Vapers Digest 11th September

Friday’s News at a glance:
Parliament Matters ~ Tobacco Drop Should Prompt Action ~ Transparency Is Not a Scandal: Why Is Vape-Free Kids Targeting ASH New Zealand? ~ Ireland leader ‘wrong on the science’ as he backs vape ban ~ The government has proposed new laws for tackling illegal tobacco, but they likely won’t do much ~ Bret Koplow named director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products ~ Patent Lawsuit Targets JUUL2 Days After FDA Authorization ~ Cancer review puts tobacco smoke at the heart of smoking’s cancer risk ~ EU health chief faces call for ethics probe over wife’s role advising MEPs ~ Feds ‘open’ to loosening rules banning nicotine pouch sales at convenience stores ~ ZYN USA ~ Product | R.J. Reynolds Launches Four Flavored Vuse Pro Pods for Vuse Alto Devices in U.S. ~ Yes, It Is a War | Health Economist Rebukes FDA’s Campaign Against Vaping | RegWatch
Two From Dave Cross, Planet Of The Vapes
Parliament Matters
Yes, it is true, Lords are donning ermine and MPs are putting on their drabbest suits because PARLIAMENT IS BACK, BABY! Contain your excitement though as our first trip back to London sees James Cleverly MP fire a series of questions at the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government. But wait, David Simmonds piles on too! Thrilling, surprising and enlightening are just some of the words you might not want to use to describe it.
Tobacco Drop Should Prompt Action
New Zealand’s continuing decline in tobacco sales should prompt Asia-Pacific governments to reconsider restrictions on safer nicotine alternatives, says the Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA). It contends that the results provide a timely regional case study ahead of the Asia Forum on Nicotine 2026, or AFN26, being held in Manila and online on 16 and 17 October.
Transparency Is Not a Scandal: Why Is Vape-Free Kids Targeting ASH New Zealand?
Alan Gor
Something strange has happened in New Zealand’s tobacco debate.
Vape-Free Kids New Zealand, a group established to protect young people from vaping, submitted an extraordinarily broad Official Information Act request seeking communications between Associate Health Minister Casey Costello and three respected public health advocates: Professor Robert Beaglehole, Professor Ruth Bonita and ASH New Zealand director Ben Youdan.
Ireland leader ‘wrong on the science’ as he backs vape ban
Smoke Free Sweden
Ireland’s Taoiseach has been accused of dangerously misleading smokers after claiming vapes are “nearly worse than cigarettes” and signalling support for an outright ban.
Micheál Martin’s comments contradict the latest evidence from Cochrane, widely regarded as the gold standard for independent medical evidence.
The government has proposed new laws for tackling illegal tobacco, but they likely won’t do much
Asanka Ratnayake, The Conversation
The federal government has introduced a new bill to parliament intended to make it easier to prosecute people involved in the illicit tobacco trade.
If passed, the changes to the Customs Act mean prosecutors will no longer need to prove an accused person knew the tobacco they were handling had been smuggled.
Bret Koplow named director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products
Diane Adam, CSP
The Food and Drug Administration on Friday issued marketing granted orders to Swedish Match USA Inc. for 11 Zyn Ultra moist nicotine pouch products.
Stamford, Connecticut-based Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI), which owns Swedish Match, said these orders build on the FDA’s earlier authorizations of Zyn. In June the agency issued modified risk granted orders to Swedish Match USA Inc. for 20 Zyn nicotine pouch products.
Patent Lawsuit Targets JUUL2 Days After FDA Authorization
Alex Kendell, Vaping 360
JUUL Labs is facing a new patent infringement lawsuit over JUUL and JUUL2, less than a week after federal regulators cleared the second-generation device for U.S. marketing.
AJ Marketing LLC filed the case on Sept. 3 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware. The federal docket lists the dispute as a patent case under 35 U.S.C. § 271 and identifies U.S. Patent No. 8,851,068 as the patent at issue. AJ Marketing demanded a jury trial.
Two From Clearing The Air
Cancer review puts tobacco smoke at the heart of smoking’s cancer risk
Ali Anderson
The review identifies tobacco smoke’s toxic chemicals as central to smoking-related cancer.
It states that nicotine itself is not carcinogenic.
Nicotine remains addictive and can affect cancer-related biological processes.
The authors call for smoking cessation treatment within cancer care.
EU health chief faces call for ethics probe over wife’s role advising MEPs
Tim Hong
EU health commissioner Olivér Várhelyi is facing a call for an ethics investigation after a policy commentator raised questions about his wife’s work for Hungarian MEPs and how it was disclosed.
Writing on The Risk-Monger on 8 September, David Zaruk alleged that the arrangement creates a conflict of interest and urged European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen to refer it to the Independent Ethical Committee.
Christopher Nardi, National Post
The federal government is considering loosening some of its rules around the sale of nicotine pouches that could see the increasingly popular product sold in Canadian convenience stores, National Post has learned.
One senior federal government source told National Post that the “openness” to change existing regulations comes amid pressures from certain provinces as well as the convenience store industry.
ZYN USA
Tobacco Insider
Philip Morris International’s U.S. division is increasing the pouch count in its core ZYN lineup, transitioning its flagship 3 mg and 6 mg dry pouch cans from 15 to 20 pouches per unit. Scheduled for rollout in the fourth quarter, the package change reflects consumer research indicating a strong preference for the larger format among legal-age nicotine users.
Product | R.J. Reynolds Launches Four Flavored Vuse Pro Pods for Vuse Alto Devices in U.S.
2Firsts
According to information provided to 2Firsts by R.J. Reynolds Vapor Company on September 10, 2026, the company has introduced four flavored Vuse Pro pods in Ohio and selected other U.S. markets. The rollout covers pods only, not a new Vuse Pro device, and retailers must scan customer identification for every purchase.
Yes, It Is a War | Health Economist Rebukes FDA’s Campaign Against Vaping | RegWatch
Brent Stafford, Regulator Watch
For nearly a decade, the U.S. vaping community has called the FDA’s campaign against nicotine vapes a war on vaping.
Beginning with the deeming rule, the agency’s aggressive action against Juul, the so-called teen-vaping epidemic, the “Real Cost” campaign, the denial of millions of PMTA applications, and FDA’s steadfast refusal to counter misinformation and set the record straight on the relative risks and benefits of vaping versus smoking—it certainly feels like a war. But is it?
In this episode of RegWatch, Dr. Raymond March, Director of FDAReview.org and Research Fellow at the Independent Institute, says: “Oh, absolutely. It might be the biggest war the FDA has waged.”
On this day…2020!
A look back at how things have moved on or otherwise…
Notts mental health patients
Are being encouraged to quit smoking – by being handed E-cigarettes
Laura Hammond, Nottingham Post
Smokers admitted to mental health hospitals are being handed E-cigarettes in a bid to help them quit the habit.
Vape Crimewatch
Mawsley, Planet of the Vapes
Whether it’s smuggling, theft or illegally pushing vapes to underage buyers, as the electronic cigarette market has grown so has the amount of crime it’s attracted. Then, once criminals are placed into prison, they face further inconvenience if they used to be a smoker or vaper.
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