Vapers Digest 14th October

Friday’s News at a glance:

NNA writes to the Secretary of State for Health – Coffey should promote healthier alternatives – How did e-cigarettes and vaping get so popular? – German Institute: Pouches Safer Than Smoking – The FCTC is no longer fit for purpose – e-Cigarette Summit 2022 – Back Vaping, Beat Smoking – Postponing Malaysia – BAT Calls for Collaboration – CDC Continues To Spout Youth Vaping Epidemic – Political Strength of Vapers – Pennsylvania Young Adult Smoking Rates At Epic Lows – The Swift Half with Snowdon ft. Dr Marewa Glover – Michael Bloomberg is bankrolling California‘s Prop. 31 – Doctors discuss tobacco addiction – The CDC’s Agenda on Vaping Data – Tax Fears

NNA writes to the Secretary of State

New Nicotine Alliance

There have been reports this week that the new Secretary of State for Health, Thérèse Coffey, is delaying publication of the new tobacco control plan, along with rumours that the government is not minded to take forward recommendations contained in the summer’s independent tobacco review led by Dr Javed Khan.

In light of this, we have written to Ms Coffey today to re-emphasise our 20 recommendations for reducing smoking which rely on consumer choice, deregulation, competition and private sector innovation. We have also copied the letter to the Minister for Brexit Opportunities, Jacob Rees-Mogg, to highlight five quick wins which simply require scrapping of unnecessary and counterproductive EU regulations within the government’s Brexit Freedoms Bill proposals.  You can read the full letter here.

Coffey should promote alternatives

To cigarettes rather than nanny state intervention – Martin Cullip

There have been howls of protest from public health activists over press reports that Secretary of State for Health, Thérèse Coffey, may have backed out of a commitment to publish a tobacco control plan for England later in the year. The same knee-jerk activists have expressed dismay at rumours that the government will not act on recommendations contained in a government-commissioned independent review by Dr Javed Khan published in June.

Khan’s review demanded costly and punitive state interventions along with eye-watering tax increases as the country was entering a cost-of-living crisis. It also contained off-the-wall proposals such as banning the sale of cigarettes in supermarkets, raising the smoking age by a year every year, and painting cigarette sticks green. All of these recommendations would be unpalatable to the previous government let alone the current one with its commitment to ditch the nanny state.

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How did e-cigs & vaping get so popular?

BBC Radio 4

The global market for vapes has grown exponentially over the last decade. It’s now estimated to be worth around £20 billion a year, up from just over £2.5 million in 2016.

In the UK there are now around 4.5 million regular vapers, served by nearly 3,000 specialist vape stores and a growing number of online retailers. But vapes are now available almost everywhere, from supermarkets to corner shops.

All Consuming is the Radio 4 series in which Charlotte Williams and Amit Katwala explore our habits of consumption through products and services that have changed the world. They attempt to demystify the world of e-cigarettes and vapes, tracing their history and extraordinary growth and asking, are they lifesavers or something far more insidious?

Pouches Safer Than Smoking

Tobacco Reporter

In the statement published on Oct. 7, 2022, the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) confirmed that tobacco-free nicotine pouches can reduce health risks compared to smoking. To protect consumers, the BfR recommends regulation of the manufacture, presentation and sale of nicotine pouches.

In a detailed study on the material composition of tobacco-free nicotine pouches performed in August 2022, BfR scientists found that aside from nicotine, the pouches contain no substances presenting health concerns. In some samples, however, they detected traces of tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNA) similar to those found in medical nicotine-replacement products.

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The FCTC is no longer fit for purpose

COPWatch

As well as reporting the bad news and awful developments, we also try to bring you encouraging news and reasoned views! In response to an article in the Lancet that argues tobacco control is “far from the finish line,” although its measures had an impact worldwide in deterring people from smoking, the independent experts Robert Beaglehole and Ruth Bonita state that “tobacco control is not working for most of the world”. It’s worth noting that both have previously had senior roles at WHO: Ruth Bonita as a former director of the WHO Department of NCD surveillance, and Robert Beaglehole as a former director of the WHO Department of Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.

Four from Dave Cross, Planet of the Vapes:

e-Cigarette Summit 2022

Organisers of the E-Cigarette Summit are delighted to announce that the 10th anniversary edition will take place at the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) in London on the 9th December, 2022. The opening keynote speech will be delivered by Dr Sanjay Agrawal, Chair of the RCP’s Tobacco Special Advisory Group. Organisers say that he will be joined by an unrivalled line up of leading global experts.

The E-Cigarette Summit has gained an unrivalled reputation as a neutral meeting point for scientists, regulators, industry, public health and practitioners to explore the latest research on e-cigarettes and facilitate respectful debate on what remain highly controversial issues. The aim will always be to ensure that disparate views can be explored in context of a common aim, which is to reduce smoking related death and disease.

Back Vaping, Beat Smoking

The World Vapers’ Alliance’s #BackVapingBeatSmoking campaign urges politicians to embrace harm reduction and vaping. The campaign has been resurrected to promote tobacco harm reduction in light of continued attacks on the approach and on vaping.

As kick-off for the #BackVapingBeatSmoking campaign, the World Vapers’ Alliance (WVA) delivered the message that vaping can save 19 million lives in Europe to the European Parliament. Representatives of the WVA met with several Members of the European Parliament to present their “Vaping Products Directive” to show how vaping needs to be treated to fulfil its full potential for public health. Additionally, the WVA unveiled a protest art installation in front of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

Postponing Malaysia

Postponing the Malaysian tobacco bill would be good for vaping, according to the Malaysian Organisation of Vape Entities. Legalising vape sales in Malaysia remains on the table despite the Heath Minister postponing the ‘generational endgame’ anti-smoking bill after considerable public and political pressure, says the local vaping advocacy group.

Malaysia’s Minister of Health, Khairy Jamaluddin, made the decision not to table the bill despite the bipartisan special parliamentary select committee making amendments and reaching consensus.

BAT Calls for Collaboration

British American Tobacco (BAT) has called for collaboration to accelerate tobacco harm reduction. The statement came as part of a keynote speech made by Kingsley Wheaton, BAT’s Chief Growth Officer, delivered at the 2022 Global Tobacco & Nicotine Forum (GTNF) in Washington, D.C.

BAT’s Chief Growth Officer, Kingsley Wheaton, called for greater collaboration between the industry, governments, and intergovernmental organisations to accelerate tobacco harm reduction becoming the tobacco control policy of choice.

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Two from Lindsey Stroud:

Despite Overall Declines In Youth Vaping

CDC Continues To Spout Youth Vaping Epidemic

In what was supposed to be a closed-door meeting among “partners” of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the taxpayer-funded organization announced the results of the 2022 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS). Among the “partners” at the meeting were prominent vaping opponent organizations such as Parents Against Vaping E-Cigarettes and the Truth Initiative.

Much to the vape opponent’s delight, according to the 2022 NYTS, youth vaping increased between 2021 and 2022. But contrary to what the CDC still refers to as an epidemic, overall, youth vaping has significantly decreased. Unfortunately, this is falling upon deaf ears as the CDC, and other nanny state organizations, continue to decry a false narrative of a supposed youth vaping epidemic.

Pennsylvania Young Adult Smoking Rates

At Epic Lows While Youth Cigarette And Vape Use Decline

According to data from the Pennsylvania Youth Survey (PAYS), in 2021, 3.7% of middle schoolers (defined as 6th and 8th graders) and 12.5% of high schoolers (defined as 10th and 12th graders) reported ever using a combustible cigarette. Among middle schoolers, lifetime use of combustible cigarettes has declined by 19.6% since 2019 and by 38.8% since 2017. Among high school students, ever-use of combustible cigarettes has declined by 27% since 2019 and by 87.2% since 2017.

The Swift Half ft. Dr Marewa Glover

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has divided political opinion. For many, her strict policies on climate change, lockdowns and public health are welcomed as necessary measures in uncertain times.

However, for others, she represents a dark turn in Western politics, one which seeks to mask statists intentions with seemingly empathetic reform. This is seen most clearly in the Prime Minister’s zealous intervention in the New Zealand tobacco market.

The CDC’s Agenda on Vaping Data

Is a Corruption of Democracy and Ethics – Martin Cullip

The lengths to which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is prepared to go to mislead the public was laid bare on October 6 during an astonishing zoom call to announce the results of the latest data on youth vaping.

Convened to launch the taxpayer-funded CDC publication, “Notes from the Field: E-cigarette Use Among Middle and High School Students,” stakeholders logged in to learn of the long-awaited new figures. However, CDC Press Officer Robin Scala seemed unhappy that some were in attendance and, describing the event as a briefing for CDC “partners” only, requested all unapproved attendees to leave.

Political Strength of Vapers

Tim Andrews

A survey released today by Americans for Tax Reform demonstrates the immense influence of the “vape vote”, referencing the millions of Americans who use vapor products to stay away from cigarettes, to impact the 2022 midterms.

“This data conclusively proves how the vaping vote can influence elections,” said Tim Andrews, ATR’s Director of Consumer Issues, referencing a 2019 McLaughlin & Associates survey. “Vapers are very active in political issues. Almost 4 in 5 voters who vape said they are likely speak out on vaping issues.

Michael Bloomberg bankrolling Prop. 31

Eric Ting

The committee supporting California’s Proposition 31 — a measure that would ban in-person sales of flavored tobacco products — has the received the overwhelming majority of its funds from billionaire Michael Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor and 2020 presidential candidate, according to campaign finance records.

Of the $17.3 million raised by the “yes” on Prop. 31 committee, $15.3 million has come from Bloomberg, California campaign finance records reviewed by SFGATE show. The “no” committee has raised just $2.1 million, meaning that 79% of the money spent in the race has come from just one person: Bloomberg.

Tax Fears

Vape Product Tax Hits 50% Over Retail, Could Get Worse | RegWatch

It’s hard to imagine how Canada’s new excise tax on nicotine vaping products won’t drive scores of people back to smoking.
When combined with the sales tax, the effective federal tax rate on most vaping products bloats to more than 50 percent over retail.

This massive increase in price pushes vaping products precariously close to the cost of smoking. Smokers lose a prime incentive to quit, and new vapers may abandon their effort and return to smoking.

Ian Irvine, Professor of Economics at Concordia University and Research Fellow at the C.D. Howe Institute, is joining us today to discuss the economic and social consequences of the new excise tax. Hear about the hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue Canadian vapers are sending to Ottawa and the colossal damage facing the Canadian vaping industry after a half-billion-dollar revenue loss.

Doctors discuss tobacco addiction

Policy Circle, one of the leading multimedia platforms for in-depth discussions on economy, policy and governance hosted a roundtable on ‘Tobacco Harm Reduction – Risks and Benefits’ to mark three years to India’s ban on Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS). The roundtable was in continuation of the earlier discussions where experts such as parliamentarians, lawmakers, eminent doctors, and policymakers deliberated on India’s tobacco policy and highlighted the need of harm reduction. Three years after the ban, the market is flooded with illegal products. There is growing concern about the unregulated use electronic nicotine delivery systems, or ENDS, especially among parents about their rampant use among young children.

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On this Day…2021

A look back at how things have moved on or otherwise….

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