Vapers Digest 23rd December
Monday’s News at a glance:
A Four-Point Plan for THR – WHO FCTC Needs Oversight – UK Politicians Should Look at the Rich Americans – Thinking ’bout THR News & Views – Exposing the Hypocrisy in Anti-Tobacco Narratives – Nanny State Nonsense Hinders Smoking Cessation – Truth Initiative Conceals Benefits Of Vaping – The smoking habit that runs in my family – Patents Wars – The Trump Administration Allows Science, Not Stigma – Supreme Court must end the FDA’s vaping power-grab –
Two from Dave Cross, Planet of the Vapes:
A Four-Point Plan for THR
Leading international health experts at Smoke Free Sweden have unveiled a pioneering four-point plan to address the global crisis of oral diseases, which afflict more than 3.5 billion people worldwide. Their landmark report, launched at a conference of highly regarded health professionals in London, provides a bold vision for reducing tobacco-related oral diseases by promoting safer alternatives and integrating tobacco harm reduction (THR) strategies into public health frameworks.
Dr Delon Human, a global health advocate and one of the authors of the report, said: “Oral health is a critical aspect of overall well-being, yet millions of people continue to suffer from diseases that are entirely preventable.
WHO FCTC Needs Oversight
The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) is calling on the immediate oversight by the United Nations Council on Human Rights (UNCHR) of the World Health Organisation’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), citing a continued failure to fulfil its mandate on Human Rights to recognise and implement tobacco harm reduction strategies that could save millions of lives.
Nancy Loucas, Executive Coordinator of CAPHRA, stated: “The current leadership of the WHO FCTC has lost the confidence of tobacco harm reduction experts worldwide. Their stubborn refusal to acknowledge the overwhelming scientific evidence supporting harm reduction is costing lives every day.”
UK Politicians Should Look at …
The Rich Americans Who Already Influence Our Politics
Martin Cullip, The Daily Pouch
Chris Mason of the BBC posted an article recently which took aim at Elon Musk suggesting he may offer Reform UK a lot of money to fund their politics. Any concern about outside influence should also be directed to well-funded entities like the World Health Organisation (WHO) who want to have undue influence on UK health decisions.
His caution is well argued. He said that it could be “the most clear-cut proof yet of the richest man in the world’s desire to get involved in – meddle in, as some see it – British politics.” He further asked the valid question as to “whether it would be legal – and whether it would be seen as legitimate” that a foreign funder could change the UK’s politics by throwing a load of funding at the UK to change UK laws.
Many question the often fervent zeal vapers have regarding its overall safety and efficacy.
While I will not address the idiotic suspicion of paid influence here, I would offer this to the rational:
We have used these products extensively; many of us, for many years.
👇🏼— Grove Mitchell (@grove_mitchell) December 21, 2024
Thinking ’bout THR News & Views
Kim “Skip” Murray
The public health conversation continues to be fragmented. It seems to be torn into smaller and smaller pieces instead of being glued back together so that everyone involved can see the whole picture.
I wanted the last couple of newsletters of the year to be filled with hope and an optimistic look into the future of harm reduction.
Damn, it’s tough to feel optimistic! I hope 2025 makes more progress in saving lives than 2024.
The Center for Tobacco Control Research
And Education at UCSF is Not Sure Smoking is Any More Hazardous than Vaping
Michael Siegel – The Rest of the Story
I recently read an article written by the director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at UCSF. What struck me most was the article’s answer to the question “Is vaping safer than smoking?” The answer given was: “We don’t know for sure.”
OK, I realize that many years ago there was not a lot of research on the health effects of vaping and it had only been around for a short period of time, so perhaps we didn’t know for sure that vaping was any safer than smoking. That was in 2008 – a full 16 years ago. Before criticizing the article, I thought I should check the date. Perhaps this was an old article that simply was not taken down from the web site and there was no reason to make a big deal out of this.
Exposing the Hypocrisy
In Anti-Tobacco Narratives
As the global campaign against smoking continues to gain traction, vaping has emerged as a revolutionary tool for harm reduction. Yet, organisations like ExposeTobacco.org persist in demonising vaping, muddying the waters of public health with sensationalism and double standards. Their stance not only contradicts their stated mission to reduce harm but also threatens to stall progress towards a smoke-free future.
Nanny State Nonsense Hinders …
Smoking Cessation – Frank Salvato
Let me state the obvious: addictions are unhealthy. They reflect a lack of self-control and prevent us from making choices without external influence. They cloud a clear mind. However, what is worse is when the actions of a government entity obstruct our ability to overcome an addiction. One group in Washington, D.C., is doing just that.
As of 2024, statistics hold that approximately 480,000 Americans die from illnesses related to smoking annually. This is an increase from 418,690 deaths in 1990. Despite this rise, smoking still accounts for roughly 20% of all deaths.
Smoke And Mirrors:
Truth Initiative Conceals Benefits Of Vaping
Over the course of my career as a science journalist I’ve learned an important but disheartening lesson: experts are allowed to mislead the public about certain health topics. One of the most egregious cases is nicotine vaping. This life-extending habit has enabled millions of smokers to give up cigarettes forever, and for that reason it should be considered an important medical innovation.
The smoking habit that runs in my family
I come from a family of heavy smokers—my dad smoked, my uncle, my sister, my brother, and me too. I remember the first smoke I ever had.
I was 17 or 18 years old, I was at a party, and everyone else was smoking, so I tried one too. It was bloody awful. I hated it.
But the more I drank the more I smoked. Everyone else was doing it, and I didn’t want to be the odd one out. Smoking has always been a sliding habit for me.
Patents Wars
Tobacco Insider
Patent Wars, archetypal to the technology and software sphere, is a legal fight between corporations or individuals to secure patents for litigation, whether offensively or defensively. Technology-driven transformation to the Reduced-Risk Products has ignited the Patent Wars in the Tobacco Industry, especially since 2018 – with no clear winner so far.
“Only lawyers win in patent wars: companies would be better off allocating their time and money on R&D instead of fighting patent wars”. Is this the ugly truth? We don’t know. But, here is a chronology of most recent events:
The Trump Administration Allows …
Science, Not Stigma, To Shape Its Vaping Policy
The Trump administration’s vaping policy offers a valuable lesson for today’s lawmakers: balancing youth protection with adult smokers’ need for harm reduction requires compromise. As vaping rates rise and misconceptions about nicotine persist, policymakers must base regulations on science, open dialogue, and a commitment to public health and personal freedoms.
In 2019, Donald Trump stood with millions of adults who vape when rejecting a proposed federal ban on flavored e-cigarettes. Initially advocating for a flavor ban in September 2019 to curb youth e-cigarette use, Trump later reconsidered.
Supreme Court must end the FDA’s…
Vaping power-grab
For the tens of millions of Americans eager to quit smoking cigarettes, the Supreme Court may represent their best hope. On December 2, the court heard oral arguments in the landmark case Wages and White Lion (Triton) v. FDA. The justices considered whether the Food and Drug Administration overstepped its authority by banning the sale of certain e-cigarette products.
The stakes are monumental. As the Taxpayers Protection Alliance argued in an amicus brief supporting the respondents, rejecting agency overreach, vague legislation, and unchecked bureaucracy could save millions of lives.
Sinaloa Cartel Turf War
Between Chapitos and Mayiza Expands to Mexico’s Contested Vape Market
Vapes are becoming an increasingly significant part of Mexican cartels’ business portfolios, and their grasp of the now-legal market is only expected to increase as President Claudia Sheinbaum plans a natiowide ban of the product. The soon-to-be illicit business is now a focal point in the Sinaloa Cartel turf war with “dozens” of dispensaries attacked in the past three months, as first reported by Milenio.
On this Day…2023
A look back at how things have moved on or otherwise…
Two from Dave Cross, Planet of the Vapes:
The Great POTV 2023 Round-up Part 1
2023 has been a monumental one for the world of vape as big business tightened its grip, science supporting vaping became stronger than ever, and disposable companies worked to mess it all up. Advocates have spent most of the year fighting a rear guard action but, as Planet of the Vapes predicted in 2022, this year was going to be one where a war was going to be waged on disposable single-use vapes.
In the beginning: The first story of the year covered how the supermarket Waitrose had delisted all disposable vape products from its stores. Despite having had a miserable financial time of it, executives chose to “do the right thing” over gaining income from selling the fast-moving consumer products.
The Great POTV 2023 Round-up Part 2
Oh yes, January to March was a pretty thrilling ride, but wait, it has nothing on the second quarter. April to June on Planet of the Vapes was a period that experts are now calling late spring to early summer. Our coverage literally had people sitting on the edge of their seats. Maybe they should increase the font size on their screens so they can sit more comfortably? Anyway, let’s look at what happened in the world of vape…
Bad Ads: Elfbar is on a mission. Fresh from embarrassing the industry by supplying illegal vapes to major national supermarket chains, it then got publicly rapped by the Advertising Standards Authority for breaching the advertising code on TikTok – for the second (yet not last) time this year.
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