Vapers Digest January 24th
Wednesday’s News at a glance:
Derek Yach: Building a Foundation to accelerate an end to smoking ~ ANPVU launches to give Italian vapers a consumer-led voice ~ National Academies Vape Report: Just What the FDA Needed ~ A Big Week For Tobacco Harm Reduction ~ E-Cigarettes Can Be Lifesavers ~ Vaping As Lesser Evil: Boston Expert’s Top Takeaways From Big E-Cig Report ~ Japan’s IQOS Experience Suggests Product Could Reduce U.S. Cigarette Consumption ~ FDA tobacco committee hearing could be watershed moment for innovative products ~ NNA Snus ECJ Case ~ Snus goes to court again ~ 43% of Brits Think Vaping Is Better Than Smoking: YouGov ~ Vaping under threat in tobacco-loving Indonesia ~ 4 big takeaways from the most comprehensive report on e-cigarettes yet
Derek Yach: Building a Foundation to accelerate an end to smoking
Derek Yach, BMJ Opinion
he Foundation for a Smoke-Free World, Inc. (the “Foundation”) was established to accelerate an end to smoking. The rationale for the Foundation and initial thinking on its activities have previously been described. It arose out of extended discussions with Philip Morris International (PMI). Discussions that I never thought I would have based on a deep justifiable distrust of how tobacco companies have thwarted progress on tobacco cessation. And continue to do so today.
A new report on the health effects of e-cigarettes from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine says that vaping is likely to be far less harmful than smoking, and that it might help adult smokers quit cigarettes. The report is not the usual lopsided review of risks, but neither is it a ringing endorsement of vaping as an alternative to smoking. Its conclusions are eerily in line with what the FDA will need to carry out the mission of its current leadership.
A Big Week For Tobacco Harm Reduction
Dick Puddlecote
On both sides of the Atlantic, this week is looking to be one of the most important in the history of tobacco harm reduction (THR) so far.
Firstly, in a flurry of acronyms, tomorrow the US Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee (TPSAC) will meet to consider Philip Morris International’s (PMI) application for a Modified Risk Tobacco Product (MRTP) classification for their iQos heated tobacco product. If approved, this could pave the way – if the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) agrees with the decision – for PMI to claim iQos is less harmful than smoking.
E-Cigarettes Can Be Lifesavers
Jacob Sullum, Reason
This week the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) weighed in on the question of whether e-cigarettes are a public health menace or a public health boon. The answer is yes, according to a NASEM report published on Tuesday.
The report, which was sponsored by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), concludes that “e-cigarettes cannot be simply categorized as either beneficial or harmful to health.” While that is true in principle, the report gives too much weight to scenarios in which these products could be harmful, even while confirming that they dramatically reduce exposure to toxins and carcinogens for smokers who switch to them.
Vaping As Lesser Evil: Boston Expert’s Top Takeaways From Big E-Cig Report
Japan’s IQOS Experience Suggests Product Could Reduce U.S. Cigarette Consumption
Brad Rodu, Tobacco Truth
An FDA advisory committee this week will vote whether to recommend that the FDA grants modified risk status to Philip Morris International’s IQOS heat-not-burn tobacco product (here). A positive vote would acknowledge that the product poses a lower risk and/or lower exposure to toxins than cigarettes.
FDA tobacco committee hearing could be watershed moment for innovative products
The future of tobacco regulations governing innovative products could reach a watershed public-health moment this week. Public hearings today and Thursday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s tobacco products scientific advisory committee may offer the best indication to date of how the agency is responding to the Trump administration’s push for relaxed and/or rolled-back regulations.The focus is the reduced-risk application of iQOS, the heat-not-burn cigarette being sold by Philip Morris International in 31 countries, with foremost success in Japan. Federal regulatory approval is required before iQOS can be sold in the U.S. .
NNA Snus ECJ Case
Mawsley, Planet Of The Vapes
Professor Gerry Stimson, chair of the New Nicotine Alliance (NNA), is set to attend the European Court of Justice on 25th January as the push to overturn the ban on snus in European Union countries reaches a new important milestone.The NNA argue: “snus fulfils the criteria for a tobacco harm reduction product. It is a low risk way of using nicotine and delivers acceptable doses to those who use it. In countries in which it is allowed it is popular and has contributed to declines in smoking and smoking related diseases.” Snus is a moist, smokeless powdered tobacco. It is sold as a loose powder or pre-packaged in a small sachet.
For those interested in the development of the UK's position on tobacco harm reduction, here is an account from one of the key players at the time https://t.co/Cr8it7CB1X
— Robert West (@robertjwest) January 23, 2018
43% of Brits Think Vaping Is Better Than Smoking: YouGov
Pascal Culverhouse, Electric Tobacconist / Cision PRNewswire
Over 2 in 5 adults in Britain believe that electronic cigarettes are less harmful than traditional tobacco cigarettes and that vaping, overall, is much better for people’s health, according to the results of a new survey on behalf of leading British online vaping retailer Electric Tobacconist. In a poll of 2,134 GB adults conducted by YouGov, people were asked for their perceptions about e-cigarettes. Respondents were advised that “smoking” included all products that use burning tobacco, such as cigarettes, pipes and cigars, while vaping meant inhaling vapour from electronic cigarettes and other devices, including vaporizers.
Vaping under threat in tobacco-loving Indonesia
Chain-smoking Indonesia is moving to stub out its booming e-cigarette sector, sparking criticism that the government is siding with giant tobacco firms at the expense of public health. The South-east Asian nation has one of the world’s highest smoking rates — some 65 per cent of adult men smoke — with a pack costing just US$2 (RM8). Cigarette advertising is everywhere across the vast archipelago which once had the dubious distinction of being home to one of the world’s youngest nicotine addicts — a chain-smoking toddler who made global headlines in 2010.
4 big takeaways from the most comprehensive report on e-cigarettes yet
, Vox.com
The prestigious National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released a new report on e-cigarettes Tuesday that’s the most comprehensive look at the evidence to date. A panel of experts analyzed the findings of 800 peer-reviewed studies and came out with a grab bag of conclusions about e-cigarettes’ health impact — finding that while e-cigarettes are safer than conventional cigarettes for individual smokers, their public health consequences are still unknown. Before we dive into the key conclusions, it’s worth noting that the 600-page volume signals an important shift in the conversation about e-cigarettes here in the US.
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