Vapers Digest 28th March
Tuesday’s News at a glance:
Adolescent e-cigarette use may not lead to combustible cigarette use – Run-Up to the Independent Vape Industry Conference – Novato’s tobacco ordinance is discriminatory – E-cigarette nicotine ban condemned as ‘flawed and unethical’ – VIP’s Owners in Bankruptcy Too – Penn Medicine Expert ‘Reveals’ the Dangers of Vaping – Will the FDA ‘Deeming Rule’ Spell the Demise of the Vaping Industry? – Promise Highlighted – Is Sweden the answer to a smoke-free future? – NSP Daily Digest
Adolescent e-cigarette use may not lead to combustible cigarette use
Healio
Previously published data suggesting that people, especially teenagers, who use electronic cigarettes are more likely to start smoking combustible cigarettes may not be accurate, according to findings published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence.
“The national trends in vaping and cigarette smoking do not support the argument that vaping is leading to smoking,” Lynn T. Kozlowski, PhD, of the School of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Buffalo, said in a press release. “There is little evidence that those who have never smoked cigarettes or never used other tobacco products and first try e-cigarettes will later move on to cigarette usage with great frequency or daily, regular smoking.”
Kozlowski and Kenneth E. Warner, PhD, of the School of Public Health, University of Michigan, wrote that one shortcoming of existing prospective studies is that they use small sample population sizes, which in turn leads to smaller risk.
Run-Up to the Independent Vape Industry Conference
IBVTA via Totally Wicked
The 20th May is fast approaching. It is on this date that the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations come into full effect. What will then happen? Will the regulations be enforced and policed? What will the MHRA be doing with all the data it has received? Are Trading Standards adequately prepared? What role will the Department of Health be playing? These are all critically important questions and I am delighted that representatives of all these organisations will be speaking at the Independent Vape Industry Conference being held in Manchester on the 27th April.
I really do believe that this conference is a must attend event for all those involved in the independent vape industry.
This is the first conference aimed specifically at the independent vape industry and focused exclusively on issues of direct relevance to the independent vape industry.
Novato’s tobacco ordinance is discriminatory
Steven Greenhut, R Street
The City of Novato’s recently enacted anti-tobacco ordinance—which will go into effect in 2018, but is subject to reconsideration next week—would give landlords a tool with which to discriminate against renters. The measure discriminates against poor people, too.
The law bans smoking in apartments and condominiums, and also bans the use of electronic cigarettes and smokeless tobacco. Other communities have passed similar bans, but Novato’s ban goes much further. Use of any tobacco product—or even ownership of an ashtray—would be considered a material breach of a lease, thus giving landlords wide latitude to evict tenants.
E-cigarette nicotine ban condemned as ‘flawed and unethical’
Steven Trask, Sydney Morning Herald
Australia’s decision to ban the use of nicotine in electronic cigarettes has been condemned as “flawed and unethical” by a group of doctors and health experts.
Last Friday the Therapeutic Goods Administration made its final decision to uphold the ban, citing evidence that e-cigarette use caused nicotine addiction and could lead to teenagers becoming hooked on tobacco.
A group of 16 doctors, academics and public health advocates had tried to reverse the decision, campaigning on grounds that e-cigarettes were a useful tool to help smokers quit.
“It is unethical and unscientific to exempt nicotine in tobacco products and to deny smokers access to a much safer alternative,” the group wrote in a submission to the TGA last February.
VIP’s Owners in Bankruptcy Too
Mawsley, Planet of the Vapes
We covered the story of how 256 jobs hang in the balance as British cigalike firm selling VIP cigalikes entered administration due to an unpaid tax bill. The VIP brand is operated by Must have Limited (MHL), and their American owners are Electronic Cigarettes International Group (ECIG). Now comes news that ECIG themselves are insolvent, having filed a form 8-K for bankruptcy or receivership.
Only last week, ECIG’s CEO Dan O’Neill explained MHL’s demise: “Despite multiple attempts to satisfy the tax obligation and other expected near term obligations, the company is unable to continue to fund the operations or any obligations of Must Have Ltd. Based on the administration process in the United Kingdom we will be evaluating the strategic alternatives available for the future of the company. Legacy financial commitments and MHL’s underperformance in the UK prevented the subsidiary from meeting its financial obligations.”
Penn Medicine Expert ‘Reveals’ the Dangers of Vaping
Melissa Jacobs, NeoVape
Vaping is a lot safer than cigarettes, right? It involves nicotine, but at least people aren’t infusing their lungs with carcinogen-laced smoke. Plus, vaping seems to help smokers wean themselves off cancer sticks.
Not so fast, says Dr. Frank Leone, director of Penn Medicine’s comprehensive smoking treatment programs. Medical evidence is sorely lacking on the long-term effects of vaping—or e-cigarettes, the term Leone uses so no one forgets what they are. “We know that cigarettes are unsafe after 40 years of exposure,” he says. “We don’t have 40 years of exposure to e-cigarettes to know what the danger is. We don’t know the safety profile, so we can’t say that e-cigarettes are safer than traditional cigarettes.”
RegWatch
When junk science is appealing it inevitably leads to a deluge of mainstream media coverage. A favorite target proves to be vaping. How to combat it?
In this RegWatch Web Extra hear from Louise Ross, the Stop Smoking Service Manager for Leicester City Council in England and learn how her Stop Smoking Service fights bad science in the news—only on RegWatch by RegulatorWatch.com.
Will the FDA ‘Deeming Rule’ Spell the Demise of the Vaping Industry?
Nancy Thorner, Heartland Institute
Vaping: How Government Regulation Can Kill Innovation was the topic of The Heartland Institute’s continuing series of Wednesday evening events that are available free to the public. Featured speakers were Dr. Brad Rodu of the University of Louisville and Pamela Gorman of Smoke-Free Alternative Trade Association (SFATA). They discussed vaping from a scientific and industry perspective.
Dr. Rodu is a professor of medicine at the University of Louisville, where he is a member of the James Graham Brown Cancer Center and holds an endowed chair in tobacco harm reduction research. He is also a senior fellow at The Heartland Institute. For the past two decades Dr. Rodu has been in the forefront of research and policy development regarding tobacco harm reduction.
Promise Highlighted
Tobacco Reporter
Philip Morris International (PMI) has presented data at the Society of Toxicology (SOT) annual meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, demonstrating the potential of its carbon-heated tobacco product (CHTP) to present less risk of harm to smokers who switch to this product versus continued cigarette smoking.
The data show that across a range of pre-clinical assessment studies the aerosol produced by CHTP generates significantly reduced harmful and potentially harmful constituents (HPHCs) compared with cigarette smoke, and appears to have a significantly reduced biological impact.
“Our comprehensive pre-clinical assessment of CHTP involves a range of advanced in vitro, in vivo and systems toxicology studies”, said Manuel Peitsch, chief scientific officer, PMI. “We are delighted to have shared the latest results of these studies with leading toxicologists from around the world at the SOT Annual Meeting. As we seek to develop products with the potential to reduce the risks associated with cigarette smoking, it is crucial to have our methodologies and results scrutinized by the external scientific community”.
Is Sweden the answer to a smoke-free future?
Eleanor Mason, Nouse
It seems Sweden is the guiding light needed for a cigarette-free world. Swedish men appear to be the first population to reach a record low of daily smokers, with only 5 per cent of men aged between 30-44 smoking cigarettes daily in 2016. This number is very low in comparison to the 25 per cent of European Union males who smoke on a daily basis.
It may seem curious that only a demographic of 30-44 year olds were mentioned in the data released by the Swedish government, however, faith is restored as a total of just 8 per cent of total males now smoke cigarettes daily. The proportion of women smoking in Sweden is constantly falling too, and is now at 10%. In Sweden, people use a substance called Snus, to stop smoking. Snus is a moist powder tobacco product that is placed under the upper lip for extended periods. The sale of snus has been banned within the EU since 1992 following attempts by a US firm to introduce chewable tobacco known as Skoal Bandits to the UK. Snus has saved the lives of many. The latest WHO (World Health Organization) report states “the tobacco industry and the deadly impact of its products cost the world’s economies more than US$ 1 trillion annually in healthcare expenditures and lost productivity, according to findings published in The economics of tobacco and tobacco control. Currently, around 6 million people die annually as a result of tobacco use, with most living in developing countries”.
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