Vapers Digest 24th March

Monday’s News at a glance:

Pakistan Must Learn ~ Bulgaria’s Black Market Gift ~ Harry’s blog 127: The truth is still out there. ~ CAPHRA Condemns WHO’s Double Standard On Funding Secrecy And Consumer Exclusion ~ The Vaping Deaths That Weren’t Vaping Deaths ~ Conducting Tobacco Harm Reduction Research Despite Constant Headwinds ~ I just got poked by my own finger! ~ Flawed Assumptions, Misleading Conclusions: Debunking the Anti-Vaping Narrative ~ Smokers who choose menthol or mint vapes stay off cigarettes for longer, study finds ~ 20 years on, the WHO tobacco treaty is “failing those who need it most,” says global health expert ~ Spain’s Dangerous Path: How Pedro Sánchez Is Becoming the Ice Harvester of Nicotine Innovation ~ UK and US Vaping Policies Are Headed in Wrong Direction ~ Growing anti-vaping hysteria risks undermining EU’s tobacco-free goals ~ Readers respond: Legislators should reject ineffective tobacco bills ~ Fanning the flame: analysing the emergence, implications, and challenges of Australia’s de facto war on Nicotine

Two From Dave Cross, Planet of the Vapes

Pakistan Must Learn

Pakistan risks missing a historic opportunity to curb its smoking epidemic that claims 164,000 lives a year, according to a major report released today by international health experts. The landmark study, Tale of Two Nations: Pakistan vs. Sweden, presents a stark contrast between the two countries’ approaches to smoking cessation and tobacco harm reduction.

Bulgaria’s Black Market Gift

The World Vapers’ Alliance (WVA) has strongly condemned the Bulgarian Parliament’s “reckless” decision to ban all vaping products. The organisation calls it a “misguided policy”, sparked by a tragic incident involving a black-market THC vape, and that it will only exacerbate the real problem: the unregulated black market for dangerous products.

Harry’s blog 127: The truth is still out there.

Harry Shapiro, Nicotine Science and Policy

CAPHRA Condemns WHO’s Double Standard On Funding Secrecy And Consumer Exclusion

Nancy Loucas, 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 (WHO) for dismissing scrutiny of its funding as “misinformation” while enabling billionaire philanthropies to disproportionately influence global tobacco policy. This exclusionary approach undermines the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which systematically bars consumer advocates from its closed-door Conference of Parties (COP) meetings.

The Vaping Deaths That Weren’t Vaping Deaths

Joseph Hart, The Daily Pouch

The Daily Mirror has extensively covered the death of former Hollyoaks and Celebrity Love Island star Paul Danan. Shortly after the actor passed, the Caroline Waterston-edited paper confidently revealed he’d died from a vaping habit.

Other papers followed suit. The Daily Record and The Daily Beast claimed that Danan died due to “obsessive e-cig use” that had pushed him “over the edge”. The Daily Mail went one further, warning its readers about the “EXTREME” dangers of vaping, despite also saying, “the cause of his death is yet to be clarified”.

Conducting Tobacco Harm Reduction Research Despite Constant Headwinds

Dr. Brad Rodu, Tobacco Truth

Sensible Medicine is a website “featuring the voices of leading physicians, scientists, and thinkers. The goal of Sensible Medicine is to showcase a range of ideas and opinions about all things bio-medicine.” Recently I was honored when the editors published my article, “Six Urban Myths About Smoke-Free Nicotine.

The publication drew several courteous and intelligent comments, including an inquiry about my funding:

“…transparency around funding is important. A quick search suggests your research has received support from tobacco and nicotine companies. While that doesn’t necessarily impact the validity of your conclusions, some might see it as a source of bias. Of course, I may have missed something, but I’m curious…Should researchers with industry ties be more upfront? And how do we ensure strong research isn’t dismissed solely because of its funding source? I’d love to hear your thoughts.”

I just got poked by my own finger!

Skip Murray, Skip’s Corner – Let’s Talk!

I like it when papers or commentaries are published and discussed. I admire respectful dialogue, which allows people to consider multiple perspectives and decide what to believe.

I read Scientific Inaccuracies in Smoking Cessation Guidance with interest. It sounded fair and reasonable. Wanting to learn more about what was being discussed and see if I agreed with the critique, I read the commentary the critique was referring to: A Practical Guide to Smoking Cessation. I can’t find a link to the critique in A Practical Guide to Smoking Cessation, but it did contain a link to the response to the critique titled “The Reply,” which I also read.

Flawed Assumptions, Misleading Conclusions: Debunking the Anti-Vaping Narrative

algore, Australia, Let’s Improve Vaping Education, A.L.I.V.E.

The tobacco lobby claims vaping is displacing youth smoking – a close look at the evidence tells another story Trends in smoking prevalence among 14–15-year-old adolescents before and after the emergence of vaping in New Zealand; an interrupted time series analysis of repeated cross-sectional data, 1999–2023 – The Lancet Regional Health – Western Pacific

This study by Dr Becky Freeman et al. is another example of anti-vaping bias distorting public health discourse. The authors claim that vaping has contributed to youth smoking, but their data tells a different story. Let’s explain why their conclusions are flawed and why the “gateway effect” remains a myth.

Two From Clearing The Air

Smokers who choose menthol or mint vapes stay off cigarettes for longer, study finds

Tim Hong

Smokers who switch to menthol or mint flavoured vapes quit cigarettes for longer than those who use tobacco flavour, a new study has found.

The study, published in the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research, set out to understand the role of vape flavours in helping adults who smoke either menthol or non-menthol cigarettes to quit.

It discovered that adults who smoke non-menthol cigarettes and switched to menthol or mint flavoured vapes quit for longer periods than those who chose tobacco flavour.

20 years on, the WHO tobacco treaty is “failing those who need it most,” says global health expert

cta2

The World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) – a landmark treaty intended to reduce the global toll of smoking – marked its 20th anniversary last month.

But far from stamping out the scourge of smoking, the framework is “failing those who need it most,” a leading global health expert has warned.

Dr Delon Human, an author, family physician and expert in tobacco harm reduction (THR), said: “..after two decades of costly FCTC influence and activities, the reality is grim: smoking still kills 8.5 million people annually, and more than 1.2 billion people continue to use tobacco. While some countries have made progress, many low and middle income regions have seen minimal improvement.”

Spain’s Dangerous Path: How Pedro Sánchez Is Becoming the Ice Harvester of Nicotine Innovation

Federico N. Fernández, We Are Innovation

Spain is facing the abyss regarding smoking and public health. With a staggering 24 percent smoking prevalence — among the highest in Western Europe — the country has a significant public health challenge on its hands. Yet rather than embracing the innovative solutions that have dramatically reduced smoking rates in countries like Sweden, Spain under Pedro Sánchez is retreating into prohibition and regression.

Click to visit Danish Vapers Association

UK and US Vaping Policies Are Headed in Wrong Direction

Roger Bate, Brownstone Institute

Vaping products are not riskless, but they are substantially safer than smoking and probably the most effective tool for adult smokers trying to quit. Vaping provides nicotine without the harmful effects of burning tobacco and is also satisfying in addressing the ritualistic aspects of smoking. UK health authorities have even encouraged hospitals to hand out free vaping starter kits to recruit smokers into cessation programs.

Growing anti-vaping hysteria risks undermining EU’s tobacco-free goals

EUToday

With the long-awaited Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) revision yet to surface, the EU’s most vocal anti-vaping advocates are ramping up pressure to impose strict new regulations on e-cigarettes and other ‘new nicotine products.’

In an early March letter to EU Health Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi, Dutch Health Minister Vincent Karremans notably expressed his country’s dismay at the omission of new vaping regulations from the Commission’s 2025 work programme.

Readers respond: Legislators should reject ineffective tobacco bills

Cody Payne, Oregon Live

Lawmakers are considering two bills that would devastate small businesses, increase illicit tobacco sales and slash critical tax revenue.

House Bill 2528 grants the Oregon Health Authority unchecked power to regulate, tax, and even ban tobacco products at will – without legislative oversight, transparency or accountability. Senate Bill 702 bans the sale of flavored tobacco products, including flavored e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches – alternatives that many adult smokers use to transition away from cigarettes.

Fanning the flame: analysing the emergence, implications, and challenges of Australia’s de facto war on Nicotine

James Martin, Edward Jegasothy, Springer Nature

This commentary examines Australia’s intensified regulatory approach toward nicotine control, revealing a shift that increasingly resembles a de facto War on Nicotine. While traditional tobacco control measures have achieved commendable declines in smoking rates, recent policies– including increased tobacco taxation and a ban on consumer vapes– have inadvertently fuelled a burgeoning nicotine black market. This has resulted in serious unintended consequences, including increased criminal activity, systemic violence, and health risks associated with the proliferation of unregulated nicotine products. By analysing the relationship between nicotine control policies and these outcomes, this paper argues that Australia’s current strategy may be creating more harm than it mitigates, mirroring many of the unintended consequences historically associated with drug prohibition. We contend that a recalibration toward a harm reduction model, coupled with a re-evaluation of tax and improved access to less harmful nicotine products, could achieve a more balanced approach to nicotine control, aligning public health objectives with sustainable, effective policy.

On this day…2023

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

My new book: The New Prohibition

Jacob Grier

In 2019, when I published The Rediscovery of Tobacco, I thought I wouldn’t have much more to say on the subject. I was mistaken. As it turns out, the next few years would provide many new reasons to write about smoking and vaping, as well as an acceleration of policies that amount to full prohibition of broad classes of products. That’s why today I’m publishing my latest book, The New Prohibition: The Dangerous Politics of Tobacco Control.

Studies About Your Health and Usage

Jim McDonald

Fact: there are at least a dozen new studies on vaping and nicotine published every week. That’s not an exaggeration. Many of them are about vaping and health. They range from medical studies on vaping health risks to analysis of e-liquid or vapor constituents to research on vaping and nicotine addiction. Some are released with a lot of fanfare, and create a huge media stir—often based on alarming claims made by the researchers, or by the university press office, or even by outside groups.

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