Vapers Digest 25th August

Friday’s News at a glance:

#COP10 documents guide: FCTC/COP/10/9 – WHO Call To Ban Flavoured Vapes A Bitter Attack On Liberty – Frequent vaping by teen non-smokers is very uncommon in Australia – Highlighting The Need For Consumer Participation – Consumer WHO COP10 Call To Action – Vape Promotion Pack Insert Proposal – UKVIA Supports Pack Insert Idea – Parliament – More FDA Warning Letters for Novelty Vape Sellers – Schumer, Weed, and Vaping: – How Should Alternative Tobacco Products Be Taxed? – Arguments for Harsh Vaping Regulations Are Just Smoke and Mirrors – Juul to Restructure – Israel’s Smoking Action Plan

#COP10 documents guide:

FCTC/COP/10/9 – COPWatch

To continue the Copwatch guide to documents being provided to ‘educate’ national delegations at the COP10 conference in November, here is a look at FCTC/COP/10/9, published in July.

This document deals with heated tobacco products but, as we shall see, it is not very impressive. It claims to “examine the challenges that novel and emerging tobacco products are posing for the comprehensive application of the WHO FCTC … as requested in paragraph 3 of decision FCTC/COP8/(22).”

But a quick look at the COP8 decision they refer to shows this does nothing of the sort. In 2018, the WHO asked the FCTC Secretariat:

WHO Call To Ban Flavoured Vapes

A Bitter Attack On Liberty – ecigclick

IN AN air-conditioned convention centre in Panama, the future of vaping and its global impact on tobacco consumption will be shaped by a group who want e-cigarettes banned.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) made this position clear, when it gave India a Special Award by its Director General for prohibiting vaping in 2019.

So at least we know where we stand. But what is now becoming apparent, is this un-elected group of strategic health policy ‘advisors’ wish to attack personal freedoms under the guise of the public good.

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Frequent vaping by teen non-smokers

Is very uncommon in Australia – Colin Mendelsohn

RECENT AUSTRALIAN RESEARCH indicates that frequent vaping by non-smoking youth is far less frequent than usually claimed. Less than 3% of Australian teens who have never smoked vape frequently (6 days or more per month).

To understand the significance of youth vaping, it is vital to identify the number of never-smoking teens who vape frequently as only this group is at any risk from new and potentially harmful inhaled chemicals.

Lifetime or past-12 month vaping is meaningless as much teen vaping is experimental and short term. Many vape only only once or twice, or every now and then. This group is at no or little risk of harm. Smokers who switch to vaping are likely to have improved health.

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Highlighting The Need…

For Consumer Participation In Tobacco Harm Reduction Policy Making

Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA)

The Shadow Report emphasises the importance of consumer participation in policy making and highlights the benefits of tobacco harm reduction alternatives, including vaping.

“Tobacco Harm Reduction products have been shown to serve as a method of smoking cessation and as an alternative for smokers who are unable or unwilling to quit smoking altogether,” said Nancy Loucas, a prominent New Zealand public health consumer advocate and executive coordinator of CAPHRA.

Four from Dave Cross, Planet of the Vapes:

Consumer WHO COP10 Call To Action

The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates has issued a call for greater consumer advocate participation in the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) forthcoming Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (FCTC) Conference of Parties (COP10) meeting in Panama. The WHO is pressing for a harsher approach to vaping and tobacco harm reduction.

“The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control has contributed to some progress in the implementation of tobacco control measures, but they need to provide honest, risk-proportionate communication and regulatory recommendations for Tobacco Harm Reduction (THR) products,” says Nancy Loucas, a prominent New Zealand public health consumer advocate and executive coordinator of The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA).

Vape Promotion Pack Insert Proposal

Vape and tobacco harm reduction advocates have been calling for cigarette packs to carry ‘switch to vaping’ inserts for years, and this now looks to be a step closer to happening. The Government has announced that it has launched a consultation to seek your views on the UK mandating quit information messages inside tobacco packets.

The Department of Health and Social Care said: “We are holding a consultation about mandating quit themed information messages and advice (also called pack inserts) inside tobacco packets to help more smokers quit.

UKVIA Supports Pack Insert Idea

The UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) has welcomed the suggestion that switch to quit messages should be placed in cigarette packs, and says it should “be introduced without delay”. UKVIA believes that adding inserts to cigarette packs will help smokers quit. Similar schemes already exist in Canada and Israel, with Australia poised to follow suit.

Announcing a tobacco inserts consultation which runs until October 10, Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said: “Smoking places a huge burden on the NHS, economy and individuals. It directly causes a whole host of health problems – including cancers and cardiovascular disease – and costs the economy billions every year in lost productivity.

Parliament

MPs David Jones and Neil Hudson plied the Under-Secretary for Health and Social Care with his final questions before parliamentarians focussed their attentions on visiting sunny foreign beaches or demanding some people didn’t arrive at ours. Following a drip feed from the Prime Minister’s office, Professor Linda Bauld warned the Government not to consider banning disposables or e-liquid flavours.

David Jones, the Clwyd West Conservative, asked the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care whether the UK delegation to the Tenth Conference of the Parties of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control will share with the World Health Organisation the annual review of nicotine vaping commissioned by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities and any other evidence on vaping produced by the UK academic community.

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More FDA Warning Letters

For Novelty Vape Sellers – Jim McDonald

Today the FDA issued warning letters to 15 companies for selling or distributing Chinese novelty vapes resembling well-known characters or non-vaping products. The agency claims the products are designed to appeal to kids.

“These new warning letters mark another step in the FDA’s continued efforts to remove illegal e-cigarettes from the market, particularly those that appeal to youth,” said the FDA press release.

“Since the appearance of these illegal products can be deceiving,” the press release said, “the agency is also seeking to raise awareness among parents, teachers, and other adults headed into the new school year.”

Schumer, Weed, and Vaping:

It’s the Pot Calling the Kettle Black – Jerry Rogers

Almost 40 million Americans are addicted to smoking cigarettes. According to the CDC, smoking tobacco is the “leading cause of preventable disease, disability, and death in the United States’ resulting in 480,000 deaths annually in the United States” – which breaks down to 1,300 smoking-related deaths per day, 54 deaths per hour, or almost one death per minute.

One dead American every minute and, yet some in Congress continue to play politics with vaping. It is irrational and anti-science … but it’s great public relations.

How Should Alternative Products ….

Be Taxed? – Adam Hoffer

The nicotine market in the United States is transforming. The innovation and development of alternative nicotine consumption products represents a massive change from a market historically dominated by cigarettes. Alternative tobacco products allow users to consume nicotine with only a fraction of the risk present in combustible cigarettes. With appropriate tax and regulatory policy, these products have the potential to save millions of lives each year.

Smoking rates have been on a steady decline for the past half-century. In 1965, more than 40 percent of adults smoked.[1] By 2005, that rate fell by almost half, to 20.9 percent, and by 2021, the rate fell by nearly half again, as only 11.5 percent of U.S. adults smoked.

Arguments for Harsh Vaping Regulations

Are Just Smoke and Mirrors – Justin Leventhal

Restrictions on vaping are often predicated on the idea that they protect children and teenagers from a vaping “epidemic.” Despite the claim of an “epidemic,” fewer teens are vaping now than before the COVID-19 pandemic. Even with falling teen vaping rates, regulators are slow to approve and quick to ban vaping products for adult consumers, making it more difficult for smokers to quit and removing a choice that could help them live longer, healthier lives.

One argument made to justify the heavy-handed regulations on vaping products is that vaping may be a gateway to cigarettes for teens. However, the evidence shows that vaping has done the opposite. Teen vaping rates did rise from 2012 to 2019, but teen smoking rates also plummeted, leaving the combined total nearly the same.

Juul to Restructure and Reduce Employees

Marissa Dean

According to a press release, the principal aim of this restructuring is to enable the company to maximize profitability and cash-flow generation while continuing to invest in its core priorities, which include delivery of high-quality products to its commercial partners, ongoing development of next-generation products, engagement with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regarding Juul’s pending and possible future market authorization applications, and commercial growth consistent with compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.

Israel’s Smoking Action Plan

Raises Concerns Over Public Health – World Vapers’ Alliance

The World Vapers’ Alliance (WVA) is actively voicing concerns regarding Israel’s recently announced Smoking Action Plan. While applauding efforts to curb smoking rates, the WVA emphasises the need for a balanced and evidence-based approach that distinguishes vaping from traditional smoking.

The plan includes raising the minimum smoking age from 18 to 21 and introducing graphic warning images on cigarette packs. However, the approach towards vaping within the plan has raised eyebrows among harm reduction advocates, because it includes measures such as flavour bans, nicotine limits, disposable vape bans, and equalised taxation.

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On this Day…2022

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

New ASH briefing sets the record straight

New Nicotine Alliance

Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) has this week released a briefing for local authorities on youth vaping. This is a timely document which follows a steady stream of alarmist media headlines on the subject in recent weeks. ASH’s briefing, also endorsed by several other public health organisations, offers an objective look at current regulation and the latest evidence on youth vaping data from the most up-to-date surveys.

Most importantly, it debunks some of the many myths seen recently in the media which have been negatively skewing the public’s view of vaping products and how they can continue to contribute positively to public health. The UK is a global leader in recognising the benefits of reduced risk products such as e-cigarettes to help smokers to quit, and we are pleased that ASH has reacted to recent negativity in the news with a calm and balanced set of evidence-based guidelines for local authorities to follow.

Nicotine patches being used by researchers

To stimulate memory in older adults – Aaron Cantrell

Vanderbilt University, USC and the National Institutes of Health are conducting the study which involves giving nicotine patches to older adults to stimulate their memory.

They believe the nicotine interacts with parts of the brain connected to memory loss and attention. They’re hopeful the patches will “improve” brain functions.

“We believe that memory should actually be maintained pretty normally through most of the aging process and that if your memory is dipping, that’s something that we should be concerned about,” Vanderbilt Center for Cognitive Medicine Dr. Paul Newhouse explained.

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