Category: News This Week

Keller and Heckman Announces New Partners
Keller and Heckman has announced two new partners, Kathryn Skaggs and Natalie Rainer.
Kathryn Skaggs
Skaggs is a resident in the firm’s Washington, D.C., office and practices food and drug law. She counsels clients on the regulation of food contact materials in a host of jurisdictions throughout North America, Europe, South America and Asia. Skaggs assists companies in bringing to market new food contact substances through submissions to government agencies in the U.S. and abroad.
She manages post-market issues for food contact substances, such as accidental adulterations, and advises on compliance with state laws including California’s Proposition 65. In addition to her extensive experience with food contact regulatory matters, Skaggs is an active member of the firm’s tobacco and e-vapor practice. She helps companies in the tobacco and e-vapor industries comply with the U.S. Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act.
Natalie Rainer
Rainer is a resident in the firm’s San Francisco, California, office and practices food and drug law, advising clients on regulatory requirements for foods, dietary supplements, cosmetics, and food and drug packaging in jurisdictions around the world, including North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
January 14, 2021
Macau Health Authorities Say Smoking Rules Apply to Vaping
Vaping devices and e-cigarettes are included and treated the same as combustible cigarettes in accordance with Macau’s local smoking control laws, according to Macau health authorities. Vaporizers or e-cigarette devices have become growingly popular in the city, and although their use outside designated areas is not forbidden, sales of vaping products are not allowed in Macau.
Credit: Timothy S. Donahue
The Health Bureau (SS) noted that some 2,368 smoking law infractions were recorded last year, with 21 cases referring to the use of electronic cigarettes in prohibited areas. The SS has called on the public to stay away from all tobacco products and all types of electronic cigarettes, to comply with and not violate the smoking law.
Some 92.5 percent of infractions were committed by men, with 40 percent of the total comprising of tourists. Most infractions were reported in parks/gardens and leisure areas, restaurants or commercial establishments.
Last year 409 inspections were also carried out in casinos, with 165 people indicted for smoking in prohibited places. Smoking is banned on the main floors of casinos, but is permitted in closed-off ventilated smoking areas, which are located on the casino floors. Macau is a Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China.
Macau health officials have claimed that e-cigarettes are no safer than smoking traditional cigarettes.
January 13, 2021
Vaping in Public Banned Across All of South America

Credit: Tomkohhantsuk
Following the recent enactment of smoke-free laws in Paraguay, every South American country has now banned vaping and smoking in most public places.
Under Decree No. 4624, approved by Paraguay’s presidency on Dec. 29, consuming lit, heated, or electronic tobacco products is permitted only in uncrowded open air public spaces that are not transit areas for nonsmokers.
“This is a great achievement for the people of Paraguay,” said Carissa F. Etienne, director of the Pan American Health Organization, in a statement. “The country has taken an enormous step toward protecting its citizens from the devastating health, social, environmental and economic consequences of smoking and exposure to tobacco smoke.”
Credit: Ye Jinghan
Following Paraguay’s recent ban on public smoking, all South American countries have comprehensive smoke-free laws.
“This is a great moment not only for the health of Paraguayans, but for the entire region of South America,” said Adriana Blanco, head of World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) Secretariat. “Paraguay’s decree creates a subregion of the Americas that is totally free of tobacco smoke.”
According to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, some 430 million people are now protected by laws requiring smoke-free public places and workplaces. These laws also ban designated vaping or smoking areas.
This progress is the result of years of commitment and action from political leaders and civil society groups in South America working to fulfill their obligations under the FCTC.
When the FCTC came into force more than 15 years ago, only one country in South America, Uruguay, provided its citizens with broad protection against secondhand smoke and vapor.
January 13, 2021
Japan Tobacco to Expand Sales of ‘Ploom TECH+ With’
Japan Tobacco (JT) plans to expand in Japan sales of “Ploom TECH+ with,” the more compact version of JT’s tobacco-infused vapor series, Ploom TECH+. The new device will gradually be available nationwide starting at Ploom shops and select tobacco retail stores from Feb. 1, 2021, along with convenience stores from Feb. 2, 2021.
To commemorate the nationwide expansion, JT is offering a limited time discount for the “Ploom TECH+ with” starter kit.
“After receiving positive feedback from our consumers since its launch last November, we are delighted to announce the nationwide expansion of ‘Ploom TECH+ with,’” said Toru Takahashi, vice president of the marketing group product and brand division for reduced risk products, in a statement.
“While still retaining the features of Ploom TECH+, such as producing less smell than cigarette smoke and not requiring wait time to start or finish using the device, ‘Ploom TECH+ with’ is more compact and easy to use, and we believe our consumers will find this device to enrich their experience than ever before.”
January 13, 2021
Connecticut Lawmakers Want More Vape Legislation
Vaping products are going to be much harder to sell in Connecticut under bills that are being introduced in the General Assembly, including a ban on the sale of all nicotine products in pharmacies, and e-cigarettes within five miles of schools.
Credit: Haiberliu
Lawmakers are also expected to reintroduce legislation from Gov. Lamont that failed in the closure of the General Assembly last March, to ban flavored vaping devices, in attempt to prevent teenagers and young adults from starting what data show can become lifetime habits, according to an article in the Middletown Press.
Several of the bills, including the outright ban on refillable e-cigarettes and vaping products in the state, have been introduced by state Sen. Saud Anwar, a physician from South Windsor who serves as vice chairman of the Public Health Committee.
“Many of the children are facing life-long addictions and we must do something,” Anwar, a Democrat, said in a Friday interview. He said that it is hypocritical for pharmacies on the one hand to be places where health aids, drugs and vaccines are available, while the nicotine-based e-cigarettes and vaping materials are in the same place.
The five-mile zone around schools would also include neighborhood variety stores and gas stations. Another bill would require Connecticut buyers of online nicotine-delivery products to produce proof of their age before transactions can be completed.
Kevin O’Flaherty, regional director of advocacy for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said Friday said the organization’s main goal this year is to eliminate all flavored tobacco products, including cigarettes, mirroring a law that took effect last year in Massachusetts.
“We’ve got to protect kids from these flavors,” O’Flaherty said. “We really want all flavors off the market. You just have to do it that way. Smoking overall is going down. If we are serious about ending the cycle of addiction, we have to nip it in the bud. All of Connecticut’s neighbors have banned all flavored e-cigarettes, but only Massachusetts has banned flavored tobacco too.”
A spokesman for the vapor company Juul Labs, said Friday that with a customer base of one billion adults, it is committed to keeping children away from using its products, while helping grown-ups wean themselves from smoking. In September of 2019, the company ceased all marketing and advertising.
“We will continue to reset the vapor category in the U.S. and seek to earn the trust of society by working cooperatively with attorneys general, legislators, regulators, public health officials, and other stakeholders to combat underage use and transition adult smokers from combustible cigarettes,” the spokesman said.
At Puff City on River Road in Shelton, Matt Genc, a partner in the three-year-old smoke shop, says any state laws are part of the cost of doing business. He said that banning flavored vapes would hurt sales, but that the store obeys all rules. “Whatever is legal, we’re selling and whatever is not legal, we’re not selling,” Genc said in a Friday phone interview.
January 12, 2021
BAT Launches CBD Vapor Product in U.K. Test Market
British American Tobacco (BAT) has pilot-launched its first CBD vaping product, Vuse CBD Zone.
This new range is available in three e-liquid flavors—mint, mango, and berry—and two strengths—50 mg and 100 mg. Vuse CBD Zone is initially being launched Manchester, U.K., in convenience stores and online (online purchase is geofenced for Manchester residents). Further rollout plans are anticipated for later in the year.
“With the rollout of Vuse CBD Zone in Manchester, our unique multicategory portfolio now, for the first time, offers products that go beyond nicotine,” said Fredrik Svensson, general manager at BAT U.K. and Ireland, in a statement. “CBD vaping is a new category for us, and we will be using this pilot launch to gain key learnings about consumer and retailer experiences, combined with our extensive expertise and knowledge of vaping, to help inform plans for a potential nationwide roll-out of Vuse CBD Zone later in the year.”
January 12, 2021
CPSC Sends Warning on Repackaged 18650 Batteries
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has warned that consumers should not buy or use 18650 lithium-ion battery cells — used in some vaping products, flashlights and toys — due to a possible fire and even death risk.
Credit: Lithium Battery China
The Commission said it is working with e-commerce sites like ‘eBay’ to remove listings of loose or repackaged “18650 lithium-ion” batteries, according to a press release. A superior court in California recently denied a request by Samsung to dismiss a lawsuit about an exploding e-cigarette lithium-ion batteries.
The market does have single 18650 batteries that are intended for use in consumer products. The CPSC warning is about batteries separated from cells that use multiple 18650s such as battery packs for electric automobiles.
“These cells are manufactured as industrial component parts of battery packs and are not intended for individual sale to consumers. However, they are being separated, rewrapped and sold as new consumer batteries, typically on the Internet,” the CPSC said in a statement on Saturday. “Specifically these battery cells may have exposed metal positive and negative terminals that can short-circuit when they come into contact with metal objects such as keys or loose change in a pocket.”
Once shorted, loose cells could overheat and experience thermal runaway, igniting the cell’s internal materials and forcibly expelling burning contents, resulting in fires, explosions, serious injuries and even death.
“Unfortunately a growing number of small consumer products such as vaping devices, personal fans, headlamps and some toys are using loose 18650s as a power source,” the CPSC stated in the release.
January 11, 2021
Study Claims Non-Nicotine Vaping Disrupts Gut
A recent study claims that the chemicals found in vapor products without nicotine disrupt the gut barrier and trigger inflammation in the body, potentially leading to a variety of seperate health concerns.
Credit: Priscilla du Preez

In the study, published in the journal iScience, lead authors Soumita Das, associate professor of pathology, and Pradipta Ghosh, professor of cellular and molecular medicine at University of California San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine and Moores Cancer Center at UCSD School of Medicine, found that chronic use of nicotine-free e-cigarettes led to a “leaky gut,” in which microbes and other molecules seep out of the intestines, resulting in chronic inflammation.
Such inflammation can contribute to a variety of diseases and conditions, including inflammatory bowel disease, dementia, certain cancers, atherosclerosis, liver fibrosis, diabetes, and arthritis, according to a press release.
“The gut lining is an amazing entity. It is comprised of a single layer of cells that are meant to seal the body from the trillions of microbes, defend our immune system, and at the same time allow absorption of essential nutrients,” said Ghosh. “Anything we eat or drink, our lifestyle choices in other words, has the ability to impact our gut microbes, the gut barrier and overall health. Now we know that what we smoke, such as e-cigarettes, negatively impacts it as well.”
The researchers say that two chemicals used as a base for all most e-liquids — propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin — were the cause of inflammation. Both chemicals are used in many food products that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has stated are safe for human consumption.
“Numerous chemicals are created when these two are heated to generate the fumes in vaping that cause the most damage, for which there are no current regulations,” said Ghosh. “The safety of e-cigarettes have been debated fiercely on both sides. Nicotine content, and its addictive nature, has always been the major focus of those who argue against its safety, whereas lack of chemicals in the carcinogens that are present in the cigarette smoke has been touted by the makers of e-cigarettes when marketing these products as a ‘healthy alternative.’ In reality, it’s the chemicals making up the vapor-liquid that we should be more concerned about as they are the cause of gut inflammation.”
January 11, 2021
Democrat Election Wins Boost Marijuana Stocks

Photo: Photo: forcal35 from Pixabay
Marijuana stocks have risen this week following the victories of Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, both Democrats, in Georgia’s Senate election runoffs, reports Fox Business. Following President-elect Joe Biden’s win, Democrats will now have control of the presidency as well as both chambers of Congress. Democrats will have 50 seats in the Senate, giving Vice President-elect Kamala Harris the tie-breaker vote.
Canopy Growth, the first marijuana stock to ever be publicly traded in North America, is up 13.2 percent since the election. Shares of Green Thumb stock are up more than 10 percent.
“This new slate of leadership presents an incredible opportunity for national cannabis reform in the United States—the beginning of the end for the long-outdated prohibition on cannabis,” David Culver, U.S. vice president of government relations at Canopy Growth, told Fos Business. “We feel confident that Congress, with the support of the incoming Biden administration, and particularly Vice President-elect Kamala Harris who was an original sponsor of the MORE [Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement] Act, can achieve full federal legalization in the very near future.”
The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act (MORE) Act was passed by the House in December, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell denied bringing it to a Senate vote. This may change under the incoming Biden administration, however.
While Harris was against marijuana legalization while working as district attorney and attorney general in California, she changed her position in the Senate to co-sponsor the MORE Act. Biden, as well, favored decriminalizing marijuana during his 2020 presidential campaign.
Green Thumb Founder and CEO Ben Kovler predicts that a fully legalized marijuana market in the United States could be an $80 billion to $100 billion industry, according to Fox Business.
“Consumers are choosing; they’re replacing alcohol,” Kovler said. “Consumers 35 and under are choosing cannabis over alcohol. We’re seeing seniors, 60 and over, choose this to replace things like Ambien, or pain meds [for] arthritis. There are all kinds of different uses for the plants as we turn the plants into consumer products.”
Further legalization of marijuana could open new opportunities for tobacco farmers faced with declining demand for their crops.
In 2018, U.S. Congress legalized hemp with less than 0.3 percent THC, the psychoactive component in cannabis, in all 50 states. Since then, some tobacco farmers have either shifted to growing hemp or added it to their repertoire as an additional income source. Some major tobacco companies have taken stakes in the cannabis industry in recent years. Altria Group, for example, purchased a stake in Cronos Group, a leading global cannabinoid company, headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Pyxus International, the parent company of leaf tobacco merchant Alliance One International, purchased a 40 percent share in Criticality, an integrated industrial hemp company.
The global industrial hemp market size is expected to reach $15.26 billion by 2027, exhibiting a revenue-based compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.8 percent over the forecast period, according to Grand View Research. Additionally, according to Global Market Insights, the cannabidiol (CBD) market exceeded $2.8 billion in 2019 and is set to grow at around 52.7 percent CAGR between 2020 and 2026, with the global market valuation for CBD crossing $89 billion by 2026.
The opportunities presented by legal marijuana extend also to suppliers of the tobacco industry. For example. German tobacco machinery maker Hauni recently developed equipment or cannabis processing.
January 11, 2021
Judge Dismisses Investor Lawsuit Against Juul Labs

Photo: Okan Caliskan from Pixabay
A federal judge in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA, has dismissed investors’ lawsuit against tobacco distributor Greenlane Holdings, reports Reuters.
Investors filed a class action lawsuit, claiming Greenlane should have mentioned a pending ban on e-cigarettes before publicly offering stock in 2019.
U.S. District Judge Roy Altman dismissed the proposed class action, saying the distributor for Juul Labs had no duty to flag San Francisco’s then-pending ban on e-cigarettes to investors ahead of its initial public offering in 2019, according to Reuters. Altman called the class action “nothing more than a hammer in search of a nail.”
Altman ruled that the investors did not have a viable claim under the Securities Act of 1933 because Greenlane warned them of the risk of increased tobacco regulation in its registration statement, and the proposed e-cigarette ban was already public.
January 11, 2021