Vapers Digest 24th November

Friday’s News at a glance:

French Plans Will Push People To Smoke – Smoke Free Sweden Welcomes Gateway Report – Speak Up To Save Vape Flavours In The UK!! – Sweden’s Experience And Lessons For Africa – French vapers say flavour ban may drive them to black market – New Zealand’s Next Government to Scrap Law – Big in Japan – Teen Vaping Decline Spells Trouble for Tobacco Control – Don’t raise taxes on vape products – Russian Health Ministry Opposes Ban on E-Liquid Sales

Two from Dave Cross, Planet of the Vapes:

French Plans Will Push People To Smoke

Latest developments on the nicotine and tobacco policy in France risk pushing former smokers back to smoking, says consumer advocacy organisation World Vapers’ Alliance. On Tuesday, 14 November, French Health Minister Aurélien Rousseau opened the door to a possible ban on the sale of nicotine pouches in France in a talk show on Sud Radio.

Health Minister Rousseau is currently developing a new Tobacco Control Framework to tackle smoking in France and is working with the government on the disposable vape ban.

Smoke Free Sweden Welcomes Report

The Smoke Free Sweden initiative is delighted to share the news that a new report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Internal Medicine debunks the gateway effect. The report, titled ‘Shift From Smoking Cigarettes to Vaping Nicotine in Young Adults’, discredits the common misconception that vaping leads non-smokers to cigarette smoking.

The survey concluded: “These data reveal a shift in tobacco use among young adults, showing historically low cigarette use, which has positive public health significance. However, e-cigarette use is higher (14.5%) than reported previously (11%), coinciding with the introduction of salt-based devices in 2015 to 2018. Over half of established vaping young adults never regularly smoked. Research suggests that exclusive e-cigarette users are unlikely to transition to combustible tobacco.”

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Speak Up To Save Flavours In The UK!!

Guest Post: Mark Oates – ECigClick

As Rishi Sunak ponders whether or not to ban vaping flavours, new evidence from across the pond should give him pause for thought.

This is because Yale University research across 375 US localities and seven states, which have applied flavour restrictions to impact youth vaping, found for every flavoured vape pod not sold – 15 more cigarettes were in its place.

To make matters worse, many of those buying the tobacco instead of vapes were underage. To quote the findings: “Matching new flavour policy data to retail sales data, we find a trade-off of 15 additional cigarettes for every one less 0.7ml pod sold due to flavour restrictions.

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Sweden’s Experience Lessons For Africa

World Vapers’ Alliance

Sweden’s harm reduction strategy to combat smoking-related deaths and improve public health is an inspiring model that has saved millions of lives. Sweden’s result towards achieving a smoke-free society is a success story and an exemplary model for countries around the world, especially in Africa, to adopt in their ongoing efforts towards reducing the health impact of smoking.

Sweden is set to drop below a 5% tobacco smoking prevalence rate in the next few months. This is the level at which a country is considered officially smoke-free; no other member of the European Union is close to matching Sweden’s achievement, and none is even on track to do so by the EU’s target of 2040 in 17 years’ time. Africa lags even further behind, with a smoking rate approximately five times higher than that of Sweden.

French vapers say flavour ban may …

Drive them to black market or back to smoking

Over 50% of French vapers would turn to the black market or buy e-cigarettes from abroad, while 25% would consider resuming cigarette smoking if a flavour ban is implemented or taxes are too high, a survey revealed.

A survey named “Merci la vape” (Thank You Vaping) launched at the end of May by four French vaping consumer associations questioned e-cigarette users in the country. The recently published survey results show concern over possible vaping restrictions that have gained support from both healthcare organisations and the government.

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New Zealand’s Next Government…

To Scrap Law Curbing Tobacco Sales

Legislation banning tobacco sales to people born after 2008 will be dumped by the new administration, according to coalition agreements released Friday in Wellington. The new government, which comprises the National, ACT and New Zealand First parties, will also stop a plan to reduce in the number of retail outlets allowed to sell cigarettes.

“This is major loss for public health, and a huge win for the tobacco industry whose profits will be boosted at the expense of Kiwi lives,” said Boyd Swindon, co-chair of the Health Coalition Aotearoa. Recent research showed the smoke-free regulations would save NZ$1.3 billion ($790 million) in health system costs over the next 20 years if fully implemented, and reduce all-cause mortality rates by 22% for women and 9% for men, he said.

PANIC OVER

Teen Vaping Decline Spells Trouble for Tobacco Control | #GFNTVInterviews

A spike in U.S. youth vaping rates back in 2018 sparked a worldwide moral panic over teen vaping. But the so-called “epidemic” was short-lived. In just 4-years, U.S. teen vaping fell over 60% to a historic low in 2023. It’s good news for everyone except those campaigners who profit from panic.

Big in Japan –

Why we should look to the Pacific for sound tobacco policy

Michael Landl

The United Kingdom has made great strides toward reducing smoking among its population. As of today, the country can proudly present its lowest smoking rates ever. These achievements aren’t accidental, they are the result of highly strategic and progressive harm reduction policies. Yet the UK may be taking a troubling detour from this progress. The government’s ongoing review of vaping and tobacco policies threatens to reverse the gains made.

First on the docket is vaping. Vape flavours, which many ex-smokers cite as a key reason they switched from smoking, are on the brink of stringent restrictions. For those unfamiliar with the journey of a smoker trying to quit, flavour might seem like a frivolous concern.

Don’t raise taxes on vape products

David Clement

If you are a smoker in Ontario trying to quit — and if you are a smoker, you should be trying to quit — making the switch to lower-risk vaping products is about to get much more expensive. In his fall economic statement earlier this month, Ontario Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy announced the province would be partnering with the federal government to double the tax burden on vape products.

Right now a 30mL bottle of vape liquid faces a federal tax of $7. Under the new policy, that will double to $14. Those who prefer pre-filled pods will see the tax rise from $1 per unit to $2. In the partnership with Ottawa, the province gets to keep half of the tax revenue generated from the scheme.

Russian Health Ministry Opposes Ban

According to a report by the Russian news agency TASS on November 24th, the Russian Ministry of Health has stated that it does not support a ban on the sale of e-liquids containing and not containing nicotine.

The department’s submitted motion to withdraw the bill draft argues that it could potentially violate the concept of the Citizen Health Protection Act and result in legal conflicts and ambiguous interpretations.

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On this Day…2022

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

Banning disposable vapes?

Christopher Snowdon, Velvet Glove Iron Fist

A motley collection of environmental and ‘public health’ groups have joined forces to get disposable vapes banned.

Environmental groups have called for the sale of single-use e-cigarettes to be banned due their “rapidly escalating threat”.

In an open letter to environment secretary Thérèse Coffey and health secretary Steve Barclay, 18 environment and health groups, including Green Alliance and RSPCA, argue that disposable vapes are “unnecessary electrical items” that contain single use plastic, nicotine and batteries, all of which are “hazardous to the environment and wildlife when littered”.

They describe disposable vapes as single use plastics, which is a stretch given that they provide 300 puffs each. They also claim that the amount of lithium in their batteries equates to 1,200 electric cars per year. Maybe so, but there were seven million electric cars produced last year and that number is rising exponentially. Lithium usage in e-cigarettes is negligible by comparison.

7 things to know about e-cigarettes…

And quitting smoking – Jamie Hartmann-Boyce

Associate Professor, Dr Jamie Hartmann-Boyce and Martin Dockrell from the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities

One of the most common things we hear about e-cigarettes and health is “we just don’t know yet” but the evidence, especially on their contribution to quitting smoking, is continuing to build.

The Cochrane living review of e-cigarettes for smoking cessation brings together the best available research evidence to examine the effectiveness, tolerability, and safety of using electronic cigarettes (ECs) to help people who smoke tobacco achieve long‐term smoking abstinence (1). The evidence is gathered monthly and systematically reviewed with emphasis on quality control to improve knowledge and to feed into healthcare decisions.

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