Vapers Digest 26th February

Wednesday’s News at a glance:

Lies in The Mirror ~ Vape Study Announcement Includes Flavour Ban ~ The Only Way Is Illegal Vapes ~ Misinformation Deters Switching ~ The Public Health Triumph No One’s Talking About ~ Unpublished research sparks fearmongering around vaping ~ A Flawed Victory Lap: SAHMRI’s (South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute) Vaping Study and the Misguided War on Harm Reduction ~ Spanish WVA Survey Reveals: 92% of Vapers Use Flavours ~ Tamarind Intelligence podcast: what’s ahead for vaping regulations in 2025 and beyond ~ New Government Research Seems Designed to Further Damage Vaping ~ More Vaping Alarmism: A New Study ~ France is second EU country to ban disposable vapes ~ Nicotine does NOT cause cancer or heart disease, top cardiologist tells doctors ~ CDC Needs to Stop Calling E-Cigarettes “Tobacco Products” ~ Researchers of Severely Flawed Study Conclude that Vaping is Just as Harmful as Smoking and Causes Heart Disease and Dementia ~ Smokescreen: some vape firms pivot after FDA crackdown ~ Map shows where illegal vapes are being seized after huge surge ~ Rhode Island banned flavored vapes on Jan. 1. Some lawmakers want to reverse course. ~ EASTERN EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIAN SPECIAL PART TWO | Featuring Giorgi Mzhavanadze

Four from Dave Cross, Planet of the Vapes

Lies in The Mirror

The Daily Mirror has published an article about “vaping horror” and used the work of an unpublished, non-peer reviewed study to support the lies. Planet of the Vapes looks at this article and debunks the fake claims made by Matt Roper, the Mirror’s Senior Features Writer and Dr Maxime Boidin, Senior Lecturer in Cardiac Rehabilitation at the prestigious Manchester Metropolitan University.

Vape Study Announcement Includes Flavour Ban

Ashley Dalton MP, The Rt Hon Wes Streeting MP, and the Department of Health and Social Care has announced a “landmark study” to investigate long-term health effects of vaping on young people’s health and wellbeing, alongside wider influences on adolescent health. Buried in the announcement is a government commitment to ban vape flavours.

The Only Way Is Illegal Vapes

Shocking figures reveal Essex has the highest increase in illegal vape seizures across the UK. Is your county a hotspot for dangerous vapes? The latest data on illegal vape seizures has been released in a new report – and Essex has seen a staggering rise of over 14,000 per cent in the past 12 months.

Misinformation Deters Switching

Young adults are more likely to give up smoking and switch to vaping if they understand the reduced harm of vaping, according to a new study involving University of Bristol researchers. However, many inaccurately believe that vaping is as bad for you or worse than smoking thanks to an organised and funded campaign being waged by prohibitionists.

The Public Health Triumph No One’s Talking About

Sally Satel, National Review

Teens have stopped smoking — why aren’t we celebrating? Teen smoking has virtually died out. This once unimaginable fact appears in the Centers for Disease Control’s report from the 2024 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS). According to the survey, only 1.7 percent of high school students were current smokers (i.e., they had smoked on one day or more in the past month). In 2016, the rate was 8.3 percent, five-fold higher.

Champagne should be flowing. Yet no one, not the CDC, the Food and Drug Administration, the surgeon general, nor any member of the rest of the anti-smoking public health community, has issued a celebratory press release. Why?

Unpublished research sparks fearmongering around vaping

Hayley Prestwich-Dyer, Evapo

An unpublished piece of research out of Manchester Metropolitan University has been picked up by the media, resulting in misleading, fearmongering headlines warning of the ‘deadly side effects’ of vaping, further feeding in to the perpetuation of vaping myths. But taking a closer look at this research to separate the fact from the speculation demonstrates just how damaging headlines can be when they are based on research that may not have even been considered by experts to assess its validity.

A Flawed Victory Lap: SAHMRI’s

(South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute) Vaping Study and the Misguided War on Harm Reduction

09algor, Australia, Let’s Improve Vaping Education, A.L.I.V.E.

The Australian government and its health agencies are celebrating what they claim is a “world-leading” victory against vaping. Their evidence? A recent SAHMRI study showed declining vaping rates among young South Australians. But before we roll out the red carpet, let’s take a closer look at what this means—and the catastrophic harm their anti-vaping crusade is likely to cause.

Spanish WVA Survey Reveals: 92% of Vapers Use Flavours

The World Vapers’ Alliance (WVA) has published the results of a survey conducted by independent pollster Dynata. The survey confirms the importance of vaping as a harm-reduction tool and explains how banning flavours could compromise its effectiveness.

Key Findings

– 92.1% of Spanish vapers were smokers before switching to vaping.

– 87% of vapers believe flavours help them stay away from tobacco or reduce smoking.

– 92% of vapers use flavours other than tobacco.

Tamarind Intelligence podcast: what’s ahead for vaping regulations in 2025 and beyond

Barnaby Page, ECigIntelligence

Join Barnaby Page, host of the Tamarind Intelligence podcast, and Michael Landl, director of the World Vapers’ Alliance, as they explore the key challenges ahead for e-cigarette regulation in 2025 and beyond. This episode covers critical topics, including the upcoming revisions to the EU Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) and the evolving role of federal and state governments in the US, offering valuable insights into how future policies could impact the vaping industry.

New Government Research Seems Designed to Further Damage Vaping

Richard Crosby, The Daily Pouch

The UK government has announced a new £62 million research project into youth vaping, tracking 100,000 young people aged 8 to 18 over a decade. Funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the studies will be conducted by University College London (UCL) and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSTHM). On the surface, a long-term study into adolescent health may seem beneficial. However, deeper scrutiny reveals a troubling agenda that appears more focused on manufacturing alarm than genuinely advancing public health.

More Vaping Alarmism: A New Study

Lindsey Stroud, Independent Women’s Forum

Many Americans are enthusiastic supporters of President Trump’s promise to Make Americans Healthy Again. To do so, the medical field and scientific researchers must produce good studies to guide public health decisions. Sadly, a new, questionable study is making headlines with a stark warning: that regular e-cigarette use could lead to dementia, heart disease, and organ failure. Yet, beneath the sensational language lies a shaky foundation of methodology and misinterpretation—a classic case of alarmism that does more to mislead than inform.

Two From Ali Anderson, Clearing The Air

France is second EU country to ban disposable vapes

France has become the second European Union nation to ban disposable vapes. The law was passed by the French Senate following a final parliamentary vote on Thursday. It comes after a similar ban in Belgium, which took effect on January 1. The amended version of the Bill in France bans the manufacture, marketing, distribution and supply of disposable vapes.

Nicotine does NOT cause cancer or heart disease, top cardiologist tells doctors

Nicotine is not carcinogenic and does not cause heart disease, a leading cardiologist has told a doctors’ convention. Professor Reuven Zimlichman, Director of the Institute for Quality in Medicine at the Israeli Medical Association, explained that nicotine is addictive but does not harm the body like smoking does. Smoking causes eight million deaths globally per year, while vaping is not fatal or linked to any smoking-related diseases. Zimlichman said smokers should consider switching to vapes or other safer nicotine alternatives if they find it hard to quit cigarettes without an aid.

Click to visit Danish Vapers Association

Two From Dr. Michael Siegel, The Rest of the Story

CDC Needs to Stop Calling E-Cigarettes “Tobacco Products”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) web site on youth e-cigarette use begins: “E-cigarettes are the most commonly used tobacco product among U.S. youth.”The CDC goes beyond this and calls the use of e-cigarettes tobacco use: “Most tobacco use, including vaping, starts and is established during adolescence.” The CDC goes beyond even that and lists as one cause of youth e-cigarette use: “Tobacco advertising that targets youth.”Finally, the CDC concludes by stating, at the bottom of the page: “Commercial tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable disease, disability, and death in the United States.” This clearly implies that e-cigarettes contribute towards preventable disease, disability, and death in the United States, since it is a form of tobacco use.

Researchers of Severely Flawed Study Conclude that Vaping

is Just as Harmful as Smoking and Causes Heart Disease and Dementia

According to an article published yesterday in the Daily Mail, researchers from Manchester Metropolitan University have conducted a study demonstrating that vaping is just as harmful as smoking, causes severely impaired respiratory function, and can cause dementia. One of the researchers was quoted as saying: “What we have found is the dangers for someone who keeps vaping are no different from smokers. … At the beginning (of the study) I also believed that vaping was more beneficial than smoking. You see a lot more people vaping these days because they don’t think it’s too bad. Many will be horrified to know the truth.”

Smokescreen: some vape firms pivot after FDA crackdown

Emma Rumney, Reuters

Some e-cigarette companies targeted by U.S. authorities have altered their business model or changed their corporate structure, including by transferring operations to offshore firms, according to a U.S. regulator and representatives of two companies. Such tactics have complicated U.S. efforts to stem the flow of vapes lacking authorisation into the country, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Map shows where illegal vapes are being seized after huge surge

Neil Shaw, Manchester Evening News

Parts of the UK have seen a huge surge in the seizure of illegal vapes in the last 12 months. The latest data on illegal vape seizures has been released in a new report – and Essex has seen a staggering rise of over 14,000 per cent in the past 12 months.

The figures place the county just behind the London Borough of Hillingdon for total seizures – which industry expert, Ben Johnson, Founder of Riot Labs, attributes to its proximity to Heathrow airport. The Illegal Vape report, released by the VapeClub following a Freedom of Information request, revealed the ten counties with the highest seizures in the past 12 months and the percentage change versus 2023.

Rhode Island banned flavored vapes on Jan. 1. Some lawmakers want to reverse course.

Nancy Lavin, Rhode Island Current

Nearly two months have passed since Rhode Island vape shops and convenience stores were forced to clear their shelves of flavored e-cigarettes and other nicotine products.

But the controversy over the Jan. 1 law has not evaporated — far from it. Instead, it reignited during a hearing before the House Committee on Corporations at the Rhode Island State House Tuesday night.

Legislation introduced earlier this month by Rep. William O’Brien, a North Providence Democrat, seeks to partially reverse the newly enacted state law, exempting dedicated vape shops from the state’s ban on flavored e-cigarette products and other “nicotine-delivery products.”

EASTERN EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIAN SPECIAL PART TWO | Featuring Giorgi Mzhavanadze

Global Forum on Nicotine

In the second episode of our Easter Europe and Central Asia special Giorgi Mzhavanadze highlights divergent attitudes towards safer products across Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

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