Vapers Digest 28th July

Monday’s News at a glance:

Parliament Matters #2 ~ The Asia Forum on Nicotine ~ Minister Defends THR ~ Regulatory Void Fuels Illicit Markets And Public Health Risks, Warns CAPHRA ~ Vaping Risks Overstated: CAPHRA Calls For Science, Not Scare Tactics ~ 146 Conflicts of Interest ~ Open Letter to the Executive Director of the Canadian Public Health Association ~ What Will It Take for the Government to Face the Consequences of Its Tobacco Policies? ~ Twisting the Data to Blame Vaping Again ~ Reactions Part 3 – US FDA JUUL MGO ~ Media Watch: BBC Suddenly Wants to Protect Children ~ Another Day Another Vape Study Implies a Causation Where There is None ~ Public confusion over vaping risks is missed opportunity to help smokers quit, warns ASH ~ Vaping better than NRT at helping disadvantaged smokers quit, Australian study finds ~ The Firebreak’s Filthy Fifteen (Part 3) ~ Wave Goodbye With Your Wallet to the American Lung Association ~ Disposable ban ‘meaningless’ without push towards refills, says Imperial ~ Opinion/Guest column: State’s proposed tobacco ban more a mandate against choice ~ Op-ed: Why Is Massachusetts ignoring the best ways to cut smoking? ~ Bangladesh Proposes to Ban Safer Nicotine Products Under Foreign Influence, Ignoring Public Health Evidence and Regional Precedents ~ Vaping: Safer than smoking? FULL EPISODE ~ Riccardo Polosa, Public Hearings, Portfolio Committee on Health, Republic of South Africa

Three From Dave Cross, Planet of the Vapes

Parliament Matters #2

Our second trip to Parliament sees Sir Julian Smith worried about smoking cessation services. Jonathan Davies recalled that smoking in private vehicles had been banned and didn’t know how many fines have been given out. Andrew Rosindell wanted the government to talk about Smokefree 2030 progress, and Marie Goldman demonstrated her lack of understanding regarding the number of times a vape can be refilled.

The Asia F orum on Nicotine

The inaugural Asia Forum on Nicotine (AFN) will take place in an online form on Wednesday, 27 August 2025. The event will begin at 13:00 Singapore Time (05:00 GMT). Organisers say the “high-impact event” will bring together global and regional leaders in science, public health, and those with lived experience to address the urgent challenges and transformative opportunities in tobacco harm reduction across the Asia-Pacific region.

Minister Defends THR

International health experts have applauded the Swedish Finance Minister, Elisabeth Svantesson, for her “robust defence of nicotine pouches” in a row with the European Union over safer alternatives to cigarettes. The Minister angrily condemned a leaked EU proposal to use revenue from higher taxes on nicotine products to help fund the bloc’s next long-term budget as “completely unacceptable”.

Two From Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA), Scoop

Regulatory Void Fuels Illicit Markets And Public Health Risks, Warns CAPHRA

In response to a recent Bangkok Post article highlighting the dangers of “zombie vapes,” the Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) warns that the absence of clear, proportionate, and enforceable regulations is creating illicit markets that undermine public safety, encourage criminal enterprise, and expose consumers to heightened health risks.

Vaping Risks Overstated: C APHRA Calls For Science, Not Scare Tactics

In response to the article published by The Sun Malaysia titled “Many harmful chemicals found in vape liquids” , CAPHRA welcomes continued scrutiny of all nicotine delivery systems. However, it is essential that reporting is balanced, evidence-based, and accurately contextualized.

146 Conflicts of Interest

COpWatch

Coming to a COP conference near you soon.

Vital Strategies, one of the favored misinformation outlets funded with money from the World’s greatest opponent of reduced risk nicotine products, Michael Bloomberg, recently sent out a newsletter to subscribers.

Among calls to demand countries implement a “50% tax increase on harmful commodities like tobacco, alcohol and sugary drinks” which will punish the poor, the newsletter also celebrated “the recipients of the Bloomberg Philanthropies Awards for Global Tobacco Control.” These are they, 146 of them.

Open Letter to the Executive Director of the Canadian Public Health Association

Rights 4 Vapers

Mr. Culbert: Another Nail in the Coffin of Public Health Credibility in Canada

Once again, under your leadership, the Canadian Public Health Association (CPHA) has reminded us why public trust in Canadian health institutions is plummeting. Your upcoming event, the 2025 Canadian Conference on Tobacco and Nicotine (CCTN25), is being pitched as a space for “dialogue” and “collaboration.” But this is no public health conference. It’s an echo chamber for abstinence-only ideologues who are clinging to outdated, disproven narratives about nicotine and tobacco harm reduction.

Two From Alan Gor, Australia Let’s Improve Vaping Education (A.L.I.V.E.)

What Will It Take for the Government to Face the Consequences of Its Tobacco Policies?

Australia has long held itself up as a world leader in tobacco control, and for a time, that reputation was deserved. However, in 2024–25, the country made a drastic mistake: rather than regulating vaping, it attempted to eliminate it through a sweeping ban on pharmacy/prescription-only sales.

Twisting the Data to Blame Vaping Again

Becky Freeman and her co-authors are back with another paper trying to convince the public that vaping is to blame for slowing down the decline in youth smoking in Australia. But when you actually read their argument, one thing becomes clear

This isn’t science — it’s spin.

Reactions Part 3 – US FDA JUUL MGO

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

A compilation of reactions by organizations and individuals to the announcement that JUUL received a marketing granted order (MGO) from the US FDA CTP. The authorized products were added to the list of nicotine products that can be legally sold in the United States.

Media Watch: BBC Suddenly Wants to Protect Children

The Daily Pouch

Perhaps as penance for the institutional failures and decades-long cover-ups of monsters like Jimmy Savile, Stuart Hall, and Rolf Harris, the BBC now genuinely cares about the well-being of children. Well, when it comes to nicotine pouches, at least.

All too often, the BBC has been asleep at the wheel when it comes to the safety of children. However, the culture of silence at The Beeb is over. They won’t wait until every other news outlet has covered a story extensively to do what is right. This time, they’re leading the charge on the scourge that is blighting schools up and down the country. Yes, I’m talking about nicotine pouches.

Another Day Another Vape Study Implies a Causation Where There is None

Diane Caruana, Vaping Post

A recent study published in PLOS Mental Health has reignited discussions about youth tobacco use and mental health. It reported that teens who use any form of tobacco (the accurate term here would have been nicotine) including vapes, traditional cigarettes, and so forth—are significantly more likely to report symptoms of depression and anxiety than those who don’t use these products. The research team concluded that the risk was highest among adolescents who used both traditional tobacco and vapes (dual users).

Two From Ali Anderson, Clearing The Air

Public confusion over vaping risks is missed opportunity to help smokers quit, warns ASH

Adult vaping rates have stalled at 10 per cent, while smoking remains unchanged at 13 per cent

More than half (56 per cent) of adults now wrongly believe vaping is as or more harmful than smoking

Teen vaping has plateaued, but youth smoking is rising – now at 21 per cent

ASH blames misinformation and policy delays for creating a “dangerous limbo”

Vaping better than NRT at helping disadvantaged smokers quit, Australian study finds

Smokers given flavoured vapes were three times more likely to quit than those using gum or lozenges

Nearly one in three vape users stayed smoke-free after six months, versus one in 10 using nicotine replacement therapy (NRT)

Fewer side effects were reported among vape users compared to those using NRT

Study focused on low-income Australians receiving government benefits

The Firebreak’s Filthy Fifteen (Part 3)

THE FIREBREAK

The last five marketing scams in the 2025 Firebreak Filthy Fifteen look at how marketing opportunists get involved in campaigns for systemic change, trying to get ahead of the curve on the transitions to what is promised to be a better, more sustainable world.

While continuous improvement is a basic foundation for product stewardship, the activist campaigns are demanding an immediate systemic transition (away from fossil fuels, plastics, conventional farming, the capitalist system…). As irrational and rushed as these transition campaigns are, they have been amplified by those companies or NGOs with an alternative that would benefit from such transitions.

Wave Goodbye With Your Wallet to the American Lung Association

Dr. Brad Rodu, Tobacco Truth

It’s the 10^th Anniversary of my call for tobacco users and their friends and families to stop contributing to the American Cancer Society, owing to their false and misleading claims about lifesaving and vastly safer tobacco products. Today I note that the American Lung Association (ALA) is acting against its stated mission to “save lives by improving lung health and preventing lung disease,” as they, too, are espousing a false narrative about vapor products that have saved many smokers’ lives.

The ALA recently published a particularly specious screed, “Vapor Hiding Dangerous Ingredients.” The source for much of the article was ALA Chief Medical Officer Dr. Albert Rizzo, a pulmonary physician who has published a few peer reviewed articles, but none on e-cigarettes or vapor products.

Disposable ban ‘meaningless’ without push towards refills, says Imperial

Tony Corbin, Talking Retail

“The ban on disposable vapes is meaningless unless consumers also purchase vape pods separately and use multiple pods with the one reusable vape device. Otherwise, consumers are treating reusable devices as a one-use only device,” said Imperial’s head of corporate & legal affairs, UK & Ireland, Deirdre Healy.

Opinion/Guest column: State’s proposed tobacco ban more a mandate against choice

Logan Calendine, Sofia Hamilton, Worcester Telegram & Gazette

Thanks largely to the success of harm-reduction policies, youth and adult smoking rates are at historic lows — but for some absolutist Massachusetts legislators, this steady and consistent progress is not rapid enough. Instead, these legislators advocate abandoning these proven policies in favor of an untested approach that restricts adult autonomy, and that history demonstrates won’t work: banning every adult born after 2005 from purchasing nicotine or tobacco products.

Op-ed: Why Is Massachusetts ignoring the best ways to cut smoking?

Elizabeth Hicks, Sentinel & Enterprise

Massachusetts has never been shy about leading the nation on public health initiatives, but when it comes to tobacco policy, the state risks taking a detour from evidence-based solutions to political theater. Legislation being considered would make it illegal for anyone born after January 1, 2006, to purchase nicotine products. Framed as a “Nicotine Free Generation” proposal, the bills aim to phase out tobacco use entirely by cutting off legal access for younger generations. While the goal may sound good on the surface, the reality of this kind of policymaking is troubling.

Bangladesh Proposes to Ban Safer Nicotine Products Under Foreign Influence, Ignoring Public Health Evidence and Regional Precedents

Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates, Yahoo

The Bangladesh Ministry of Health is pushing a new tobacco control bill that proposes a sweeping ban on all safer nicotine products (SNPs), including vaping devices and oral alternatives. Alarmingly, this move is being pursued without public consultation and under an interim government—raising serious concerns about transparency and accountability.

Vaping: Safer than smoking? FULL EPISODE

Bangkok Post

Over the past 20 years, fewer than one hundred people have died from vaping, while more than one hundred million people have died from smoking regular cigarettes. InThailand, the tobacco death toll is 71,000 people each year, and from vaping – zero. So why are cigarettes available in every convenience store, while e-cigarettes are banned?

Riccardo Polosa, Public Hearings, Portfolio Committee on Health, Republic of South Africa

CoEHAR Unict

Prof. Riccardo Polosa, CoEHAR Founder, was invited to speak at the Public Hearings of the Portfolio Committee on Health of the Republic of South Africa. During the virtual session on the Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill, Prof. Polosa presented scientific insights on tobacco harm reduction strategies and the role of combustion-free nicotine delivery systems in public health.

On this day…2023

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

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.

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.

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