Vapers Digest 27th February

Monday’s News at a glance:

EU Subcontracts Tobacco Control – Whitty Questions Juice Flavours – CTP Director Brian King Doesn’t Say Much – The UK Approach to Vaping: – Pushing Panic | Public Health Stokes Fear Over Vaping – NSW Greens support legalising nicotine vapes – Altria in Talks to Buy Vaping Startup NJOY – Use, marketing, and appeal of oral nicotine products – Vape and e-cigarette industry players welcome taxation

Two from Dave Cross, Planet of the Vapes:

EU Subcontracts Tobacco Control

The European Union has announced that it is subcontracting key responsibilities for tobacco control to unelected bodies, warns the European Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (ETHRA). ETHRA operates to coordinate the actions of pan-European consumer groups and advocacy organisations. The body cautions that this sounds “alarm bells over accountability and potential conflicts of interest”.

EU officials previously put the Single Framework Contract for Support Actions in the Field of Tobacco Control out to tender. They recently announced that the process had been completed and three contractors have been appointed:

Whitty Questions Juice Flavours

Professor Sir Chris Whitty, the Chief Medical Officer for England, has questioned whether e-liquid flavours and colours encourage non-smokers to vape. He made the statement during a question-and-answer session with the Health and Social Care Committee at the Houses of Parliament last week, prompting a slew of negative media coverage.

Dr Caroline Johnson was responsible for the 10-Minute Bill to ban disposables and was supported by some of the committee members.

Dr Johnson asked Professor Whitty: “I want to ask about vaping. You talked about tobacco smoking. We know that we want to stop people smoking tobacco because it is bad for them and makes them die younger from all sorts of different diseases.

CTP Director Brian King

Doesn’t Say Much You Haven’t Already Heard – Jim McDonald

Following today’s release of the FDA response to a December report critical of the agency’s tobacco regulators, FDA Center for Tobacco Products Director Brian King sat down with representatives of the independent vaping industry to answer questions about the agency’s treatment of vaping products and the people who use them.

The Zoom event, billed as “The Future of Vaping in the US: A Conversation with FDA’s Dr. Brian King,” was organized by the American Vapor Manufacturers Association (AVM), and moderated by AVM Vice President Allison Boughner and Director of Legislative & External Affairs Gregory Conley. Vaping advocate Nick “Grimm” Green simulcast the event on his YouTube channel.

🔎👀🔍
Here is the full video of our dialogue today with @FDAtobacco director Brian King. Special thanks to @GrimmGreen for simulcasting the event! https://t.co/VOF90KJt9L

— American Vapor Manufacturers (@VaporAmerican) February 24, 2023

The UK Approach to Vaping:

Educating Rather than Banning

In the UK, public health officials have proactively approached the issue of underage vaping by educating children.

To this end, an animated film has been recommended for teachers to show in schools, and a leaflet has been designed for parents and carers to share via newsletter or email. Additionally, a letter has been created for schools to send to parents to explain the information they will be teaching their children. The full range of resources are at the Action On Smoking And Health (ASH) web page, free to use for everybody.

Pushing Panic

Public Health Stokes Fear Over Vaping | RegWatch

Hysteria over vaping is not a by-product of public health’s war on vaping; it’s the intended result.
Public health seeks to generate fear and panic to impede logical thinking, from the so-called “epidemic” of teen vaping and “vaping-related lung illness” to the claim that nicotine harms developing brains.

In this special edition of RegWatch, Martin Cullip, International Fellow at the Taxpayers Protection Alliance and prolific writer on harm reduction policy, provides an intelligent reaction to a litany of panics public health has pushed concerning nicotine vaping products.

NSW Greens support legalising vapes

Duncan Murray

The NSW Greens have revealed a plan to legalise nicotine vapes for people over the age of 18 to help reduce harms associated with the devices.

The strategy announced on Monday, would place limits on nicotine levels and prohibit the use of harmful chemicals as well as requiring health warnings on all vaping products.

Greens health spokeswoman Cate Faehrmann said the plan to regulate vapes like other nicotine products would end the black market and get them out of the hands of children.

Leading Addiction Researchers

Denounce Australia’s NHMRC Statement On E-Cigarettes

Eleven leading Australian and international tobacco addiction scientists argue that the 2022 statement on e-cigarettes issued by Australia’s peak health and medical body, the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), fails to meet the high scientific standard expected of a leading national scientific body.

The NHMRC statement published in 2022 aims to provide “public health advice on the safety and impacts of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) based on review of the current evidence.”

The critique of the NHMRC statement, published today in the scientific journal Addiction, argues that the statement does not accurately summarise the available evidence on e-cigarettes.

Altria in Talks to Buy Vaping Startup NJOY

For at Least $2.75 Billion – Jennifer Maloney

Marlboro maker Altria MO -1.11%decrease; red down pointing triangle Group Inc. is in advanced talks to buy e-cigarette startup NJOY Holdings Inc. for at least $2.75 billion, according to people familiar with the matter, moving to take over a new vaping brand after its bet on Juul fizzled.

The deal for NJOY, one of the few e-cigarette makers whose products have clearance from federal regulators, could be announced as soon as this week, the people said, though the talks could still fall apart. The proposed deal includes an additional $500 million earnout if certain regulatory milestones are met, the people said. The Wall Street Journal reported last June that NJOY had hired advisers and was exploring a sale.

Alternative link

Use, marketing, and appeal of …

Oral nicotine products among adolescents, young adults, and adults

Shivani Mathur Gaiha, Crystal Lin, Lauren Kass Lempert, Bonnie Halpern-Felsher

Importance: Oral nicotine products such as pouches, lozenges, tablets, gums, and toothpicks are gaining popularity, especially among adolescents and young adults, with increased marketing.

Objective: To estimate use patterns of oral nicotine products and likelihood of buying and liking products based on marketing, using a large group of adolescents, young adults, and adults.

Design, setting, and participants: A cross-sectional, online survey among U.S. participants (n = 6,131; ages 13-40 years) was conducted in November-December 2021.

Vape and e-cigarette industry players

Welcome taxation as regulation measure

KUALA LUMPUR: E-cigarette players breathed a sigh of relief when the government announced that the business and its products would be regulated through taxation.

Malaysian Retail Electronic Cigarette Association (MRECA) president Datuk Adzwan Ab Manas said although industry players might face an initial decline in sales once taxation comes to force, he said it would only be momentarily.

“Once it has been recognised and regulated, then it can be officially promoted as a method of harm reduction and safer product compared with cigarettes.

On this Day…2022

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

Scottish government’s public consultation

On treating vaping the same as smoking – New Nicotine Alliance

The Scottish government has launched a public consultation exercise for a new policy paper entitled “Tightening rules on advertising and promoting vaping products”. As the title suggests, the proposals seek to place unnecessary obstacles in front of raising awareness about vaping products in Scotland. The EU Tobacco Products Directive, which the UK ratified prior to Brexit, already stipulates bans on vaping adverts on TV, in newspapers and in magazines, but this new initiative from the Scottish government aims to treat vaping products the same as cigarettes by prohibiting in-store promotional displays as well as ads on billboards, bus stops and anywhere else currently permitted. The plans would also prohibit vape companies from sponsoring any event or activity and ban free or cut-price samples.

Vital Strategies, another Bloomberg puppet

Christopher Snowdon, Velvet Glove Iron Fist

It’s hard to keep up with Mike Bloomberg’s web of front groups. The mothership is Bloomberg Philanthropies which funnels money down to the likes of STOP (which funds Anna Gilmore’s crew at Bath University) from which cash drips down to groups like the Investigative Desk.

Then there is the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and the Truth Initiative which were originally funded by the USA’s Master Settlement Agreement but now get millions from Mini-Mike. And there is his funding of the WHO’s MPOWER programme and the WHO in general, with Bloomberg Philanthropies explicitly funding a WHO report on vaping. All these organisations now take a hard anti-vaping line.