Vapers Digest 17th May

Friday’s News at a glance:

We Must Stand Against Dangerous Vape Tax! – Vape sector demands apology from public health minister – Ireland raises smoking age limit to 21 – No Smoke, Less Harm: A Path to Saving Lives – Recent Reports Reflect How the FDA Props Up the Cigarette Trade – Still Failing in Australia – THR Hailed as Fag Sales Slump – Artificial Intelligence and Willing Stupidity – Cigarette sales halved – The Menthols Ban: Delayed – Next EU Parliament should listen – Global Action to End Smoking: – What did we learn from the E-Cig Summit – FDA Needs to Reboot Rules – FDA’s Tawdry Record With Cigarette Approvals – Former FDA Official Cozied Up To Activists – Why a ban on e-cigarettes needs more consideration –

We Must Stand Against Dangerous Tax!

Guest Post: Mark Oates – ECigClick

An appeal by Mark Oates, founder of We Vape. A TARGETED community is a united one.

And today I call on the millions of vapers victimised for using a tool that has saved them from the horrors of smoking to stand together against the latest government broadside. Proposals for a tax on vaping were announced during Jeremy Hunt’s March 6 budget.

It was revealed “the government is introducing a new duty on vaping and increasing tobacco duty from October 2026, raising revenue to support public services like the NHS.” This will generate £445 million in revenue annually, we are told.

Vape sector demands apology

From public health minister

The vaping industry has written to the Prime Minister to complain about the inappropriate behaviour of Public Health Minister Andrea Leadsom, following comments that she made at the Tobacco & Vapes Bill Committee which has been considering evidence in relation to clauses that make up the Bill, as it makes it passage through Parliament.

In responding to the idea of a licensing scheme being considered as part of the amendments to the Bill, Leadsom said that she will not consider a licensing scheme for vape retailers.

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Two from Martin Cullip:

Recent Reports Reflect How the FDA

Props Up the Cigarette Trade

Two subscription-only reports have recently highlighted how the Food and Drug Administration is effectively propping up smoking in the United States. The agency has failed to authorize enough safer nicotine alternatives to comprehensively undermine the combustible tobacco market—a situation that ensures cigarette sales remain hugely profitable.

Goldman Sachs’ “Nicotine Nuggets” report, published on April 22, offers a fascinating glimpse into the tobacco industry through the eyes of retailers. Intended to inform investors, the report should provide public health authorities with valuable insights too.

No Smoke, Less Harm:

A Path to Saving Lives

Despite decades of public health campaigns highlighting the dangers of smoking, misconceptions and misinformation about nicotine persist. Contrary to popular belief, nicotine itself does not cause cancer and plays a minimal role, if any, in tobacco-related diseases. It’s time to dispel these myths and acknowledge the potential of tobacco harm reduction (THR) strategies in saving millions of lives.

It is essential to recognise that there will always be individuals who choose to consume nicotine, much like those who consume caffeine. It is known that humans have used nicotine for more than 12,000 years; it is foolhardy for modern policymakers to believe that they can be the ones to eradicate it.

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Ireland raises smoking age limit to 21 –

But holds vaping at 18 – Ali Anderson

Ireland aims to become the first country in the European Union to ban smoking among under-21s. The proposed new legislation will not apply to alternative nicotine products such as vapes because of “insufficient evidence” that they pose a health risk to adults. The legal age for vaping was raised in December from 16 to 18, and there are currently no plans to increase it again.

It comes after a landmark report in Sweden titled “Less Smoke, Less Harm” found that nicotine does not lead to tobacco-related illness and death.

A Department of Health spokesperson told the Irish Medical Times: “At this point in time, there is insufficient evidence of health harms to adults to justify this restriction applying to nicotine inhaling products. However, the Minister (for Health) will continue to monitor the emerging evidence and keep such a measure under review.”

The Menthols Ban:

Delayed, Divisive and Far From Dead – Kiran Sidhu

The planned national ban on menthol cigarettes in the United States was postponed indefinitely in late April. The idea has been considered by regulators for years. It was unsuccessfully proposed by then-FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb under the Trump administration in 2018. Under the Biden administration, the plan was first announced by the FDA in 2021, but has repeatedly been pushed back since.

Many observers attribute the Biden administration’s latest postponement to political motives in an election year. They ask how Black voters, a core Democratic constituency, would respond to a ban, when Black people who smoke overwhelmingly smoke menthols.

Three from Dave Cross, Planet of the Vapes:

Still Failing in Australia

The Australian approach to vaping is categorically failing, according to the Australian Association of Convenience Stores. The Association says the anti-vaping laws are introducing a whole new generation to black market crime. The announcement comes as more stores are being bombed and arch anti-harm reduction campaigner Professor Emily Banks admits that she can’t provide a at parliamentary inquiry with examples of previously claimed vaping-related deaths.

The new RedBridge Group research, commissioned by the Australian Association of Convenience Stores, reveals:

THR Hailed as Fag Sales Slump

The latest Briefing Paper from the Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction (GSTHR), a project from UK-based public health agency Knowledge·Action·Change (K·A·C), focuses on the rapid fall in cigarette sales in Japan over the last 10 years following the introduction of heated tobacco products (HTP). “Cigarette sales halved: heated tobacco products and the Japanese experience” explores some of the social and cultural factors that have made Japan particularly suited to HTP and provides an important case study showcasing the potential of tobacco harm reduction through the adoption of safer nicotine products (SNP).

Artificial Intelligence & Willing Stupidity

A research paper from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland claims that artificial intelligence has discovered a cocktail of toxins in vape products. Irish media, then UK newspapers, rejoiced at the news. Long standing opponents of vaping tweeted their excitement at the prospect of vapers dying from cancer. Is this the smoking gun that proves vaping is dangerous – far more so than anyone previously thought?

‘Watch out for the hazardous health risks from flavoured vapes’, screamed the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI). It says its work, “highlights the urgent need for public health policies”.

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Cigarette sales halved:

Heated tobacco products and the Japanese experience

As in most high-income countries, smoking rates in Japan have been falling in recent decades, but the introduction of heated tobacco products (HTP), coupled with a favourable legislative climate, has accelerated that decline. Over the last 10 years, millions of Japan’s adult smokers have started to use HTP, leading to a globally unprecedented 52% fall in cigarette sales, and this Briefing Paper explores the story behind this rapid transition.

Tobacco is generally accepted to have reached Japan by the end of the 16th century. The traditional method of smoking tobacco involved the use of a kiseru, a long, thin pipe into which fine-cut, hair-like tobacco would be added. Cigarettes were introduced to the country in the latter half of the 19th century and quickly became popular.

Next EU Parliament should listen

To consumers on novel tobacco products

The next European Parliament should make sure that consumers’ demands are met, as its soon-to-be-elected members carry out the revision of the EU tobacco policy framework, according to current parliamentarian Pietro Fiocchi.

The Italian member of European Parliament (MEP), who is also running for the upcoming elections in June, told TobaccoIntelligence he hopes the Parliament will consider the feedback from citizens and stakeholders who took part in the European Commission’s public consultation over the tobacco policy framework revision process.

Global Action to End Smoking:

The US nonprofit organization new commitment to support smoking cessation

On Monday 13, the former Foundation fro a Smoke- Free World, hosted an online event in Washington DC to present the organization’s renewed mission to support smoking cessation and public health worldwide under the name of Global Action to End Smoking.

The rebranding of the US Foundation lays the groundwork for new activities supporting harm reduction strategies, through a holistic and multisectoral approach that prioritizes the experience of smokers or tobacco consumers, who are often stigmatized or overlooked

What did we learn from the E-Cig Summit

In Washington, D.C.? – Derek Yach

The E-Cig Summit comes at a time of change in how tobacco harm reduction (THR) products are regarded by those who oppose or support their use as a means of ending smoking. In recent months, new reports, editorials and comments in leading medical journals have highlighted the benefits of vapes for smoking cessation.1,2,3,4 Further, calls for medically licensed vapes have increased from academics who rarely agree on THR policies.5

Robin Mermelstein, director of the Institute for Health Research and Policy at the University of Illinois, opened the meeting by noting that diverse perspectives are needed for innovations required to end combustible use.

FDA Needs to Reboot Rules

Andy Tan

The White House announced on April 26 that it would indefinitely delay the ban on menthol cigarette sales. If passed, this ban would have averted over 650,000 deaths over the next 40 years, and would have led 4.5 million Americans who smoke menthol cigarettes to quit entirely. This delay means that menthol cigarettes will continue to cause suffering and kill many more people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, and those with lower incomes who use menthol cigarettes at higher rates.

FDA’s Tawdry Record With Approvals

FDA has authorized more than 1,500 new cigarettes and more than 11,000 combustible tobacco products over the last five years. Last year, VTA did a deep dive into FDA’s tobacco product approvals. The numbers were shocking then and things have only gotten worse.

FDA’s current leaders, Commissioner Robert Califf and Center for Tobacco Products Director Brian King, have refused to authorize a single premarket tobacco application for less harmful electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) out of millions of products for which PMTAs were submitted. And they have refused to authorize a single less harmful modern oral nicotine product.

Former FDA Official Cozied Up To Activists

Months Before Joining Them – Robert Schmad

A former senior U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) official hobnobbed with employees from an anti-tobacco nonprofit just months before coming on as the group’s CEO, emails show.

Kathy Crosby, who played a leading role in shaping public health policy while serving as the director of Health Communication and Education at the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, became the president and CEO of the Truth Initiative, an anti-tobacco and anti-nicotine activist organization, in August 2023.

Worldwide Vaping Growth Continues

Global Forum on Nicotine

Despite suffering years of pernicious misinformation and an onslaught of regulation leading to product restrictions and bans, in many countries, the popularity of nicotine vaping continues unbridled growth. Indeed, according to Barnaby Page, editorial director at Tamarind Intelligence, it’s unstoppable!

Why a ban on e-cigarettes

Needs more consideration

Nineteen-year-old Amit, who’s currently in his gap year, started vaping two years ago. He says he isn’t addicted to it—he barely experienced any withdrawal syndrome when he quit it last year, before picking it up again. Amit, who the Post is identifying with a pseudonym to protect his privacy, says he vapes just because he wants to.

Unlike Amit, Rita (name changed), who is 21, switched to vaping after smoking tobacco for a while. Rita says that since she hopes to quit smoking altogether, she doesn’t mind the Nepal government’s intention to put a blanket ban on e-cigarettes.

What Do We Know About E-Cigarettes

For Smoking Cessation?

At its peak in 1965, more than 40% of U.S. Americans smoked cigarettes(opens in a new tab). Today, that number is closer to 12%.(opens in a new tab) Unfortunately, despite this amazing public health triumph, that translates into more than 28 million people in the U.S. who still smoke (defined as smoking ≥100 cigarettes during a lifetime and now smoking cigarettes either every day or some days). Cigarette smoking remains the leading cause of preventable premature death in the U.S. and globally. It seems important, then, to continue to find effective ways to reduce the number of people who smoke tobacco.

A recent study adds to the mounting body of evidence that electronic nicotine delivery systems, i.e., electronic cigarettes or e-cigarettes, must be considered as one of the approaches to helping people stop smoking combustible cigarettes and other forms of tobacco.

Closing the Space

Asanda Gcoyi

Like other countries around the world, South Africans have taken to vaping in great numbers over the past 10 years. What started as a small community of smokers seeking out less harmful alternatives to cigarettes has now morphed into a massive industry that is growing in leaps and bounds.

Since 2013, vaping devices in South Africa have become a ubiquitous sight, with many a smoker giving up their deadly habit in favor of vaping. For the past decade, vaping has remained outside the regulatory net while tobacco has been regulated through the Tobacco Products Control Act, 83, 1993. While hailed in its initial days, the act has failed to reduce South Africa’s smoking rates successfully.

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On this Day…2023

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

Rethinking U.S. tobacco and nicotine regulation

Clive Bates, The Counterfactual

Can the United States develop a federal regulatory approach to tobacco and nicotine that addresses the overwhelming public health problem, namely, adult smoking, especially in disadvantaged populations?

Can the US do this while providing a rational basis for regulating a much safer legal consumer nicotine market that will persist indefinitely?

Can it find a realistic approach to controlling youth nicotine use, taking all aspects of welfare into account and a realistic approach to youth risk behaviours?

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