This “Community of Practice” Misses the Point

Alan Gor, Australia Let’s Improve Vaping Education (A.L.I.V.E.)

Yet another study by Michelle Jongenelis et al has been rolled out under the banner of “protecting young people.” Yet again, it’s less about science and more about preaching to the converted. The paper, titled “E-cigarette use in adolescents: prevention and cessation strategies from an Australian community of practice”, sounds impressive, but strip away the jargon, and it boils down to this: a closed group of like-minded professionals telling each other exactly what they already believe.

This so-called “community of practice” isn’t a diverse cross-section of experts engaging in open debate. It’s a hand-picked circle of anti-vaping advocates, many with a long history of opposing nicotine in any form. The study reads less like an impartial assessment and more like an internal memo, recycling the same ideological talking points that have dominated Australia’s public health messaging for years.

Opinion: Pharmacist advocates for easier access to Health Canada-approved nicotine pouch

Todd Prochnau, Calgary Herald

As a pharmacist, I take my individual patients’ health seriously. I’ve dedicated my career to helping people make safer, healthier choices. Lately, I’ve felt the need to speak up, not just as a health-care professional, but as someone who works directly with smokers trying — often desperately — to quit.

Last week, Manitoba pharmacists were quoted in a media article saying no pharmacist is feeling frustrated that people must access the only Health Canada-approved NRT nicotine pouch (ZONNIC) from pharmacists.

Spain resorts to ‘ideological’ defence of pouch ban proposal

SnusForumNet

Spain has responded to Sweden’s detailed opinion opposing proposed restrictions on nicotine pouches in a reply marked by exaggerated claims and devoid of scientific rigour.

“This is ideological posturing, not serious public health policy,” says Patrik Strömer, Secretary General of the Association of Swedish Snus Manufacturers.

In a lengthy 11-page reply sent to the European Commission, Spain defends a proposed ban on flavoured nicotine pouches and a maximum nicotine limit of 0.99 milligrams per pouch — a limit that would effectively remove nearly all products currently on the market.

AIIMS-Delhi researchers call for relook at ban on e-cigarettes

DT Next

AIIMS-Delhi researchers have called for a relook at the ban on electronic nicotine delivery systems in India, contending that e-cigarettes with nicotine, when compared with no treatment or usual care, have been evidenced to be of benefit, albeit with a risk of bias.

Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS), commonly known as e-cigarettes, are powered by batteries to simulate features of conventional tobacco smoking. In 2019, India banned the sale, storage and manufacture of such devices by bringing in the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Act (PECA).

Examining the effects of this ban in light of current evidence, oncologists Dr Abhishek Shankar and Dr Vaibhav Sahni from AIIMS-Delhi, in a commentary published in the JCO Global Oncology this month, said a complete ban on such products “can (and has) routed demand towards illicit marketing”.

TOP HARM REDUCTION FIGURES REFLECT ON THE #GFN25 CONFERENCE

Global Forum on Nicotine

The #GFN25 conference brought together some of the leading THR advocates from across the world, and in this episode of GFN Voices several of these prominent figures share their key gains and findings from this year’s conference!

On this day…2023

A look back at how things have moved on or otherwise…

Who cares about tobacco control?

Harry’s Blog 119 – Harry Shapiro

Negotiating international framework conventions demanding multi-national agreements is always going to be a challenge. And the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) was no exception. Delegates went into bat armed with all their vested interests, anxious not to displease their political bosses back home. In fact, the most active participants in the smoke-free rooms were the American anti-smoking NGOs, who saw a golden opportunity to influence the global anti-smoking legislative landscape in the face of health-based delegates with no experience of drafting international agreements. Incidentally, neither did the WHO, as this was the world’s first health-focused framework convention.

Stand Up For Vaping At COP10!

Guest Post From Mark Oates – ecigclick

When the life-saving benefits of vaping were finally accepted and backed by the UK government, England was at last given a fighting chance of reaching its 2030 smoke-free target.

One-in-five of all smokers in the country are now being offered vape starter kits as part of the “Swap to Stop” initiative to slash cigarette consumption from the current 13.3% to less than 5%, in an apparently unique initiative.

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