Vapers Digest 12th March
Wednesday’s News at a glance:
UniCal At It Again ~ Experts Respond to UoC Study ~ WHO Parties While Smokers Die ~ The WHO Tobacco Treaty is Failing ~ Effect Comparison of E-Cigarette and Traditional Smoking and Association with Stroke-A Cross-Sectional Study of NHANES ~ CDC report shows likely public health benefit of tobacco harm reduction ~ At 20, WHO’s tobacco treaty is failing those who need it most ~ Finland’s flavour ban on nicotine pouches risks pushing smokers back to cigarettes ~ Foreign Funding Influences Questioned In Regional Tobacco Harm Reduction Policies ~ Chile’s New Vaping Law: A Breath of Fresh Air Argentina Should Consider ~ Vape Scaremongering: The Science-to-Media Pipeline ~ Denmark’s new limit on nicotine pouch strength to start in July ~ Poland to ban flavoured Heated Tobacco Products ~ Report: Massachusetts’ Restrictions Created Huge Illicit Market ~ Massachusetts Tried to Drive Down Nicotine Use; Smuggling Soared Instead ~ Harrogate cancer charity tackles vaping misconceptions ~ Ashley Moody presses Marty Makary on Chinese vapes during FDA confirmation hearing ~ Newton’s Nicotine Ban Is Idealistic, Not Realistic ~ Risk Profile | FDA Authorizes Zyn But Keeps Vapes in Limbo ~ SOUTH AFRICA’S MYSTERY VAPE TAX UPDATE
Four from Dave Cross, Planet of the Vapes
UniCal At It Again
Researchers at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science and Moores Cancer Centre at University of California San Diego have published the results of a study they conducted looking at daily or nondaily vaping and smoking cessation among smokers. They are claiming that they found smokers in the United States who also vaped did not increase smoking cessation rates. They associated vaping with smoking more.
Experts Respond to UoC Study
A cohort study published in JAMA Network Open looked at the association between vaping and smoking cessation rates. The authors claim that vaping doesn’t work to help smokers quit, as detailed in our other feature article today. Dr Jamie Hartmann-Boyce, Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Professor Peter Hajek, Director of the Health and Lifestyle Research Unit at Queen Mary University of London, have responded to the paper.
WHO Parties While Smokers Die
The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) has condemned the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) for celebrating institutional achievements whilst millions across the Asia Pacific region continue to die from preventable smoking-related diseases because of its refusal to embrace tobacco harm reduction policies.
The WHO Tobacco Treaty is Failing
Last week has marked the 20th anniversary of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) – a landmark treaty intended to reduce the global toll of smoking – but after two decades of costly FCTC influence and activities, the reality is grim: smoking still kills 8.5 million people annually, and more than 1.2 billion people continue to use tobacco, writes Dr Delon Human of Smoke Free Sweden in an op-ed article for Planet of the Vapes.
Effect Comparison of E-Cigarette and Traditional Smoking
and Association with Stroke-A Cross-Sectional Study of NHANES
Reese Richardson, PubPeer
This article was mentioned in an investigation by Science and Retraction Watch: Prescription for controversy: Firms offering a fast track to publication target foreign applicants to U.S. medical residency programs. I encourage readers to read the entire investigation for other background information about this study. I quote a part of the investigation concerned with this article’s methods:
The work was based on data from an annual survey on health and nutrition by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), but the reported number of survey respondents was inexplicably off by an order of magnitude—the survey is completed by about 5000 people a year, but the paper cited 266,058 respondents from 2015 to 2018. The authors also failed to report whether the difference in age of stroke onset between vapers and traditional smokers could simply be due to vapers being younger overall.
Jeff Willett, Global Action to End Smoking
Last week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published new survey findings that showed cigarette smoking rate in the U.S. dropped to an all-time low of 7.9%. Since 2017, the number of American adults who exclusively smoke cigarettes dropped dramatically from 26.6 million to 19.8 million, translating to roughly 6.8 million fewer adults who exclusively smoke cigarettes.
Delon Human, Times Live
This week has marked the 20th anniversary of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), a landmark treaty intended to reduce the global toll of smoking.
But after two decades of costly FCTC influence and activities, the reality is grim: smoking still kills 8.5-million people annually, and more than 1.2-billion people continue to use tobacco.
Finland’s plan to ban flavours in nicotine pouches risks driving smokers back to cigarettes, leading international health experts warn today.
With a smoking rate of 15% – almost three times higher than Sweden’s 5.3% – Finland should be looking to Sweden’s successful harm reduction strategies rather than implementing prohibitive measures, said Dr. Delon Human, leader of Smoke Free Sweden.
Foreign Funding Influences Questioned In Regional Tobacco Harm Reduction Policies
Nancy Loucas, Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA), Scoop
The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) today called for greater transparency in global tobacco control governance, citing evidence of external influence in domestic policymaking across Asia-Pacific. The organisation has documented patterns suggesting Bloomberg Philanthropies has exercised inappropriate influence over tobacco harm reduction policies in the Philippines, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Vietnam.
Federico N. Fernández, We Are Innovation
After years of regulatory uncertainty, Chile has finally enacted Law No. 21.642, establishing clear rules for Nicotine Delivery Electronic Systems (SEAN) and Non-Nicotine Electronic Systems (SESN). This landmark legislation represents a significant step forward for nicotine innovation in Latin America. It offers valuable lessons for neighboring countries — notably Argentina, which clings to prohibitionist policies at odds with global trends and scientific evidence.
Vape Scaremongering: The Science-to-Media Pipeline
Two From Ali Anderson, Clearing The Air
Denmark’s new limit on nicotine pouch strength to start in July
Denmark’s strict new limit on the maximum strength of nicotine pouches will take effect in July.
The executive order will make it illegal to sell nicotine pouches, a product placed between the lip and the gum, above the low strength of 9mg.
The Danish government has said the legislation will be “fully implemented” by April 2026.
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