Vapers Digest 19th April

Friday’s News at a glance:

It’s the only one for me, nicotine – Swedish ‘snus tax’ is a game changer in THR policies – E-cigarettes and harm reduction – Fentanyl in e-cigarettes: The making of a myth – Lawsuit Challenges Kentucky PMTA Registry Law – Liberal Government is living in a Fantasy – Tobacco Control Heavyweight Takes THR Helm – Dr Derek Yach Discusses Recent Position Statement – Vaping Unplugged Podcast with Colin Mendelsohn Ep. 50 – Flavored Tobacco Bans are Tasteless Policy – Trust the Science to Help Millions of Smokers Quit – Vapes increasingly likely to help smokers quit – The War on Tobacco — Yet another gift to organized crime

It’s the only one for me, nicotine

Christopher Snowdon

My name is Christopher and I am a nicotine addict. My addiction has not destroyed any relationships. It has not negatively impacted my work. I have never woken up in a ditch as a result of it. It has not even affected my health, touch wood, and if it ever does, that will be my problem. I smoked for 20 years and enjoyed every single cigarette. I’ve vaped for 13 years and enjoy that just as much. Getting a little tetchy when I can’t access nicotine is a small price to pay for the pleasure of using nicotine. In the absence of government intervention, there would rarely be a situation in which I couldn’t access nicotine, so I pin that small downside on the government. Unlike the government, nicotine has never taken away my freedom.

Swedish ‘snus tax’ is a game changer

In tobacco harm reduction policies

International harm reduction experts have commended the Swedish government for keeping to their promise and announcing a date for reducing tax on alternative nicotine products.

Last week, the Swedish government confirmed that it would follow through with its previously announced plan to decrease the excise tax on snus by 20%, while increasing taxes on traditional cigarettes by 9%.

According to the Swedish government’s official announcement, the move is in recognition of the fact snus poses only a fraction of the risk of cigarettes.

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E-cigarettes and harm reduction: 

An evidence review – RCP

The new RCP report, E-cigarettes and harm reduction: An evidence review, looks at several themes, including how e-cigarettes can be used to support more people to make quit attempts while discouraging young people and never-smokers from taking up e-cigarette use. It also examines trends in tobacco and vaping use, the effectiveness of e-cigarettes to treat tobacco addiction, and the differences in health effects of vaping in people who smoke, vape or do neither, the role of the tobacco industry in the rising use of e-cigarettes, and the ethical dilemmas presented by e-cigarettes.

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Fentanyl in e-cigarettes:

The making of a myth – Michelle Minton

In a recent House Oversight Committee hearing, U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Robert Califf was pressed on the influx of foreign-produced disposable e-cigarettes, with one lawmaker noting that such “vapes” have been found to contain fentanyl. That fentanyl might be found in nicotine vapor products has stirred fear in some circles, fueled by the rise of fentanyl overdoses and the perennial concern over youth vaping. However, not all fears are justified. In this case, fears that nicotine e-cigarettes are being adulterated with fentanyl are completely baseless and potentially dangerous.

First, let’s address the lack of evidence. While fentanyl has allegedly been detected in illicit cannabis vapes in a handful of cases and is present in “fentanyl vapes” designed for and used explicitly for opioid use…

Lawsuit Challenges PMTA Registry Law

Jim McDonald

A group of vape and hemp businesses has filed a lawsuit in state court challenging Kentucky’s recently passed PMTA registry law. The law is set to take effect Jan. 1, 2025, and will make it illegal to sell most vaping products that have not either received marketing authorization from the FDA, still be under review by the agency, or are currently under appeal to the FDA or a court.

The lawsuit was filed on April 12 in Franklin Circuit Court by four vaping companies, along with the Kentucky Smoke Free Association and the Kentucky Hemp Association. They are asking the court to declare the registry law unconstitutional, and to provide temporary and permanent injunctive relief that prevents the state from enforcing the law.

Liberal Government is living in a Fantasy

Rights4Vapers

Yesterday’s Federal Budget unfairly puts the responsibility for paying for the new drug plan program squarely on the shoulders of Canadians who vape and smoke. And it is a pipe dream.

“If the federal government thinks that Canadians who vape and smoke will fund the new drug plan, I have a bridge to sell them,” said Maria Papaioannoy, spokesperson for Rights4Vapers. “We have so many questions. How can they tax a product that will not exist after the Minister of Health bans flavours, unless they think all of us who vape will start smoking again”

Last month, the Minister of Health revived a plan to ban flavoured vapour products that will cripple the legal market and turn over sales to the untaxed black market. Where will the revenue come from when Canadians who vape buy their product from criminals?

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TC Heavyweight Takes THR Helm

#GFNTVInterviews

Cliff Douglas is, as they say, the “real deal”. An essential attorney in the tobacco wars of the 1990s, an adviser to the U.S. FDA and Surgeon General and vice president of tobacco control at the American Cancer Society. He is a tobacco control veteran and now the leader of a global organization dedicated to reducing tobacco harm through harm reduction.

Dr Derek Yach Discusses Recent…

Position Statement By The Brazilian Society of Cardiology

A discussion on the recent position statement by The Brazilian Society of Cardiology by Dr. Derek Yach.

“They should be ashamed of themselves, putting out a statement that is misleading, distorting, and causing their physician colleagues to give incorrect advice that will lead to the death of many patients worldwide.”

Vaping Unplugged Podcast

With Colin Mendelsohn Ep. 50

Dr. Mendelsohn, a former Conjoint Associate Professor at the University of New South Wales and a practicing doctor for almost three decades, shares his invaluable insights on the potential of vaping as a safer alternative for smokers. With a storied career that includes developing key smoking cessation programs and conducting extensive research and workshops across Australia and New Zealand, Dr. Mendelsohn brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to our discussion.

Flavored Tobacco Bans Tasteless Policy

Jacob Posik

As the months-long delay in the Biden administration’s adoption of a menthol cigarette ban draws on, states and municipalities across the country are wading into these waters on their own, particularly in New England. But most of these efforts are going one step further by banning all flavors for combustible and smokeless tobacco products.

Massachusetts was the first state to approve a flavor ban in 2019, and Vermont’s House of Representatives approved a prohibition in the Green Mountain State just last month. In my home state of Maine, seven municipalities, including the largest city of Portland, have banned flavored tobacco, and the state legislature is currently considering a bill to ban flavored sales statewide, a rule which could be adopted by the end of the current session.

Trust the Science to Help Millions Quit

Robert Kent

“Trust the science” has been the prevailing public health mantra since the dark days of the COVID-19 pandemic. We have been reminded that policy should be driven by facts instead of polarizing, political rhetoric.

Yet, when it comes to tobacco use, we continue to ignore the science. Vapor products are scientifically proven to be less harmful than combustible cigarettes. Still, public health officials and policymakers continue to ban and tax these products out of existence. If we want to prevent tobacco deaths, we need to trust the science.

Vapes increasingly likely to help smokers

Ali Anderson

Vapes are increasingly likely to help people quit cigarettes, a new study has revealed. The study, published in the Nicotine & Tobacco Research journal, looked at the quitting rates of adult smokers in the US between 2013 and 2021.

It compared the success rates of those using vapes to help them quit with those who didn’t. In the earlier period, between 2013 and 2016, there was no difference between those who used vapes and those who didn’t – the quit rate in both groups was 16 percent.

But in more recent years, from 2018 to 2021, those using vapes had a quit rate of almost 31 percent – far higher than the rate of around 20 percent for people who didn’t use vapes.

The War on Tobacco —

Yet another gift to organized crime – Paul Wallis

If you have a negative IQ, your best choice of career is a prohibitionist policymaker. Prohibition of anything has never worked at all, ever. Tobacco policy obviously isn’t an exception. Prohibition has always made organized crime richer by the day.

All you need are a few naïve out-of-touch idiots. Tobacco is now going the same way, making billions for criminals. So now they’re passing as many laws as they can to make sure organized crime continues to live in luxury.

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On this Day…2023

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

Newly published GSTHR research

Shows significant rise in global number of vapers

A week after the UK Government announced its Swap to Stop scheme, which will see one million smokers given a free vaping starter kit to help them quit smoking, the latest research from the Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction (GSTHR) shows a significant rise in the global number of people who vape.

The new peer-reviewed paper published this week in Drugs, Habits and Social Policy estimates there are now 82 million vapers worldwide. The GSTHR project, from Knowledge•Action•Change (K•A•C), a UK public health agency, found that the total for 2021 represents a 20% increase on the figure for 2020 (68 million).

Vaping offers a significantly safer alternative for the 1 billion people around the world who continue to smoke. Each year, there are eight million smoking-related deaths worldwide.

Who is the new WHO French guy?

COPWatch

The World Health Organization’s Director General has appointed a new leadership team following his re-election last year. Naturally, we are interested in who has been handed the brief of overseeing the WHO’s future efforts towards smoking and nicotine.

According to Health Policy Watch, the appointee is Dr Jérôme Salomon from France, who will act as Assistant Director-General for Universal Health Coverage, Communicable and Non-communicable Diseases. Copwatch believes it prudent that his credentials be checked for suitability in such an important role so we have investigated his track record.

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