Representatives of the U.S. vapor industry expressed mixed feelings at the four-year anniversary of the filing of the first premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs).
Since the Sept. 9, 2020, deadline, the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) has received applications for 26 million novel tobacco products, mostly electronic cigarettes or e-cigarettes.
However, despite its acknowledgement that e-cigarettes overall are less harmful and less toxic than combustible cigarettes, the agency has rejected more than 99 percent of PMTAs for these products.
At the same time, the FDA has authorized 6,670 new combustible tobacco products to be sold in the U.S., including 3,232 new cigars, 1,291 new pipe tobacco products,1,073 new hookah tobacco products and 973 new cigarettes.
According to the Vapor Technology Association (VTA), current CTP Director Brian King has authorized only four vaping devices as alternatives to cigarettes, compared with 1,270 combustible products.
Director King has justified his refusal to authorize flavored e-cigarettes that are widely used by American adults with the need to protect youth. Yet the most recent National Youth Tobacco Survey revealed that the youth vaping rate—the share of users who say they’ve used an e-cigarettes at least once in the past 30 days—has declined to 5.9 percent, the lowest level in more than a decade.
“Since Sep. 9, 2020, 1.93 million Americans have died from smoking cigarettes (480,000 each year), and approximately 64 million Americans suffered from smoking-related disease (16 million each year), according to the CDC, at a cost of hundreds of billions of dollars to the U.S. health care system and gross domestic product,” the VTA wrote in a statement.
“In this time, the FDA has only allowed the purveyors of these deadly combustible products to strengthen their grip on the market. Meanwhile, more and more Americans die from smoking, making this anything but a happy anniversary.”
Illinois has launched the Cannabis Research Institute (CRI), a first-of-its-kind center in the American Midwest for innovative pot studies.
The new research hub announced last week will be a joint venture between the State of Illinois, the City of Chicago, and Discovery Partners Institute (DPI), part of the University of Illinois system.
The institute’s aim is to develop a comprehensive body of data and research to educate the public about the socio-economic and scientific impacts of pot production and usage.
The institute plans to undertake broad research covering everything from crop management to social impacts and health and wellness, media outlets report.
Example topics will include the efficacy of pot and cannabis extracts for treating medical ailments such as inflammation and anxiety; the impact of legalization on the community and broader society; public health ramifications of legalizing adult-use cannabis; and the improvement of pot plants through controlled environmental conditions.
To help ensure the CRI accomplishes those goals the DPI will be forming and leading a research team comprised of different communities, research institutions, businesses and government authorities.
The DKiss Slim, with no vapor and no smoke, performs perfectly as a cessation device.
By Mike Huml
The DKiss Slim from Dekang is a smokeless, vaporless nicotine inhaler that satisfies nicotine cravings anywhere. While seeing vapor on the exhale is half the fun of vaping, there are certainly times when vaping out of a small space is not appropriate.
Although vaping is estimated to be 95 percent safer than smoking traditional cigarettes, remember that e-cigarettes carry a reduced risk—they do not eliminate risk. The DKiss Slim aims to reduce the risk further by eliminating potential chemical changes due to heat and taking smoke and vapor out of the equation entirely. The result is a simple, no-nonsense device that’s easy to use, inconspicuous and satisfying.
The top of the DKiss Slim device has a single white light that illuminates when a drag is taken or when charging. The USB type-C charging port is also located on the top of the device, right next to the activation light. A charging cable is not included, but USB type-C cables are used to charge virtually all electronic devices these days and shouldn’t be challenging to come by.
The body of the DKiss houses the battery and features a semi-matte black finish that feels like anodized aluminum. It has a good weight but is not unwieldy and does not collect fingerprints. The tip of the DKiss is called the Nico Capsule and is where the solid nicotine is housed. This piece is replaced when the nicotine is depleted after approximately 400 puffs—the equivalent of about two packs of analog cigarettes.
Two O-rings keep the Nico Capsule securely in place during use. It feels like one solid piece when in the hand and when in the mouth—no wobbling or looseness to speak of. It’s replaced very easily by sliding it out and sliding a new Nico Capsule in.
In terms of usage and operation, the DKiss Slim is dead simple. No buttons, no menus, just take it out of the box and start puffing away. Aesthetics are also barebone and simple, and that works perfectly to the DKiss’ advantage. With no smoke or vapor output, onlookers would see someone chewing on a pen and nothing more.
The flavor is more subtle than that of a cigarette or e-cigarette, but that works perfectly with the “simple and efficient” theme of the DKiss. Although there is a slight aroma when the device is close to the user’s face, bystanders won’t notice any odor whatsoever. Four flavors were sampled for this review—Tobacco, Tobacco Mix, Light USA Mix and Mint.
Mint has a nice cooling sensation with little to no tobacco flavor while Light USA Mix is a good balance of menthol and light tobacco. Tobacco is reminiscent of a light cigarette while Tobacco Mix is the most robust. Of course, without combustion, these flavors cannot perfectly replicate the taste of an analog cigarette, but they mimic tobacco-flavored and menthol e-liquid very well.
While there is a heating element to produce warmth and flavor, it does not make direct contact with the nicotine contained in the Nico Capsule. This eliminates any potential toxins resulting from heating or combustion. The result is a smooth, clean draw with a warming sensation and a subtle tingle of nicotine on the tongue.
It’s an entirely different experience compared to smoking or vaping, but that’s not a negative. There is undoubtedly a market for the Dekang DKiss slim. Many smokers and vapers are looking to quit entirely, and this product has the potential to bridge that gap. Additionally, while vaping was once acceptable in areas where smoking is prohibited, this loophole has primarily been closed across the board.
With its pen-inspired aesthetic and lack of vapor, smoke or aroma, the DKiss can be used anywhere. For those looking for a nicotine fix or to satisfy the hand-to-mouth habit when smoking or vaping are not viable options, the DKiss is perfectly suited to their needs.
It’s a simple and effective backup for any smoker or vaper. And since it doesn’t use e-liquid, there is no risk of leaking, and every drag is smooth and consistent—no dry hits, gurgling or spitback. Naturally, there are none of the combustible cigarette downsides either—the need to light it, ashing, finding somewhere to dispose of the butt, etc.
The Dekang DKiss Slim is a very inconspicuous and effective nicotine inhalation system that’s easy for anybody to pick up and use. It can be used virtually anywhere to satisfy the nicotine craving while also giving the user an outlet for the hand-to-mouth habit or even their “fidget” craving.
With no vapor and no smoke, the health risk of using the DKiss is mitigated to an optimal degree, which makes it perfect as a cessation device or for those moments when smoking or vaping aren’t options. The Dekang DKiss Slim is a fantastic innovation that goes back to basics and fills a gap that’s desperately needed in today’s nicotine market.
The Great Smoky Cannabis Dispensary opened Saturday for its first recreational marijuana sales for anyone over the age of 21.
It’s another first for the state of North Carolina, where marijuana remains illegal outside of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ (ECBI) territory.
The dispensary first opened on April 20, 2024, for medical cannabis purchases. A referendum was then passed in July to begin recreational sales, following a 2021 ordinance approved by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, which legalized medical cannabis within the Qualla Boundary.
“We’re a sovereign nation, so we set it up to let people come visit, explore our community, visit our people, just come in and help themselves to any cannabis need they need,” Boyd Allen, a Cherokee tribal representative, said Saturday, according to local media.
Despite laws passed by the ECBI, marijuana remains illegal in the rest of the state. The sheriff of Swain County, which borders Cherokee land, said in a June interview that his department would enforce state law.
“They need to educate their people up there that when they come off the boundary, they’re in a different world,” Sheriff Curtis Cochran said. “We’ll educate them if we catch them with it. We’ll charge them for it.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom fired a direct attack Friday on the booming hemp industry, filing emergency rules that would completely ban THC — an intoxicating compound found in cannabis — from hemp products in the state.
Hemp products are sold outside of regulated cannabis stores and can be purchased online or at retail locations like gas stations throughout the state. Newsom said in a statement Friday that the emergency rules were needed to protect children, media reports state.
“We will not sit on our hands as drug peddlers target our children with dangerous and unregulated hemp products containing THC at our retail stores,” Newsom said. “We’re taking action to close loopholes and increase enforcement to prevent children from accessing these dangerous hemp and cannabis products.”
The emergency rules would require that all hemp products in California have “no detectable amount of total THC ” and that customers be over 21 to purchase them. The rules still need the approval of the California Office of Administrative Law before they go into effect.
Reg title: DPH-24-005E-Emergency Regulations for Serving Size, Age, and Intoxicating Cannabinoids for Industrial Hemp has been proposed. Click here to read the proposed regulations. Click here to read the “Finding of Emergency” on which they are based.
Most notably, under the proposed regulations the definition of “THC” is expanded to include “THC or comparable cannabinoids” and adds over 30 cannabinoids to the list of “THC”. Additionally, the amount of THC allowed in a serving is “no detectable amount.”
Cannabis attorney Rod Kight said, “This is an “all hands on deck” moment for the entire cannabis industry to stop this nonsense. If you have business interests in California, stop what you’re doing and call the Governor’s office and your state representatives now.”
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in the Philippines on Saturday said it removed five vape brands from shelves pending an investigation into alleged violations of the law.
The DTI identified the brands Shft, Dr. Freeze, Areogin, Don Bars and Chillax as the subjects under the order.
“The trade suspension, effective immediately, is in accordance with section 11 of Executive Order No. 913 (1983) and will remain in place pending resolution of the formal charges,” the DTI said in a statement.
The government agency cited that the trade suspension was in response to the formal charges filed against the said brands for violating Section 4(d) of Republic Act No. 11900, or the Vaporized Nicotine and Non-Nicotine Products Regulation Act.
In addition to the trade suspension, the DTI said it has suspended the Philippine Standard licenses for the same brands.
Cigarette sales declined across Western Europe in 2023, but increased slightly at a regional level due to the strong growth in Turkey, where illicit trade was falling and the smoking population was growing, according to a new report published by Research and Markets.
Sales of next-generation products continue to grow in Western Europe, with even an upcoming ban on disposable vapes in the U.K., their biggest regional market, not expected to significantly impact this trend, with Italy remaining the leading market for heated tobacco products regionally.
Rising prices, due to the global inflationary environment and ongoing tax hikes, increasing health awareness and competition from next-generation products is resulting in declining unit volume sales of cigarettes across most of Western Europe, with little likelihood of this changing over the forecast period.
Although slower than in the two previous years, closed-system single-use vaping products were still recording growth in the U.K. in 2023. However, with concerns about the throwaway nature of disposable vapes as well as their attraction to underage smokers, the U.K. government announced a ban on these products from early 2025, which force industry players to shift their focus toward open and other closed vaping products.
The nicotine pouches category is expected to see strong growth over the forecast period. Sweden will continue to be the leading country market in Western Europe, but Finland is expected to take over from Denmark as the second biggest in the region over 2023-2028. This is due to the Finnish authorities deregulating the sale of these products in mid-2023.
Heated tobacco products will be accounting for just over half of overall smokeless tobacco, e-vapor products and heated tobacco sales at the end of the forecast period, having recorded further growth in the coming years. Philip Morris International continues to drive the development of the category, rolling out its new IQOS Iluma devices and Terea sticks across the region, with the other tobacco giants also present with devices like Ploom (Japan Tobacco International), Glo (British American Tobacco) or Pulze (Imperial Brands).
The UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) welcomes Baroness Merrion’s support for introducing a vape licensing scheme this week.
During a House of Lords debate on youth vaping, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department of Health and Social Care said the government was “actively considering” a vape licensing scheme.
According to a press release, the UKVIA has long supported the introduction of vape licensing to fund a nationwide Trading Standards enforcement program to clamp down hard on rogue retailers who sell illicit products or sell to those under 18.
“Will the government consider the impact of [the] lack of enforcement and introduce a licensing system with substantial fines for those who sell vapes without a license and for all outlets who sell to children, as well as any unlicensed vaping products?” Baroness Walmsey asked.
Baroness Merron replied: “Licensing may well be beneficial for strengthening enforcement, supporting legitimate businesses, deterring rogue retailers and ultimately supporting the mission of improved public health. It is an area that we are actively considering for inclusion in the [Tobacco and Vapes] Bill.”
UKVIA Director General John Dunne said: “We have been calling for a robust and effective vape licensing scheme – backed up by fines of at least £10,000 for those who sell for children – for years now, but this fell on deaf ears with the previous Conservative administration. Such a scheme could generate upwards of £50 million annually to fund a much-needed national Trading Standards enforcement program at no cost to the Treasury.
“The Sunak government tried to rush through the Tobacco and Vapes will without proper debate and I am very much encouraged at the message given by Baroness Walmsey. I am delighted that serious thought is being given to amending the proposed legislation to include vape licensing so that youth vaping can successfully be tackled and the focus of vaping can once more return to helping adult smokers quit.
“I look forward to meeting with ministers to discuss this and other ways to close the loopholes that allow illegal products to enter the supply chain here in the UK.”
Half a million fewer U.S. youth reported current use of e-cigarettes in 2024 compared to 2023, according to new data from the National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) released by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The nationally representative data featured in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) includes findings on e-cigarette and nicotine pouch use among U.S. youth, two categories of tobacco products the FDA and CDC are monitoring closely, particularly regarding youth use and appeal.
NYTS is an annual school-based, self-administered survey of U.S. middle (grades 6–8) and high school (grades 9–12) students conducted Jan. 22 to May 22, 2024. Findings showed there was a significant drop in the number of U.S. middle and high school students who reported current (past 30 days) e-cigarette use – a decrease from 2.13 million (7.7%) youth in 2023 to 1.63 million (5.9%) youth in 2024.
This decline was primarily driven by reduced e-cigarette use among high schoolers (1.56 million to 1.21 million), with no statistically significant change in current e-cigarette use among middle school students within the past year. According to an FDA release, the number of youth who used e-cigarettes in 2024 is approximately one-third of what it was at its peak in 2019, when over five million youth reported current e-cigarette use.
“The continued decline in e-cigarette use among our nation’s youth is a monumental public health win,” said Brian King, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP). “This progress is a testament to the relentless efforts by the FDA, CDC, and others, particularly over the past half-decade. But we can’t rest on our laurels, as there’s still more work to do to further reduce youth e-cigarette use.”
Among youth who currently used e-cigarettes, 26.3% reported using e-cigarettes daily. The vast majority of youth who currently used e-cigarettes used flavored products (87.6%), with fruit (62.8%), candy (33.3%) and mint (25.1%) being the top three most commonly used flavors. Disposable e-cigarette products were the most common product type used; however, the most popular brands included both disposable and cartridge-based products.
Among youth who currently used e-cigarettes, the most commonly reported brands were Elf Bar (36.1%), Breeze (19.9%), Mr. Fog (15.8%), Vuse (13.7%) and JUUL (12.6%).
Over the past year, a substantive drop occurred in youth reporting use of e-cigarette products under the Elf Bar brand – from 56.7% in 2023 to 36.1% in 2024. Elf Bar is not authorized by the FDA and has been the subject of focused compliance and enforcement actions by the agency since early 2023, including more than 1,000 warning letters and 240 civil money penalties to retailers and others in the supply chain.
The FDA has also issued import alerts that include products under the Elf Bar brand, which places them on the “red list” and allows the agency to detain products without conducting a full inspection at the time of entry.
Youth nicotine pouch use did not show a statistically significant change from 2023 (1.5% in 2023 and 1.8% in 2024). Of the nearly half a million middle and high school students who reported current nicotine pouch use, 22.4% used them daily.
The most commonly reported brands among that group were Zyn (68.7%), on! (14.2%), Rogue (13.6%), Velo (10.7%) and Juice Head ZTN (9.8%). Among those who currently used nicotine pouches, the vast majority used flavored products (85.6%), with mint (53.3%), fruit (22.4%) and menthol (19.3%) being the most commonly used flavors.
“While it’s encouraging to see these numbers currently remaining relatively low, the bottom line is that we are concerned about any youth appealing tobacco product,” King said. “Our guard is up. We are aware of the reported growing sales trends for nicotine pouches and are closely monitoring the evolving tobacco product landscape for threats to public health, particularly when it comes to kids.”
Many retailers in Oregon have implemented universal ID checks for alcohol or nicotine products. That means they’ll card you — even if you’re 50, 60 or 70 years old. Retailers explain that the point is to eliminate guesswork and make sure kids don’t drink or smoke.
A pair of class action lawsuits are looking to undo those policies, alleging they violate Oregon law.
“I understand their reasoning. Trying to protect themselves from selling to underage kids,” said Scott Dale of Molalla, a plaintiff in one of the lawsuits. “But you can’t do that when there are privacy laws in place.”
Oregon law prohibits swiping a driver’s license except under certain circumstances, including the sale of age-restricted products if there is any reasonable doubt that the person is 21, according to media reports.
According to Oregon Administrative Rules, reasonable doubt exists if the person appears to be under the age of 26.
“The law does not allow a business to swipe every driver’s license on every transaction,” said Portland attorney Michael Fuller.
The law, passed by the Oregon legislature in 2009, was intended to prevent data collection from driver’s licenses and ID cards.
“The concern is privacy,” said Fuller.
Plaid Pantry and WSCO Petroleum, which owns Astro gas stations, are both being sued in separate class action lawsuits over their universal card-swiping policies.
Fuller argued state law is clear, and violations can result in hefty penalties. The law allows an individual to recover actual damages or $1,000, whichever is greater. If the violation is intentional, the court can triple damages.
“The Oregon Legislature made a policy decision and decided that it wasn’t going to allow corporations to scan drivers’ licenses unless there was a reason for it in hopes of reducing the risk of a future data breach,” said Fuller.
Retailers claim the government encourages the scanning of ID and driver’s licenses to help prevent the sale of alcohol and tobacco to kids.
While there is a heating element to produce warmth and flavor, it does not make direct contact with the nicotine contained in the Nico Capsule. This eliminates any potential toxins resulting from heating or combustion. The result is a smooth, clean draw with a warming sensation and a subtle tingle of nicotine on the tongue.
