Vapers Digest 27th July

Monday’s News at a glance:

The Questions That Change Everything ~ The Commissioner Is Fighting the Fire While Ignoring the Fuel ~ South Africa Tobacco Regulation: The Case for Proportionate Risk ~ Misplaced optimism about e-cigarettes for smoking cessation in New Zealand ~ Fact Sheet: Arguments Against Gateway ~ Safety of high-powered sub-ohm devices (part II) ~ Parliament discovers tobacco harm reduction ~ Does Vaping Impair Skin Healing? ~ “As Unfit as Smokers” Alarmist Headlines Once Again Ignore the Wider Evidence on Vaping ~ US Youth Vaping Rate Down 74% as Scientist Questions Epidemic Label ~ House Defense Bill Includes Military Smoking Pilot for Vapes and Pouches ~ Australia’s Smoking Rate Hits Record Low as Illicit Tobacco Use Doubled ~ Yes, You May Be a Candidate for Tobacco Harm Reduction ~ Striking Contrast: Science vs Politics — The Battle Over Nicotine Pouches ~ Federal Court Finds FDA Likely Failed to Assess Economic Impact of PMTA Rule on Small Nicotine Pouch Manufacturers ~ Total Failure ~ HOW DOES SMOKING AFFECT PEOPLE WHO USE DRUGS?

Two From Alan Gor

The Questions That Change Everything

Every day we ask questions. Some are small. What should I have for dinner? Should I take this route home? Should I buy this or wait until next week? Others quietly shape the course of our lives. Should I change careers? How should I raise my children? What kind of person do I want to become? What will people remember me for? The quality of our lives is determined less by the answers we find than by the questions we choose to ask.

The Commissioner Is Fighting the Fire While Ignoring the Fuel

Australia’s illicit tobacco crisis has reached a remarkable point. No one disputes that organised crime has become deeply embedded in the tobacco market. Firebombings, extortion, illegal factories, counterfeit products and billions of dollars in lost excise revenue have transformed what was once primarily a public health issue into a major law enforcement problem.

South Africa Tobacco Regulation: The Case for Proportionate Risk

Tobacco Harm Reduction

Public health policy is strongest when policymakers are prepared to follow the evidence – even when it challenges their original assumptions. That is the central message from Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo, former chair of South Africa’s Portfolio Committee on Health, who has described how his own position on nicotine regulation changed during Parliament’s consideration of the Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill. Dr Dhlomo began with what he calls a “harm is harm” view.

Safety of high-powered sub-ohm devices (part II)

Dr Roberto Sussman, Roberto’s Substack

I explained in Part I the characteristics and properties of 3rd generation vaping devices known as “high-powered sub-ohm devices”, normally equipped with low resistance coils (< 1 Ω) and their circuitry allows users to set in the display screen a wide range of supplied powers above 40 W and (in some devices) up to 220 W.

Their usage has always been confined to a minority niche, but currently it is marginal, as consumer preferences have shifted since 2020 to low powered pods and disposables. However, despite this marginal consumer usage, there is an extensive literature using them (even presently) to generate aerosols in emission and pre-clinical studies.

Parliament discovers tobacco harm reduction

Ivo Vegter, Daily Friend

In a rare outbreak of evidence-based policy, the Portfolio Committee on Health has repudiated the dogma that “harm is harm”. Credit where credit is due.

I have not been kind to the Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill. I have called it an anti-smoker bill that ignores science and will backfire. I have described South Africa’s tobacco policy as a contradictory mess. I have argued that the Bill ought to be scrapped in its entirety and replaced with a tobacco policy copied from Sweden, since it has been unusually successful.

Does Vaping Impair Skin Healing?

Joseph Hart, The Daily Pouch

Recent health reports claim that vaping significantly impairs post-surgical skin healing and tissue recovery. However, a closer look at the underlying physiological mechanisms shows that these claims frequently conflate combustion toxicity with nicotine-induced vasoconstriction. Non-combustible nicotine alternatives carry vastly different risk profiles compared to toxic smoke exposure.

“As Unfit as Smokers” Alarmist Headlines Once Again Ignore the Wider Evidence on Vaping

Diane Caruana, Vaping Post

A new narrative review published in Cureus examined evidence on e-cigarettes, heated tobacco products, and oral nicotine products. In line with previous studies, it concluded that exclusive use of smoke-free alternatives generally produces much lower exposure to chemicals implicated in cardiovascular disease than combustible smoking. The findings reinforce a central principle of tobacco harm reduction: nicotine is addictive and not harmless, but inhaling the products of combustion is responsible for most smoking-related disease.

US Youth Vaping Rate Down 74% as Scientist Questions Epidemic Label

Ali Anderson, Clearing the Air

Current vape use among US middle and high school students fell from about 20 per cent in 2019 to 5.2 per cent in 2025, a decline of roughly 74 per cent.

Cigarette smoking stood at 1.4 per cent, while 7.2 per cent reported using any product classified by US authorities as a tobacco product.

Among students currently vaping, 41.2 per cent had used a vape on at least 20 of the previous 30 days and 27.5 per cent used one daily.

A longitudinal study co-authored by Dr Arielle Selya found that 52 per cent of young people who had tried vaping around the 2019 peak had stopped by the follow-up.

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

Another study shows…

That vaping helps people quit smoking

Christopher Snowdon, Velvet Glove Iron Fist

A study published in the BMJ today will have the usual anti-vaping fanatics howling at the moon. It found that vapers were much more likely to attempt to quit smoking than those who don’t vape, and that they are 73 per cent more likely to succeed in quitting smoking when they do. It also finds a significant increase in smoking cessation in the USA that coincides with the rise of vaping.

Pharma Co Values Profits Over Health

Dick Puddlecote

It’s been a very busy couple of weeks in Puddlecoteville, so like yesterday this is another I’ve had in my drafts just waiting for a time to write.

You see, I’ve long believed that e-cigs carry the potential to expose the lies and hypocrisy of tobacco control, but the extent to which they are doing so has exceeded even my wildest hopes.

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

Vapers Digest 27th July

Monday’s News at a glance:

Two From Alan Gor

Tobacco Harm Reduction

Arielle S. Selya comment accepted July 2026, PubPeer

Arielle Selya PhD, Selya Behavioral Science Substack

Dr Roberto Sussman, Roberto’s Substack

Ivo Vegter, Daily Friend

Joseph Hart, The Daily Pouch

Diane Caruana, Vaping Post

Ali Anderson, Clearing the Air

Two From Alex Kendell, Vaping 360

Dr. Edward Anselm, Edward’s Substack

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

That vaping helps people quit smoking

Christopher Snowdon, Velvet Glove Iron Fist

Dick Puddlecote

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