Vapers Digest 16th November

Thursday’s News at a glance:

The local authority information deficit obstructing harm reduction – 2017​ ​Vaping​ ​Policies​ ​in UK​ ​Councils​ ​Report – ‘Vaping should be part of support’ – A future without fags? – The Effect of Price and the Gateway Effect – Science Lesson: Vapor Droplets Are NOT Particles – Nicotine Science and Policy Daily Digest

The local authority information deficit

Obstructing harm reduction – New Nicotine Alliance

Last November, the Freedom Association sent freedom of information requests to all UK councils requesting details of their policy towards e-cigarettes and produced a comprehensive report. The results were depressing but offered a snapshot of how council smoke-free policies were routinely including vaping along with smoking, despite guidance from Public Health England advising otherwise.

2017​ ​Vaping​ ​Policies​ ​in UK​ ​Councils​ ​Report

Andrew Allison, The Freedom Association

In November 2016, we published a groundbreaking report looking at the vaping policies of all UK councils. We have done the same again this year to see if any councils have changed their policies as a result of advice from Public Health England (PHE) which was included in the Government’s Tobacco Control Plan.

In total, 391 councils responded to our freedom of information requests – a successful response rate of just under 94 per cent. The key findings of this research show that:

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‘Vaping should be part of support’

To help smokers with mental health conditions quit – CRUK

A group of health bodies and charities has called for more to be done to help smokers with mental health conditions quit, including accessing e-cigarettes and other treatments.

In its Statement on Electronic Cigarettes(link is external), the Mental Health & Smoking Partnership said that smoking remains “part of the culture in too many mental health settings”, and that vaping and nicotine replacement therapies should be made an easier choice than smoking.

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A future without fags?

Harry Shapiro

An economic forecasting company has estimated that if smoking in the UK declines at the current rate, nobody will be smoking by around 2050. Frontier Economics predicts that….

….This is very simple and compelling analysis that would benefit many countries in moving towards smoking cessation and a clear indication of the benefits of safer nicotine products (SNR). The more worrying aspects is the apparent slow-down in SNP take-up as identified by ASH who reported that the key issues were product satisfaction, concerns about safety and pricing.

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The Effect of Price and the Gateway Effect

Mawsley, Planet of the Vapes

In “The Effect of Prices on Youth Cigarette and E-cigarette Use”, Michael Pesko (Georgia State University) and Casey Warman (Dalhousie University) explored “the relationship between cigarette and e-cigarette use by using state level variation in the prices for each product.” The finding may surprise you.

The pair make an opening claim that “E-cigarette use is strongly associated with the use of other tobacco products among youth and young adults”, and this gives a good indication of the slant of what is to follow. Given that vaping is touted as a harm reduction quit tool for smokers, the implied link to smoking as if it is a gateway tool indicates a sloppiness of thinking

Vapor Droplets Are NOT Particles

Carl V. Phillips, Daily Vaper

There has been a recent resurgence in fearmongering propaganda about e-cigarette vapor exposing vapers and bystanders to “particles.” Anyone with a middle-school level understanding of science can see why this is nonsense. It is really quite simple: Inhaling some kinds of solid particles can cause harm, even when the chemicals in them are harmless, but nothing similar is true for the liquid droplets produced by e-cigarettes.

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On this Day…2016

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

Dancing at the Top

Robert Innes – Vaping Post

So, what has this to do with e-cigarettes?.. Well, the people at the top, in any country, are not to be trusted. In this instance rules governing vaping products are, sorry, apologies were, in the hands of a man, ‘possibly,’ wide open to bribery. We see this connection in a tiny paragraph (third from last) in an article not dealing with vaping.

Nothing new in this! In the EU, the initial TPD was influenced by a Commissioner, who, like his ‘buddy’ above, was open to financial inducement. I am not sure what the ‘upper limit’ for ‘acceptable bribery’ in the EU is, but this chappie obviously exceeded it.

Latest Vaping News

Mawsley, Planet of the Vapes

What does the Trump election mean for vaping? We have absolutely no idea, but we do know what has been taking place around the world in vaping soundbites. From Europe to the States, electronic cigarettes still offer up a mix of copy for media outlets.

Italy, for example, brings positive news. The vaping market was all but destroyed following the banning of certain products and punitive taxation rates over the last few years. Reports came in that many consumers put down their ecig and went back to smoking.

Policy Statement on the use of E-Cigs

Hertfordshire’s Tobacco Harm Reduction Guidance

It is proposed that Hertfordshire County Council promotes responsibly the use of e-cigarettes to help smokers to quit or reduce smoking, whilst acknowledging that e-cigarettes are not entirely without risk, and monitors ongoing impact and evidence. This line is entirely consistent with national guidance and was included within Hertfordshire’s Tobacco Harm Reduction Guidance which was approved by Panel in February 2015.

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