Vapers Digest 13th January
Friday’s News at a glance:
My application for Editor-in-Chief of Tobacco Control – Teen vaping has eliminated teen smoking – FDA ignores independent review of vaping – The CDC’s Peddling of Misinformation – NNA Reviews A Successful Year – Disposables Set For Controls – Free Vapes For Pregnant Women – Parliament and Politics – In Silico review – Call for Nicotine “Common Language” Falls Flat – Taiwan Bans Vape Sales – A new vision for vaping policy in the UK – ‘Misguided’ French fears – E-Cig Opponents Are Science Deniers – Australian vapers call on Federal Government – Researcher Stories: E-cigarettes – Why Adopting Harm Reduction Policies for Africa is Crucial – Nicotine Science and Policy Daily Digest
My application for Editor-in-Chief …
Of Tobacco Control – Clive Bates
I saw the advert for the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Tobacco Control. I must apply!
What follows is my application for the position in pre-print form. Following helpful comments and critical reviews, I will finalise and submit by the deadline of 31 January 2023.
Okay, cards on the table: I am not a researcher at all, let alone a respected researcher. Nor do I have experience in journal editing, demonstrable or otherwise. In general, I don’t hold academic publishing in particularly high esteem, and I despair at the quality of much of the published tobacco control research. I think these shortcomings are better seen as strengths, not limitations.
I do, however, have the requisite strong vision that would advance the journal’s reputation, profile and mission to publish engaging and informed content. My application to be Editor-in-Chief is based on the vision set out below.
Teen vaping has eliminated teen smoking:
An accidental success story – Dr John’s Blog
Who would have predicted, in 2012, when about 13% of US High School students smoked, that by 2021 that figure would be down to under 2%?
Who would have predicted, in 2019, when over 27% of High School students were vaping, that by 2021 the percentage would be down to under 12%?
A youth smoking rate of under 2% signals the beginning of the end for the commercial tobacco industry and a huge bonus for public health. The young people who do not smoke in High School are not going to start smoking cigarettes in their 20s or 30s. If only 2% of 18 year-olds smoke now, in 20 years’ time less than 2% of 38 year-olds will smoke. Somehow, we have created the fabled “smoke-free generation! The next generation, the children of non-smokers, will be even less likely to smoke.
The CDC’s Peddling of Misinformation
About Vaping is a Threat to Public Health – Martin Cullip
For several years, respected voices in the public health community have warned of a breakdown in trust in their profession if the dishonest, damaging, and often vicious campaign against safer alternatives to smoking by some of their colleagues continues to misinform the public.
It is no surprise, therefore, that an editorial was recently published in the journal Addiction (authored by a group of public health experts from five major U.S. universities, as well as the Iowa Attorney General) criticizing the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and U.S. Surgeon General (SG) for tolerating misinformation about vaping.
Smoke without fire:
A new vision for vaping policy in the UK
In 2019, the Government set out a laudable goal. By 2030, their stated ambition is for England to be entirely smoke-free.
Smoking remains the leading preventable cause of illness and premature death in the UK, and is a primary driver of health inequality in England. However, in 2023, we are on a course to miss this target, with the recent Khan review on smoke free policies predicting that, on our current trajectory, around 7% of the UK – over 4.8 million people – will still smoke in 2030. The Government’s target is 5%.
📢Announcing #GFN23, the only conference devoted to tobacco harm reduction📢
Bigger and better – but doesn’t cost big bucks💰
Register now at https://t.co/T0cHpPDet8
Exciting things are in the pipeline, read all about it here! https://t.co/Aq1MHGJBrO
— Global Forum on Nicotine (@GFNicotine) January 12, 2023
My biggest thanks especially to those who mocked, harassed, and slandered me. It was your envy, your vile words, and your negative actions that drove me to success and will continue to do so in the years to come. #tsfa #leadbyexample #notPMI pic.twitter.com/ChVDemlWpJ
— Dimitris 🇬🇷 🇺🇸 (@VapinGreek) January 11, 2023
‘Misguided’ French fears
Following le snus TikTok trend – Snusforumet
TikTok videos featuring young people using snus and nicotine pouches have sparked “misinformed scaremongering” in France based on false claims about the health risks of smokeless nicotine products. Fears based on misleading media coverage of the snus TikTok clips may end up costing lives, one expert warns.
Several French-language videos have appeared on TikTok in recent weeks showing young people placing small pouches between their gums and upper lip.
FDA ignores independent review of vaping
Lindsey Stroud | Taxpayers Protection Alliance
The Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) underwent an independent review in late 2022 by the Reagan Udall Foundation (RU). This review happened as the center continues to flounder in regulating novel tobacco products such as e-cigarettes. RU was tasked by FDA Commissioner Robert Califf to examine the ways in which the center could improve its regulatory practices. The review was published on December 19, which was the same day that FDA employees met with long-standing e-cigarette opponents to discuss the review.
It is now becoming overwhelmingly apparent that the agency tasked with regulating the products that could help the 34 million American adults quit smoking is not going to follow the science, or the RU recommendations. And unfortunately, it appears that even an independent review cannot change this.
Four from Dave Cross, Planet of the Vapes:
NNA Reviews A Successful Year
The New Nicotine Alliance (NNA) is a charity dedicated to promoting truth and evidence about nicotine use and tobacco harm reduction. Its volunteers work tirelessly to engage academics, politicians, the media, and recreational users of nicotine. The charity has reviewed the past twelve successful months and is looking for further engagement from aspiring advocates.
In January, NNA’s busy year kicked off with its Chair being interviewed for an article about a review of heated tobacco by the Cochrane Library. The review stated: “Heated tobacco products could benefit public health if they reduce risk and help people stop smoking normal cigarettes, without attracting people who would otherwise avoid tobacco entirely.”
Disposables Set For Controls
The booming sector has been left to self-regulate when it comes to the environment and sustainability but that could be set to change in 2023. The UK looks set to witness the first major piece of vape legislation since the European Union’s Tobacco Products Directive was incorporated into national law.
Where the Tobacco Products Directive restricted bottle sizes, nicotine strength and the volume of vape tanks, other aspects of the vape market were left to self-regulate and some simply not foreseen.
Free Vapes For Pregnant Women
Free starter kits are being given away to pregnant smokers in Lambeth in order to improve levels of health and combat poverty exacerbated by spending on cigarettes. Councillors in the South London borough have acted to improve the lives of families and save them money. They believe the free kits will stop women wanting to buy cigarettes because they can quit and remain successfully smoke free. Experts say families will end up around £2000 better off.
The council’s explained that more than 3000 homes currently fall under the poverty line. With most of them being home to children, he explained that by substituting smoking for vaping…
Parliament and Politics
Question and answers about vaping and tobacco harm reduction from the House of Lords and the House of Commons begins with Lord Storey wanting to discourage children. Virendra Sharma wondered about the extent of Trading Standards’ powers. Stella Creasy asked about packaging and Damian Green was all about the money.
Lord Storey, the Liberal Democrat Lords Spokesperson for Education asked His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking, if any, to discourage children and young people from vaping.
Taiwan Bans Vape Sales and Personal Use
Jim McDonald
Taiwan’s national legislature (Legislative Yuan) banned e-cigarettes yesterday, passing the third reading of a series of amendments to the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act. The new laws were first proposed last year by the country’s cabinet (Executive Yuan).
Vaping products, classified as “tobacco-like products,” will be strictly prohibited, including sale, manufacture, promotion, import, and even personal use. The amendments will take effect a month after their publication by the government.
Taiwan’s e-cigarette ban is a public health catastrophe in the making
In Silico review:
ecig add no additional cardiovascular health risks – CoEHAR
The research covered 25 studies comprising 1,810 participants who smoked. The authors found that nearly two thirds of the tests analyzed showed e-cigarettes do not bring any additional harm to a smoker’s health, specifically in relation to heart rate, blood pressure and cardiovascular test. In fact, researchers evaluated evidence from two clinical studies that showed that the use of e-cigarettes could lead to a potential benefit. For example, participants with hypertension experienced a clinically significant reduction in systolic blood pressure after one year of electronic nicotine delivery systems use.
Johns Hopkins Call for Nicotine…
“Common Language” Falls Flat – Alex Norcia
The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has just published a video, featuring Johanna Cohen, the Bloomberg professor of disease prevention and the director of the school’s Institute for Global Tobacco Control, calling for a “common language” in tobacco control.
“With the introduction and marketing of new nicotine products, it’s not only the marketplace that has diversified,” Cohen says in the video. “The number of terms used to describe these products has expanded significantly as well. Often with word choice that serves tobacco industry interests.”
E-Cig Opponents Are Science Deniers
Alli Boughner
Like millions of other Americans, I was hooked. I knew I needed to quit smoking, but I just couldn’t give up cigarettes. I tried everything: nicotine gum, patches, medication, even cold turkey. None of it worked, and I feared I was destined to keep smoking until it killed me.
But my smoking-cessation failures came to an unexpected end when I discovered e-cigarettes, more commonly called “vapes” today. And after years as a pack-a-day-smoker, I was done with cigarettes forever.
Australian vapers call on Government…
To give up their $13 billion addiction to tobacco excise
On behalf of 1.2 million adult Australian vapers, Legalise Vaping Australia (LVA) formally made its submission to the Federal Government’s review of regulation of nicotine vaping products today, calling for vapes to be sold as an adult consumer product and for Canberra to give up its addiction to tobacco taxes, and focus on saving lives instead.
The public consultation period for the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) review on vaping reforms closes on Monday, after being open to the public for less than 7 weeks including the Christmas and New Year period when working Australians were busy taking a much-needed break with their families.
Researcher Stories: E-cigarettes
University of Oxford
Find out how Jamie Hartmann-Boyce has worked with the UK Government and the Action on Smoking and Health charity to investigate the effectiveness of e-cigarettes as a stop-smoking aid, and whether they have lower negative health impacts than smoking. Find out more about OPEN https://www.ox.ac.uk/research/using-r…
Why Adopting Harm Reduction Policies
For Africa is Crucial
Today, our continent is at a crossroads in its long journey to reduce the immense health toll of smoking cigarettes. Turn one way at this crossroads, and we will continue to see many, many thousands of Africans needlessly dying every year from tobacco-related disease.
Turn the other way, and along the path of tobacco harm reduction, and we will see those unnecessary deaths being prevented and millions of lives being saved in the years ahead.
On this Day…2022
A look back at how things have moved on or otherwise….
Visit Nicotine Science & Policy for more News from around the World
