Category: News This Week

The clock is ticking for the more than 130 small vape shops in Western New York that the federal government now wants to treat as though they were tobacco manufacturers, according to a story by Samantha Christmann for Buffalo News.

When sweeping new Food and Drug Administration rules go into effect next month, local shops will have two years to complete an expensive licensing application or close up shop for good.

The regulation process is so long, confusing and expensive that coming into compliance will be impossible for local independent retailers, shop owners say. As a result, most, if not all, of the small shops in Western New York are likely to close once the two-year ‘grandfathering’ period expires.

That could leave storefronts vacant, hundreds of people out of work and consumers with far fewer choices.

The new laws don’t treat the vape shops that sell the supplies as stores. Instead, because most of them mix their own e-juice, the FDA is requiring those vape shops to register as tobacco manufacturers.

Along with that, they’ll have to register every single e-juice flavor, e-cigarette component and e-cig accessory, providing the FDA with full documentation of each product’s ingredients and manufacturing process.

The cost to do all of that is out of reach for most retailers, critics say. The FDA estimates that the licensing process would cost from $285,000 to $2.6 million per product. Some analysts estimate that the cost could be closer to $10 million per product.

With hundreds of e-juice ingredients, there are billions of flavor combinations. Registering even a fraction of them would cost these mom-and-pop shops millions of dollars.

Even if a retailer could afford to register one or two e-juice flavors with the FDA, the return on investment wouldn’t be enough to even recoup the licensing costs. It certainly wouldn’t be enough to keep them in business.

That’s because a big part of the appeal of vape shops is the endless variations of e-juice flavors custom-made by each retailer. A shop with just one or two flavors – registered or not – would not likely be able to keep the doors open.

Christmann’s story is at: http://www.buffalonews.com/city-region/fdas-costly-new-rules-may-sink-local-vape-shops-20160703.

Construction companies in the UK have been told that they should not treat smoking and vaping in the same way.

According to a note on the website of The Construction Index, new guidance from Public Health England (PHE) instructs employers to make a clear distinction between smoking and vaping.

The Construction Index is a building industry and construction company directory and magazine.

The Index said that the new guidance ran counter to common practice in the construction industry where, according to its research, employers generally regarded vaping no differently to smoking.

However, PHE says specifically that electronic-cigarette use is not covered by smoke-free legislation and should not routinely be included in the requirements of an organization’s smoke-free policy.

‘Vapers should not be required to use the same space as smokers, as this could undermine their ability to quit and stay smoke-free,” the PHE says.

And it further says that employers should make a clear distinction between vaping and smoking. ‘E-cigarette use does not meet the legal or clinical definitions of smoking, it says.

‘Furthermore, international peer-reviewed evidence suggests that e-cigarettes carry a fraction of the risk of cigarettes and have the potential to help drive down smoking rates, denormalise smoking and improve public health. So policies need to be clear on the differences between vaping and smoking.’

Professor Kevin Fenton, national director of health and wellbeing at PHE, was quoted as saying that the evidence was clear that vaping was much less harmful than was smoking, and that electronic cigarettes were helping many smokers to quit.

“This new framework will encourage organizations to consider both the benefits and the risks when developing their own policies on e-cigarettes,” he said. “Different approaches will be appropriate in different places, but policies should take account of the evidence and clearly distinguish vaping from smoking.”

PHE said also that there was currently no evidence of harm from second-hand electronic cigarette vapour and that the risks were likely to be extremely low.

The Smoke-Free Alternatives Trade Association (SFATA) has announced that Cynthia Cabrera is stepping down as its president and executive director. During her tenure, Cabrera has helped grow SFATA into the largest trade association representing and protecting the interests of the vapor industry, surpassing more than 1,000 business members while establishing 28 local chapters in 26 states throughout the country.

A well-respected advocate of the vapor industry, Cabrera is currently in negotiations to continue her relationship with SFATA moving forward as the organization transitions to a new executive director.

“At the same time, we are proud to announce the appointments of Cap O’Rourke as president and Schell Hammel as vice president. Working with the full board, these directors will lead in this transitional period as we continue the great work accomplished by Cynthia in helping achieve our organization’s goals at the federal and state levels, advocating for sensible regulations of vapor products in Congress and in various statehouses across the U.S.,” according to a statement from SFATA’s board of directors. “SFATA remains committed to lobbying for passage of H.R. 2058 and the Bishop-Cole Amendment, legislation that will create a less costly market pathway of vapor products. We also will continue to work with our state lobbyists to help ensure that vapor products are not equated and taxed like combustible tobacco products.”

Cabrera has told Vapor Voice that she plans on continue her work with the vapor industry and in helping smokers quit combustible tobacco.

An estimated 6.1 million EU citizens have quit smoking by switching to vaping, according to a story by Kaleigh Rogers for Vice media citing a paper published online this week in Addiction.

The study highlights the need for more data on how useful vaping might be as a stop smoking aid.

As part of the study, researchers made a close analysis of data collected in 2014 and released last year through the European Commission.

The Commission data indicated that two percent of respondents were currently using electronic cigarettes, and 14 percent had been able to quit smoking completely by switching to vaping.

However, the figures included any smoker who had tried just one puff of an electronic cigarette, which could not be considered to be a sustained effort to quit.

In the Addiction paper, the researchers broke down the numbers further and found a more impressive quit rate.

When they looked at respondents who were currently using electronic cigarettes, 35 percent were former smokers who had successfully quit.

The researchers extrapolated their figures to the total EU population and estimated 6.1 million people had quit through vaping, and 9.2 million had been able to cut back on smoking by becoming dual users.

A retailer in Northland, New Zealand, has been “astounded” by the growth in sales of electronic cigarettes since tobacco prices increased by 10 percent on January 1, according to a story in the New Zealand Herald.

The retailer, who spoke anonymously, described the cigarette substitutes as “the best thing I’ve ever sold”.

“I’m astounded at how many people are buying them, and at how many people are giving up smoking using them,” the retailer said. “It’s a quiet little revolution.”

Newlove quoted too Holly Bognar, who said she had smoked for most of her life from about the age of 13, apart from when she was pregnant.

“I’d always gone back to it,” the 38-year-old said.

“I was heavily smoking until four months ago and now I don’t at all, not even when I drink alcohol, I’ve transitioned to e-cigarettes.”

Bognar described how electronic cigarettes were less expensive than were traditional cigarettes, after the initial outlay for a device, which, in her case, was about $65. E-liquid, which lasted a couple of weeks retailed for about $10, whereas 30 g of tobacco, which lasted for about five days, retailed at $55.

The UK smokers’ group Forest has condemned a call to ban the use of electronic cigarettes in bars and restaurants.

Responding to reports that the British Medical Association (BMA) wants the use of electronic cigarettes banned in enclosed public places to avoid the risk of ‘passive vaping’, Forest director Simon Clark said the BMA had taken leave of its senses.

“E-cigarettes are often used by smokers who are trying to quit,” he said.

“Banning vaping would be counter-productive because it would completely undermine the number one reason for switching to e-cigarettes.

“There’s no evidence that ‘passive vaping’ is a risk to anyone so bars and restaurants must be allowed to decide for themselves what their policy is.”

Clark said that once again the BMA had underlined its prohibitionist tendencies.

“Doctors should disown this ridiculous organisation before it brings the medical profession into disrepute,” he added.

The Macau Health Bureau has said that vapor and electronic cigarette products are not less harmful than are traditional cigarettes, and that electronic cigarettes should not be considered as an alternative to traditional cigarettes, according to a story in the Macau Business Daily.

The bureau was attempting to defended its proposed ban on local sales of electronic cigarettes that forms part of an amendment being made to Macau’s tobacco control law.

Lei Chin Iao, director of the bureau, was quoted as saying that the nicotine level of electronic cigarettes could be higher than that of conventional cigarettes.

He seemed to imply that the variety and changing nature of electronic cigarettes made it difficult for the bureau’s staff to keep tabs on these products’ contents.

And he was concerned that children might be able to obtain electronic cigarettes.

The amended bill, which is now being reviewed by the second permanent committee of the Legislative Assembly, suggests a blanket ban on electronic cigarette sales.

Meanwhile, the bill proposes also a smoking ban in the city’s casinos, which some analysts have estimated would shave another 10-15 per cent off Macau’s already pressured ‘VIP revenue’.

National and state trade associations representing the e-cigarette industry filed suit against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over new regulations that the advocates contend will push innovative products out of the market.

The plaintiffs in the suit, filed by Keller & Heckman, include the Right to be Smoke-Free Coalition, American E-Liquid Manufacturing Standards Association, American Vaping Association and the Electronic Vaping Coalition of America, among others.

The challengers claim the FDA’s new rule “sets forth obligations that reach far beyond any reasonable level of regulatory oversight and imposes requirements that are unlawful in their nature and scope.”

Regulators consider vapor products a “tobacco product” under the Tobacco Control Act. The FDA contends the regulatory framework will “prevent misleading claims by tobacco product manufacturers, evaluate the ingredients of tobacco products and how they are made, as well as communicate their potential risks.”

The “tobacco” designation doesn’t fly with e-cigarette manufacturers and distributors.

“The agency adopted a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach even though Congress was clear in the [Tobacco Control Act] that the agency should use its regulatory authority in a flexible manner that recognizes the continuum of risk presented by different tobacco products,” the complaint, filed in Washington federal district court, said. “This is evidenced by the fact that FDA was directed to ensure that adults continue to have access to tobacco products, particularly newer, more innovative products that present less health risk than traditional ones.”

The complaint alleges the FDA’s regulatory scheme “will all but guarantee, in a direct challenge to Congress’ wishes, that the vast majority of such products will be forced to exit the market over the next two years.”

A spokesman for the FDA, citing the pending case, declined to comment. In May, when the FDA rolled out the new rule, Sylvia Burwell, the Health and Human Services Department secretary, said the rise of e-cigarettes “is creating a new generation of Americans who are at risk of addiction.” Burwell said the e-cigarette regulations would “help us catch up with changes in the marketplace.”

The challenge to the regulations is at least the second filed recently in Washington, DC. In May, Covington & Burling filed suit for Nicopure Labs. That complaint called the scope of the FDA’s e-cigarette regulations “staggering.”