Vapers Digest 30th March

Monday’s News at a glance:

Zombie Vapes Prompt Wrong Action ~ Dumbed-down democracy ~ The Evidence Has Converged – Why Public Health Still Refuses to Follow It ~ The Time Between Cigarettes ~ The Fault Line of Harm ~ Nicotine E-cigarettes More Successful in Helping Smokers Quit ~ Expert reaction to systematic review of ecigs for stopping smoking ~ E-cigarettes rated most effective smoking cessation method by new evidence review ~ Nicotine Vapes Outperform Patches and Gum for Quitters ~ A New Generation of Youth are NOT Getting Addicted to Nicotine Through Vaping ~ Impact of switching from cigarette smoking to tobacco heating system use on biomarkers of potential harm in a randomized trial ~ Illegal vape trade “everywhere” despite bans, undercover film finds ~ EU ‘stepping backwards’ as UK and Sweden lead the way to end smoking ~ ‘Definitely dodgy’: how to spot a fake vape ~ Don’t Tax Nicotine Pouches: They Helped Me Stop Smoking ~ Less Than 50 Percent of New Yorkers Support Hochul’s Nicotine Pouch Tax ~ Flawed Baseline | FDA Formalizes De Facto Flavor Ban ~ WHY LAB TESTS GET VAPING WRONG?

A New Generation of Youth are NOT Getting Addicted to Nicotine Through Vaping

Dr. Michael Siegel, The Rest of the Story

According to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, “E-cigarettes are hooking a new generation on nicotine – putting millions of kids at risk and threatening decades of progress in reducing youth tobacco use. It’s a nationwide crisis of youth addiction, fueled by thousands of kid-friendly flavors and massive doses of nicotine.”

It’s a great and truly alarming sound bite, but is it true?

Impact of switching from cigarette smoking to tobacco heating system use on biomarkers of potential harm in a randomized trial

Michael Ansari, Paul S. Hession, Morgane David, Nicolas Blanc, Guillaume de La Bourdonnaye, Sandrine Pouly, Christelle Haziza, Taylor And Francis Online

Abstract/Background

Smoking cessation reduces the risk of developing smoking-related diseases. Although smoking prevalence has declined, many continue smoking cigarettes. Switching completely to smoke-free alternatives like the Tobacco Heating System (THS) 2.2—a heated tobacco product for which there is evidence demonstrating significantly reduced formation and exposure to harmful chemicals compared to cigarettes—has the potential to reduce the harm caused by continuing to smoke cigarettes.

Click to visit Danish Vapers Association

Illegal vape trade “everywhere” despite bans, undercover film finds

Ali Anderson, Clearing The Air

Undercover filming shows illegal vapes being sold in shops, on social media and from car boots

Young people say it is easy to access banned products, often via Snapchat or friends

One in five stores visited sold illegal vapes despite strict rules

Experts warn weak enforcement risks undermining trust and fuelling a growing black market

EU ‘stepping backwards’ as UK and Sweden lead the way to end smoking

Smoke Free Sweden

Europe risks falling behind in the fight against smoking as the UK and Sweden drive down cigarette use through safer alternatives, according to international public health expert Dr Mark Tyndall.

In a powerful endorsement of smoke-free nicotine products, Dr Tyndall said vaping was designed to replace cigarettes by removing the harmful chemicals responsible for smoking-related disease. “It is impossible for vaping to cause lung cancer, strokes and heart attacks,” he said.

‘Definitely dodgy’: how to spot a fake vape

Shane Hickey, Guardian

You buy a vape from a shop on the high street. Nothing looks unusual but after charging the unit and using it for a few days, you notice it is getting hotter and hotter.

The vape is a fake and one of the thousands on sale illegally in shops around the UK. By not installing a simple circuit to prevent overheating, the manufacturers have saved a couple of pence but risk it catching fire.

Don’t Tax Nicotine Pouches: They Helped Me Stop Smoking

Dan Murphy, Yonkers Times

“Heavily taxing safer alternatives to cigarettes keeps smokers from switching to better substitutes.” These words of wisdom come from Guy Bentley from the Reason Foundation, who wrote about how New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s proposed 75% tax on nicotine pouches is bad for public health.

Bentley writes, “Commenting on the planned tax increase, New York State Budget Director Blake Washington said the Hochul administration views nicotine pouches and cigarettes as a ‘distinction without a difference.” But nothing could be further from the truth.

Less Than 50 Percent of New Yorkers Support Hochul’s Nicotine Pouch Tax

Reem Ibrahim, Reason

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s plan to raise taxes on nicotine pouches like Zyn is facing staunch pushback from New York voters.

In January, Hochul released her budget proposal for FY 2027, which included a provision to levy the same 75 percent wholesale tax that cigarettes face on nicotine pouches. The new duty is expected to raise $18 million in FY 2027 and $44 million upon full implementation the following year in FY 2028.

Flawed Baseline | FDA Formalizes De Facto Flavor Ban | RegWatch

Brent Stafford, Regulator Watch

The FDA recently issued new draft guidance clarifying how the agency evaluates whether a flavored nicotine vaping product is appropriate for the protection of public health. But while the agency says it’s providing clarity, the new framework may do little to change the outcome for the U.S. vaping industry.

In this episode of RegWatch, regulatory attorney Azim Chowdhury breaks down how FDA’s new guidance formalizes a system that places the highest evidentiary burden on flavored nicotine vapes—the very products most favored by adult smokers trying to quit.

WHY LAB TESTS GET VAPING WRONG?

Global Forum on Nicotine

In this episode of the Science Series, Roberto Sussman breaks down why many lab studies on e‑cigarette emissions can’t be trusted—and how bad testing setups can create misleading “high toxin” results. He explains the “optimal regime” for vaping devices (power, resistance, airflow), why reproducibility requires full reporting of test conditions, and how unrealistic puffing machines can cause overheating and artificially inflate byproducts. You’ll also learn why using obsolete devices (or poorly stored old hardware) ruins conclusions, and how a common toxicology mistake—calculating concentrations in the puff volume instead of the air a person actually inhales—can overestimate exposure by 10–20×. Roberto shares a simple traffic‑light approach to grading studies (green/credible, yellow/questionable, red/reject) and why the most alarming results often come from the weakest methodologies.

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

Vapers Digest 30th March

Monday’s News at a glance:

Two From Claudio Teixeira, Disobedient Margins

The Time Between Cigarettes

The Fault Line of Harm

Nicotine E-cigarettes More Successful in Helping Smokers Quit

University of Massachusetts Amherst

Expert reaction to systematic review of ecigs for stopping smoking

Prof Peter Shields, Science Media Centre

E-cigarettes rated most effective smoking cessation method by new evidence review

Society for the Study of Addiction, EurekAlert!

Nicotine Vapes Outperform Patches and Gum for Quitters

Neuroscience News

A New Generation of Youth are NOT Getting Addicted to Nicotine Through Vaping

Impact of switching from cigarette smoking to tobacco heating system use on biomarkers of potential harm in a randomized trial

Michael Ansari, Paul S. Hession, Morgane David, Nicolas Blanc, Guillaume de La Bourdonnaye, Sandrine Pouly, Christelle Haziza, Taylor And Francis Online