VPZ, the largest vaping retailer in the UK, announced it would be increasing its footprint to over 160 stores by opening 15 new stores across the UK by the end of 2023.
The growth comes amidst VPZ’s launch of its new vape recycling service in partnership with WasteCare across all its stores in response to the rising environmental concerns over disposable vapes.
“We are delighted to be continuing our brand expansion and mission of supporting adult smokers to quit whilst bringing our own innovative recycling services to tackle the negative environmental impact of disposable vaping,” said Doug Mutter, director at VPZ.
VPZ is also calling on both the UK Government to introduce tighter controls and licensing for selling vaping products both in physical and online retail environments.
To date, Edinburgh-based VPZ has already helped over 700k smokers in the UK quit since it was established in 2012, according to the retailer.
E-cigarette companies have been evading taxes by declaring false nicotine content when importing liquid nicotine base into South Korea, according to one of the country’s lawmakers, reports The Pulse.
The accumulated tax evasion is estimated at several trillion won.
Between January 2020 and July 2023, 20,197 kg of liquid nicotine base was imported, according to documents from the Korea Electronic Liquid Association obtained by Lim Lee-ja of the ruling People Power Party. Approximately 3,300 bottles of e-liquid can be produced with 1 kg of liquid nicotine. Each bottle is levied at KRW53,970 ($40.60).
Many e-cigarette companies have been mis-declaring tobacco leaf nicotine as tobacco stem and root nicotine to evade taxes since 2016, according to the association. Under Korea’s tobacco laws, nicotine extracted from tobacco stems and roots is not classified as tobacco.
Data shows that e-cigarette companies changed their declarations from tobacco leaf nicotine to synthetic nicotine when Korea’s Individual Consumption Tax Act was amended in 2021 to impose taxes on all tobacco-derived nicotine. Synthetic nicotine is classified as a simple commodity and not subject to taxes.
The association stated that annual distribution volume of Korean e-cigarette liquid is 30 million 30 mL bottles, with an estimated annual tax evasion of KRW1.6 trillion.
In 2019, the Board of Audit and Inspection audited the Korea Customs Service, the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Health and Welfare, showing that all the inspected imported nicotine was tobacco leaf nicotine. Falsified declarations have continued since then, according to the association.
Lim has called on the government to crack down on companies falsely declaring their products.
Liquid nicotine base is considered a hazardous substance under the Chemical Substance Control Act, regulated by the Ministry of Environment. Imports must be reported to the minister of environment, and companies must obtain an import declaration certificate for hazardous substances.
Those caught failing to report or falsely reporting the import of hazardous substances are subject to up to one year of imprisonment and up to KRW30 million in fines. None of the companies shown to have falsely declared nicotine products in past audits have been punished to date.
Innokin’s new ArcFire pod system strikes the perfect balance of performance, quality and convenience.
By Mike Huml
The Innokin ArcFire is the latest device from the long-standing vapor device manufacturer. As with all things Innokin, the ArcFire elevates the pod system archetype to new heights in terms of performance, consistency and quality. While it doesn’t bring anything new to the table, ArcFire presents a streamlined offering that keeps things simple while still delivering maximum performance.
ArcFire is a basic pod system device with refillable, swappable pods and a lightweight yet durable construction. The body has aluminum wrapped around it with about a 7 mm gap on one edge.
This gap provides a slightly recessed platform for airflow, a single button, LED indicators and a better view of the remaining e-liquid. The ArcFire features a USB-C charging port and a ring light on its tip, which illuminates when the device is firing or charging.
Mike Huml
The pod can contain up to 3 mL of e-liquid (with an EU Tobacco Product Directive-compliant 2 mL pod also available) and is refillable via a hole in the side that’s visible when removed from the rest of the device. A silicone plug is easily opened to reveal the filling port.
Each pod consists of a 1.2 ohm mesh coil that cannot be replaced independently of the pod. The pod is held in place very securely with strong magnets, and given the semi-oval shape of the aluminum housing, it can only be inserted into the device in one direction due to the slight asymmetry.
An internal 650 mAh battery offers long battery life without adding unnecessary bulk to the overall package. The ArcFire should last a full day of normal use for most vapers and will far outlast a single fill of the pod. However, the ArcFire does feature passthrough functionality and can be used while charging if necessary. The side panel of the Arcfire contains three small LED indicators that display remaining battery life.
Three lights indicate a charge level of 65 percent or higher, two lights for a charge level of 15 percent to 65 percent and a single light for a charge level below 15 percent. The LEDs illuminate when a draw is taken or when the button on the side is pressed once. Three clicks of the same button will toggle the ArcFire’s power on or off. The button is not used to fire the device as the ArcFire is equipped with a draw-activated switch only.
It’s a relatively standard feature set that keeps things simple, which is ideal when it comes to pod systems. The coil features a mesh heating element that produces vapor consisting of finer particles for easier nicotine absorption. Additionally, mesh heating elements are more effective with lower power, meaning more vapor is produced with less energy and heat.
That means longer battery life, no dry hits and no spitback. It’s remarkably consistent regardless of the amount of remaining liquid, the viscosity of the liquid or the remaining battery voltage. The ArcFire outputs a consistent 3.4 volts at all times, but small variations in power have virtually no impact on the vaping experience.
The airflow is a bit on the open side but is still perfectly comfortable for mouth-to-lung vaping. Lung hits are restrictive and uncomfortable but still technically possible. However, there are better devices on the market for vapers looking for a lung-hit experience. The ArcFire was clearly intended to be used as a mouth-to-lung device with nicotine salt e-liquid, and in that arena, it succeeds without question.
The 650 mAh battery offers significantly more battery life than most other pod systems, as well as disposable devices, on the market today. What’s more impressive is that the battery can reach a 75 percent charge after being plugged in for only 30 minutes due to the incorporation of USB-C. Between a large battery that charges quickly and the option to either refill or swap pods, the ArcFire has very little downtime. It’s the perfect device for vapers on the go who want a no-hassle experience.
It’s also great to see a refillable pod that doesn’t require coils to be swapped. Many devices offer disposable pods in which the coil can also be changed out, but all too often, this is a redundant feature that leads to messes and too much complexity for the pod-style platform. If the entire pod can be replaced, then the coil doesn’t need to be swappable as well.
The ArcFire being refillable allows between 10 mL and 60 mL to pass through its pod before it needs to be replaced, depending on the liquid used. That means for a normal user, on average, the pod should probably be replaced once per week, which is more than reasonable given how easy it is to replace the pod. Simply slide it out and throw it away, then replace it with a new, filled pod. The coil will need a few minutes to prime after it is filled for the first time, but regardless, the entire process is simple and painless.
ArcFire produces a nice, voluminous cloud of vapor with very little effort. Flavors come through clean and pure with absolutely no added flavor or strange aftertastes. Another advantage of being refillable is that each vaper has a much wider variety of flavors to choose from.
While pre-filled pods or disposables have come a long way in terms of flavor choice, they still lock the user into an ecosystem. The ArcFire allows for the freedom to use any e-liquid from any manufacturer.
That’s an attractive option, especially for vapers who use a lower nicotine strength or are looking to taper down in their nicotine consumption. Many pod systems and disposables only offer 50 mg, and some offer an additional lower strength in the neighborhood of 25 mg to 30 mg.
With refillable pods such as the ArcFire, users can taper down to 12 mg, 6 mg or even 0 mg if they are looking to kick the habit. There are many other reasons vapers prefer lower nicotine levels, and the ArcFire offers much more choice in this regard compared to disposable devices or pre-filled pods.
Innokin, as expected, continues to live up to its reputation in the ArcFire. The features are streamlined and simple, the build quality is rugged yet sleek, and the vape quality is unquestionably top notch. On top of that, the ArcFire offers many benefits for those looking to move up from disposables as purchasing e-liquid is often cheaper than buying an entirely new device when the e-liquid runs dry.
This also opens up an entire world of new flavors to experience and new nicotine strengths to enjoy. Aside from the refillable nature of the device, the larger battery and fast charging speed add another layer of convenience over increasingly popular disposable devices.
There is definitely a huge market for this type of device from both ends of the spectrum. Current users of disposables may be looking for something slightly more robust with more options and less expensive upkeep costs. More advanced vapers may be looking for something more portable without sacrificing quality.
Either way, the ArcFire strikes a perfect balance of performance, quality and convenience that’s immediately appealing to all types of vapers. Not to mention, it has the Innokin name behind it, which should offer some peace of mind that the ArcFire will remain reliable and well supported for years to come.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) has launched new resources to help applicants navigate the agency’s premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) process.
Specifically, CTP is offering a new webpage with more in-depth information on how to complete the three required PMTA forms to submit and amend pending applications.
Over the last few years, CTP has received more than 26 million PMTAs and made determinations on 99% of those applications.
Based on this experience and communications with applicants, CTP has developed the new online resources, which includes easy-to-access tips to help applicants submit in the future.
“These new online resources are part of CTP’s ongoing efforts to enhance the center’s efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency in response to recommendations from an independent external evaluation led by the Reagan-Udall Foundation,” a release states.
Pastel Cartel, the manufacturer of Esco Bars vaping devices, has submitted a legal complaint to the U.S. Federal District Court in the Western District of Texas.
The dispute is in regards to a U.S. Food and Drug Administration decision to reject over one hundred documents that Pastel Cartel had included in their premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs), according to court records.
In the lawsuit, Pastel Cartel accuses the FDA of acting negligently and carelessly by issuing refusing to accept (RTA) letters for the company’s PMTAs on technical grounds.
The company is seeking:
A preliminary injunction staying the RTA orders until the case is decided;
A judgment finding the RTAs violate the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and the U.S. Constitution (the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment);
A final judgment setting aside the RTA orders and remanding the company’s PMTAs back to the FDA for further review.
Earlier this year, Shenzen Innokin Technology Co. Ltd., the producer of Esco Bars products, and Breeze Smoke, LLC who import and distribute Breeze products also received warning letters for manufacturing, distributing, and/or importing unauthorized tobacco products in the United States, according to the FDA.
Scotland could ban disposable vapes under plans unveiled by the country’s first minister.
Campaigners have highlighted the environmental impact of disposable vaping products, which are often thrown on the ground after being used.
Concerns have also been raised around their growing popularity among young people, according to media reports.
Humza Yousaf said his government would hold a consultation on a single-use vape ban as he set out his priorities for the coming year.
He told the Scottish Parliament he hears too often about how common vaping is among young people.
“In the next year we will take action to reduce vaping – particularly among children,” he said. “I’m pleased to announce that this government will consult on curbing the sale of disposable single-use vapes, including consulting on an outright ban.”
A recent Scottish government report found that 22% of all under-18s – around 78,000 – are believed to have used a vape last year with more young people using them than smoking cigarettes.
It found that most e-cigarette users under 18 prefer single use vapes.
The review by Zero Waste Scotland estimated that up to 2.7 million single-use vapes were littered in Scotland last year. The study estimated that there were 543,000 users of e-cigarettes in Scotland and predicted that without intervention that will rise to 900,000 by 2027.
SCotland joins several countries such as France that are considering a ban on disposables.
France will ban disposable electronic cigarettes, according to a Reuters report citing comments by French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne.
“It’s an important public health issue,” Borne said, noting that the government is putting together plans for a national program to fight tobacco usage.
Borne said “puff” devices create habits among youth that can lead to tobacco addiction.
Following a tobacco tax increase this year, the government does not plan to raise taxes next year.
British American Tobacco, Imperial Brands, Japan Tobacco International and Philip Morris International are no longer members of the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) the organization has announced.
In a statement from the UKVIA, the industry advocacy group states that it will no longer include any tobacco companies within its membership. It also will not be accepting any new applications for membership by vaping businesses wholly or part owned or acquired by tobacco companies moving forward.
The trade body states that “the interests of the industry would be best served by the association being independent of any involvement or funding from tobacco-owned vaping brands”.
It hopes to dispel “misconceptions” that the group is funded largely by tobacco companies and to overcome any potential restrictions tobacco companies may face when engaging with key stakeholders in the move to smokefree, according to media reports.
“In representing vaping-only businesses, many of which are independent firms founded on the back of personal loss of family members as a result of smoking combustible cigarettes, the UKVIA wants to be fully engaged with key stakeholders across the board as we have the same vision, which is to make smoking history,” the release states. “The association sees this as being a vital step in ensuring that the public health potential of vaping is fully realized and the sector making its fullest contribution to the delivery of the smoke free targets over the next few years to 2030.”
Kaival Brands Innovations Group has promoted Stephen Sheriff to chief operating officer.
Sheriff succeeds Eric Mosser, who was recently promoted to CEO, and joins Mosser and recently appointed Chief Financial Officer Thomas Metzler as a part of Kaival Brands’ expanded senior management team.
“Promoting Stephen to the role of chief operating officer was a natural and logical next step given his contributions to the success of Kaival Brands to date and his experience helping businesses navigate through rapid periods of growth and change,” said Mosser in a statement. “He has a strong entrepreneurial spirit and will be instrumental in helping us take our business to the next level. With a deep understanding of our operations, the capital markets and what it takes to develop and execute a strategy with proven results, he is a great addition to our C-suite leadership team.”
Sheriff brings more than a decade of finance and entrepreneurial leadership to his new role. Most recently, he served as the director of administration and communications at Kaival Brands. In this role, he managed the company’s investor and public relations and human resource programs in addition to overall responsibility for the development and implementation of key programs and initiatives, including customer and vendor relations.
Prior to Kaival Brands, Sheriff co-founded Riverhill Group, a capital markets advisory and consulting firm.
Fentanyl misinformation could come with consequences much worse than those experienced with EVALI.
By Timothy S. Donahue
Earlier this year, media reports began to circulate that a dangerous trend was beginning to emerge in the vaping industry: the proliferation of fentanyl-laced vapes. “This lethal combination of the potent synthetic opioid fentanyl and electronic cigarettes has raised serious concerns among health experts, law enforcement agencies and the general public,” wrote PharmChek, a drug abuse data source.
The first report of fentanyl-laced vaping products appeared in September 2019, when the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) San Diego division was contacted by local authorities regarding a suspected fentanyl overdose death. The roommate of the deceased, who admitted to vaping fentanyl regularly, told agents there was fentanyl and possibly other drugs located in their shared residence as well as fentanyl-laced “vape” tanks, according to the DEA. The San Diego County Medical Examiner reports that this was the first case in which they had found fentanyl in vape pens.
The vaping devices were not sold in any store. They were not marketed as fentanyl vape pens. The products were adulterated products that were then sold on the black market, according to the DEA. Media reports at the time did not mention that vapes were altered illegally and instead blamed the nicotine vaping industry for the contaminated devices.
During the Next Generation Nicotine Delivery 2023 conference held in Miami in June, Tony Abboud, executive director of the Vapor Technology Association (VTA), said that vaping industry veterans may remember something similar in vaping’s recent past that resembles the fentanyl crisis.
In August 2019, an Illinois man succumbed in a hospital to a mysterious lung disease caused by a vaping product. Soon after, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported the initial instance of what it called e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury (EVALI). The number of cases hit its peak in September before dropping off through February 2020, at which point there were 2,807 reports and 68 deaths.
Experts believe that one of the primary causes of the EVALI outbreak was vitamin E acetate, which had been added to some vaping products as a thinner. Additionally, many cases included tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)-containing products, not nicotine vaping products. Neither the CDC nor the U.S. Food and Drug Administration challenged the disinformation being disseminated by media outlets and anti-nicotine groups blaming nicotine e-cigarettes for the EVALI crisis. It nearly decimated the vaping industry.
EVALI and the false reporting surrounding its cause boosted misinformation surrounding nicotine vaping products. A study led by researchers at the American Cancer Society at the time showed that perceptions of e-cigarettes as being “more harmful” than cigarettes by adults in the United States more than doubled between 2019 and 2020 and that perceptions of e-cigarettes as “less harmful” declined between 2018 and 2020 when the EVALI concern was at its peak.
It wasn’t until late October 2019 that any government organization stated publicly that nicotine vaping products were not the cause of EVALI. Abboud warned conference attendees that if the e-cigarette industry doesn’t react differently to the misinformation surrounding nicotine vaping and illicit fentanyl-laced vaping products, the industry may not survive.
“The misinformation that went along with the EVALI crisis had a traumatic impact not just on businesses but on consumers’ perceptions about vaping products in general. And it was driven largely by the media,” explained Abboud. “It was on the media every single day …. The most important thing, obviously, at this time, was for our regulatory bodies to figure out and speak clearly about what was causing the problem. That did not occur in the manner that it should have occurred.”
The false link between nicotine vaping products and EVALI was also hijacked by anti-nicotine advocates, such as Matthew L. Myers, who was with the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids at the time, and Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire philanthropist and financial backer of anti-vaping organizations. The day after the CDC EVALI announcement, Myers and Bloomberg hit the airwaves talking about flavored vaping products and their commitment to spend $160 million to remove flavored vaping products from the market. Flavors attract kids, and EVALI would kill them, the group claimed.
“What they said was frankly unconscionable because they leveraged the [then] current EVALI crisis that did not have anything to do with flavored nicotine products to their benefit. The impact of this kind of narrative led to the next day when President Trump announced [d] his ban on all flavors,” said Abboud. “At this point, we knew that the industry was facing somewhat of an existential crisis because they were talking about removing a huge segment of the market and a larger segment of the independent vaping industry. And that would have dramatic repercussions down the road.
“We immediately started acting. We had to get on TV to explain what was really going on with vitamin E acetate to make clear that this was an illicit THC issue. We had to frame the issue in terms of public health. We also had to create the issue in terms of jobs. But we had to do more than that. We had to launch a public affairs campaign that made clear what was at stake with this policy decision that was made in this vacuum without frankly any sort of regulatory process behind it.”
After several e-cigarette advocacy organizations sat down with President Trump to discuss flavors, the FDA only banned flavors in closed pod systems. Disposables were still going to avoid enforcement. Many in the industry say this FDA decision was the catalyst to the current issues of flavors and youth use. The FDA has not authorized a flavor other than tobacco. “But in that, the industry was largely preserved, and companies were able to stay in business,” said Abboud.
Credit: Momius
The next false flag
On May 18, Tom Price, a former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, published an op-ed on FoxNews.com where he started a narrative in the media about fentanyl-laced vaping products being imported from China in disposable vaping products. He offers no evidence of China’s involvement in the importation of fentanyl-laced vaping products other than China making most of the e-cigarette hardware.
“Reports suggest these Chinese manufacturers are also boosting disposable vapes with illegal levels of nicotine to increase addiction levels among our children. But while added nicotine makes e-cigarettes more addictive for our kids, adding fentanyl to them can make them deadly,” Price wrote. “Given the extent that China funnels fentanyl into America, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that reports indicate officials have found some of these vapes laced with fentanyl.”
There is no denying that fentanyl is a public health crisis. People are dying from overdosing on fentanyl because the U.S. has a huge problem in keeping illicit drugs out of the country, said Abboud. However, the “out-of-the-blue op-ed” tying fentanyl to Chinese-made disposable flavored vaping products is a new approach and new message.
Abboud then revealed a series of op-eds that were published in June all making the same points. “It was quickly [brought up again] in June by the former GOP National Committee member from Nevada who makes almost identical statements, ‘flavored disposable vaping products are dangerous, but those coming from communist China are especially dangerous because they include fentanyl,’” said Abboud. Now, according to the op-ed, “kids are experimenting with vaping fentanyl. You see what’s happening here. That was June 10. Then media reports began talking about fentanyl vapes from Mexico. On June 11, a Georgia State senator penned an op-ed (that toed the same line).”
The unsubstantiated claims that e-cigarettes contain fentanyl are increasing in frequency. Curiously, these cases have involved illicit THC vape pens or other devices—not disposables and not e-cigarettes purchased from reputable manufacturers, according to Abboud. Yet, a bill has now been introduced in the U.S. House filed by a member of Congress from the state of Florida that would remove flavored disposable vaping products from the market because of the fentanyl crisis. This call was amplified by a Florida-based retail association that made the same false claims about nicotine e-cigarettes.
The unsubstantiated association between vaping and fentanyl is showing up in regulatory conversations as well, but interestingly, only disposables are implicated even though the organic media stories have involved all device types, according to Abboud. He said the first place that he found the association made in a regulatory context was when R.J. Reynolds filed a citizen petition on Feb. 6, 2023, asking for the FDA to use its enforcement powers to remove flavored disposable vaping products from the market because “illicit market-supplied vaping products are being laced with products such as fentanyl, which is lethal in doses as small as 2 milligrams.” A few days later, a bill was introduced in Congress to force the FDA to act on removing flavored disposables.
In March, Robert Califf, commissioner of the FDA, testified before the House Appropriations Committee. “He is questioned by Representative Newhouse, and the question posed was ‘Can you tell us about your plan to get these potentially dangerous Chinese products off of the market and out of the hands of kids, and can you tell us what companies that you have (taken off the market) and that these products don’t contain harmful contents like fentanyl?’ There really hadn’t been much reporting on this issue before this, but (Califf) was asked this question,” said Abboud.
Califf told Congress that “There’s recently been some publicity,” and “it’s no surprise but of great concern to me that fentanyl may be showing up now in vaping products, [that] it was just a matter of time” and that the United States needs an all-of-government approach to protect kids from this threat.
The VTA reviewed all the stories that it could find that mentioned vaping and fentanyl. Abboud confirmed that the device in Reynolds’ petition was not disposable. The devices that were confiscated were vape pens, an open system and a pod device. The authorities, in that case, said that they found that the devices were altered when fentanyl or heroin was injected through the device into the e-liquid. All the other fentanyl reports involved cartridge-style vape pens or THC products. “Of all the cases that we looked at, only one of them even mentioned a disposable, a flavored disposable,” said Abboud. “Perhaps it’s time to ask the question ‘Why are we seeing this manufactured media narrative that is not supported by any publicly available data?’ Creating unfounded fears among consumers about fentanyl will harm the entire vaping industry and will make a mockery of the concept of tobacco harm reduction altogether.”
The ultimate issue is that misinformation, as it relates to e-cigarettes, drives people back to smoking. The FDA has also talked about this publicly. CTP Director Brian King has expressed concerns over the misinformation surrounding vaping products, and he understands that there are misperceptions as it relates to nicotine and many products. However, the vaping industry is once again in a position where disinformation is driving a false narrative that will spin out of control, according to Abboud.
“My perspective is that this is an intentional false flag. If, as asserted, millions and millions of illegally imported disposable vapes are coming into the country laced with fentanyl, where’s the outbreak? This is not something that would just ‘not’ be reported on. And as I’ve said, we looked at the reports, and there is just slim evidence that there is any connection between the fentanyl epidemic and nicotine vaping,” explains Abboud. “The problem, of course, is that we have illicit THC vapes [in] the United States that are the real issue. And given how unforgiving the Chinese government is toward illicit drugs, does anybody really believe [Chinese manufacturers] are going to make THC vapes adulterated with fentanyl and take the risk of being imprisoned or worse in their own country?”
It seems like deja vu all over again. Abboud said that if the vaping industry allows a manufactured crisis that associates fentanyl with nicotine vaping devices to take hold, the entire industry will never recover in the eyes of the consumer. “As soon as you say vaping and fentanyl, consumers will not distinguish between disposables and open systems. They will reduce their risk, and for many, that will, unfortunately, mean a return to smoking,” said Abboud. “As with EVALI, we have hyped and overgeneralized headlines in the media talking about vaping. We have had direct calls for eliminating flavored nicotine in vaping and specifically flavored disposable products.
“And we have regulators who contribute to this misleading narrative, specifically the statement made by the FDA commissioner in front of Congress. The bottom line is that I don’t think this industry gets three strikes. EVALI, strike one. I think this [fentanyl in vape devices] narrative, if it takes hold, the way it appears to be being pushed to take hold is strike two. The vaping industry won’t get a third at-bat.”
