Vapers Digest 28th July

Friday’s News at a glance:

UK Prime Minister Sunak underscores vapes as safer alternative to cigarettes – Let’s talk e-cigarettes – Waste Study Confirms Vape Recyclability – Experts Respond to Committee Letter – H&S Committee Pushes Heavier Restrictions – Cigarette smokers more at risk for tobacco dependence – Vital Warning | WHO Is Coming for Your Vapes at COP10 – Vaping and Football 

Sunak underscores vapes

As safer alternative to cigarettes – INQUIRER.net

Advocates of public health in the country applauded UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for promoting vaping as a much safer alternative to smoking cigarettes and establishing groundbreaking programs that “encourage adults to make informed choices rather than imposing bans that leave them with limited options.”

“No less than a leader of the free world has proclaimed that vaping is a better choice for those who can’t quit smoking. There is so much science and research today that back up his claim. We congratulate Prime Minister Sunak for doing the right thing in protecting the British people’s health,” Clarisse Virgino, the Philippine representative to the Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA), said.

Let’s talk e-cigarettes

July 2023 Joanna Streck

Associate Professor Jamie Hartmann-Boyce and Dr Nicola Lindson discuss the new evidence in e-cigarette research and interview Assistant Professor of Psychology, Joanna Streck, from the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital in the US. Joanna Streck talks about her new study looking at the feasibility, acceptability and preliminary effects of switching from combustible cigarettes to e-cigarettes in individuals in treatment for opioid use disorder. The trial name is: Switching Individuals in Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder Who Smoke Cigarettes to the Standardized Research E-Cigarette (SREC).
The goal of this study is to conduct a pilot randomized waitlist-controlled trial to assess the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effects of substituting the National Institute for Drug Abuse standardized research e-cigarette (SREC) for combustible cigarettes in people who use medications for opioid disorder and combustible cigarettes who are not ready to quit smoking.

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Three from Dave Cross, Planet of the Vapes:

Waste Study Confirms Vape Recyclability

A new study looking at the recycling performance of single-use vapes reveals that they can be recycled if collected and handled correctly. The report’s findings were revealed to parliamentarians at a special Houses of Parliament reception as the category is facing up to continued intense scrutiny due to the estimated five million plus products that are thrown away every week.

Currently Scotland is looking to ban disposables on environmental grounds and the arguments being used there have been mirrored in the House of Commons by Dr Caroline Johnson.

Experts Respond to Committee Letter

Experts have reacted to letter to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Steve Barclay, from the Health and Social Care Committee about imposing heavier restrictions on disposable vapes to limit child use. The letter and the Chair of the Committee’s statement is covered fully in our other feature article today.

Professor Lion Shahab, Professor of Health Psychology and Co-Director of the UCL Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group, UCL, said: “The letter of the Health and Social Care Committee to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, published today, makes some very sensible suggestions following a recent evidence session on Youth Vaping.

Committee Pushes Heavier Restrictions

The Parliamentary Health and Social Care Committee has written to the government demanding heavier restrictions on disposable vapes to limit child use. The letter to Rt Hon Steve Barclay MP follows on from the Committee’s recent evidence session where a series of lies and misinformation were detailed by some Committee members and those giving ‘evidence’.

The Committee says the Government should consider bringing restrictions on packaging and marketing of vapes in line with those that apply to tobacco products “to tackle a rise in use among children”.

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Cigarette smokers more at risk

For tobacco dependence than users of smokeless tobacco

Cigarette smokers have higher odds of tobacco dependence than those who vape or use a variety of types of tobacco products, according to a Mount Sinai study published in July in Nicotine & Tobacco Research.

The findings suggest that tailored tobacco cessation programs are needed for people with different tobacco use habits. The researchers identified three clear types of tobacco users: those who predominantly smoke cigarettes, those who predominantly use smokeless tobacco, and those who predominantly use a combination of cigarettes, e-cigarettes, and cigars.

Vital Warning

WHO Is Coming for Your Vapes at COP10 | RegWatch

Make no mistake, the minions of global public health are coming for your vapes. This November, several thousand unaccountable bureaucrats will meet for COP10, the 10th session of the Conference of the Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

At this meeting, they plan to institute a worldwide ban on open-system devices, create an effective nicotine cap, and redefine smoke to include vapor.

Reporting from the Global Forum on Nicotine in Warsaw, Poland, RegWatch interviews Martin Cullip, International Fellow at the Taxpayers Protection Alliance and prolific writer on harm reduction policy.

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Vaping and Football:

A Playbook of Innovation and Harm Reduction – Michael Landl

Football, one of my big passions, has captured the hearts of millions worldwide. Its ability to inspire, unite, and push boundaries resonates with enthusiasts like me everywhere. In a surprising twist, the world of vaping, my other big passion, shares some similarities with football. While there are many parallels between football and vaping, their main similarities are innovation and harm reduction, which are aspects that lie at the core of both. I have always wanted to bring those two things together, so here we go! Let’s explore the obvious and maybe less obvious ways in which vaping and football converge in their pursuit of progress and positive impact in the world.

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On this Day…2022

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

From FDA to PMI –

A sell-out or a bold move for public health?

Clive Bates, The Counterfactual

Matt Holman resigns as Director of the Office of Science at the Center for Tobacco Products at the FDA. He is moving to the tobacco company Philip Morris International to be Vice President of US Scientific Engagement & Regulatory Strategy. What to make of this? I write him an open letter.

Top FDA Tobacco Official Quits

To Take Job at Philip Morris International – Alex Norcia

On July 26, Matthew Holman, the director of the Office of Science at the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP), told staff that he would be leaving his role for an undisclosed position at Philip Morris International (PMI).

Brian King, who became CTP’s director in early July, wrote in a letter to colleagues that Holman would be departing “effective immediately,” revealing that the former OS head “has been on leave since before my tenure began at the Center” and saying that “he recused himself, consistent with agency ethics policies, from all CTP/FDA work while exploring career opportunities outside of government.”

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

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