Vapers Digest 26th July

Friday’s News at a glance:

Ban Call Highlights Expert Error – Let’s Talk E-cigarettes – ASA Rules on Apollo Vapes – Does Where You Buy Matter? – German Approach Failing – Here are the options the government is considering for how to tax vapes – Restricting vape flavours risks setting Scotland’s health agenda back – Canary Islands to hike tax on vapes in 2025 budget – Formaldehyde In Vapes? – Results of 30-year Swiss survey – A media-generated moral panic drives the vape debate – Anti-Nicotine Hiring Policies Exacerbate Inequalities – FDA’s PMTA Progress Report – When Were Nicotine Pouches Invented? – What’s Wrong with the Commonwealth? – From Smoke to Smokeless: – Switching smokers from cigarettes to vapes will save American lives – Current Challenges in Vaping Markets

Five from Dave Cross, Planet of the Vapes:

Ban Call Highlights Expert Error

A father has demanded that vaping is banned following the hospitalisation of both of his daughters. Both daughters, 19 and 17 years old, claim to have been vapers and blame that for them experiencing collapsed lungs. Action on Smoking and Health commented on the case by quoting Asthma+Lung Org – but there is a big evidence issue with Asthma+Lung Org’s position.

Mark Blight was very angry, as any father would be, when his second daughter was admitted to hospital due to a tight chest and shoulder/back pain. Tazmin Blight was taken into surgery when a bleb on her lung burst. Weeks beforehand, her elder sister Kyla experienced the same thing.

Let’s Talk E-cigarettes

Jamie Hartmann-Boyce and Nicola Lindson discuss emerging evidence in e-cigarette research interview Louise Ross from the National Centre for Smoking Cessation and Training (NCSCT). The NCSCT is a social enterprise committed to supporting the delivery of effective evidence-based tobacco control programmes and smoking cessation interventions provided by local stop smoking services.

Louise Ross has worked in smoking cessation for over 20 years and consults for the NCSCT and is part of the senior team on the Smoke Free App, a digital service for helping people stop smoking. Louise also sits as the Chair with the New Nicotine Alliance.

ASA Rules on Apollo Vapes

The Advertising Standards Authority has made a ruling against Apollo Future Technology Ltd, trading as Apollo Vapes UK, in relation to the promotion of electronic cigarettes through affiliate schemes. The issue was identified following an Advertising Standards Authority investigation to gather intelligence about the way vape companies are operating.

The advertising regulation body visited www.apolloecigs.co.uk, an online vape vendor, on 17 January 2024. As with other similar cases, it discovered a section titled “Affiliate Program” that stated:

Does Where You Buy Matter?

Considering the efficacy of vapes as a smoking cessation tool, Dr Sharon Cox has investigated whether sourcing them from vape shops vs other sources makes them more effective. The TLDR is that buying ecigs from vape shops might make for more successful quit smoking attempts, but more data are needed.

Dr Sharon Cox explained on Twitter/X: “Are e-cigs more effective depending on if they’re purchased in a specialist shop? There’s good reason to think they might be, but you could wonder if people who buy from a vape shop are different to those who buy elsewhere. Covid closures mean we can assess this.”

German Approach Failing

Latest figures from Germany show that the vilification of vaping has resulted in smoking rates increasing – including by a whopping 86% in teens. The data comes from the German DEBRA study, the equivalent to the English Smoking Toolkit Study and shows that the country that gave us the mighty Taifun atomiser tanks and stunning Dicodes mods needs to do some serious work on addressing tobacco harm reduction.

The project describes itself: “The German Study on Tobacco Use (Die Deutsche Befragung zum Rauchverhalten – DEBRA) is a bi-monthly representative, face-to-face household survey on the use of tobacco and alternative nicotine delivery systems (ANDS, such as e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products) in the German population.

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Labour’s Tobacco & Vapes Bill Necromancy

Is a Dark Omen – Joseph Hart

I didn’t vote for Labour or anyone else in the last election. I, like many others, found the choices on offer uninspiring. But when a new government comes in, I believe in giving that administration a chance to show us what they are about. My worry is that by exhuming the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, Labour has done precisely that.

Labour winning 411 seats was remarkable. Not so much because it happened, but more how it happened. The emergence of Reform hammered the faltering Conservatives, who never quite recovered from the sleaze and corruption around COVID and everything else. Throw in the collapse of the SNP, and it was a perfect storm for Labour.

Here are the options the government…

Is considering for how to tax vapes

THE GOVERNMENT IS weighing up the charge it’s set to apply to e-cigarettes in the forthcoming Budget.

In its tax strategy paper on vapes and nicotine cigarettes, it said that the current rates applied by other EU Member States which tax e-liquids range from €0.10 to €0.30 per millilitre of e-liquid in the vape.

The decision on what rate to apply will fall to the new Finance Minister Jack Chambers to decide in October’s Budget.

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Two from Ali Anderson, Clearing The Air:

Restricting vape flavours risks…

Setting Scotland’s health agenda back

The drive to make Scotland smoke-free risks being set back if vape flavours are overly restricted, the country’s retail trade body has warned.

The Scottish Grocers’ Federation (SGF) has written to all MSPs urging them to carefully consider the impact on smoking cessation caused by sweeping new legislation.

It argues that it is possible to prevent vapes from being attractive to children, while at the same time ensuring that smokers looking to quit have a full range of less harmful alternatives available to them.

Canary Islands to hike tax on vapes

The region’s finance minister Matilde Asián made the announcement during a parliamentary committee session.

The move follows the 2024 budget, where the Canary Islands (Tenerife, Lanzarote and Gran Canaria) became the first region in Spain to impose a tax of €0.10 per millilitre on e-liquids, regardless of nicotine content.

Asián said the government is committed to protecting public health, and hopes there will soon be a mandate for similar taxation across Europe.

Formaldehyde In Vapes?

Exposing Another Chemical Scare

Imagine if well-funded activist groups and even government policymakers issued dire warnings that you shouldn’t eat rice or drink apple juice because those foods contain arsenic, a deadly poison.

Sounds scary! And it’s even true. Apple juice and rice really do contain arsenic. But it’s also wholly misleading, since trace amounts of arsenic are found in many of the foods we eat every day, and there is no evidence that these levels of exposure cause us any harm.

Results of 30-year Swiss survey…

Show smoking rate down since onset of vaping

Swiss authorities have released results of a 30-year study on smoking and tobacco use in the country, tracking answers to a health survey conducted from 1992 to 2022. Overall, around 24% of Switzerland’s population aged 15 and older smoked as of 2022.

To try and provide some context – using ECigIntelligence’s numbers, which differ slightly as they are modelled for 18+ users and are based off 2021 population estimates – the 24% smoking prevalence rate (22.3% according to ECigIntelligence) would put the country roughly in the middle of the pack, globally, in terms of smoking rates in countries tracked by the key global e-cigarette markets database.

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A media-generated moral panic…

Drives the vape debate – Colin Mendelsohn

AN ANALYSIS OF AUSTRALIAN NEWS STORIES has exposed the media’s role in creating a moral panic about youth vaping. The resulting outrage and distorted public opinion leads to knee-jerk, heavy-handed responses by regulators, without considering the unintended consequences or alternative options.

In reviewing media stories over a 6-month period, the researchers from the University of Queensland found that media reports were often sensationalised and inflammatory.

Anti-Nicotine Hiring Policies

Exacerbate Inequalities – Kiran Sidhu

“It’s part of a demonization campaign,” Michelle Minton told the audience, “but it’s also part of an anti-compassion campaign.”

Minton, a senior analyst at the Reason Foundation, was speaking at the Global Forum on Nicotine (GFN) in Warsaw, Poland, in June. She was referring to companies that refuse to hire people who use nicotine.

Her talk cited how U-Haul, for example, has a policy of not hiring drivers who smoke or otherwise use nicotine—even if it’s a smoke- and vapor-free option, like a patch or a pouch, which is helping a person to quit smoking.

Two from Jim McDonald, Vaping 360:

FDA’s PMTA Progress Report

May Mean Bad News for Small Vape Companies

The FDA has almost completed its review of premarket tobacco applications (PMTAs) for mass-market vaping products, according to a July 22 progress report to the U.S. District Court for Maryland. The agency says it has just one application left to review.

As the FDA completes its court-mandated review of products sold in Nelson-tracked outlets like convenience stores and gas stations, it has also begun to issue a new wave of marketing denial orders (MDOs) to small manufacturers.

When Were Nicotine Pouches Invented?

The Origin of ZYN

The commercial rise of ZYN over the past few years has been meteoric. Although all methods of THR (tobacco harm reduction) should be celebrated, nicotine pouches like ZYN offer unique advantages over vapes and heated tobacco products. They are simpler and more discreet, and pose no inhalation risks, which may partially explain their exponential growth.

Another explanation is their similarity to popular smokeless tobacco products, especially Swedish snus. Europeans accustomed to portion snus (contained in pouches), and Americans who use moist snuff (dip), grasp the pouch concept quickly.

What’s Wrong with the Commonwealth?

GFN24 Commentary Team hosted by Brent Stafford

Join Brent Stafford of RegWatch as he hosts an engaging panel with renowned harm reduction advocates from Australia, the UK, and Canada. In this lively discussion, our experts tackle critical issues facing Commonwealth countries.

Featuring Fiona Patten, Martin Cullip, and Maria Papaioannoy, this conversation dives deep into the contradictions and complexities of harm reduction strategies in the Commonwealth. Don’t miss their insightful perspectives and thought-provoking debate on the future of tobacco control and vaping regulations. Tune in now for this must-watch discussion!

From Smoke to Smokeless:

The globe discusses harm reduction

Last month’s Global Forum on Nicotine in Warsaw unearthed a wealth of new findings and experiences that will have policymakers around the world revisiting their approach to tobacco control and modern tobacco and nicotine-based harm reduction products. Some of the key observations shared by tobacco control specialists is how excessive regulation has driven people underground and fuelled the growth of substantial illicit drugs.

Leading this argument was Australian Tobacco Harm Reduction Association Founding Chairman Colin Mendelsohn, a country with some of the most stringent tobacco control laws, and where harm reduction products like nicotine vaping products are restricted under their current regulatory framework.

Switching smokers from cigarettes to vapes

Will save American lives

Over the past decade, rates of cigarette smoking in the United States have plummeted to all-time lows, and every type of tobacco use among teens continues to decline. Yet, while public health strategies have been successful, much more must be done. Today, nearly 30 million Americans still smoke cigarettes, and 16 million Americans suffer from a smoking-related disease. Even facing the prospect of illness, many of them struggle every day to quit. As a result, approximately 480,000 people die of smoking-related diseases every year in the United States

Current Challenges in Vaping Markets

The US vaping market is a disaster. As much as 98 percent of vaping products sold in the US are illicit. Most states levy an excise tax on vaping products, but these tax systems vary substantially. The result is a messy tax system covering largely illicit products, and no one knows whether taxes are being collected and remitted on most products sold nationwide.

Unlike the standard process for selling products in a market economy—where entrepreneurs and innovators can immediately sell their products to consumers—nicotine or tobacco companies must receive written permission (a marketing order) from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to legally market a new nicotine or tobacco product in the United States. Any tobacco or nicotine product lacking a marketing authorization order from the FDA cannot legally be sold in the United States.

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On this Day…2023

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

Vaping nicotine is beneficial to young people

Dr. Colin Mendelsohn, colinmendelsohn.com.au

UNDERAGE VAPING continues to dominate the media and drives public policy in Australia. Daily, alarmist headlines feed the anxieties of parents, teachers and public health officials and have created a full-blown moral panic. However, the fear of youth vaping greatly exceeds the objective threat it poses—and benefits are almost universally overlooked.

In fact, vaping nicotine is beneficial to young people overall

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Challenging The Next NZ Government:

In Tobacco Harm Reduction Discussions

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

As the New Zealand election approaches in October 2023, it’s crucial to address the importance of consumer advocacy in the tobacco harm reduction debate. Tobacco harm reduction has gained attention in recent years, with public health experts advocating for safer alternatives to conventional cigarettes. However, concerns have arisen that consumer voices are being excluded, particularly on the global stage.

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

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