Vapers Digest 15th September
Monday’s News at a glance:
Toxic Research -Ban Driving Black Market Growth – EU Tobacco Tax Consultation: A Dangerous Detour from Harm Reduction – Most pouch consumers are former smokers, US study shows – Australia’s vape crackdown fails as black market surges – Vape flavour bans push young adults back to cigarettes, new U.S. study shows – OPINION: Brussels must learn, disinformation is still disinformation when it’s politically convenient – Is Big Tobacco’s Influence Swaying the FDA’s Vape and Pouch Approvals? – We’ve Submitted Our Response to the THIRD TVPA Review – Expanding Access To Safer Alternatives Is Key To Reducing Global Smoking Deaths – Safer Alternatives, Smarter Policies: The Future of Tobacco Control in Cameroon – Nicotine pouches rise in Wales amid UK vape ban – More Data in Favour of Nicotine Pouches, Yet More Measures Against ore action against – What nicotine does to your brain – The Advocates Voice – September 2025 – Prohibition Does Not Work: Global Bans & Their Harmful Impact ft. Tim Andrews | Ep. 86 – GFN.TV Interviews | How “Harm is Harm” Drives Vape Policy in South Africa?
Two From Dave Cross, Planet Of The Vapes
Toxic Research
University of Granada academics Pablo Olmedo and Fernando Gil have published a paper in ACS Central Science claiming that “Safety concerns continue to arise as lead and other potentially toxic metals are found in the aerosols of modern disposable e-cigarettes”. Dr Roberto A Sussman has responded to say that the work has exaggerated the risks and is just a fear spreading summary.
Ban Driving Black Market Growth
The Scottish Grocers Federation has stated that customers and retailers remain in confusion about compliant vapes following the ban on disposable/single-use vape products. A survey conducted by the Scottish Grocers Federation shows that almost a third of retailers are still being asked by customers to sell them disposable vapes.
EU Tobacco Tax Consultation: A Dangerous Detour from Harm Reduction
Tobacco Harm Reduction
The European Commission’s recent public consultation on tobacco taxation (Initiative 12645) is more than a technical update. It is a potential turning point in how the EU approaches public health. While the stated goal is to modernize excise duties on tobacco products, the consultation risks undermining the cornerstone principle of tobacco harm reduction (THR) by treating all nicotine products as if they pose the same level of harm.
Most pouch consumers are former smokers, US study shows
SnusForumNet
Nicotine pouches are more likely to serve as a tool for tobacco harm reduction and don’t appear to be the gateway into nicotine use that many fear, new research on pouch consumers from the United States shows.
A new study from Rutgers University reveals that most adult pouch users in the United States are current or former tobacco users, many of whom appear to be using pouches as a step toward quitting more dangerous nicotine products like cigarettes.
Three From Clearing The Air
Australia’s vape crackdown fails as black market surges
Tim Hong
Australia’s crackdown on vaping is failing, with new official figures showing only a trickle of legal sales through pharmacies while the black market thrives.
Since October, ‘therapeutic vapes’ – legal, regulated products with limited flavours – have only been available to buy from pharmacies. But the model is barely functioning.
Fewer than 8,000 therapeutic vapes are sold legally each month, compared with an estimated 1.7 million adults using vapes nationwide – a gap that critics say is fuelling illicit trade rather than reducing it.
Vape flavour bans push young adults back to cigarettes, new U.S. study shows
Ali Anderson
– State flavour bans cut vape use among 18 to 24-year-olds by around two to three percentage points
– But cigarette use rose by a similar amount in the same group, creating a net health loss
– Young people aged 14 to 17 showed little overall change in vaping but some signs of increased smoking
– Adults aged 25 and over were unaffected, with no measurable change in smoking or vaping
OPINION: Brussels must learn, disinformation is still disinformation when it’s politically convenient
Peter Beckett
On Wednesday, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, told Members of the European Parliament of how “appalled” she had become by the “disinformation that threatens global progress on everything from measles to polio”.
“We need more capacity to monitor and detect information manipulation and disinformation”, she declared. Perhaps she should start with her own Health Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi.
Is Big Tobacco’s Influence Swaying the FDA’s Vape and Pouch Approvals?
Allison Boughner, World Vapers’ Alliance
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) is tasked with regulating tobacco and nicotine products, including vapes and oral nicotine pouches. A recent Reuters article highlights how the FDA is fast-tracking reviews of these products under pressure from the White House, raising questions about the approval process and potential biases. One critical factor often overlooked is that the CTP is fully funded by tobacco user fees—fees paid by tobacco companies. This funding structure raises concerns about whether the FDA’s decisions may favor products from Big Tobacco over smaller manufacturers, even when the products are nearly identical in composition.
We’ve Submitted Our Response to the THIRD TVPA Review
Rights 4 Vapers
Today, we officially submitted our thoughts to Health Canada’s Third Legislative Review of the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act (TVPA).
Our message was clear: the current framework is failing Canadians. By lumping vaping and other safer nicotine products under outdated tobacco rules, the TVPA is doing a disservice to the very people it should be helping adults who smoke looking for better alternatives. Instead of supporting innovation, truth, and harm reduction, the Act fuels confusion, empowers misinformation, and drives people toward unregulated markets.
Expanding Access To Safer Alternatives Is Key To Reducing Global Smoking Deaths
Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA), Scoop
Reducing the global burden of smoking-related disease requires more than bans and restrictions. It demands empowering adults with accurate information and meaningful access to safer alternatives. Tobacco harm reduction is rooted in the principle of informed choice and without transparency, accessibility, and education, millions will continue to face preventable harm from combustible and deadly oral tobacco products.
Safer Alternatives, Smarter Policies: The Future of Tobacco Control in Cameroon
For years, the global conversation around tobacco control has centered on prevention and cessation. These remain important. However, another approach is emerging that complements existing strategies: Tobacco Harm Reduction (THR). Rather than outright condemnation, THR advocates for a pragmatic and evidence-based pathway by offering adult smokers safer alternatives that deliver nicotine without the harmful by-products of burning tobacco.
Scientific bodies and independent reviews, including research collated by the UK’s Royal College of Physicians and data from Sweden’s public health authorities, have demonstrated that products such as heated tobacco, snus, and e-cigarettes expose users to significantly fewer toxicants compared to traditional combustible cigarettes.
Nicotine pouches rise in Wales amid UK vape ban
Jo Barnes, South Wales Argus
Nicotine pouches are becoming increasingly popular in Wales. Sales volumes increased by 92 per cent from 2023 to 2024. The study revealed 59 per cent of people who started using nicotine pouches did so to quit smoking.
In Wales, 68 per cent said they felt “much better” after switching.
The study found the main advantages of nicotine pouches over other nicotine products are that they are more discreet, feel healthier, and don’t affect others.
More Data in Favour of Nicotine Pouches, Yet More Measures Against ore action against
Diane Caruana, Vaping Post
The debate over nicotine pouches keeps intensifying on both sides of the Atlantic, exposing the widening divide between harm reduction and prohibition in tobacco control. In the United States, the City of Baltimore has taken aim at Zyn, the most popular nicotine pouch brand, while in Europe, France is preparing to ban the entire category. These moves come at a time when mounting evidence suggests that nicotine pouches may offer adult smokers a safer path away from combustible tobacco.
What nicotine does to your brain
The Economist
By some reckonings, nicotine is as addictive as cocaine. It has led legions to a slow death by cigarette. Increasingly, however, people consume nicotine on its own. Nicotine vapes and oral pouches have soared in popularity; the global vaping market is expected to grow to $47.5bn in 2028, up from $22.5bn in 2022. But is nicotine simply a compound on which people are hooked or does it offer some kind of benefit?
Nicotine is much less harmful than the tobacco that naturally contains it. It has never been found to cause cancer. Nor does it cause other smokers’ diseases such as emphysema. But it is, of course, strongly linked with why smokers smoke at all. Beyond avoiding nicotine-induced withdrawal symptoms, such as irritability and anxiety, many say they smoke to “stay focused”. This has led scientists to consider whether nicotine might directly influence people’s ability to think.
A look back at how things have moved on or otherwise…
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