Vapers Digest 27th May

Wednesday’s News at a glance:
Op-ed: WHO Is Spurning Success ~ A ridiculous but revealing conference declaration ~ Australia and Brazil: Nicotine’s Accidental Laboratories ~ The Latest Fear Campaign: Why Julian Hill’s “Vaping is Linked to Cancer” Claim Misleads Australians ~ New data confirms Sweden’s smoke-free status ~ A Public Health Response to WHO’s Nicotine Pouch Report: Tobacco Harm Reduction Remains Absent but Crucial ~ A Letter to the Global Tobacco Harm Reduction Community ~ The Future of Tobacco Control in Africa Must Include Harm Reduction ~ OPINION: the EU is consulting on nicotine bans. The paper trail matters. ~ The Quit-Smoking Tool That’s Beating Patches and Gum ~ Zyns have been banned in France, which is a crime against humanity ~ Big Tobacco comes out on top after US FDA shake-up ~ Washington Youth Tobacco Use Near Record Lows as Adults Continue Switching to Smoke-Free Alternatives ~ Teen Vaping Has Long Been Falling. Why Do Schools Think the Opposite? ~ South Korea: Vapes ~ Tighter vape rules may backfire ~ Health Hazard | Cliff Douglas Interview | Part 2 | RegWatch
Op-ed: WHO Is Spurning Success
Dave Cross, Planet Of The Vapes
In an op-ed for Planet of the Vapes, Dr Delon Human, leader of Smoke Free Sweden, says that the World Health Organization (WHO) is spurning the world’s most successful anti-smoking story. Dr Human says that this is laid bare in the WHO’s latest report on nicotine pouches, claiming to expose the marketing tactics behind the global rise of smoke-free nicotine products.
A ridiculous but revealing conference declaration
Clive Bates, The Counterfactual by Clive Bates
The graphic above summarises the declaration of the European Conference on Tobacco or Health 2026, held in Milan on 20-22 May.
No doubt the conference will have been a lovely, rejuvenating experience for Europe’s top tobacco control activists. But the declaration confirms my theory that large groups of activists are capable only of producing dumb, and embarrassingly simplistic ideas. This declaration is Exhibit A.
Let us take the 10 points of this declaration one by one and apply only mild levels of critical scrutiny to the output from all of the collective brain power that produced this fanciful work.
Australia and Brazil: Nicotine’s Accidental Laboratories
Alan Gor, Claudio Teixeira
In Porto Alegre’s northern neighbourhoods, a vendor takes orders on WhatsApp. On the other side of the screen, the catalogue looks like a clandestine storefront: 47 flavours of disposable vapes, from citrus fruits to synthetic desserts.
Delivery is promised within two hours, by motorcycle, with no tax ID, no company registration, no receipt, and almost no paper trail.
“Don’t worry, it’s all original,” an automated message replies.
The Latest Fear Campaign: Why Julian Hill’s “Vaping is Linked to Cancer” Claim Misleads Australians
Alan Gor
Another day, another alarmist claim from Julian Hill on X.
https://x.com/julianhillmp/status/2059121078627123201?s=46&t=hINvzYnIeiJ13knZuYfijg
The now familiar line “vaping is linked to cancer” is designed to provoke fear, justify prohibition, and reinforce the Australian Government’s punitive anti-vaping agenda. It is a statement crafted for headlines, not for scientific scrutiny.
The problem is that this claim is deeply misleading.
New data confirms Sweden’s smoke-free status
SnusFormet
Fewer than five percent of Swedes smoke daily, according to a new report, effectively cementing Sweden’s status as a smoke-free country.
The report, Self-reported Smoking and Snus Habits 2003–2025 from the Swedish Council for Information on Alcohol and Other Drugs (CAN), shows that daily smoking in Sweden has fallen dramatically from 16 percent in 2003 to just 4.8 percent in 2025.
A Public Health Response to WHO’s Nicotine Pouch Report:
Tobacco Harm Reduction Remains Absent but Crucial
Tobacco Harm Reduction
The World Health Organization’s (WHO) latest report on nicotine pouches (ONPs) raises concerns about youth marketing, regulatory loopholes, flavour promotion, and commercial strategies. These concerns deserve attention from policymakers and public health advocates alike. However, their presentation remains incomplete without an accompanying discussion of the role of ONPs in tobacco harm reduction (THR).
Without this, the report risks overlooking a crucial public health reality: millions of adult smokers around the world continue to die from combustible tobacco use, and many are actively searching for lower-risk alternatives that can help them move away from cigarettes.
A Letter to the Global Tobacco Harm Reduction Community
Skip Murray, Skip’s Corner – Let’s Talk!
To everyone who believes that a life saved matters,
In July 2025, I sat down to design a symbol after a call was issued for a global mark to signify tobacco harm reduction.
At the time, it was simply an idea. A mark intended to represent something that we felt was missing in the global conversation around tobacco harm reduction, a symbol that could belong to the people whose lives had been changed by it.
The Future of Tobacco Control in Africa Must Include Harm Reduction
Joseph Magero, Health Times
As Africa marks World No Tobacco Day, governments across the continent must ask an important question: are current tobacco control policies truly tailored to African realities, or are they simply borrowed from elsewhere and imposed without regard for local feasibility?
For too long, many African countries have adopted tobacco control approaches copied directly from Western institutions, often without considering differences in enforcement capacity, economic realities, healthcare access, consumer behavior, or the growing illicit trade crisis.
OPINION: the EU is consulting on nicotine bans. The paper trail matters.
Peter Beckett, Clearing The Air
*Since this was written the commission has launched a second public consultation. We will write more about that shortly.
**This article, minus the swearing, has been submitted to the EU’s call for evidence on behalf of Clearing the Air. Go ahead and write your own if you can. And use our comment writing tool if you need inspiration.
Annex 5 of the European Commission’s evaluation of its tobacco laws tells you more or less everything you need to know about what they think of you and your opinions on safer nicotine products. In describing the results of its last consultation on the topic, we find the following passage:
The Quit-Smoking Tool That’s Beating Patches and Gum
Society for the Study of Addiction, SciTechDaily
A major review of global smoking cessation research has found that e-cigarettes containing nicotine appear to help people quit smoking more effectively than several other commonly used methods. These include nicotine replacement therapy (nicotine patches, gum, lozenges, etc.), non-nicotine e-cigarettes, and behavioral support programs.
The research combined evidence from multiple systematic reviews to provide a clearer picture of how well different smoking cessation tools work. Researchers analyzed findings from fourteen systematic reviews published between 2014 and 2023.
Zyns have been banned in France, which is a crime against humanity
Brian Cass, The Liberty Line
Zyns are now illegal in France.
According to the New York Post, France’s health ministry has banned Zyns and other oral nicotine products. That includes the use, purchase, possession, and sale of nicotine pouches. Anyone caught violating the law could face up to five years in prison and a fine of roughly $436,600.
Five years in prison. For pouches.
Big Tobacco comes out on top after US FDA shake-up
Yasmeen Abutaleb, Emma Rumney, Chris Prentice, Reuters
The U.S. FDA’s new, looser regulation of new vapes and nicotine pouches will potentially unleash hundreds more such products on the market in the coming weeks and months, according to three current and former Trump administration officials.
The Food and Drug Administration said earlier this month it will use ‘enforcement discretion’ to look the other way when manufacturers sell unauthorized vaping products as long as their license applications meet certain standards.
Washington Youth Tobacco Use Near Record Lows as Adults
Continue Switching to Smoke-Free Alternatives
Lindsey Stroud, Tobacco Harm Reduction 101
Results from the 2025 Washington Healthy Youth Survey indicate that youth tobacco use in the Evergreen State remains at historically low levels, while youth e-cigarette use continues to decline.
The biennial survey is a collaboration between the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Department of Health, the Health Care Authority’s Division of Behavioral Health and Recovery, and the Liquor and Cannabis Board. Approximately 200,000 Washington students in grades 6 through 12 participate in the survey, which asks questions related to alcohol, tobacco and nicotine use, mental health, nutrition, sexual behaviors, and other health indicators.
Teen Vaping Has Long Been Falling. Why Do Schools Think the Opposite?
Charles Gardner, Filter
Teen vaping in the United States has plummeted over the past six years, according to surveys from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Institutes of Health.
Many people nonetheless seem to believe that teenage nicotine vaping is rising. And this includes the administrators of US schools, as indicated by constant media reports of school systems all over the country installing vaping detectors.
South Korea: Vapes
Tobacco Insider
South Korea is witnessing a growing shift toward homemade e-cigarette liquids, with more consumers turning to DIY mixing practices after new tobacco regulations sharply increased the expected tax burden on vaping products. The trend accelerated following a revised Tobacco Business Act that took effect on March 24, 2026. The amendment expanded the legal definition of tobacco beyond traditional leaf tobacco to also include products using nicotine as a raw material. As a result, e-cigarette liquid now falls under the tobacco category and is subject to a surtax of ₩1,823 per milliliter. The financial impact could be substantial. A 30 ml bottle of e-liquid previously sold in the ₩20,000 won price range could see its retail price quadruple under the revised framework. The anticipated increase has prompted many consumers to seek lower-cost alternatives through homemade mixing.
Tighter vape rules may backfire
Faiz Ruzman, Press Reader
Malaysia risks pushing vape users into the black market if it responds to the recent High Court ruling with overly strict restrictions on vaping and smoke-free nicotine products, a regional tobacco harm-reduction coalition warned yesterday.
It said tighter controls could backfire as cigarettes remain widely available and continue to cause most tobacco-related harm.
Health Hazard | Cliff Douglas Interview | Part 2 | RegWatch
Brent Stafford, Regulator Watch
For decades, public health framed nicotine as the enemy. It was addictive, dangerous, and likened to heroin or cocaine. But what if that framing, once useful in the fight against smoking, became one of the biggest obstacles to tobacco harm reduction today?
In Part 2 of our special interview with tobacco control veteran Cliff Douglas, we examine the origins of nicotine demonization, the rise of the modern tobacco control movement, and how fear-driven language continues to distort public understanding of safer nicotine products.
A look back at how things have moved on or otherwise…
What are the research priorities for e-cigarettes?
On Thursday 28 May, the second of two workshops on e-cigarette research priorities will be held with a focus on the outcomes arising from e-cigarette use, including e-cigarette attitudes and behaviours, and longer-term health outcomes. The meeting is organised by Cancer Research UK, British Heart Foundation, Department of Health, Economic and Social Research Council and Medical Research Council. It is predominantly a scientific gathering, but I will be going and several vapers have been invited to contribute views….
E-Cigs Versus Traditional Tobacco-What’s Worse?
Ironically, despite having the healthier e-cigarette alternative at hand, many are choosing to continue smoking conventional cigarettes. Authorities think this may be because they mistakenly believe that e-cigarettes are as dangerous as their traditional counterparts….
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