Vapers Digest 8th October
Wednesday’s News at a glance:
Ireland Taxes Eliquid ~ Met Police Targets Spiked Vapes ~ Vape Bill Not Important ~ Getting Honest About Nicotine ~ It is reasonable to discuss conflicts of interest arising from philanthropy ~ Tobacco harm reduction and the FCTC: issues and challenges at COP11 ~ WHO’s War on Nicotine — Still Missing the Point ~ What Role Does the FCTC Play in Today’s Regulatory Environment? ~ BAT’s Wheaton Calls for Policymakers to Embrace Harm Reduction at GTNF Opening ~ WHO Facing Crises of Relevance, Former Director Says ~ The opposition to tackling cigarette smoking ~ European Commission’s misguided asault on safer nicotine alternatives risks lives ~ Global Health Experts Examined WHO’s Tobacco Control Approach ~ EU vows vape tax hike as officials liken vapes to cigarettes ~ Exclusive: EU Commission Leak Points to Full Crackdown on Nicotine Pouches ~ Vicky Pattison reveals her vape is a Strictly ‘training essential’ ~ Malaysia’s Impending Vape Ban Poses Multiple Threats ~ Big donors dominate 2025 election battles in Denver ~ Consumer group slams 900% vape tax proposal as ‘illogical and self-defeating’ ~ MWAURA KABATA: Legal missteps that could undermine Senate’s Tobacco Bill ~ Conservatives push back against Liberal nicotine pouch ban ~ Regulation: Cigarettes ~ Ep. 20 – “The Absence of free choice” with Martin van Staden ~ VAPING ER “SURGE”: What The Data Really Shows? | GFN News
Three from Dave Cross, Planet of the Vapes
Ireland Taxes Eliquid
In a move that triumphs anecdote over evidence, Ireland’s moralistic Department of Finance has implemented a tax on vape juice. Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe signed the commencement order to operationalise the E-liquid Products Tax (EPT), as legislated for in Chapter 1 of Part 2 of the Finance Act 2024. The new excise duty will apply from 1 November 2025.
Met Police Targets Spiked Vapes
The Metropolitan Police Service is targeting efforts at tackling spiking across London, with operations covering bars, clubs and the capital’s party boats. The move is including the use of new vape-spiking detection equipment in an effort to combat a growing number of incidents where people have unknowingly been affected by THC or Spice.
Vape Bill Not Important
The Government has announced the dates for the next stage of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, now due to progress to Committee Stage in the House of Lords for the 27th and 30th of October. At the same time, a survey conducted for Forest, a pro-smoking lobby organisation, reveals people don’t think this legislation is important.
Getting Honest About Nicotine
Laura Leigh Oyler, DC Journal
A new report from the American Enterprise Institute, “Regulating the Tobacco and Nicotine Market in the American Public Interest,” makes one thing unmistakably clear: America’s nicotine policy is backward.
The deadliest product — cigarettes — continues to enjoy thousands of regulatory approvals with little resistance, while modern, less harmful alternatives like nicotine pouches are mired in delays, barriers and bureaucratic uncertainty.
It is reasonable to discuss conflicts of interest arising from philanthropy
Clive Bates, PubPeer
The editor of the specialist journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research (NTR), Caitlin Notley, published a thoughtful reflection on the state of tobacco control following the World Conference on Tobacco Control, which was held in June 2025.[1] In it, she raised several questions that deserve serious consideration by everyone in the field. For example, it is essential to have clarity on the goal of tobacco control: is it to end tobacco-related disease or to create a nicotine-free society? It matters because pursuing a nicotine-free society could compromise harm reduction efforts for people who continue to use nicotine. This is the type of discussion that should be active in the editorial pages of this journal and its host institution, the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco.
Tobacco harm reduction and the FCTC: issues and challenges at COP11
Three From Tobacco Reporter
What Role Does the FCTC Play in Today’s Regulatory Environment?
At the Global Tobacco and Nicotine Forum (GTNF) in Brussels, an expert panel explored the growing disconnect between the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and real-world tobacco harm reduction (THR) progress. The session featured Dr. Derek Yach, global health advocate and former WHO executive; Peter Beckett, Co-Founder of Clearing the Air; Dr. Tikki Pang, a professor and former WHO Director of Research Policy and Cooperation; and Dr. Christopher Snowdon, Head of Lifestyle Economics at the Institute of Economic Affairs.
BAT’s Wheaton Calls for Policymakers to Embrace Harm Reduction at GTNF Opening
Kingsley Wheaton, Chief Corporate Officer of BAT, opened the Global Tobacco and Nicotine Forum (GTNF) with a call for policymakers to embrace harm reduction and real-world evidence as the basis for future regulation.
“Right now, we stand at a crossroads,” Wheaton said. “One where the choices we make — as individuals, as companies, and as an industry — will shape the future of public health, policy, and perception.”
WHO Facing Crises of Relevance, Former Director Says
Dr. Tikki Pang, a professor and former Director of Research Policy and Cooperation at the World Health Organization (WHO), delivered a compelling keynote at the Global Tobacco and Nicotine Forum (GTNF) in Brussels, urging the global public health community to “find a detour” around entrenched opposition to tobacco harm reduction (THR). Drawing a vivid analogy, Pang said the WHO’s position acts like a “landslide blocking the road” to progress, creating ripple effects that influence policy, weaken public trust, and stigmatize innovation. Attempts to change this stance, he said, have proven “frustrating and futile.”
The opposition to tackling cigarette smoking
David Sweanor, Skip Murray, Skip’s Corner – Let’s Talk!
Today, we’re being treated to a guest commentary by David Sweanor!
There is a long history of markets being shaped by initiative, advocacy and regulation in ways that protect health. We can look the lessons of London’s Lambeth vs. its Southwark and Vauxhall water companies in the fight against cholera, the move to sanitary food, safer automobiles and workplaces, science-based pharma in place of patent medicines, incentives for the development of vaccines, removal of lead from fuels and paints, pollution control, and so many other things that have lead to the doubling of human life expectancy since the late 1800s.
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