Vapers Digest 25th June

Wednesday’s News at a glance:

Here Comes The Summer ~ GFN Considers Vape Misconceptions ~ Thailand Struggles With Vape Ban ~ Facts Must Guide Harm Reduction ~ Why is Harm Reduction such a Hard Sell? ~ Why Have Health Leaders Rejected Vaping? ~ Don’t ignore the people: The WHO and the EU must listen to consumers on tobacco harm reduction ~ Tobacco Harm Reduction at FCTC Anniversary ~ Show Me The Money! ~ Why the Term “E-Cigarette Smoking” Has to Go: New Study Calls for Precision in Vaping Language ~ Philippines: CAPHRA Urges Health Secretary Herbosa To Embrace Science Amid Continued Leadership ~ A Delusional Review of 10 Years of Australian Tobacco Control Policy ~ Nicotine pouches drive women’s success in Sweden’s smoke-free fight ~ Vape popularity increasingly challenged by nicotine pouches, research suggests ~ Most kids who try vaping don’t stick with it, new data shows ~ Irish prime minister brands vaping as “evil” at global health summit How dare you comply with our ban? The hypocrisy of nicotine prohibitionists laid bare. ~ There is a democratic deficit at the heart of EU policy making ~ A Victory for Rule of Law and Evidence-Based Policy Making

Three Four from Dave Cross, Planet of the Vapes

Here Comes The Summer

School summer holidays are rapidly approaching and, with vapers getting ready to pack their travel bags, Planet of the Vapes covers pointers on what and what not to do. Can you carry vapes on a plane? Can you pop juice into your suitcase? The answers are here.

GFN Considers Vape Misconceptions

Fear-driven narratives about safer nicotine products such as vapes means prolonged misery and death for smokers, according to participants at The Global Forum on Nicotine. The harm reduction event took place last week at the Warsaw Presidential Hotel in Poland.

Thailand Struggles With Vape Ban

Thai politicians have been reduced to inventing statistics in the face of a ban that is clearly failing on the ground – and causing multiple issues because the black market is in control. Thailand claims vaping is down by 80%, but locals say this simply isn’t the case. Illicit products remain in wide supply, including unregulated cannabis vapes, and the ban has resulted in increased criminal activity including a raid on a customs warehouse.

Facts Must Guide Harm Reduction

Persistent myths about nicotine continue to undermine global progress in reducing the harms of smoking, warns the Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA). In its new white paper, “Understanding Nicotine: The Facts, Not the Myths,” CAPHRA urges policymakers and health leaders to focus on evidence, not fear, when shaping tobacco control strategies.

Two From David Zaruk, Firebreak

Why is Harm Reduction such a Hard Sell?

Harm reduction is a core strategy in decision theories and health risk management. It is a common sense, pragmatic approach that treats the patient with respect and compassion. So we should not be surprised then that most healthcare advocates speak out against harm reduction as a health policy strategy (especially in the field of tobacco harm reduction approaches). This three-part series will look at the challenges for harm-reduction advocates to get the interest of the patient heard over the puritan dogmatic ideologies of the supposed health leaders.

Why Have Health Leaders Rejected Vaping?

The first part of this three-part series demonstrated how health leaders had abdicated responsibility to tobacco harm reduction strategies. Rather than accepting the positive relative risk profile of nicotine alternatives like vaping, snus or nicotine patches, scientists involved with the WHO have conflated these smoking alternatives with tobacco. The only health leaders in this debate, the pro-vaping advocacy groups are small, under-funded and facing a wall of NGOs, foundations and policy activists who have stigmatized them and the products they are struggling to keep on the market. This second part will consider why the health authorities have rejected harm reduction strategies in this case and the consequences for health policies.

Don’t ignore the people: The WHO and the EU must listen to consumers on tobacco harm reduction

Alberto Gomez Hernandez, The Brussel’s Times

While policymakers and international health officials gather in Dublin to shape the future of tobacco and nicotine regulation, one perspective remains glaringly absent: the voice of consumers.

The exclusion of those most affected at the World Conference on Tobacco Control, namely adult smokers, vapers, and users of safer alternatives, is not just an oversight but a fundamental flaw in global tobacco control. Recent actions, including a light show and a silent protest, highlighted this injustice.

Tobacco Harm Reduction at FCTC Anniversary

Scott Douglas Jacobsen, The Good Men Project

On the 20th anniversary of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the Taxpayers Protection Alliance and public health advocates like Martin Cullip are calling out the WHO’s refusal to embrace tobacco harm reduction. Despite overwhelming evidence supporting alternatives such as vaping, nicotine pouches, snus, and heated tobacco, the WHO maintains a prohibitionist stance rooted in outdated ideologies. Critics argue that this blocks progress, wastes taxpayer money, and ignores the lived experiences of millions who have successfully quit smoking using reduced-risk products. They urge governments and civil society to pressure the WHO for reform and evidence-based public health policies.

Show Me The Money!

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

Some people involved with tobacco control put a lot of focus on the “tobacco industry” and how they make and spend their money. The tobacco harm reduction side finds itself concerned about how unbalanced the financial side of the “fight” is, mainly due to the influx of Bloomberg dollars.

We tend to think mainly of those two extremes, but actually, a significant amount of money is involved in this space, in many ways. From the source of nicotine – be it from agriculture or a lab – to manufacturers of packaging, shipping companies, distributors, retailers, researchers, regulators, consultants, advertising agencies, lawyers, public health groups, public relations firms, journalists, and more, a lot of people earn their income from this space.

Why the Term “E-Cigarette Smoking” Has to Go: New Study Calls for Precision in Vaping Language

In a landmark 2025 study published in Internal and Emergency Medicine, researchers from the University of Glasgow and other public health institutions are calling attention to a critical issue in scientific communication: the widespread misuse of the term “e-cigarette smoking” in academic literature. The paper, led by Yusuff Adebayo Adebisi and colleagues, offers a comprehensive review of the phrase’s prevalence and its harmful implications for science, policy, and public perception.

Philippines: CAPHRA Urges Health Secretary Herbosa To Embrace Science Amid Continued Leadership

Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA), Scoop

The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) acknowledges President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s decision to retain Dr. Teodoro Herbosa as Secretary of Health but calls for urgent reforms to align the Department of Health’s (DOH) policies with global evidence on tobacco harm reduction.

Despite support from medical associations for Herbosa’s retention, CAPHRA argues that his leadership must now prioritise science over ideology to address the Philippines’ stalled progress in reducing smoking-related deaths.

A Delusional Review of 10 Years of Australian Tobacco Control Policy

Madison King, The Daily Pouch

Simon Chapman disciple and walking conflict of interest, Becky Freeman, has released a new paper. Titled 10 years of preventive health in Australia. Part 4 – extending gains in

tobacco control, the report explores a period between 2013 and 2023, a decade after Australia introduced plain packaging for cigarettes.

For Freeman, plain packaging with graphic health warnings was instrumental in the decline of Australian smoking rates. However, when placed alongside a broader pattern of decline in smoking since 1991, the impact of these policies is more modest than she’d like us to believe.

Nicotine pouches drive women’s success in Sweden’s smoke-free fight

A groundbreaking study shows nicotine pouches are transforming how women quit smoking in Sweden, the world’s first smoke-free country.

The research from Smoke Free Sweden showed tobacco-free nicotine pouches have created a dramatic shift in smoking patterns since 2016.

Women are now quitting cigarettes at rates nearly 200% higher than before.

Vape popularity increasingly challenged by nicotine pouches, research suggests

Tony Corbin, Talking Retail

Nicotine pouches, sometimes referred to as snus, have been rapidly growing in popularity in the UK, and the disposable vapes ban has reportedly accelerated this growth.

According to research by Haypp, the UK nicotine pouch market almost doubled in 2024, growing by at least 95%.

Fifty-seven percent of UK nicotine pouch users say they began using pouches as a way to quit smoking. Another 27% say they use pouches to transition from other nicotine products, primarily vapes.

Three From Clearing The Air

Most kids who try vaping don’t stick with it, new data shows

Tim Hong

A large number of children experiment with vapes – but very few go on to use them regularly, according to new research.

A survey of 4,000 pupils aged 12 to 15 found that around a third had tried vaping at least once. However, health officials say only a small fraction continued.

“Ninety-two per cent of those children who tried didn’t continue,” said Dave Schwartz, a public health specialist focused on children and young people. “We probably look around town and think everyone is vaping, but our figures give a truer representation.”

Irish prime minister brands vaping as “evil” at global health summit

Ali Anderson

Irish Taoiseach (prime minister) Micheál Martin has branded vaping as “evil” and “the revenge of Big Tobacco” as he called for “the strongest possible measures” to restrict its use.

Speaking at the World Conference on Tobacco Control in Dublin on Monday, Martin claimed the rise of vaping was a deliberate strategy by the tobacco industry to “get nicotine back on the agenda.”

He described the industry’s tactics as “disgraceful,” particularly in targeting younger people through flavours and product placement.

How dare you comply with our ban? The hypocrisy of nicotine prohibitionists laid bare.

Peter Beckett

In twelve years working in and around advocacy for safer nicotine products, I’ve seen my fair share of hypocrisy from the prohibitionist wing of the tobacco control movement. It’s getting worse: we’re now seeing an EU Health Commissioner talk about vaping-induced popcorn lung as if it actually exists (it doesn’t) and saying that vapes are even worse than smoking (they aren’t).

But sometimes, the hypocrisy is too much even for someone as battle-hardened me to take. Enter this op-ed by Karen Evans-Reeves, of the fundamentalist University of Bath Tobacco Control Department. No need to click the link unless you’re into particularly odd forms of masochism: I’ve read it, so you don’t have to.

There is a democratic deficit at the heart of EU policy making

Michael Landl, Brussels Report

As the World Conference on Tobacco Control unfolded in Dublin this week, a powerful visual protest captured a fundamental injustice: consumers, the very people most affected by tobacco policies, remain systematically excluded from global decision-making. The “Voices Unheard – Consumers Matter!” campaign featured a light show illuminating the conference centre and a silent protest with taped mouths, symbolising how adult smokers and ex-smokers are denied a seat at the table. This exclusion isn’t just ironic; it’s a fatal flaw in global tobacco control, one that will reach crisis point at November’s COP11 in Geneva unless policymakers confront the ideologically driven agendas of Michael Bloomberg and the World Health Organization head-on.

A Victory for Rule of Law and Evidence-Based Policy Making

Ziauddin Islam, Ziauddin Islam’s Post, LinkedIn

Today’s Lahore High Court, Pakistan’s ruling ordering the immediate de-sealing of vaping shops across Punjab marks a critical moment for public health policy and the rule of law. What happened? In recent months, Bloomberg Philanthropies-funded organizations have been running persistent advocacy campaigns, urging the Governments to impose a ban on vaping cafes and safer nicotine products. This sustained pressure prima facie appears to have mislead the provincial administration, which proceeded to announce and implement a ban through administrative orders, despite the absence of any legal or legislative framework supporting such action.

On this day…2015

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

An Exquisite Joy

The Random Vaper

After a night on the town (see declaration of interest below) I returned to read this piece of utter crud published in, of all places, the BMJ. It’s a longish read with some superb quotes from Deborah Arnott of ASH in particular, but is ultimately possibly the most delusional load of tripe I’ve ever had the misfortune to read (and that includes the combined efforts of the Daily Fail and the Mirror)

10 Ways The Anti-Vaping Lobby Twists What Vapers Say

Fergus Mason – Ashtray Blog

Anyone who’s been following the battle over vaping will, by now, be very familiar with a lot of the myths being circulated by our opponents in the public health industry:

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