Vapers Digest 28th February

Friday’s News at a glance:

UKVIA Speaks on DoH Research ~ ETHRA Addresses Hoekstra Lies ~ Stark Contrast Highlighted by CAPHRA ~ Irresponsible publicity related to an unpublished vaping study ~ No, vaping is not as dangerous as smoking ~ Nicotine Pouches: Do We Need to Worry About Microplastics? ~ European commissioner wrongly states “Vaping kills” ~ Restricting vape flavours cuts vaping but increases smoking for young adults, study finds ~ The New Study That Isn’t ~ Canada: BAT Pulls Vuse from PEI Stores, Demands Flavor Ban Enforcement ~ A Warning for the Rest of Canada: Imperial Tobacco Canada concedes vapour market in PEI to illegal operators ~ Rep. James Spillane: Menthol and flavored vape bans aren’t just wrong, they are harmful ~ The Harm Reduction Race ~ California Proposes Disposable Vape Ban ~ Latest Vaping Research | Vaping Unplugged Podcast with Barnaby Page Ep. 75

Three from Dave Cross, Planet of the Vapes

UKVIA Speaks on DoH Research

The UK Vaping Industry Association welcomed the news that the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is launching a ten-year research project into the long-term health effects of vaping on young people’s health, alongside wider influences on adolescent health. It followed up by warning about some of the language the Department of Health is using.

ETHRA Addresses Hoekstra Lies

The European Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (ETHRA) has prepared a letter, and sent to all members of the SANT Committee, in response to comments made by Commissioner Hoekstra at a meeting on taxation on Thursday 6 Feb. The EU Tax Commissioner wrongly equated vaping with smoking and is pushing for a tax on vapes that could drive ex-smokers back to cigarettes

Stark Contrast Highlighted by CAPHRA

The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) today drew attention to a groundbreaking study published in Addiction, which compares the effectiveness of vaping regulations in Australia and New Zealand. The research has significant implications for tobacco harm reduction policies across the Asia Pacific region.

Irresponsible publicity related to an unpublished vaping study

Clive Bates,The Counterfactual

No, vaping is not as dangerous as smoking

Christopher Snowdon, The Critic

We don’t know the long-term effects!” is the standard excuse for clamping down on e-cigarettes. It is not an objection raised against iPhones, wi-fi or most other new technologies, although it was one of the slogans of the “vaccine hesitant” during the pandemic. So many years have passed without a vape-related death being documented that concerns about the “long-term” effects should be subsiding. The Chinese pharmacist Hon Lik invented the e-cigarette in 2003 and has been using them ever since. He is now in his mid-70s and still standing.

Nicotine Pouches: Do We Need to Worry About Microplastics?

Joseph Hart, The Daily Pouch

Microplastics are everywhere. They’re in the ocean, the air, and in our soil. They’re even in our bodies and have been linked to a whole host of health issues, like inflammation, infertility, heart attacks and strokes. Talk of microplastics is just as ubiquitous. Over the years, endless papers, articles, and reports have been released on the subject. Just last year, the World Economic Forum asked whether these tiny plastic particles are causing a new health crisis.

Two from Ali Anderson, Clearing The Air

European commissioner wrongly states “Vaping kills”

European commissioner Wopke Hoekstra made the false claim that “vaping kills” in a public address to parliament. Speaking at the Subcommittee on Tax Matters on February 6, Hoekstra inaccurately stated that vaping kills in the same way as smoking.

Restricting vape flavours cuts vaping but increases smoking for young adults, study finds

Flavour restrictions in the U.S. lead to 3.6 per cent cut in vaping – and 2.2 per cent RISE in smoking

Flavour bans lead to 3.1 to 4.4 additional daily smokers for every five fewer daily vapers

Bans on flavours therefore ‘potentially offset’ any public health gains

More than a quarter of U.S adults live in areas where flavours are restricted

Banning vape flavours leads to less young adults vaping but MORE smoking, a major new study has found.

The New Study That Isn’t

Skip Murray, Skip’s Corner, Let’s Talk!

We’ve entered clickbait hell. How many people will be harmed?

There’s a new study out in all the wrong places. It has not been published in a journal, and I don’t know of it as a preprint anywhere. Instead, this unfinished study, with questionable results and a complete lack of peer review, is already making the headlines. I was curious about the study’s validity when the information released about it was on the first page of the tabloids. I’m not aware of those being known as a reliable source of factual information.

Canada: BAT Pulls Vuse from PEI Stores, Demands Flavor Ban Enforcement

Jim McDonald, Vaping 360

Imperial Tobacco Canada says it will stop selling its Vuse vapor products in Canadian Maritime province Prince Edward Island (PEI), “due to the province’s failure to enforce regulations, allowing the illegal market to thrive.” PEI is Canada’s smallest province. Imperial announced the move in a Feb. 27 press release.

The company also says Quebec—the nation’s second-most populous province—”risks the same fate if it does not act swiftly” to enforce its ban on flavored products.

Click to visit Danish Vapers Association

A Warning for the Rest of Canada: Imperial Tobacco Canada

concedes vapour market in PEI to illegal operators

CNW Group, Yahoo

Imperial Tobacco Canada (ITCAN) announces today it will withdraw its vapour products from Prince Edward Island (PEI) due to the province’s failure to enforce regulations, allowing the illegal market to thrive. Furthermore, an overly complex tax harmonization process has further disadvantaged legal businesses, contributing to ITCAN’s decision.

Rep. James Spillane: Menthol and flavored vape bans

aren’t just wrong, they are harmful

Rep. James Spillane, New Hampshire Union Leader

AS A REPUBLICAN member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives for more than a decade, I have had the privilege of being involved in influential legislation. However, no policy has had a greater impact on the Granite State than our neighbor to the south’s disastrous ban on menthol cigarettes and flavored vapor products, which took effect in June 2020. As a lawmaker with insight into our budget, I have witnessed the consequences firsthand. My message to Donald Trump is clear: bans don’t work and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is long overdue for significant reform.

The Harm Reduction Race

Renée M. Covino, Convenience Store News

The race is on for success in harm reduction: encouraging smokers to switch completely to reduced risk alternatives. Evidence of this rapidly evolving trend can be seen from all lanes — consumers, manufacturers, retailers, the government and even public health.

Citing the “2024 Surgeon General’s Report,” Kellsi Booth, chief legal officer for Black Buffalo, the Chicago-based maker of tobacco alternative chew and pouches, said: “Adult smoking and youth tobacco use are at all-time lows, which is a major public health milestone. The growing body of science and evidence around novel nicotine products supports the important role these products can play as acceptable alternatives for adult smokers to reduce the harm associated with current tobacco use.”

California Proposes Disposable Vape Ban0

CStore Decisions

On Feb. 18, California assembly members introduced AB 762, which would prohibit the sale and distribution of new or refurbished disposable, battery-embedded vape devices in the state. The prohibition would begin Jan. 1, 2026. If the bill were to go into effect, anyone in violation could be fined, including $500 for the initial violation.

Latest Vaping Research | Vaping Unplugged Podcast with Barnaby Page Ep. 75

Vape TV, World Vapers’ Alliance

In the latest episode of Vaping Unplugged, we welcome Barnaby Page, Editorial Director at ECigIntelligence, to discuss the latest vaping research and what it means for consumers, regulators, and harm reduction advocates. Barnaby has been at the forefront of vaping industry analysis since joining ECigIntelligence in 2014 as one of its first employees. With a distinguished 30-year career as a journalist and editor, he has worked across Canada, the US, the Middle East, and the UK, covering industries from technology to advertising. His editorial expertise ensures that ECigIntelligence maintains high standards of accuracy and relevance, particularly in science-related topics. He is also a member of the Association of British Science Writers.

On this Day…2024

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

New England Journal of Medicine Backs Vapes as Harm Reduction

Kiran Sidhu, Filter Magazine

Earlier in February, the New England Journal of Medicine published both a study highlighting the harm reduction efficacy of vapes and an accompanying editorial, stating that “US public health agencies and professional medical societies should reconsider their cautious positions on e-cigarettes for smoking cessation.”

E-cigarette use is associated with cardiovascular disease…

in the same way that statins cause myocardial infarction!!

Dr Farsalinos, E-cigarette Research

A new study was published today by Prof Glantz et al. in the journal New England Journal of Medicine Evidence, claiming that e-cigarettes pose the same risk for disease (mainly cardiovascular disease, stroke and metabolic dysfunction) as smoking while dual use is more harmful than exclusive smoking. The study was a systematic review and metanalysis of publications that compared odds ratios of having disease between e-cigarette users and smokers.

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