Home › Latest News › Vapers Digest 14th October

Vapers Digest 14th October

Kevin CrowleyPosted on Posted in Latest News

Wednesday’s News at a glance:

ONS Reveals New Data ~ Vape Tax Needs Watching ~ A Snapshot Is Not a Verdict ~ Dr Murray Laugesen (1935–2026) ~ Does nicotine cause cancer? What clinicians should say ~ Can health plans afford to ignore tobacco harm reduction? ~ NNA writes to the Treasury requesting a vaping tax review ~ Media Watch: The WSJ Suggests Wellness Types Are Rehabilitating Nicotine ~ WHO Says the Quiet Part Out Loud: Decide on Higher Taxes, Then “Generate Evidence” to Sell Them ~ French vapers get budget reprieve as new tax left out of initial draft ~ UK smoking falls below one in 10 ahead of nicotine pouch age restrictions ~ Europe’s nicotine policy dilemma: can tougher rules curb smoking without fuelling the illicit market? ~ Brussels is funding the voices that tell it what it wants to hear ~ Pennsylvania will let stores sell only 159 vape products starting Oct. 19 ~ Mitch Zeller: Full Interview at the 5th New Approaches Summit, New York, NY, 24 September 2026 ~ POLAND’S NICOTINE TAX EXPERIMENT

Two From Dave Cross, Planet Of The Vapes

ONS Reveals New Data

New Office for National Statistics data has revealed that vaping has helped to drive down UK smoking rates to a new record low. Speaking to planet of the Vapes, the UK Vaping Industry Association welcomed the news – but warned that the government’s current direction of travel risks undermining the progress made.

Vape Tax Needs Watching

While Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) welcomed the new vape tax, the charity says that it needs watching to ensure children are protected without pushing adult smokers away from switching. The new tax on vaping products came into effect on 1 October, but ASH says vapers/smokers shouldn’t see prices rises immediately as old stock works through the system.

A Snapshot Is Not a Verdict

Alan Gor

There is a familiar journey in Australian tobacco policy. Research identifies a concern. A media release explains why we should be alarmed. Then, somewhere between the findings and the recommendations, the policies already favoured by public health acquire another apparent endorsement.

The awkward question is whether the study actually tested those policies.

Dr Murray Laugesen (1935–2026)

Ben Youdan, ASH

Action for Smokefree Aotearoa (ASH) is deeply saddened by the death of Dr Murray Laugesen (1935–2026). Murray was an integral and influential figure in Aotearoa New Zealand’s journey to reduce smoking to record-low levels.

ASH was privileged to work with Murray for more than 40 years and to benefit from his service and guidance as Chair of ASH from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s—a key period in New Zealand’s smokefree history.

Editor note:

Please see Dr. Glover’s post on X about Dr. Murray Laugesen here

NNA_Banner_Support_Trans

Two From KevinMD

Does nicotine cause cancer? What clinicians should say

Giorgi Mzhavanadze

A patient considering a nicotine patch asks, “Doesn’t nicotine cause lung cancer?” A reassuring answer should not minimize nicotine’s risks. It should explain why a nicotine patch and a cigarette are not medically equivalent.

Our survey in Ukraine suggests that this distinction warrants attention. Healthy Initiatives collected 1,538 responses to a questionnaire targeting health care professionals between October 2025 and September 2026. Asked to identify the most harmful components of smoking, 58.7 percent selected nicotine.

Can health plans afford to ignore tobacco harm reduction?

Edward Anselm, MD

Health insurance companies have always been ambivalent about treatment of cigarette smokers. Tobacco-related disease accounts for roughly 8 percent of U.S. medical spending, while smoking cessation is among the most cost-effective interventions in medicine. Yet the economics look different from the perspective of an individual insurer. Treatment of tobacco use generates costs today, while many of the savings from avoiding hospitalizations, and preventing cancer and other tobacco-related diseases, accrue years later.

NNA writes to the Treasury requesting a vaping tax review

New Nicotine Alliance UK

The NNA has written to James Murray MP, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, to request that his department perform a post-implementation review of the vaping duty tax which came into force on 1st October. The new duty risks making safer alternatives less affordable and weakening the financial incentive for smokers to switch.

Evidence from Canada suggests that higher taxes and tighter regulation can shrink the legal vaping market without reducing consumption, potentially driving consumers towards illicit products or back to smoking.

Media Watch: The WSJ Suggests Wellness Types Are Rehabilitating Nicotine

The Daily Pouch

The Wall Street Journal ran a recent news article claiming that nicotine’s image is being rehabilitated. It suggests that businesses and influencers are promoting the substance as a potential aid to focus, mood and memory, claims that the author suggests are poorly supported.

Let’s take a look.

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

NSP-DG

innco-02

Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Skip to toolbar