Daily Archives: March 26, 2022

Following the recent enactment of federal legislation clarifying the authority of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate all tobacco products, including those containing synthetic nicotine, Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ)wrote to four leading vaping companies that sell synthetic nicotine products to request information regarding the health and safety of their products.The Chairman also asked each of the companies about their plans to comply with federal regulation, details on their marketing practices, and their role in the promotion of vaping and nicotine use by kids and teens.

In the letters, Pallone notes the companies have appeared to target younger audiences when marketing their products. For example, an ad from Puff Bar marketed itself as the perfect escape from theparental texts; 7 Daze released a range of fruity flavors using synthetic nicotine salts; VaporSalon recently advertised an in-store pizza party for anyone, including people under 21; and a post on Daddys Vapors Instagram states, musical education leads to better test scores with hashtags solely related to vaping.

Given the well-established health consequences of nicotine addiction, I am concerned by the proliferation of synthetic nicotine products like yours when so little is known about the specific consequences of their use.I also remain deeply troubled by the evident influence of your products on youth use of e-cigarettes, Pallone wrote.The rapid increase of adolescents using these products is alarming in its similarity to the early tactics of other tobacco companies that contributed to the emergence of the youth vaping epidemic.

Pallone also raised concerns that prior to enactment of legislation clarifying FDAs authority to regulate synthetic nicotine products, the four companies appeared to be attempting to circumvent agency regulation by selling so-called tobacco-free synthetic nicotine products rather than tobacco-derived nicotine. In the letters, Pallone noted that Puff Bar co-CEO Patrick Beltran claimed, It's well known that this product [synthetic nicotine] is not under the FDA jurisdiction, and VaporSalon posted on its company Facebook page that it switched to synthetic tobacco-free nicotine to be outside of the FDAs regulations.

As FDA continues its ongoing efforts to ensure that the products on the market have been authorized for the protection of public health, your company appears to have been intentionally skirting regulatory authority by using synthetic nicotine instead of tobacco-derived nicotine, Pallone continued.In light of the omnibuss recent clarification of FDAs regulatory authority over all tobacco products, including those containing synthetic nicotine and to address the concerns I have outlined above, please provide the following requested information, as well as a briefing by April 5, 2022.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an alarming rise in the rate of youth using disposable e-cigarette products.According to the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions 2021 National Youth Tobacco Study (NYTS), more than two million high school and middle school students reported using e-cigarettes in the last 30 days, with more than half using disposable devices.Flavored e-cigarettes are the primary driver of the shift to disposable vaping products among adolescents.In 2020, approximately 85 percent of adolescents using e-cigarettes exclusively used flavored products, and those numbers remained virtually unchanged in 2021.

Pallone has long been a champion of protecting youth from the harms of tobacco usage.As Chairman, Pallone has led Committee efforts to address the youth vaping crisis, including: launching aninquiryin August 2019 on the impact of e-cigarettes on adolescents; holding ahearingin February 2020 on e-cigarette manufacturers impact on public health; and authoringlegislationto address the youth tobacco epidemic, including language clarifying FDAs authority over synthetic nicotine, whichpassedthe House in February 2020.

Last week, President Biden signed H.R. 2471, the bipartisan and bicameral omnibus appropriations and Ukraine supplemental package, into law, which contained the provision championed by Pallone clarifying FDAs authority to regulate synthetic nicotine products.:

As part of the inquiry, Chairman Pallone requested answers to a series of questions, including the following:

The full letter to each company is available below:

7 Daze

Daddys Vapor

Puff Bar

VaporSalon

###

Read more:

Pallone Questions Vaping Companies Over Marketing of Synthetic Nicotine Products to Teens - Energy and Commerce Committee

More adolescents failed to quit smoking in 2020 than in any of the previous 13 years, according to new data published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. 2020 was the first year the research team had data on attempts to quit e-cigarettes, and it showed that around 4 percent of adolescents unsuccessfully attempted to quit e-cigarettes.

E-cigarettes have been pushed to adult smokers as an alternative to traditional, combustible cigarettes some evidence shows they might be less dangerous, and theres mixed evidence that they could push adults to quit smoking altogether. But the picture might be different for teens, who started vaping in droves in 2018 and are far less likely to be cigarette smokers first. The new analysis shows that for younger people, the introduction of e-cigarettes made quitting more difficult.

The new study includes data from the Monitoring the Future study, which surveys eighth, 10th, and 12th grade students. It includes a question asking the participants if they had ever tried to stop smoking and found that they could not. In 2020, it added a question asking if theyd ever tried to stop vaping nicotine and found that they could not. From 1997 to 2019, the survey found that the number of students who reported using cigarettes and the percent of adolescents estimated to have tried and failed to quit smoking both dropped.

But in 2020, those numbers popped back up. More students reported smoking cigarettes, and the analysis estimated that around 2 percent tried and failed to quit smoking. Combined with the 4 percent who tried and failed to quit vaping, the paper found that just under 6 percent of adolescents had unsuccessfully tried to quit using nicotine products that year.

The data comes as the Food and Drug Administration continues to try and create e-cigarette and vaping policies that benefit adult smokers while limiting their use by kids and teenagers. The contribution of e-cigarettes to unsuccessful nicotine quit attempts among adolescents is substantial and warrants consideration as the US formulates policies to regulate e-cigarettes, the authors of the new paper wrote.

The agency is still reviewing applications from some e-cigarette companies, despite having a September 2021 deadline to tell companies if they can keep products on the market. So far, it has authorized tobacco-flavored products from one company and rejected over 200 others. It has yet to rule on Juul, the company most tightly linked to kids and vaping.

Read more from the original source:

Teens are struggling to quit smoking and vaping - The Verge

Vaping increases your risk of diabetes.

That is the contention of a new study by a team of scientists at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Maryland. They analyzed data from 600,000 Americans and they say their findings, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, show a clear link between e-cigarette use and high blood sugar.

Should vapers be worried? Absolutely not.

This study is just the latest in a long line of alarmist reports that seem intent on convincing us that, one way or another, vaping is much more dangerous than we first thought. The issue of vaping has become so intensely politicized that the so-called science swirling around it is nothing more than a pool of harmful disinformation.

The sheer volume of ailments supposedly caused by vaping is staggering. In just the last few months, separate studies from reputable research institutions have claimed to discover some as-yet-unknown link between e-cigarettes and cancer,stress, gum disease, dry eye and even erectile dysfunction. The methodology behind these studies has been shown up for its fundamental flaws time and time again, but the world of public health science continues to churn them out.

What next? Will we soon be told that vaping is single-handedly responsible for obesity and Alzheimers too? Dont bet against it. The immensely powerful anti-vaping lobby will stop at nothing to villainize electronic cigarettes, even if that means citing them as the cause of every public health issue they can shake a stick at.

We dont have to search very hard to understand why. Like so many that went before it, the new Johns Hopkins study alleging a connection between vaping and diabetes bears the name of Michael Bloomberg. Vaping alarmism is unscientific and transparently political, and Bloomberg is the man behind a great deal of it.

In 2019, Bloomberg Philanthropies launched a new program designed to combat what it called the youth e-cigarette epidemic, backed up by a whopping $160 million of funding. Since then, Bloomberg has effectively positioned himself at the epicenter of the anti-vaping lobby. His fellow travelers on this venture include the World Health Organization, whose Tobacco Free Initiative project boasts Bloomberg Philanthropies as a partner.

Ironically, that project spends most of its time and resources bashing e-cigarettes and issuing diktats to governments around the world to crack down on vaping, despite them being tobacco-free. And that is precisely the problem with alarmism and misinformation around vaping: it is based on politics rather than science.

The conflation of vaping and smoking by Bloomberg, the WHO and countless other organizations is actively dangerous. The science on this is crystal clear that vaping is much healthier than smoking. It is around 200 times less likely to give you cancer. (And no, it does not cause erectile dysfunction.)

Crucially, vaping is not just healthier than smoking it is also the silver bullet that helps people escape the harms of tobacco. Electronic cigarettes are by far the most effective tool we have ever discovered for helping people quit smoking traditional cigarettes. When smokers use vaping to quit, they are successful approximately three-fourths of the time. Thats a much higher success rate than using nicotine patches, going cold turkey, or indeed any other method of quitting.

Across the world, people are quitting smoking en masse. They are spontaneously making the choice to adopt a healthier lifestyle. But quitting smoking is not easy. It is an addiction, after all. If we believe in freedom of choice and agree that people who want to quit smoking should be able to do so, the best course of action is to make freely available all the information and resources smokers will need to move on from cigarettes. Vaping is an indispensable part of that.

But thanks in large part to Bloomberg and the World Health Organization, thats the opposite of what is happening. Vaping is shrouded in misinformation and more and more governments and regulatory agencies around the world are bringing the hammer down on vaping. It is doing immeasurable damage to public health and our most basic liberties.

Original post:

Anti-Vaping Study With Bloomberg's Name on It InsideSources - InsideSources

Friday 25 March 2022 by Mark Molloy

A man discreetly vaping on a bus has definitely got away without anybody noticing, by only blowing out gently downwards towards his legs.

Simon Williams, who also vapes in the pub using exactly the same discreet method emerged from a thick cloud of smoke earlier to get off a bus without anyone noticing that he had been vaping throughout his journey.

Speaking earlier he told us, Youve just got to blow it slightly downwards, and cover the vape with your hand.

I got on the bus earlier for the eight minute journey to work, and realised that I hadnt had a puff on my vape since just before the bus arrived at the bus stop.

So I had to have a sneaky little puff or two because I had a good six minutes before I was getting off the bus and I couldnt possibly wait that long.

As long as you cup the vape in your hand and blow out the tons and tons of thick smoke very gently when you exhale then nobody has a clue youre doing it its an absolute piece of piss.

I tend to look out of the window too, whilst blowing the smoke the other way and I just look totally innocent. Nobody says a word.

Well to be honest I cant actually see anybody else on the bus I cant see my hand in front of my face -but I assume they have no idea anyone is vaping because its a really clever way of doing it.

Go here to read the rest:

Man secretly vaping on the bus definitely 'getting away with it' - NewsThump

A quarter of adults who vape regularly picked up the habit during the pandemic, and many are smoking too, according to a new Morning Consult survey that comes as health regulators prepare to rein in e-cigarette manufacturers amid a surge in sales but a dip in tobacco use and vaping rates.

Policymakers have been playing cat-and-mouse with e-cigarette manufacturers for years. In 2020, following public outcry over a surge in youth vaping and an outbreak of mysterious lung illnesses that were ultimately tied to vaping THC the Food and Drug Administration stepped up its enforcement on vape makers. This month, meanwhile, Congress plugged a loophole in those rules that allowed some manufacturers to evade FDA regulation by using synthetic nicotine rather than nicotine derived from tobacco.

E-cigarette sales have exploded over the past four years, even as U.S. vaping rates jumped and then more recently began to trend downward, including among teenagers. The estimated share of high schoolers who vape, for example, fell from 27.5% in 2019 to 11.3% in 2021, when many schools were still facing disruptions from COVID-19, meaning those rates may not be directly comparable. Meanwhile, 3.7% of adults vaped in 2020, down slightly from the year before.

The new findings offer some clues on the apparent paradox, in addition to shedding light on public perceptions of vaping as an alternative to smoking traditional cigarettes. Among adults who vape regularly and started doing so before the pandemic, 37% said they use e-cigarettes more now than before the COVID-19 crisis began, and another 48% are vaping the same amount.

The survey underscores the importance for FDA to assert its jurisdiction regulating the product, how its marketed and what consumers are informed, said Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, an anti-smoking advocacy group.

Further, while the vaping industry says their products are smoking cessation tools and indeed, Juul Labs Inc. has tried to clean up its image after facing a flurry of lawsuits claiming it targeted children by using fruity flavors and snappy marketing the survey shows the public isnt buying it.

Adults reported similar views of traditional and e-cigarettes, with roughly 7 in 10 saying they have an unfavorable view of both. Meanwhile, the public was most likely to say vapes and cigarettes are equally harmful to peoples health, at 52%, with another 16% saying e-cigarettes are worse and 14% saying traditional cigarettes are worse.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, people who use e-cigarettes regularly (at least once per week) were more likely to say vapes arent as bad for ones health as traditional cigarettes.

E-cigarettes have some promise as a smoking alternative, but they arent some incredibly powerful magic bullet, said Eric Lindblom, a former official at the FDAs Center for Tobacco Products who is now a senior scholar at the Georgetown University Law Centers ONeill Institute for National and Global Health Law.

Public Most Likely to Say Cigarettes, Vapes Are Equally Harmful

Survey conducted March 18-21, 2022, among a representative sample of 2,211 U.S. adults, with an unweighted margin of error of +/-2 percentage points. Figures may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

A third of regular vapers said they also use tobacco cigarettes more than five times daily, while 40% used e-cigarettes that frequently. Just 10% of regular smokers, meanwhile, said they vape at least five times per day.

Regular smokers also had a stronger preference for cigarettes over vapes (66%) than regular vapers had for e-cigarettes over traditional cigarettes (41%).

For smokers trying to quit, e-cigarettes are meant as a complete substitute. But some people become users of both vapes and cigarettes, and research shows they may struggle to eventually wean themselves from e-cigarettes that contain nicotine.

Were all concerned about the failure of the government to institute proper regulation, and then properly communicate about risks, Myers said.

The broader public maintains a sour view of teens relationship with vaping. Nearly 3 in 4 adults are concerned about claims that vape manufacturers target their products to young people, and 72% said the companies are responsible for youth vaping on par with the 74% who said the parents of schoolchildren are to blame.

3 in 4 Adults Blame Parents for Teen Vaping

Survey conducted March 18-21, 2022, among a representative sample of 2,211 U.S. adults, with an unweighted margin of error of +/-2 percentage points.

Adults cast the blame widely, though, with another 66% saying the FDA is at fault.

Blaming parents is sad. The manufacturers in the industry, the retailers who sell to kids, they really deserve a massive lions share of blame for this problem, Lindblom said. The FDA, meanwhile, didnt cause the problem; they just didnt stop it fast and firmly, an issue he said was due to bureaucratic and political hurdles during the Obama and Trump administrations.

E-cigarette manufacturers will soon see if a jury agrees. After settling multimillion-dollar lawsuits in Arizona and North Carolina, Juul will face trial this summer on claims that it deliberately marketed its products to children. The company launched a massive public relations blitz when such accusations first emerged, pulling most flavors except for menthol, which the FDA is now considering banning from shelves in late 2018.

Not all vape makers are eager to play by the rules, though, and experts have warned that theyre likely to find other regulatory workarounds. In July 2020, for example, the FDA told Puff Bar to take its flavored vaping products off the market but the company resumed sales in February 2021, this time using synthetic nicotine, and quickly became the No. 1 vape brand among young people.

That phenomenon prompted Congress recent decision to bring synthetic nicotine under FDAs purview. And the survey shows the public is on board with tighter regulation: Two in 3 adults said the FDA should advance its efforts to limit the production of flavored e-cigarette products. Support for state-level legal action also enjoys majority support.

E-cigarette manufacturers, for over a decade, have done everything they can to delay regulation and evade regulation, Myers said. Its critically important that FDA be vigilant in enforcing the law and acting quickly when they see e-cigarette manufacturers find new ways to appeal to kids.

Juul, Puff Bar and the FDA did not respond to requests for comment.

Excerpt from:

Vaping Rates Have Fallen. But a Quarter of E-Cigarette Users Started During the Pandemic - Morning Consult

The Rome-Floyd County Fire Department educators are going around to schools and sharing the dangers of vaping.

ROME, Ga. Two firefighters in the Rome-Floyd County Fire Department are going school to school to share the dangers of vaping - and getting students as young as second grade to turn in their vapes.

Shasta Farrer and Linda Patty began planning the program back in August, they said, and started rolling it out to schools in Floyd County in February.

They've been to 22 schools so far, starting with fifth graders and then expanding it through elementary schools and up to middle and high schools - and the impact has been staggering.

"The schools that we go to, we talk to the administrators first, and also the school resource officers, and we have an agreement with them that while we're teaching we actually give an opportunity at the end of class where if students want to turn in their electronic cigarettes they can with no punishment," Farrer told 11Alive's Dalia Perez. "We've had several students who have turned them in because during the class they actually learned the real ingredients in them and they no longer want to have anything to do with them, so it's been a really great program so far."

Farrer recently posted to her Facebook about the program.

"If you havent walked into a middle or high school lately, then you have no idea at what our youth are being faced with on a daily basis," she wrote. "The administrators at the schools are spending up to 80% of their time dealing with 'vape' issues, and its absolutely ridiculous. 'Vapes' are being taken away from 2nd graders. (Yes, you read that correctly.. 2nd grade babies!)"

She wrote that with the program, "eyes are being opened and the truth is now being taught inside middle and high schools."

The firefighters got certified with the Catch My Breath program and took courses with the CDC and Discovery Health before putting their program in place in Floyd County schools. Patty told 11Alive that she and Farrer have really felt like the program has become "bigger than we thought it would."

"Principles, teachers, they're busy - when they can start contacting us and asking for the program, that's when we know it's hit somewhere out there where it needs to be," she said. "That's what's happened. Right now it's a sad situation that it's needed, but we're glad we can be part of maybe making the change or causing this problem to go away."

Farrer said students are learning the consequences of vape use - both the immediate consequences that can come from getting in trouble at school and with parents, and the long-term consequences with their health.

"It's such a newer item, they don't know all of the research about how it does affect your lungs down the road. We teach them everything - truth and fact-based - and it's been a really great program for sure," she said.

More here:

'Making the change' | Firefighters getting students as young as 2nd grade to turn in their vapes - 11Alive.com WXIA

Given that the worlds largest tobacco company is fully owned by the Chinese government, the latter has a lot to gain from expanding the market of vaping and heated tobacco products.

As per the amendment, local businesses must register with the tobacco authority, and local manufacturers must obtain an additional licence to prove they are in possession of sufficient funds for production, and for a facility and equipment that meet the set standards.

The tobacco authority added that it will establish a unified national electronic cigarette transaction management platform that all licensed e-cigarette wholesalers and retailers must sell products through, while tax collection and payment of e-cigarettes, shall be implemented in accordance with national taxation laws and regulations.

This means that vaping products and their manufacturers will be regulated strictly by the Chinese government in the same way as cigarettes. Earlier this year Filter had highlighted, that if done right China is about to revolutionize global tobacco harm reduction.

However, the local vape industry is not that optimistic. John Dunne, Director general of the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) believes the industry will be affected negatively. I think in its current form the legislation will have a massive influence on the industry both domestically and internationally, but not all in a good way.

Wang Ning, the President of Chinas Electronic Chamber of Commerce said that these laws should benefit the whole industry. Soliciting opinions on revisions to the Tobacco Monopoly Law and regulating the e-cigarette market should be beneficial to the entire industry.

The China National Tobacco Corporation (CNTC), which sells about 40% of the worlds cigarettes is the worlds largest tobacco company and is fully owned by the Chinese government. Filter had explained that this means that the government has a lot to gain from expanding the market of vaping and heated tobacco products, especially given that 90% of the worlds vape products are manufactured in China.

Chairman of Shenzhen Shikai Technology Wang Shenyi reiterated that sensible regulations could lead to better market. We can look at the next management measures or national standards in a way that wont restrict the industrys development, but in a way that better supervises and regulates the market to make it healthier and better in the long run.

When the new vape restrictions were first announced the local industry took a hit in the stock market. However, the Hong Kong-listed Huabao International had also experienced a further drop in shares when it was announced that its chair and CEO Chu Lam Yiu, was being investigated by Chinese authorities for suspected disciplinary violations.

This led to fall in shares of 65% in January. Up to the date of this announcement, the company has not been provided with any details of the nature of the suspected violations of Ms. Chu that is currently being investigated, the company said in a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange at the time. The business operation of the Group remains normal. The company noted that the probe was being conducted by the Leiyang City Supervisory Committee, a government body based in Hunan province, southern China.

Read Further: CTGN

Chinas Opportunity to Have a Significant Impact on Tobacco Harm Reduction

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How Will China's New Vape Law Affect the Industry? - Vaping Post