Vapers Digest 28th October
Monday’s News at a glance:
Government Announces Ban – Spain Banning Flavours and Disposables – Derailing Harm Reduction? – Could Nicotine Provide an Alternative to ADHD Medications? – Switching to vapes beneficial for smokers with heart disease – Europe must learn from Australia’s failures on vaping – Australia’s prescription model of vaping needs to be replaced – Mexico’s plan to constitutionally ban vapes – Vape Industry Fights FDA Speech Restrictions – Quit or Switch: The urgency of THR strategy in Ghana – Alternative products drive down smoking rates –
Government Announces Ban
Dave Cross, Planet of the Vapes
Taking over the lead from the Department of Health and Social Care, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) has announced its plans to “crackdown on single-use vapes” by banning the sale and supply of single-use vapes in England on 1 June 2025. While some of the environmental supporting arguments hold water, claims that this will address teen vaping fail to appreciate that underage sales are already illegal – and yet taking place.
Spain Banning Flavours and Disposables
Dave Cross, Planet of the Vapes
Grounded in lies of a gateway effect and targeting teens, Spain’s government has decided to completely ban juice flavours and disposable ecigs. The evidence-free move is guaranteed to lead to a rise in the number of Spanish smokers and has been firmly rejected by the World Vapers’ Alliance (WVA).
The Secretary of State for Health’s announcement regarding the ban on disposable vapes and flavours focussed on the action being the best way to curb youth use.
Two from Ali Anderson, Clearing the Air:
UK to ban disposable vapes from June
From June 1, 2025 it will be illegal to sell single-use vapes in England, Wales or Scotland, in a move designed to reduce their appeal to children and young people.
It emerged last week that the Labour government is also planning to announce a tax hike on vapes in the Autumn Budget on October 30. The latest legislation was presented to parliament on Wednesday. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said it had worked closely with devolved governments to ensure the ban would come into force simultaneously.
Switching to vapes beneficial for smokers
The study from South Korea, published in the European Heart Journal, found that switching to vapes was equally as beneficial as quitting smoking entirely without using any alternatives.
The report said: “..switching to e-cigarettes was associated with a significantly lower risk of MACE (Major Adverse Coronary Event) than continued combustible cigarette use, similar to quitting smoking.”
Researchers followed a group of almost 18,000 adult smokers who had been diagnosed with coronary artery disease (CAD).
Now served with a community note. https://t.co/CcTMx5TfDl
— Jukka Kelovuori (@jkelovuori) October 27, 2024
Could Nicotine Provide an Alternative…
To ADHD Medications? – Joseph Hart
ADHD diagnoses have risen significantly over the last few decades. Some research suggests that detection of the disorder in UK boys’ aged 10-16 years has shot up from 1.4% in 2000 to 3.5% in 2018, with ADHD medication prescriptions rising from 0.6% to 2.4% in the same cohort. More recent 2022 data from the UK Office of National Statistics (ONS) suggest diagnosis could be nearer 5%.
While there is some uncertainty about the actual numbers, the public conversation about the disorder has rarely been louder, as evidenced by Google searches recorded since 2004.
Europe must learn from Australia’s failures
On vaping – Lika Kobeshavidze
Recent attempts by European governments, particularly in Spain and Denmark, to ban disposable vapes and flavoured vaping products are a recipe for disaster. They are not the only ones. In total, a dozen countries are pushing Brussels to institute a bloc-wide policy of cracking down on electronic cigarettes. Although presented as a way to eliminate smoking and protect public health, bans will only create new problems.
Bans on vapes will not stop people wanting to vape. The demand will still be there. Instead, these policies will simply move the market underground. We must regulate e-cigarettes. It is better to have a legal, regulated market for vapes, rather than an illegal one, which will inevitably be the case if vaping is banned.
Australia’s prescription model of vaping…
Needs to be replaced by regulated retail sales – Wayne Hall
There is a fierce debate within public health about how to regulate vapes. The policies that are advocated differ according to the priority that they give to preventing adolescent vaping uptake as against using vapes to reduce the prevalence and harms of cigarette smoking among adults who smoke and particularly those who have difficulty quitting.
In England, medical and public health authorities have promoted vapes as a smoking cessation aid and as a less harmful alternative to cigarette smoking.
Derailing Harm Reduction?
Pieter Vorster and Sudhanshu Patwardhan
The rise of vaping as an alternative to smoking has brought the promise of significant net public health benefits but equally meaningful regulatory challenges. While legitimate vaping products can serve as a powerful harm reduction tool for adult smokers, the proliferation of illicit vaping products has introduced a plethora of problems that require careful consideration.
This article will address the various impacts of illicit vaping products—ranging from health risks and tax revenue loss to underage use, environmental concerns and the potential for increased criminal activity.
Will Mexico’s plan to constitutionally….
Ban vapes play into the hands of cartels?
Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, has confirmed that her government will seek to enshrine a ban on e-cigarettes and vapes in the country’s constitution by the end of the year.
Though the move is driven by public health concerns, it has prompted fears that it would only boost a thriving black market for vapes in the hands of powerful organised crime groups, such as the Sinaloa cartel and Jalisco New Generation cartel.
Industry Fights FDA Speech Restrictions
RegWatch
Prohibition haunts the U.S. vaping industry, putting millions of lives at risk. Beyond the flavor bans and moral panics, the most damaging restriction is the FDA’s sweeping ban on speech.
U.S. vape manufacturers and retailers are legally forbidden from sharing essential truths about nicotine vaping products—that they’re vastly safer than cigarettes and can help people quit. The FDA itself admits these facts yet forbids the industry from sharing them.
The urgency of THR strategy in Ghana
Combustible tobacco continues to be one of the leading causes of preventable diseases worldwide, with millions of people suffering from the health consequences of nicotine addiction and tar. As the global community tackles the burden of tobacco-related illnesses, a growing number of countries are exploring the potential of Tobacco Harm Reduction (THR). The THR approach is towards minimizing the health risks of smoking by providing safer alternatives.
Alternative products drive down smoking
Amalia Azmi
THE use of alternative products such as vape, snus, and heated tobacco products (HTP) has significantly reduced the number of conventional cigarette smokers in several countries.
This is evidenced by studies conducted in New Zealand, Sweden and other countries in smoking statistics over the past few years following the switch to alternative nicotine products.
Prohibition Doesn’t Work
Rights 4 Vapers
Why Vaping Thrives After Prison
But Not on The Inside – Global Forum on Nicotine
Harm Reduction in Australia
Vaping Unplugged Podcast with Pippa Starr Ep. 64
On this Day…2023
A look back at how things have moved on or otherwise…
UK Gov Mulls Flavour Bans and Vape Taxes
James Dunworth – Ashtray Blog
Vaping is under scrutiny again, and that’s partly the result of its own success. Since vaping has become popular in the UK, smoking rates have fallen to the lowest in decades, with regular smoking amongst children now below 1%. (1)
At the same time, vaping, while better than smoking, is not problem free. Many of these problems derive from irresponsible sellers breaking the rules – selling illegal vapes and/or selling them to people under the age of 18. These problems are compounded by the fact that when sellers do break the rules, they usually get away with it.
Now a new UK government consultation aims to gather evidence on vaping – a consultation likely to be followed by new rules. This represents both an opportunity and a threat…
IBVTA warns of ‘uncertain future’
Aidan Fortune
The Independent British Vape Trade Association (IBVTA) has set out recommendations to tackle key challenges in the vaping sector.
Ahead of its conference, the IBVTA has warned that unless the sector addresses the issues of underage sales, a surge in illicit products and concerns about the environmental impact of single use vapes, it faces an “uncertain future”.
Its five recommendations for the sector are:
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