Vapers Digest 13th October

Monday’s News at a glance:

UK Vape Tax Clock Countdown – The case against tobacco control advocates as human rights defenders – Vaping and Public Health policies: CoEHAR calls for scientific responsibility – COP11: Leaked EU doc ‘puts future of nicotine pouches in doubt’ – Leaked WHO Documents Uncover Europe’s New Senseless Nicotine War – The Paradox of Individual Benefits and Population-Level Fears in Tobacco Harm Reduction – The Sentence That Made Me Cry – What’s new in things to do? – Vapocrisy – EU wants to lump smokeless nicotine with cigarettes – Sweden may be forced to change its line – Standing in the Smoke of Good Intentions – Excluding Consumers, Endangering Lives: WHO’s Tobacco Control Failure – COP: Control the Opinionated Public, Silence Consumers, Ignore Harm Reduction – Nicotine Prohibition ‘Profoundly Immoral,’ Andrews Says in GTNF Closing – Correcting Nicotine Misperceptions Takes Coordinated Action – The Unintended Consequences of Flavor Bans – Moral Collapse | When Public Health Endorses Teen Smoking to Stop Vaping (Public Statement) – GFN.TV Interviews | STONEWALLED | The March Toward Nicotine Prohibition

UK Vape Tax Clock Countdown

Dave Cross, Planet of The Vapes

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has updated its guidance to businesses who will be affected by the new Vaping Products Duty which is due to come into force on October 1, 2026. The UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) says it is aimed at all businesses involved in the manufacturing or importing of vaping products, or storing of duty-suspended vaping products and warns that they must apply for approval to continue operating.

The case against tobacco control advocates as human rights defenders

Clive Bates [Comment], PubPeer

The case for describing tobacco control advocates as human rights defenders is tendentious and contested, and the alternative case is not described in the paper.

Many tobacco control advocates work hard to prevent access to novel smoke-free nicotine products such as e-cigarettes, nicotine pouches, and heated tobacco products. This has been done through pressing for high taxes, strict regulation, or outright prohibition—and with considerable success. Forty-six jurisdictions now ban e-cigarettes completely, though none ban cigarettes. [1]

Center of Excellence for the acceleration of Harm Reduction (CoEHAR)

While the British National Health Service (NHS) reiterates that “nicotine vaping is less harmful than smoking and is also one of the most effective tools for quitting smoking”, the preparatory document for the WHO COP11 instead proposes a restrictive approach, even including the possibility of bans on the distribution and sale of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS).

These divergent positions raise crucial questions about tobacco control and the protection of public health.

COP11: Leaked EU doc ‘puts future of nicotine pouches in doubt’

SnusForumNet

A leaked European Commission document ahead of the upcoming WHO COP 11 has revealed that the EU plans to push for “strict regulation or bans” on all smoke-free nicotine products, a stance critics warn could be the first step toward an EU-wide ban on nicotine pouches – even in Sweden.

The 30-page draft position outlines the EU’s negotiating line ahead of the 11th Conference of the Parties (COP11) to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

Leaked WHO Documents Uncover Europe’s New Senseless Nicotine War

Diane Caruana, Vaping Post

A leaked European Union draft has once again ignited a fierce debate across the harm reduction community, revealing plans that could upend years of progress toward a smoke-free future. Dated 7 October 2025, the confidential document outlines the EU’s proposed position for the upcoming WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) meeting in Geneva. And its contents have alarmed scientists, consumers, and policymakers alike.

The Paradox of Individual Benefits and Population-Level Fears in Tobacco Harm Reduction

Endit Foundation, LinkedIn

In the ongoing debate about tobacco harm reduction (THR), a critical discussion has emerged that highlights a significant paradox. Joanna Cohen, Ph.D., from the Institute for Global Tobacco Control at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, recently discussed the individual benefits of vaping as a smoking cessation tool and its role in reducing tar exposure. These individual-level benefits are supported by clinical evidence and public health data, showing that e-cigarettes can be an effective strategy for smokers looking to quit. However, Dr. Cohen also expressed concerns about the potential population-level impact of vaping, suggesting a fear of unintended consequences despite the clear individual advantages.

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

The Sentence That Made Me Cry

I am so choked up with tears of gratitude, it is difficult to organize my thoughts enough to write about this topic for this newsletter.

The silencing and canceling of others is a common occurrence in the nicotine space. Many of the readers of Skip’s Corner have witnessed it, and far too many of my readers have personally experienced it.

Those on both the Pro and Con sides of THR know what it’s like for others to attack them, discredit them, and try to silence them. Or, equally as frustrating, to never be heard or seen, as if they don’t even exist.

What’s new in things to do?

Check out the public Google calendar of THR-related events created and maintained by Clive Bates.

The event calendars from Ecig Intelligence and Tobacco Reporter have extensive trade show listings. I don’t usually include trade shows and expos in my event listings unless they have dedicated time for speakers covering THR.

This is a valuable resource for information on conferences related to addiction and behavioral issues.

This website shares events centered on health equity and other health-related topics.

Vapocrisy

David Zaruk, Firebreak

On alternatives to tobacco products, the policies in most Western countries are inconsistent, contradictory and hypocritical. Health experts, activists and regulators approach the issue with an irrational bias against vaping and other tobacco harm reduction products. What makes professionals in high positions act so irresponsibly and against the interests of protecting public health? Perhaps it is:

a decades-old vindictive grudge against Big Tobacco’s past transgressions, or

a moral righteousness often prevalent with dogmatic health crusaders, or

the temptation of easy money from virtue-signaling philanthropists.

EU wants to lump smokeless nicotine with cigarettes – Sweden may be forced to change its line

Stefan Mathisson, Vejpkollen

The European Commission wants to ban or severely restrict access to e-cigarettes, nicotine pouches and heating products. A leaked working document for the upcoming WHO tobacco meeting shows that the Commission wants to regulate all nicotine products on the basis of the same health risk – something that could have consequences for Sweden’s current harm reduction strategy.

The European Commission is currently working on the official EU position for the World Health Organisation meeting on a revised tobacco convention, COP11, in November.

According to the news platform Clearing The Air, who have seen the leaked document, the Commission proposes that all nicotine products – whether smoke-free or not – should be regulated in the same way and considered a common public health risk

Click to visit Danish Vapers Association

Standing in the Smoke of Good Intentions

James Deighan, Substack

You never know when or how politics will walk through your door and change your life. For me, it showed up between the glass cases, somewhere between a customer asking for a flavored vape they’d been using and the realization that, by law, I could no longer sell it. Overnight, whole sections of my inventory became contraband. Not because the science had changed, but because someone, somewhere, decided that flavor was the line between health and harm.

Excluding Consumers, Endangering Lives: WHO’s Tobacco Control Failure

Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA)

The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates condemns the World Health Organisation FCTC Secretariat for creating insurmountable barriers to meaningful stakeholder participation in November’s COP11 conference, as critical tobacco control decisions affecting 15 million adult consumers across Asia-Pacific hang in the balance. The WHO’s South-East Asia Regional Office (SEARO) and Western Pacific Regional Office (WPRO) territories house over half the world’s 1.1 billion smokers, with SEARO maintaining the highest smoking prevalence globally at 25% projected for 2025.

COP: Control the Opinionated Public, Silence Consumers, Ignore Harm Reduction

Kevin Crowley, Vaping Links

Year after year, COP meetings preserve a familiar tradition-silencing the very people most affected by tobacco [and now] nicotine policy. The consumers. You and me. Us. And people like us. Our family and friends. People who are still choosing to smoke. The very ones these decisions are supposed to help. When will ~~they~~ we be invited to speak? When will ~~their~~ our experiences count?

For now, it seems COP stands for “Control the Opinionated Public.”

Two from Tobacco Reporter

Nicotine Prohibition ‘Profoundly Immoral,’ Andrews Says in GTNF Closing

In a forceful closing keynote at the Global Tobacco & Nicotine Forum (GTNF), Tim Andrews, Director of Consumer Issues at Americans for Tax Reform and the Tholos Foundation, called global bans on vaping and other reduced-risk nicotine products “profoundly immoral,” arguing that prohibition is fueling crime, costing governments billions, and depriving smokers of lifesaving alternatives.

Correcting Nicotine Misperceptions Takes Coordinated Action

At the Global Tobacco & Nicotine Forum (GTNF) in Brussels, experts from science, medicine, and industry agreed that misinformation about nicotine remains one of the greatest obstacles to tobacco harm reduction, and that changing those perceptions will require more than data alone. Moderator Dr. Mohamadi Sarkar, Fellow in Scientific Strategy and Analysis at Altria Client Services, opened the discussion by urging a focus on solutions rather than problems.

The Unintended Consequences of Flavor Bans

Marina Murphy, Westword

This November, when Denver voters go to the polls to decide whether to keep or repeal the city’s ban on flavored nicotine products, I hope they’ll keep a few things in mind.

While flavor and nicotine bans may have good intentions, there is real-world evidence suggesting that such bans may have unintended consequences— most notably, increasing cigarette smoking rates among adults and youth alike and creating a black market that is extremely dangerous for consumers.

Moral Collapse | When Public Health Endorses Teen Smoking to Stop Vaping (Public Statement)

Brent Stafford, Regulator Watch

Public health has crossed the line. In a stunning display of moral inversion, officials and mainstream media now endorse teen smoking as an acceptable way to “quit” vaping.

In this searing RegWatch public statement, Brent Stafford dissects how a decade of fearmongering and misinformation brought us to this moment—where moral panic replaces science and a jihad against nicotine takes precedence over saving lives.

GFN.TV Interviews | STONEWALLED | The March Toward Nicotine Prohibition

Global Forum on Nicotine

It was perhaps inevitable that once smoking was “handled,” tobacco control would turn its fire on nicotine. From the UK’s disposable vape ban to EU pouch restrictions and the WHO’s war on nicotine, prohibition is on the march. Shot on location at GFN 2025 in Warsaw, Christopher Snowdon, Head of Lifestyle Economics at the Institute of Economic Affairs, delivers a stark assessment: public health is recycling old fears, ignoring evidence, and steering policy into prohibitionist chaos. With governments fueling black markets and pushing vapers back to smoking, Snowdon warns the war on nicotine has only just begun.

On this day…2023

Government sets out next steps…

To create ‘smokefree generation’

People of all ages are being invited to take part in a public consultation seeking views on plans to crack down on youth vaping by reducing the appeal, affordability and availability of vapes to our children.

The consultation launched today (12 October 2023) is open to anyone, of any age, in the UK and includes proposals to restrict child-friendly flavours and bright coloured packaging. People have 8 weeks to share their experiences and opinions and help shape future policy on vaping and smoking.

Kids are buying illegal vapes illegally

Christopher Snowdon, Velvet Glove Iron Fist

As the government opens an eight week public consultation on vaping and smoking regulation, the BBC runs a story about a 12 year old girl who was supposedly hospitalised as a result of vaping.

Visit Nicotine Science & Policy for more News from around the World