Vapers Digest 16th October
Monday’s News at a glance:
New government consultation on smoking and nicotine products – Make Your Voice Heard!! – Memo: Tobacco acquis evaluation validation workshop – EU bureaucrats plotting to use WHO treaty – CoEHAR letter to the European Commissioner – The WHO publishes anonymously-written papers – NNA Warns of Government Threats to Consumers – Ecig Summit Speakers Announced – Thank You, Greg Conley and AVA! – New Studies Are Debunking Misinformation About Youth Vaping – Review of: E-cigarettes in young people – Dramatic Reductions in Cigarette Smoking Prevalence among High School Youth – Australian public overwhelmingly supports licensed retail sales – Post-Voice Referendum – UK Smokefree Generation Proposal – Bans and high taxes fuel black markets – Alabama launches vape courts – Big Tobacco turns to rooibos tea – Stigma Hampers Recruitment for Nicotine Research
New government consultation
On smoking and nicotine products: Have your say
New Nicotine Alliance
On Thursday, the Department of Health and Social Care published a new consultation on measures to tackle the issues presented by both smoking and vaping. The process will be in collaboration with the devolved administrations of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The issues around vaping and other non-combustible nicotine products stem from fears that young people need to be protected from ‘becoming addicted to nicotine’.
The threats to consumers of safer nicotine products in this document are many. Options being consulted on by the government include:
Make Your Voice Heard!!
UK Government Smoking & Vaping Consultation 2023
Michelle – EcigClick
The UK government have released a consultation survey to get opinions from the public on smoking and vaping regulation.
There is a briefing page outlining the consultation which you can read here. However I will summarise the main points for you.
Basically the government are looking to create new regulations on smoking and vaping.
Obviously with smoking they are looking at a ban to prevent anyone who was born on or after January 9th 2009 being able to purchase tobacco in the future. In theory creating a “smoke free” generation. We have covered more about this here.
Acquis evaluation validation workshop
European Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates
On 6 October ETHRA and partners Aiduce and Sovape participated in a validation workshop organised by Open Evidence. Open Evidence is one of three contractors which won a tender for the Single Framework Contract for Support Actions in the Field of Tobacco Control, read more about the tender and contract here. They were tasked with conducting a number of consultations into the evaluation of the legislative framework for tobacco control and producing a report for the European Commission, the report is expected early next year and may or may not be made public. Our contributions to the consultations can be found here. The report and any recommendations made will very likely feed into the next TPD which is due late next year.
EU bureaucrats plotting to use WHO treaty
To sideline European Parliament on tobacco harm reduction
Clive Bates, The Counterfactual
Leaked documents show that the bureaucrats of the European Commission and European Council are secretively working together to use the WHO tobacco treaty to bounce the European Parliament and their own legislatures into hostile positions on vapes, pouches and heated tobacco products. They are evading democratic scrutiny and ignoring the health and well-being of millions of Europeans who have quit smoking with these much safer smoke-free nicotine products – and many more smokers for whom this is still an opportunity.
How? They will exploit the poor scrutiny and accountability of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control 10th Conference of the Parties (COP-10) meeting to endorse the extreme positions favoured by the WHO. Then they will be able to present these as requirements of international law that must be implemented by the European Union.
A new study presents the patterns of e-cigarette flavor use in a large sample of US vapers, and discusses the harmful for smokers & vapers consequences of restricting flavors.https://t.co/YBYIrR6Fwa#flavors
— K. Farsalinos (@FarsalinosK) October 14, 2023
CoEHAR letter to the EU Commissioner
From November 20th to the 25th, delegates representing the countries that signed the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) will gather in Panama to discuss tobacco and nicotine policies at the tenth session fo the Conference of the Parties (COP10). As every two years, the WHO FCTC will decide on the public health guidelines for participating countries, including the EU.
As well known, the FCTC’s position in Panama will be to equate combustion-free products with conventional cigarettes, in stark contrast to the results of the entire scientific literature that prove the effectiveness of risk reduction principles in the fight against smoking.
WHO publishes anonymously-written…
Papers designed to gaslight Parties at COP10 – COPWatch
Copwatch has detailed many instances of the WHO and FCTC Secretariat playing fast and loose with evidence or cherry-picking research to suit its anti-harm reduction agenda. It is unscientific and shameful but nothing we have not seen before. But two new reports, on disposable vapes and nicotine pouches, have been published on a separate page to the main COP10 menu which seem specifically designed to mislead COP10 delegates based on nothing more than opinion.
There is much that could be challenged in them, but the problem would be who to approach considering they are written anonymously. Are senior government officials attending the meeting in Panama from around the world expected to just take the misinformation on trust?
Two from Dave Cross, Planet of the Vapes:
NNA Warns of Government Threats
The New Nicotine Alliance (NNA) consumer charity has warned about the “many” threats to vaping and vapers contained within the government’s new consultation on smoking and nicotine products. The consultation process will be conducted across the whole UK because Rishi Sunak wants to “tackle the issues presented by both smoking and vaping”. The NNA says, “the threats to consumers of safer nicotine products in this document are many.”
Government proposals up for consultation:
Ecig Summit Speakers Announced
Organisers of the 2023 E-Cigarette Summit UK, which takes place at the Royal College of Physicians on 16th November 2023, are delighted to have announced the list of expert speakers. They say they will be continuing to offer an interactive hybrid option for those that cannot attend the event in London in person, which includes live and on-demand viewing options.
Registration is open now and Early Bird rates apply until Monday 16th October: www.e-cigarette-summit.com
Thank You, Greg Conley and AVA!
CASAA would like to take this opportunity to say “thank you” to the Board of Directors at the American Vaping Association (AVA) and AVA President, Gregory Conley, for your years of leadership and support. CASAA is grateful for your donation and we look forward to continuing working with you and the American Vapor Manufacturers (AVM). AVA’s donation will help CASAA continue its work elevating the voices of nicotine consumers and pushing back against an unrelenting tide of overreaching and emotional regulation.
DE-DEMONIZING NICOTINE
Ending Fear to Promote Benefits | GFN.TV Interviews
According to harm reduction consultant and developmental neurobiologist Charles Gardner, there’s a particular piece of information you are not supposed to talk about, promote nor expect public health to acknowledge. What is it? That nicotine is not carcinogenic and, when consumed outside of a cigarette, is relatively benign. Gardner considers it likely that nicotine is no more harmful than caffeine – and in his opinion, it could have significant health benefits. Gardner believes it’s time to ‘de-demonize nicotine’.
New Studies Debunking Misinformation
About Youth Vaping – Martin Cullip
Critics of vaping routinely speculate that the introduction of e-cigarettes will inevitably lead to an increase in adolescent cigarette use. However, two recently published studies have concluded that these fears are unfounded and should now be labelled as misinformation.
In recent years, those opposed to vaping eagerly seized upon cherry-picked studies claiming that youth who vape are three times more likely to go on to smoke, although the research suggesting a gateway theory shows no causality. Some claim that young people who take risks with vaping are just as likely to experiment with other risky behaviors. This is regularly cited to stoke fears of a future tobacco epidemic and as a reason to prohibit or severely restrict vaping products.
Review of: E-cigarettes in young people:
Applying the precautionary principle in primary care – Clive Bates
According to its authors, this editorial by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) Adolescent Health Group…
…highlights the concerns about adolescents, and offers support to primary care practitioners when assessing e-cigarette use in young people.
Unfortunately, the editorial does not meet an acceptable standard for publication or for informing hard-pressed general practitioners (GPs) with reliable or actionable insights.
I will describe a range of issues with the paper.
Not a valid assessment of youth e-cigarette use or application of the precautionary principle
Dramatic Reductions in Cigarette Smoking
Prevalence among High School Youth from 1991 to 2022 Unlikely to Have Been Undermined by E-Cigarettes
Cristine D. Delnevo, Andrea C. Villanti
Abstract: There is concern that youth e-cigarette use could lead youth to initiate cigarette smoking. This study identifies epochs of cigarette smoking among U.S. high school students in three commonly utilized national school-based surveys over three decades without a priori assumptions. We examined trends in ever and current cigarette smoking among high school youth from 1991 to 2022 in three datasets: Monitoring the Future (MTF), the National Youth Risk Behavior Survey (NYRBS) and the National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) via Joinpoint regression. High stable rates of ever smoking were noted from 1991 to 1999 (NYRBS and MTF) and then significantly declined from 1999 to 2013; declines accelerated through to 2022. In the NYTS, ever cigarette smoking significantly declined from 1999 to 2018 and then declines accelerated to 2022.
Three from Colin Mendelsohn:
Australian public overwhelmingly…
Supports licensed retail sales of vaping products
THE VAST MAJORITY OF AUSTRALIAN VOTERS want regulated nicotine vaping products to be sold through licensed retail outlets, like alcohol and tobacco.
This was the finding of a RedBridge market research study of 1,500 Australians aged 18 and over, conducted last month. The research was commissioned by the Australian Association of Convenience Stores.
The survey revealed that 88% of respondents support the idea that regulated nicotine vaping products should be available for sale to adults aged 18 and older through licensed retail outlets, the same as alcohol and tobacco products.
Post-Voice Referendum:
Vaping as a path to Indigenous health and financial inequalities
THE RECENT FAILURE OF THE VOICE REFERENDUM has left us searching for innovative solutions to address the crisis of Indigenous disadvantage and inequality in Australia. One such solution is the introduction of vaping as a harm reduction strategy—an approach that has proven remarkably successful in New Zealand among the Māori population.
Indigenous smoking in Australia remains a pressing national crisis.
The latest official survey in 2018-2019 revealed that a staggering 43.4% of Indigenous adults were current smokers, a rate three times higher than that of the general population
Despite significant investments in initiatives like the Closing the Gap program, progress in reducing Indigenous smoking rates has been disappointingly slow.
UK Smokefree Generation Proposal:
Right Intent, Wrong Priority
THE UK’S PROPOSED GENERATIONAL SMOKING BAN is a bold plan. The recent initiative announced by UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will progressively raise the legal age for purchasing cigarettes, following the proposal soon to be implemented in New Zealand.
This approach seems commendable at first glance. Smoking is addictive and deadly and we all want young people not to start. But will this plan work and is it the best strategy to reduce smoking rates in Australia?
In England, only a meagre 1% of young people aged 11 to 15 were regular smokers in 2021 – smoking at least one cigarette weekly. In Australia this figure was 3% in 2019. This is a clear indication that young people are already veering away from this deadly habit.
Watch: Stigma Hampers Recruitment
For Nicotine Research – Helen Redmond
Dr. Paul Newhouse has been studying nicotine for three decades, but it’s only in the last few years that he’s had difficulty recruiting participants.
“The political climate and the concerns of the anti-tobacco and anti-smoking advocacy groups has made it harder to do this kind of research,” he explained. “It has impacted our ability to recruit people to our studies.”
In Part 2 of our filmed interview in Warsaw (above, and you can check out Part 1 here), the OG nicotine researcher discussed the versatility of nicotine patches, how the vaping panic and nicotine misinformation have impacted his work, his MIND study, and the hedonistic aspect of drug use.
Bans and high taxes fuel black markets
For tobacco & vape products – Mitchell Scacchi
As the Biden administration gets closer to finalizing its proposed rule banning the sale of menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars nationwide, a well-known aphorism comes to mind: “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”
The administration’s logic behind the federal ban is that doing so will reduce smoking and correspondingly improve public health. This is the same logic used to justify increasing tobacco taxes or banning tobacco and vaping products at the state level.
Alabama launches vape courts
For students busted at school – Amy Yurkanin, Savannah Tryens-Fernandes
Judge Chad Floyd didn’t waste any time Tuesday morning as he addressed defendants and family members gathered in a small third-floor courtroom atop the Cullman County Courthouse.
“If we hurry, I think you should be able to make it back by second period,” Floyd said.
All seven defendants had already missed first period middle and high school classes in Cullman County. All seven had been caught with vape devices on campus.
Big Tobacco turns to rooibos tea
To counter upcoming ban
Big Tobacco firms including British American Tobacco (BATS.L) are selling heat sticks made from nicotine-infused substances such as rooibos tea, countering an incoming European Union ban on flavoured heated tobacco products.
While the sticks mark a new way to inhale the addictive drug, health experts warn that their safety is unclear.
The industry has produced “heat-not-burn” sticks containing tobacco for years, aiming to avoid the toxic chemicals released via combustion.
On this Day…2022
A look back at how things have moved on or otherwise…
Coffey urged to promote alternatives
As concerns grow over tobacco control plan – Kiran Paul
The New Nicotine Alliance (NNA), which represents consumers of low-risk alternatives to cigarettes such as vaping products, nicotine pouches, smokeless and heated tobacco products, has on Friday written to Heath and Social Care Secretary Thérèse Coffey, asking her to promote non-combustible products to reduce smoking.
The intervention comes in the wake of reports this week that the new 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.
Asia Harm Reduction Forum 2022
28 October 2022 | MANILA | The Manila Hotel
We gather global leaders in their respective fields to bridge the gaps between advocates all around the world. Sharing their knowledge and continuing their advocacy of unified global healing through Harm Reduction awareness at the 5th installation of the Asia Harm Reduction Forum 2022 starting 28 October, 2022, from 9:00 to 17:00 (GMT +8).
Join us in the #AsiaHarmReductionForum2022 and be a part of the change you seek in the world.
Registration is FREE: https://bit.ly/3eBb7Ql
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