Home › Latest News › Vapers Digest 23rd July

Vapers Digest 23rd July

Kevin CrowleyPosted on Posted in Latest News

 

 

 

Wednesday’s News at a glance:

Scholarship Deadline Approaches ~ Vapes Help The Socially Disadvantaged ~ Pouch Problems ~ Parliament Matters #1 ~ The FDA’s Failure Fuels Confusion and State Overreach on Vaping ~ Why People Are Swapping Vapes For Cigarettes Despite The Risks ~ Author of the Month: Dr. Mark Tyndall shares his insights on Vaping ~ Media Watch: Are Nicotine Pouches Biblically Permissible? ~ THR Voices Rise: A Powerful Week for Harm Reduction ~ Are doctors and tobacco users unaware of basic facts around harm reduction? ~ What Dr. Wen Gets Right—and Misses—About Teen Nicotine Use ~ French nicotine pouch ban on hold amid EU backlash ~ ‘Ethics Abandoned’: Pregnant women given free cigarettes and told to keep smoking in low-nicotine cigarette trial ~ WHO fails to read its own treaty ~ FDA authorises Juul to sell vapes in U.S. ~ Response from Investigators of Clinical Trial of Very Low Nicotine Cigarettes ~ Yach & Cameron: Time to get the Doggett Fixed ~ Reflections on the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control at 20 – Panel Discussion | #GFN25

Four From Dave Cross, Planet of the Vapes

Scholarship Deadline Approaches

 The funded scholarship programme seeking out the “tobacco harm reduction leaders of tomorrow” is approaching the application deadline of 31 July 2025. Open to participants from all professional backgrounds, K·A·C’s Tobacco Harm Reduction Scholarship Programme is seeking its eighth cohort, with 25 entry-level places available. The programme offers mentoring and a financial stipend.

Vapes Help The Socially Disadvantaged

New research from Australia of all places has shown that vapes help socially disadvantaged people quit smoking better than using traditional nicotine replacement products such as patches, sprays, lozenges and gums. The findings are important given Australia’s position on electronic cigarettes, effectively banning them and creating a black market that has inspired arson on shops and murders.

Pouch Problems

Recent news has spotlighted the nationwide concern around the growing use of nicotine pouches, particularly among school children. Leading retailer Vape Club has conducted a survey to identify vaper intentions for future pouch use. Meanwhile, VPZ | The Vaping Specialist has spoken about the concerns being expressed.

Parliament Matters #1

The first of our parliamentary two-parter sees Cat Eccles concerned about nicotine pouches, Dr Caroline Johnson is fretting about the progress of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, Paula Barker wanted to know about guidance to teachers and teaching unions, and the up-to-date number of children vaping.

The FDA’s Failure Fuels Confusion and State Overreach on Vaping

Lindsey Stroud, Christian Josi, DC Journal

With only a handful of states still in regular session and over a dozen in special sessions, adult vapers and users of other alternatives to combustible cigarettes are enjoying a brief reprieve from new tax hikes and restrictions on tobacco and vapor products. 

Despite campaign-trail promises from Donald Trump to protect flavored vapor products, tobacco harm reduction tools remain under increasing threat — this time due to the Food and Drug Administration’s persistent failure to regulate and authorize these products effectively.

Why People Are Swapping Vapes For Cigarettes Despite The Risks

Tanyel Mustafa, REFINERY29

“Cigarettes for me were a form of nicotine that I was able to have more ‘control’ over than vaping,” says Ellie*, 29, from New York. It isn’t just Ellie who thinks this. When vapes spiked in popularity, the marketing of them as a way to cut back on cigarettes pervaded. This messaging is even backed by the NHS, where the advice on nicotine vapes is that they are “one of the most effective stop smoking aids”. The FDA however, hasn’t approved of vapes for this use in the U.S. The science repeatedly says they’re less damaging than cigarettes. And yet, people are now switching back to smoking in an attempt to cut out vaping for good. What’s more, they’re convinced it’s better for them.

NNA_Banner_Support_Trans

Author of the Month: Dr. Mark Tyndall shares his insights on Vaping

Ben St. James, Tellwell Blog

Dr. Mark Tyndall has spent decades on the front lines of public health, supporting marginalized communities and making advancements in harm reduction. In this candid interview he discusses his latest book, Vaping: Behind the Smoke and Fears, which makes the case for vaping as a misunderstood but potentially life-saving alternative to smoking. Drawing from his extensive medical and research background, Tyndall unpacks the myths, media narratives, and policy failures that continue to cloud public understanding, and explains why embracing safer nicotine options could be one of the most important public health shifts of our time.

Media Watch: Are Nicotine Pouches Biblically Permissible?

The Daily Pouch

There are many interesting theological questions out there, such as whether objective morality exists or how literally one should interpret scripture. Call me old-fashioned, but whether ZYN is “biblically permissible” seems like it’s low on the list. However, a recent article in Christianity Today has sparked something of a furore that has dragged in some unsavoury characters.

THR Voices Rise: A Powerful Week for Harm Reduction 

Liza Katsiashvili, World Vapers’ Alliance

It’s been a strong week for tobacco harm reduction around the world. Advocates have been stepping up—speaking at hearings, publishing hard-hitting blogs, and challenging stigma where it matters most.

First up: South Africa. Michael Landl, Director of the World Vapers’ Alliance, participated in a key hearing hosted by the South African Parliament. Alongside the Lesedi Black Business Forum, WVA provided expert input on the controversial Tobacco and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill. The message was clear: smart, evidence-based regulation must protect access to safer alternatives, not block it. (Catch the full recap in WVA’s X thread.)

What Dr. Wen Gets Right—and Misses—About Teen Nicotine Use

Jeffrey A. Singer, Cato Institute

Dr. Leana Wen is an emergency physician, former Baltimore Health Commissioner, former president of Planned Parenthood, and a Washington Post columnist. In her Washington Post column last week titled “The New Nicotine Product Replacing e‑Cigarettes to Addict Teens,” Dr. Wen expressed concern that, as teen vaping has dropped to historic lows, many teens are instead turning to nicotine pouches as their preferred method of nicotine delivery. She cited an April 2025 study published in JAMA Open Network showing that 2.6 percent of youth aged 12 to 17 have used a nicotine pouch in the past 30 days in 2024, up from 1 percent in 2023, which coincided with a decrease in teens using nicotine e‑cigarettes from 7.7 percent to 5.9 percent during the same period.

Four From Clearing The Air

French nicotine pouch ban on hold amid EU backlash

Tim Hong

France has once again delayed its ban on nicotine pouches, pushing enforcement to August 25 after seven European Union (EU) countries filed formal objections.

Originally scheduled to take effect on May 26, the proposed ban would outlaw the production, sale, import, export, possession, and use of nicotine pouches.

Under France’s draft decree, nicotine pouches would be treated as “substances vénéneuses,” placing them in the same legal category as dangerous chemicals.

‘Ethics Abandoned’: Pregnant women given free cigarettes and told to keep smoking in low-nicotine cigarette trial

Alistair Cohen

In a revelation that has stunned public health observers, pregnant women in a government-funded U.S. clinical trial are being given free cigarettes and explicitly instructed to continue smoking as part of research intended to support a federal nicotine reduction mandate.

The trial, led by Dr Sarah Heil at the University of Vermont, split pregnant women into an intervention group and a control group. The control group were instructed to continue smoking their usual brand of cigarettes. The subjects in the “intervention” group were also instructed to continue smoking, but to do so using the very low nicotine cigarette brand. All participants had their cigarettes paid for with Federal funding.

WHO fails to read its own treaty

Alistair Cohen

The World Health Organisation is urging its members to classify “harm reduction” as a tobacco industry narrative, despite the concept being classified as a tobacco control strategy in its own treaty.

A draft agenda for the Conference of the Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco control, seen by Clearing the Air and available here, call for a discussion on protecting “measures to prevent and reduce tobacco consumption, nicotine addiction and exposure to tobacco smoke…in light of the tobacco industry’s narrative on “harm reduction”.

FDA authorises Juul to sell vapes in U.S.

Ali Anderson

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorised Juul Labs to market its vapes and tobacco and menthol-flavoured pods in the U.S.

The ruling marks a significant development for the company, which has faced years of regulatory scrutiny, lawsuits, and financial difficulties, as well as a broader shift in how the agency evaluates vaping products.

The FDA said in a statement on Friday that after reviewing updated data submitted by Juul, it determined that the products meet the agency’s standard for marketing.

Response from Investigators of Clinical Trial of Very Low Nicotine Cigarettes

Dr. Michael Siegel, The Rest Of The Story

For the purposes of fairness and completeness, I am sharing the response from study authors to my criticism of the recently published clinical trial of very low nicotine cigarettes. The text below is the response. At the bottom, after “The Rest of the Story” title, I offer just a few comments.

It has come to our attention that Dr. Michael Siegel has twice raised concerns in posts to his blog about a peer-reviewed publication of ours published in Preventive Medicine (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40623557/). The report details results from a federally-supported pilot trial that we conducted examining the use of very low nicotine content cigarettes during pregnancy. In our opinion, Dr. Siegel has drawn the wrong conclusions in asserting that the trial was unethical and suggesting that the paper should be retracted. There are four aspects of Dr. Siegel’s concerns on which we wish to comment.

Yach & Cameron: Time to get the Doggett Fixed

Derek Yach, Jeannie Cameron, Nicotine Insider

The Doggett Amendment, enacted in 1997 and reinforced by President Clinton’s 2001 executive order, was a landmark in U.S. tobacco control. It bars federal agencies from using resources to promote tobacco sales or exports, or from pressing foreign governments to relax tobacco regulations, so long as those rules are applied fairly to all tobacco products.

This policy reflected the era’s urgent need to curb the global spread of cigarettes, the world’s leading cause of preventable death. It was adopted as the World Health Organization (WHO) negotiations on the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control was set to start.

Reflections on the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control at 20 – Panel Discussion | #GFN25

Global Forum on Nicotine

Despite its aim to reduce global consumption of cigarettes, the impact of the WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) on tobacco use has been heavily contested, particularly in relation to low-income countries. The panel will assess the effectiveness of the convention as it reaches its 20th anniversary, and highlight areas that need drastic change, if it is to have any future relevance in reducing smoking.

On this day…2021

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

“Epidemic” Teen Vaping

Based Only on NYTS, FDA-Funded PATH Survey Ignored
Brad Rodu, Tobacco Truth

Teen vaping estimates from the CDC and other anti-tobacco crusaders are hyperinflated by the National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS).  As I have shown previously, the CDC routinely ignores the federal government’s premier tobacco survey, the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH), which supports far lower vaping figures.

The outbreak of lung injuries…

Often known as “EVALI” was nothing to do with nicotine vaping
Clive Bates – Qeios

Many commentators, activists, academics and public health agencies continue to assert or imply that an outbreak of serious and fatal lung injuries that occurred primarily in the United States between mid-2019 and early 2020 may have been caused in part by nicotine vaping. This condition is often known as “EVALI” (E-cigarette, or Vaping, product use-Associated Lung Injury), a term coined by the US Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Visit Nicotine Science & Policy for more News from around the World

NSP-DG

innco-02

Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Skip to toolbar