Vapers Digest 15th October

Wednesday’s News at a glance:

The FDA Lies Again ~ Call for Evidence Highlights Future Issues ~ Health Commissioner Pushes Unfair Vape Tax ~ Trade and Retail Respond to Evidence Call~ “A Good Idea Gone Wrong”: Clive Bates on the FCTC’s Drift ~ Prohibitionists for human rights! ~ Nicotine and medical research – a background ~ Canadian province targets vape companies with new cost recovery law ~ A Case for Vaping Freedom As the Path to Economic Revival ~ A year smoke free and feeling great – Nikki kicks the habit after 40 years ~ Tobacco: Why won’t Brussels follow Sweden’s ‘smoke free’ policy? ~ Funding vape kits helps smokers quit and saves lives ~ CUTTING THROUGH THE SMOKE ~ Harm Reduction ‘Should be Wake-Up Call’ for Policymakers ~ Tobacco Lawsuits: USA ~ WHO’s FCTC COP11 Challenges & Lack of Consumer Impact Explained | GFN News

Four from Dave Cross, Planet of the Vapes

The FDA Lies Again

The US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Commissioner Marty Makary has made some ridiculous claims as he encouraged retailers to stop selling illegal vapes. Pointing to a claimed youth vaping “crisis”, Makary announced the launch of an initiative to increase voluntary compliance from retailers.

Call for Evidence Highlights Future Issues

The government has announced a call for evidence to justify how it implements the Tobacco and Vapes Bill and highlights how the vape landscape will look afterwards. With a focus on restricting vape flavours, further limits to nicotine strength and the volume of tanks, it has never been more imperative for vapers to contact their MP and submit their feelings directly to the government.

Health Commissioner Pushes Unfair Vape Tax

The World Vapers’ Alliance has strongly condemned statements made by the European Health Commissioner, Olivér Várhelyi, regarding plans to equate vaping with smoking and equalise the taxes on vaping products with cigarettes. The World Vapers’ Alliance says that the Commissioner’s claims reveal a profound misunderstanding of tobacco harm reduction and threaten one of Europe’s most effective tools for saving lives.

Trade and Retail Respond to Evidence Call

The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS), VPZ, and Shadow Policing Minister Matt Vickers have responded to the publication of a call for evidence on the implementation of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, with the ACS and VPZ urging the Government to put in place a licensing system that tackles the illicit trade without unduly restricting responsible retailers.

“A Good Idea Gone Wrong”: Clive Bates on the FCTC’s Drift

Tobacco Harm Reduction

At the 8th No‑Smoke Summit, policy expert Clive Bates delivered a stirring speech entitled “The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control: A good idea gone wrong.” He challenged the current trajectory of the FCTC (which entered into force in 2005), arguing that its original aim, to reduce smoking, has been overshadowed by fixation on nicotine and addiction.

Bates reminded the audience of the urgency: worldwide, 6.3 million die annually from smoking, and an additional 1.3 million from secondhand smoke.

Prohibitionists for human rights!

Christopher Snowdon, Velvet Glove Iron Fist

Tobacco Control has published an hilarious article by a lawyer from ASH (USA) and a social scientist from Mike Bloomberg’s Tobacco Control Research Group (Bath University). It is titled Tobacco control advocates as human rights defenders: a call for recognition. and is every bit as ridiculous as it sounds. Tobacco control advocacy is not without risks. Increasingly, advocates have spoken out about the threats, harassment and attacks they face when confronting powerful corporate interests.

Nicotine and medical research – a background

Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction

Nicotine has been widely accepted as a smoking cessation aid in the form of Nicotine Replacement Therapies (NRT) since the 1980s, and has been included in the World Health Organization’s List of Essential Medicines to treat ‘nicotine dependence’ since 2009.[1] But the therapeutic use of nicotine in medicine has a history – and potentially a future – that extends beyond its most common application. Research has indicated that nicotine could be a promising drug in managing and treating certain conditions, including Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, neurodivergences, and psychosis.

Canadian province targets vape companies with new cost recovery law

Tim Hong, Clearing The Air

British Columbia has become the first province in Canada to table legislation that would allow it to recover healthcare costs from vape companies accused of misleading the public.

Attorney General Niki Sharma announced the move in Victoria last week, describing it as a response to “deceptive practices” used by parts of the vape industry to boost profits while targeting young people.

A Case for Vaping Freedom As the Path to Economic Revival

Tim Andrews, Real Clear Health

President Trump can accelerate the U.S.’s economic trajectory by fixing a broken system that prevents American manufacturers and businesses from providing smokers safer products proven to help them quit. Doing so will help small manufacturers, independent distributors, and retail shops from offering smokers lower-risk alternatives.

Streamlining this process will not only save lives, but also allow thousands of locally owned businesses to grow, hire more employees, and compete on a level playing field — helping community economies thrive even as public health advances.

A year smoke free and feeling great – Nikki kicks the habit after 40 years

nelincs.gov.uk

“I never thought I would quit,” said Nikki Huggins. “At one point, I was smoking 40 cigarettes a day.”

After kicking a 40-year habit, Nikki shares her story after a year smoke free.

Although the numbers of smokers has declined over recent years, there are still significant numbers of smokers in the country – 12 per cent of all adults in England are smokers.

Nikki first considered quitting after she caught COVID. She lost her sense of taste and smell. Nikki was given some vapes and patches, and invited to appointments once every two weeks for support with the NHS.

Tobacco: Why won’t Brussels follow Sweden’s ‘smoke free’ policy?

Carl Deconinck, Brussels Signal

Brussels has poured cold water over Sweden’s approach to tackling smoking and plans to move in a completely different direction with its upcoming Tobacco Plan.

That is despite the Nordic country being the most successful in combating cigarette use, having the lowest smoking-related cancer deaths in the European Union

New Zealand funding vape kits (PDF)

Jonathan Devery, New Zealand Herald

When Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora gives vape starter kits to smokers, it’s not “funding addiction”. It’s funding harm reduction – one of the most effective public health strategies we’ve ever had.

Two From Tobacco Reporter

CUTTING THROUGH THE SMOKE

Tobacco use remains one of Asia’s most pressing public health crises. The region is home to more than half of the world’s one billion smokers and accounts for four million tobacco-related deaths every year. Beyond the staggering human cost, the economic burden of smoking runs into trillions of dollars, straining already fragile healthcare systems.

Harm Reduction ‘Should be Wake-Up Call’ for Policymakers

At the 2025 Asia Forum on Nicotine, Prof. Dr. Rohan Sequeira, Consultant Cardio Endocrinologist, warned that Asia remains the epicenter of the global tobacco epidemic, home to over half of the world’s 1 billion smokers and responsible for 4 million tobacco-related deaths each year. He said traditional control measures—taxation, warning labels, and public campaigns—have done little to reverse rising smoking rates in South and Southeast Asia. What the region needs, he argued, is not more prohibition but a science-based harm reduction approach that recognizes medical evidence.

Tobacco Lawsuits: USA

Tobacco Insider

Altria’s e-cigarette subsidiary NJOY filed suit in late 2023 against 34 manufacturers, distributors, and retailers, accusing them of illegally marketing flavored disposable vape products in California in violation of the state’s flavor ban and federal regulations. The original complaint argued that NJOY was placed at a competitive disadvantage because flavored devices such as Elf Bar, produced by China-based iMiracle, diverted consumer demand away from NJOY’s FDA-authorized tobacco-flavored offerings. In early 2024, a U.S. court dismissed most of the defendants due to improper joinder, leaving Elf Bar’s parent company, iMiracle, as the principal remaining target.

On this day…2021!

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

The Disposable Vapes Debate

Vaping Industry Insiders Speak – Neil Humber

It might feel like they’re new on the vaping scene but the disposable vapes debate has been rumbling since they first appeared a few years ago.

Back then it was a handful of vape companies bringing them out, with the USA seemingly the main target.

FDA and Triton Argue in Court Filings

Jim McDonald

After yesterday’s news that the FDA has authorized one vaping product to be sold—and only in a tobacco flavor—the independent industry’s efforts to challenge the agency on legal grounds become more important. As of today, there are some updates to report.

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