Vapers Digest 11th March

Monday’s News at a glance:

ECigIntelligence Disposable vape ban – GFN To Address Economic Issues – I never thought I’d be able to quit smoking – Eight things you need to know about Tobacco, Vaping & Next Generation products – “More farewells than Dame Nellie Melba” – Will Florida and Virginia Governors Sign or Veto Big Tobacco Protection Bills? – Mass. Supreme Court Upholds Brookline Vape/Tobacco Ban – BAT opens £30m research centre in UK – February 2024 Reto Auer – Why public health groups are joining retailers to oppose Iowa vaping bill

Two from Dave Cross, Planet of the Vapes:

ECigIntelligence Disposable vape ban

Disposable vape bans might not be all bad news for the vape market sector, according to experts at ECigIntelligence. With disposable vape bans in the UK and France grabbing media attention – and other countries are likely to follow – the industry experts believe the move may end up boosting sales in other sectors of the vape market and adding to overall credibility of the products.

Both the UK and France have recently said they will prohibit the sale of disposable single-use vape products in the near future, amid claimed concerns about youth usage and the products’ environmental impact. Meanwhile, several other governments have discussed taking similar steps – Scotland saying its ban will begin in April 2025.

GFN To Address Economic Issues

The Global Forum on Nicotine 2024 is set to tackle the economic impact of tobacco harm reduction. Key sessions planned for GFN24 include: ‘The health and economic benefits of tobacco harm reduction’, ‘The costs of prohibition’, ‘Legislation, regulation: health and economic consequences’, and ‘Tobacco harm reduction market influence – past, present and future’.

Taking place in Warsaw from Thursday 13 – Saturday 15 June, registration is now open for The Global Forum on Nicotine 2024 (GFN24), themed ‘Economics, health and tobacco harm reduction’. In addition to the public health opportunities offered by safer nicotine products for harm reduction, participants will consider the economic benefits offered by the approach, including associated healthcare savings – and the potential costs of prohibiting safer products while combustible tobacco remains universally available.

I never thought I’d be able to quit smoking

Heated tobacco helped me stop for good – Lucy Robinson

From banning smoking in enclosed public places to creating standardised packaging for tobacco products, over the years the UK government has accelerated its goal of a smoke-free future. So much so, England and Wales aim to become smoke-free by 2030.

As part of this drive, the government announced its plan to stop new generations smoking. Under its proposed ban, people born in England on or after 1 January 2009 will never legally be allowed to buy tobacco. Given the negative health effects of smoking, the crackdown is no surprise. Every year, about 76,000 people in the UK die because of smoking, with the habit causing 70% of lung cancer cases.

In my attempt to bring down the demon wot is #vaping I interviewed Sairah Salim-Sartoni (Chartered Psychologist) who seemed to know what she was talking about! But Doreen Smethers on Facebook still tells me they are dangerous, and she works at Boots! pic.twitter.com/DXOOJvymWp

— James Van Aalst (@VapourVanAalst) March 10, 2024

Eight things you need to know about …

Tobacco, Vaping & Next Generation products

The rise of the vaping market has revolutionised how smokers consume nicotine. Now, retailers are facing a ban on disposable products, which is set to shake up the market once again.

For the meantime, vaping continues to go from strength to strength, ranking as the fastest-growing category for the second year in a row (NielsenIQ).

Newer areas in alternative nicotine, such as pouches and heated tobacco, have now become must-have products for any retailer looking to cater for a broad range of nicotine consumers.

“More farewells than Dame Nellie Melba”

Colin Mendelsohn

I WANT TO LET EVERYONE KNOW that I am back at work. After trying to retire twice, I have found that vaping advocacy is more addictive than I thought.

Professor Ron Borland calls me the Dame Nellie Melba of Tobacco Harm Reduction for my failed retirement efforts. Dame Nellie (pictured above) was a famous Australian soprano who is remembered for her “seemingly endless series of ‘farewell’ appearances in the 1920s”.

Part of my motivation is selfish. I get enormous satisfaction from seeing smokers make the switch to vaping. Vaping has the potential to save the lives of millions of people. I can’t think of many things more worthwhile for public health than vaping advocacy.

Two from Jim McDonald, Vaping 360:

Will Florida and Virginia Governors

Sign or Veto Big Tobacco Protection Bills?

Legislators in Florida and Virginia have passed PMTA registry (or directory) bills in both state houses, and the bills now await approval or veto from their state governors. If the bills are signed into law, thousands of popular vape products could be removed from store shelves in those states.

The Virginia bill, like similar bills pending in more than 20 other states, would require vape manufacturers and sellers to certify under penalty of perjury that their products have been authorized for sale by the FDA, or are currently undergoing premarket review by the agency.

Mass. Supreme Court Upholds…

Brookline Generational Vape/Tobacco Ban

The Massachusetts Supreme Court has upheld a so-called “tobacco-free generation” law passed in 2020 by the city of Brookline, Mass. The law bans the sale of vaping and tobacco products in Brookline to anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 2000.

Unlike any other kind of tobacco or vape ban, a generational ban like Brookline’s allows some adults to legally buy tobacco or vapes while others are prohibited from doing so. A current 24-year-old born on Dec. 31, 1999, can legally buy a vaping product in the Boston suburb, but a 24-year-old born a day later, on Jan. 1, 2000, is prohibited from buying that same product—and always will be.

February 2024 Reto Auer

Jamie Hartmann-Boyce and Nicola Lindson discuss emerging evidence in e-cigarette research interview Reto Auer, Bern University, Switzerland.

Associate Professor Jamie Hartmann-Boyce and Dr Nicola Lindson discuss the new evidence in e-cigarette research and interview Professor Reto Auer, primary care physician and clinical researcher from the Institute of Primary Health Care (BIHAM), University of Bern. Reto Auer is Head of the Substance Use Unit, where he leads a variety of research projects, including a large randomized controlled trial designed to test the efficacy, safety and toxicology of nicotine e-cigarettes.

BAT opens £30m research centre in UK

As part of drive for ‘smokeless future’

British American Tobacco (BAT) has opened a £30m ‘innovation centre’ in the UK as it looks to ramp up development and production of its vaping and smokeless products.

BAT’s new facility, based in its global research and development headquarters Southampton, will support its ambitions to become a predominately smokeless business, with 50 per cent of revenue generated from non-combustibles by 2035.

Researchers at the Southampton site, which currently has over 1,000 employees, are working on developing ‘new categories’ of products.

Why public health groups are joining …

Retailers to oppose Iowa vaping bill

A bill supported by the tobacco industry that would ban retailers from selling vape products not listed on a state-approved registry has united two disparate groups in opposition: vape shops and public health advocates.

The companion legislation, House Study Bill 682 and Senate File 2402, would require retailers, distributors and wholesalers who sell vapor products in the state to put them on a new registry. Retailers could sell only products listed on the registry — which would be limited to those the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved for sale. The registration fee is $100 per product.

On this Day…2023

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

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.