Author: Staff Writer

Looking Back: SHEER Report ‘Fundamentally Flawed’
A scientific report on e-cigarettes prepared for the European is fundamentally flawed, according to the Independent European Vape Alliance (IEVA).
As part of the European Commission’s forthcoming review of the Tobacco Products Directive, the Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks (SCHEER) Committee was tasked with producing a scientific review of the health effects of e-cigarettes. On Sept. 23, SHEER adopted its preliminary opinion. The public consultation on the preliminary opinion closed on Oct. 26.
“While we welcome the initiative from the European Commission in taking a view on the science of electronic cigarettes, the draft report it has produced is fundamentally flawed,” IEVA wrote. “What is most striking about the draft scientific review is its failure to compare the risks of electronic cigarette use with the risks of smoking.”
In its response to the preliminary opinion, IEVA cited several areas of concern:
The Committee has concluded that there is insufficient evidence that e-cigarettes are not a useful tool for smokers seeking alternatives, despite quoting two randomized control trials stating precisely the opposite.
In its risk assessment, the Committee has not taken a risk-based approach at all, but rather a hazard-based approach. It states the potential risks of using e-cigarettes without even attempting to compare these with the risks from cigarette smoking, which are exponentially higher.
The Committee has concluded that there is strong evidence that e-cigarettes act as a “gateway” to smoking. However, it has done so based almost exclusively on data from the United States, where an entirely different regulatory regime exists. The Committee also fails to acknowledge that smoking among young people has declined significantly: if vaping leads to smoking, then why are there not more smokers observed during the period where the e-cigarette market grew rapidly?
According to IEVA, the poorly founded conclusions undermine the utility of the report as a document upon which EU decisionmakers can make policy decisions in the best interests of Europeans.
Earlier this week, British American Tobacco voiced similar concerns about the SHEER report.
November 24, 2020
Cannabis ‘Breath Analyzer’ Going to Beta Testing Phase
Cannabix Technologies plans to begin beta testing its marijuana THC Breath Analyzer version 3.0 with an occupational health care provider in southern California early next year. Newport Beach-based Alipour Medical Centre provides drug and alcohol testing services to a number of local employers in the state.
Credit: Elsa Olofsson
After the recent election, 33 U.S. states now have some form of legal marijuana. The THCBA is an ideal device for employers and other markets who are seeking a way to quickly, easily and non-invasively test for recent use of Delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) – the psychoactive component of marijuana that causes impairment, according to a press release.
Alipour Medical Centre provides drug and alcohol testing services to a number of local employers in the state. Cannabix will be seeking additional organizations for beta testing. Interested parties to contact the company via its website www.cannabixtechnologies.com.
“The Cannabix device allows for more relevant THC detection from breath allowing employers to create an onsite regiment whereby they can perform pre-access testing for recent use of marijuana before and during work hours, instead of testing for drug use when employees are not at work,” the release states. “Cannabix will be beta testing its device in order to continue training the device’s machine learning database and improve user experience through testing feedback. The THCBA has been built to provide easy to understand screen prompts for the positive and negative detection of THC in breath in a portable manner, and can be administered without extensive training.”
Current forms of testing for marijuana use can identify THC ranging from minutes to days prior to actual use, making it impossible to show the difference between the two. Studies¹ have shown that breath is a better indicator of impairment than saliva, blood or urine because THC is present in breath for a relatively short period of time (1-3 hours); whereas, it is excreted at detectable levels in other body fluids for many hours, days, or even weeks after smoking. This short time period of detection in breath aligns with the peak impairment window.
“We are very pleased to be using one of the world’s first marijuana breathalyzers in our medical facility. We know first-hand how the legalization of marijuana has affected employers in our state. As occupational health practitioners based in Orange County, we understand the challenges that employers are facing in providing relevant drug testing for existing and new employees,” said Dr. Nima Alipour, CEO of Alipour Medical Corp. “We advise corporations on how best to keep their workforce safe; identifying safety issues as they pertain to impairment, while taking into account employee rights in an environment of state legalization.”
November 23, 2020
Juul Labs to Exit Irish Market After Just 2 Years
Less than two years ago, Juul Labs entered the Irish vaping market with great enthusiasm. The company now plans to withdraw from the country at the end of this year, according to a story in the Irish Independent.
Credit: Juul Labs
Juul Labs told workers in September that the vaping giant planned to exit some European and Asia-Pacific markets and cutting more of its remaining 2,200 employees.
“Although much has been achieved in a short space of time, at a global level the company has had to make some difficult decisions about how best to serve its mission,” the company told suppliers in Ireland in recent weeks, according to the story.
“As part of this process the company has made the decision to focus its investment on core markets in order to best position itself for the long term, therefore unfortunately have informed us of their intention to exit the Irish market,” it added in a memo seen by the Irish Independent.
“Juul Ireland will be ceasing operations at the end of this 2020 calendar year,” it said.
The company launched in Ireland initially selling its products in 160 Circle-K forecourts and 50 Hale Vaping stores.
November 23, 2020
Mexico Paves Path to Largest Legalized Cannabis Market
Lawmakers in Mexico have paved the path for the creation of the world’s largest legal marijuana market. Mexico’s Senate approved a landmark cannabis legalization bill in a landslide vote on Thursday. The bill’s next hurdle is the lower house of Congress.
Credit: Sharon McCutcheon
Lawmakers are rushing to secure final approval before the end of the current congressional session in December, according to Reuters. If enacted, the reform would mark a major shift in a country where drug cartel violence in recent years has claimed over 100,000 lives.
The Supreme Court ruled in 2018 that recreational marijuana should be permitted, just one year after lawmakers legalized it for medicinal use. Socially conservative President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has shied away from publicly backing the legalization push, but neither has he opposed it, and senior cabinet members like Interior Minister Olga Sanchez have openly called for a shift to legalization and regulation.
Lopez Obrador’s left-of-center Morena party, which backed the initiative, holds a majority in both chambers of Congress with its allies, according to the article. The bill’s text claims its goal is to “improve living conditions” and “contribute to the reduction of crime linked to drug trafficking.”
November 22, 2020
Mayo Says Young Adult Vaping Down, Alcohol Use Rising
There have been significant shifts in substance abuse among young adults during the pandemic, according to a new Mayo Clinic study. Mayo officials surveyed over 1,000 adults ages 18-25, and roughly 34% of them reported changes in substance abuse patterns.
Credit: Elevate
Of those, vaping and smoking rates decreased for nearly half of those who responded, according to a news report by wqow.com.
“However, the most staggering finding was that nearly 70 percent of respondents increased alcohol consumption. Roughly half of them self-reported having depression or an anxiety disorder, which doctors believe contributed to the spike in drinking,” according to the story.
“We thought that with COVID-19, loneliness is a real thing,” said Dr. Pravesh Sharma, a substance use researcher at Mayo Clinic Health System in Eau Claire. “School and colleges are closed, gatherings are limited, and that creates a negative mood state in a lot of people, and young adults often indulge in drinking behavior to cope with those negative mood states.”
Sharma said as news spread about lung damage caused by vaping in early 2019, as well as COVID-19 affecting lung health, more young adults turned away from vaping and smoking.
November 21, 2020
Study: E-Cigs May Reduce Harm in Black, Latinx Smokers
Switching to electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) may be a useful strategy for reducing harm caused by combustible cigarettes in Black and Latinx smokers, according to a study.
Photo: Vchalup | Dreamstime.com

According to Urban Health Today, cigarette smokers may switch to e-cigarettes in an attempt to kick the habit, although it is not yet clear whether this strategy is actually associated with less harm, notably whether exposure to nicotine is reduced. Here, researchers compared the harm incurred from the use of nicotine salt pod system (NSPS) e-cigarettes—the most common type on the market currently—versus combustible cigarettes in Black and Latinx smokers.
The researchers found that switching to e-cigarettes did not increase nicotine exposure, and they further observed that it was associated with short-term urinary 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol (NNAL) concentration reduction.
They randomized Black and Latinx participants in San Diego, Calif., and Kansas City, Mo., who smoked at least five combustible cigarettes a day on at least 25 of the past 30 days for at least six months to either e-cigarettes or combustible cigarettes (control group) for six weeks.
The e-cigarette group had a choice of pod flavors, which were 5% nicotine, and underwent education, training, and action planning to make the transition from combustible cigarettes to e-cigarettes; the control group continued smoking as usual. The main outcome measure was NNAL concentration at the end of the intervention.
Other outcomes included change in urinary cotinine, expired carbon monoxide (CO), respiratory symptoms, lung function, blood pressure, and seven-day history of combustible cigarette consumption. The e-cigarette group was also evaluated for two- and six-week switching rates. and switching rates (e-cigarette group only) at weeks 2 and 6. The study took place between 2018 and 2019, with data analyzation performed between Sept. 18, 2019, and Sept. 4, 2020.
November 21, 2020
Missoula Votes Monday to Ban E-Liquid Flavors Not Cigarettes
The Montana city of Missoula wants to ban flavors in e-cigarettes and vapor products, but not combustible tobacco products. The Missoula City Council will vote Monday on the flavored “tobacco ordinance that prohibits the sale of flavored electronic tobacco products,” according to an article in the Missoulian.
Credit: Marko Sokolovic
The ordinance would also prohibit self-serve access to all tobacco products. The vote comes after the city’s Public Safety and Health Committee approved Wednesday amendments to a proposed ordinance which previously sought to ban the sale of all flavored tobacco products in the city. The bill was originally proposed last month.
On Wednesday, the Public Safety and Health Committee approved the amendments in a 9-2 vote with Councilor Jesse Ramos absent and Councilors Sandra Vasecka and John Contos voting against the changes. The ordinance will go before council for final consideration on Monday, Nov. 23.
The changes to the proposed ordinance came after extensive public comment and criticism by some, including the Missoula Area Chamber of Commerce, who said the ban was too broad and would harm local businesses. The ordinance aims to prevent youth access to and use of tobacco and nicotine, and is sponsored by council members Mirtha Becerra, Gwen Jones, Stacie Anderson, Heidi West and Julie Merritt.
Becerra said the new ordinance focuses on flavored electronic tobacco products because they come in an array of flavors and packaging that she said is targeted to children.
November 20, 2020
Looking Back: 2020 NYTS Showed Decline in Youth Use
AS recently reported, data from the 2020 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) found that 1.8 million fewer U.S. youth are currently using e-cigarettes compared to last year. The NYTS, conducted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), data shows an alarming increase in the number of youth who use disposable e-cigarettes.
Compared to 2019, the number of youth using e-cigarettes is down 1.8 million. However, the number of youth using disposable e-cigarettes has risen: 26.5 percent of high school users are using disposables, up from 2.4 percent in 2019, and 15.2 percent of middle school users are using disposables, up from 3 percent last year.
The FDA did not include disposable products when it announced its flavor ban for closed-pod systems in February of this year. The 2020 NYTS showed that more than 8 out of 10 youth e-cigarette users report use of flavored products and the majority of those used a disposbale product.
The study states that almost 40 percent of high school users are using an e-cigarette on 20 or more days out of the month and almost a quarter of them use e-cigarettes every day.
Last week, the FDA issued warning letters notifying three companies who sell or distribute unauthorized ENDS products to remove those products from the market. The regulatory agency issued a warning letter to XL Vape LLC (doing business as Stig Inc.), warning the company to remove their disposable e-cigarettes from the market because they do not have the required premarket authorization.
The additional warning letters were issued to Flavour Warehouse LTD (doing business as Vampire Vape) and Pretty Women UK LTD (T/A Coil2oil and Mad Kingdom Liquids) for illegally marketing unauthorized menthol-flavored e-liquids. “The labeling and/or advertising of these products also features cartoon images, such as vampires and kings, that are commonly marketed and/or appeal to youth,” according to the FDA.
November 20, 2020
China’s IECIE Vapor Industry Trade Show Expands for 2021
The world’s largest vapor and e-cigarette trade is expanding for its 2021 event. The 7th annual IECIE Shenzhen eCig Expo is scheduled to be held on September 3-5 at the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center.
Credit: Timothy S. Donahue
Organizers say the show will be restructured to include three new, independent exhibition halls. Those halls will include a seperate Supply Chain Expo, Heat Not Burn hall and a Future New Retail Digital Solutions & Future Shop Expo. The goal of the expansion is to “fulfil the in-depth and horizontal expansion of the vape industry, IECIE will continue to promote the evolution of the industrial structure and the sublimation of the value of the IECIE Shenzhen eCig Expo,” according to IECIE organizers.
The 2021 IECIE Supply Chain Expo will include 15,000 square meters of new tobacco products including upstream and downstream supply chain manufacturers. Organizers say there will also be an industry forum covering new technologies and concepts from various industry providers. “It is expected to attract 300 companies from various supply chains in the industry as well as attracting more than 80,000 professional visitors,” a press release states.
The Future New Retail Digital Solutions & Future Shop Expo is designed to better serve the brick-and-mortar retailers by showcasing digital services, and creating a one-stop offline retail solution, this time IECIE specially teamed up with Future Shop, an organization with more than 17,000 store solution providers.
The new Heat Not Burn Hall is 7,500 square meters and it is expected to attract 100 heat-not-burn and low-temperature herbal exhibitors, including China Tobacco Guizhou, China Tobacco Yunnan, China Tobacco Henan, China Tobacco Jiangxi, China Tobacco Sichuan, and China Tobacco under Shandong China Tobacco.
For more information contact IECIE.official@informa.com
November 20, 2020
18 Mississippi Retailers Cited for Underage Sales
Eighteen citations were issued last week to Mississippi, USA convenience stores for allegedly selling e-cigarettes and beer to people under 21 years old. Mississippi raised its age to purchase vaping products from 18 to 221 earlier this year.
Credit: Bill Oxford
Last week, the Mississippi Attorney General’s Alcohol and Tobacco Enforcement Division conducted the compliance checks in Lafayette County and the city of Oxford in partnership with the Oxford Police Department, according to a story on hottytoddy.com.
Out of 25 stores checked, there was a total of 18 violations, with several stores getting more than one violation.
“By Mississippi state law, the sale of beer, vape, and e-cigarettes to anyone under age 21 is illegal,” said Attorney General Lynn Fitch. “This action was taken to hold stores accountable as we all work to protect the health and safety of our children.”
November 19, 2020