Vapers Digest 1st March
Wednesday’s News at a glance:
Successful Harm Reduction Is Not a Fantasy ~ Usa, Serbia, Morocco and Indonesia: Catania, world capital of Harm Reduction ~ UK Study Again Proves Vaping Risks Considerably Lower ~ Smoking Behavior and Risk Perceptions in Georgia: Results of 2022 Survey ~ Greens strategy a major win for public health ~ INNCO draws attention to the apparent censorship of the THR ~ Where are the FCTC Bureau meeting minutes? ~ Altria Gets Serious About Buying NJOY ~ Vaping Industry Unimpressed by CTP ‘Reset’ ~ Where’s the Parade? ~ Taxing Times for UK Vapers? ~ Elf Bar Meets the MHRA ~ Parliament ~ Op-Ed: Youth vaping rates not impacted by pandemic responses despite misinformation campaign ~ BIG EU consultation – act now! ~ ETHRA February news roundup ~ Despite False Claims of Illegal Nicotine Levels, Elf Bar 600 Disposable Vape Range Found Safe and Legal
Successful Harm Reduction Is Not a Fantasy
Greens strategy a major win for public health
Dr Colin Mendelsohn, ColinMendelsohn.com.au
YESTERDAY CATE FAEHRMANN MP of the NSW Greens announced a plan to legalise nicotine vapes for people over the age of 18 in the state, recognising that the current prescription-only model has failed. The current regulations have created a thriving black market which sells illegal vapes freely to young people.
“The Greens have long been strong supporters of drug harm reduction and must be congratulated for their courageous support for tobacco harm reduction and making the right choice for public health”
INNCO draws attention to the apparent censorship of the THR
International Network of Consumer Organizations (INNCO)
Hi Dear Friends,
We hope you are doing amazingly well. INNCO made a press release concerning the THR Summit Spain 2023, where apparently pressure from the Spanish Ministry of Health and the World Health Organisation tried to prevent a much-needed debate on the role of Harm Reduction tools in a nation where the prevalence of people who smoke continues to increase. You can read it here.
Where are the FCTC Bureau meeting minutes?
COPWatch
It seems that the long march towards a triumphant COP10 later this year must surely have encountered a hitch. The second meeting of the FCTC Bureau took place at the end of November 2022, but here we are at the start of March and the minutes of their last meeting have still not been published. Has their typewriter broken?
The role of the Bureau is to make proposals which are then circulated to regional coordinators. Considering the next Bureau meeting is scheduled for 27-28 March, it does not leave much time to enable the regions to digest what has gone before.
Altria Gets Serious About Buying NJOY
Jim McDonald, Vaping360
Altria Group is in talks to buy NJOY, which is the only independent vaping company with FDA-authorized devices. The discussions are “advanced,” and if the purchase takes place, Altria would also divest its 35 percent share in Juul Labs. The story was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Altria is the manufacturer of Marlboro cigarettes, and has no presence in the vaping market aside from its share in Juul. If Altria were to buy NJOY, there would be no FDA-authorized vaping products not owned by a major tobacco company. (Vuse is owned by R.J. Reynolds/British American Tobacco, and Logic is owned by Japan Tobacco International.)
Two from Tobacco Reporter
Vaping Industry Unimpressed by CTP ‘Reset’
Vaping industry representatives are unimpressed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s plan, announced Feb. 24, to address the shortcomings in the operations of its Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) identified by independent evaluators working through the Reagan-Udall Foundation.
“While the devil is in the details, nothing in today’s announcement hinted at any material shift in FDA’s perpetual attack on every nicotine-containing product,” Tony Abboud of the Vapor Technology Association told AP News.
Where’s the Parade?
Cheryl K. Olson
Back in 2009, when planning its 10-year public health objectives, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) set an ambitious goal for reducing youth smoking. At the time, said government data, one in five teens (19.5 percent) had lit up in the past month. The Healthy People 2020 target was 16 percent.
These targets aren’t meant to be slam-dunks. In 2020, a third of the 985 trackable Healthy People objectives were met; the rest improved some, stayed the same or got worse. So what happened with high school smoking?
Three from Dave Cross, Planet Of The Vapes
Taxing Times for UK Vapers?
Despite the current cost of living crisis and the need to encourage smokers to switch to vaping, the UK Government is considering thrusting a new tax onto vape products, according to sources inside the House of Commons. The World Vapers’ Alliance believes that such a move risks pushing vapers back to smoking.
Elf Bar Meets the MHRA
Following the recent news that illegal products were placed into supermarket chains, Elf Bar has met with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The disposables company has issued a full statement and trade body the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) has also commented on the matter.
Parliament
In the latest instalment of questions and answers from the Houses of Parliament regarding vaping and tobacco harm reduction, Lord Porter questioned the adequacy of current legislation. Adam Afriyie asked about Elf Bar and the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations in the House of Commons. Rachael Maskell inquired after the continually absent Tobacco Control Plan and followed with a number of other questions to the Department for Health and Social Care.
Op-Ed: Youth vaping rates not impacted by pandemic
responses despite misinformation campaign
ETHRA’s monthly roundup of news: Public consultation – ACT NOW – Who sets tobacco control policies in the European Union? – THR Summit Spain 2023 – Nonsense in Norway – Bulgaria backs THR – Finland tightens restrictions – Flavours under fire in France – Disposable’s dilemma. Read on for more
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