Vapers Digest 22nd September
Monday’s News at a glance:
The Safer Nicotine Revolution: Global Lessons, Healthier Futures – Doctor supports vaping for nicotine addiction – Australia’s Black Market Tobacco Crisis: Policy Denial on Steroids – WHO Disenfranchises the Public from Tobacco Control Conference as Registration Barriers Reach “Insane” Levels – Ex-WHO official: Harm reduction critical for Asia-Pacific tobacco control – Why COP11 is Africa’s chance to rethink tobacco control – Network for Principled Nicotine Policy Applauds FDA Fast-Track Pilot, Emphasizes Timely Review as Essential to Public Health – Building Bridges – Malaysia Will Ban Vapes; Singapore Increases Penalties – The Tax Trap: Why the EU is Setting Itself for Failure – Calls for changes to how vapes are sold to curb appeal to teens – 5 black market fails from Australia – Nicotine pouch reviews put on fast track under FDA pilot – ZYN Lawsuits – Fed-Funded Study Gave Free Cigarettes to Pregnant Women — Why? – Oregon Supreme Court to rule on censorship in vaping packaging case – Exclusive: FDA nicotine pouch pilot to ease manufacturers’ research burden, transcript shows – ‘We were warned’ – Border Force insider on blackmarket vapes and smokes – Harm Reduction Explained | Dr. Mark Tyndall – GFN.TV Interviews | OPTIONS MATTER | Lisbon’s Vaping Project for Marginalized Groups
The Safer Nicotine Revolution: Global Lessons, Healthier Futures (PDF)
Smoke Free Sweden
Executive Summary
Despite decades of effort and billions invested in tobacco control, smoking remains the world’s biggest preventable killer, claiming more than 7 million lives each year. In many countries, progress to stem this epidemic has slowed. The question is no longer whether the current approach is enough, as it patently is not. The real question is: what new strategy can finally break the deadlock and deliver a smoke-free future? This report provides an answer that is compelling, evidence-based and actionable. When safer nicotine alternatives (SNAs) are embraced, smoking rates plummet, lives are saved and healthcare costs fall.
WHO Disenfranchises the Public from Tobacco Control Conference as Registration Barriers Reach “Insane” Levels
The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA)
The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) today condemned the World Health Organisation’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) for erecting deliberate barriers to prevent public participation in the upcoming Conference of the Parties (COP11) scheduled for November in Geneva.
Executive Coordinator Nancy Loucas has accused the WHO FCTC of implementing an “insane system” for public registration that was designed to exclude rather than include legitimate stakeholders. The registration process was publicised just last week despite being available since February. It requires participants to navigate complex documentation requirements including passport details, a photograph, a letter of intent, and a comprehensive curriculum vitae. This effectively excludes consumer advocates as their advocacy is not related to their professional careers. The barriers represent a broader pattern of exclusion that has characterised the WHO FCTC process since its inception.
Ex-WHO official: Harm reduction critical for Asia-Pacific tobacco control
Manila Standard Business
The Asia-Pacific region has the world’s highest number of tobacco users, and a leading health expert says harm reduction is essential to saving millions of lives.
Speaking at an Aug. 17 webinar hosted by the Asia Forum on Nicotine (AFN), Professor Tikki Pang, a former director for research policy at the World Health Organization (WHO), called for a new approach to tobacco control.
Why COP11 is Africa’s chance to rethink tobacco control
EnviroNews Nigeria
Tobacco use has decreased significantly since 2000; however, poorer countries are still lagging. That’s why COP11 matters. Africa can’t keep fighting a 21st-century tobacco epidemic with only half-measures. Yes, traditional tactics like high taxes, ad bans, and smoke-free policies are important. But they aren’t enough. The continent needs to add harm reduction to the discussion.
Network for Principled Nicotine Policy Applauds FDA Fast-Track Pilot, Emphasizes Timely Review as Essential to Public Health
Jeffrey Willett, Network for Principled Nicotine Policy
The Network for Principled Nicotine Policy (Network) commends the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s initiative to pilot expedited reviews of certain nicotine pouch applications in the face of significant delays and mounting public interest. As reported by Reuters on September 8, 2025, the FDA is taking steps to complete reviews for several nicotine pouch products by December (Reuters).
Building Bridges
Skip Murray, Skips Corner – Let’s Talk!
Back from TSRC
I could fill this commentary about the travel challenges to and from Knoxville, as well as my struggles with the Uber app and loud neighbors at the hotel. However, what strikes me the most is how I can enthusiastically tell you that attending TSRC was a wonderful experience. I encountered kindness everywhere and found helpers at every turn.
Malaysia Will Ban Vapes; Singapore Increases Penalties
Jim McDonald, Vaping 360
The Malaysian government announced last week it intends to ban the sale of all vaping products. The ban will be implemented in stages, beginning with open-system (refillable) products.
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s neighboring country Singapore is strengthening its existing ban by increasing penalties for violators. Singapore prohibits not just sales, but also use and possession of vapes. Most illicit vaping products enter Singapore through its border with Malaysia.
The Tax Trap: Why the EU is Setting Itself for Failure
Diane Caruana, Vaping Post
Eighty-three leading public health specialists have sounded the alarm over the European Commission’s proposed revision of the Tobacco Excise Directive (TED), warning that the current approach risks stalling—if not reversing—progress in reducing smoking-related harm across Europe.
At the heart of the controversy is the Commission’s decision to group lower-risk alternatives such as vaping devices, nicotine pouches, and heated tobacco together with combustible cigarettes under the same taxation framework.
Calls for changes to how vapes are sold to curb appeal to teens
Ella Pickover, Independent
Vapes should be sold in plain packaging to significantly curb their appeal to children without deterring adult users, new research suggests.
Experts believe that selling e-cigarettes in standardised packs would effectively reduce youth uptake while preserving their role as a smoking cessation tool for adults.
Two From Ali Anderson, Clearing The Air
5 black market fails from Australia
Australia’s aggressive tobacco and vaping taxes have created a $5 billion (€2.8 billion) illicit market, which experts have branded “the worst example of bad policy in the world.”
Instead of reducing harm, the clampdown has pushed smokers and vapers towards unregulated products, fuelling crime and stripping billions from the country’s Treasury.
Here are five ways the strategy has backfired.
Nicotine pouch reviews put on fast track under FDA pilot
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will fast-track reviews for a small group of nicotine pouch products, following pressure from the White House, according to meeting transcripts obtained by Reuters.
The pilot programme, which launched last week, will accelerate the premarket tobacco application (PMTA) process for four companies: Philip Morris International, Altria, R.J. Reynolds, and Turning Point Brands.
The move marks a shift for the FDA Centre for Tobacco Products (CTP), which has been criticised for long delays and limited authorisations.
ZYN Lawsuits
Tobacco Insider
A U.S. federal judge has dismissed a proposed class action lawsuit against Philip Morris International (PMI) and its subsidiary Swedish Match, the maker of ZYN nicotine pouches, rejecting claims that the companies conspired to overcharge consumers by monopolizing the oral nicotine pouch market. The suit, filed in the Eastern District of Virginia, alleged that Philip Morris’s $16 billion acquisition of Swedish Match in 2022 eliminated competition and enabled the company to inflate ZYN’s prices. The Judge, however, found that the plaintiffs failed to plausibly demonstrate that the merger caused any anticompetitive harm, noting the absence of concrete evidence showing price increases, reduced innovation, or changes in Swedish Match’s market share. The ruling dismissed the claims with prejudice, preventing the plaintiffs from refiling.
Fed-Funded Study Gave Free Cigarettes to Pregnant Women — Why?
Michael Siegel, DC Journal
Imagine if there were a very low-alcohol drink that could help wean some heavy drinkers off alcohol. A researcher conducts a clinical trial among pregnant women who are heavy drinkers, in which half are randomized to receive a supply of very low-alcohol beverages, and the other half are asked what they like to drink and then provided with a three-month supply of, say, vodka.
This would obviously be an unethical research design because the standard care for pregnant women who drink alcohol is not to supply them with a trimester’s supply of vodka.
Oregon Supreme Court to rule on censorship in vaping packaging case
Seattle Red
The Oregon Supreme Court is preparing to hear a case that could reshape commercial speech protections in the state, after a district law punished lawful small‐business owners by censoring how they describe vape products.
The case, brought by the Goldwater Institute on behalf of vape shop owner Paul Bates, challenges a state law that silences businesses under vague “attractive to minors” rules imposed by the Oregon Health Authority (OHA). Bates owns a legally licensed vaping business. Nothing he sells is illegal.
A look back at how things have moved on or otherwise…
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