Category: Vapor

Hangsen Releases Synthetic Nicotine

Image: Hangsen
Hangsen Technology has released of SYN Nicotine, the company’s first series of synthetic nicotine products. The inaugural batch of custom-made SYN Nicotine e-liquids will be used in Geek Vape’s Geek Bar product, which is set to launch soon in North America.
“When it comes to nicotine, the first thing people think of is tobacco,” said Howard, executive director of Hangsen Technology, in a statement. “Whether it’s traditional tobacco, electronic cigarettes or medicinal nicotine, almost all vaping e-liquids in today’s market uses tobacco-derived nicotine. However, there is a way to produce non-tobacco nicotine, which is also known as synthetic nicotine. SYN Nicotine is devoid of many of the harmful impurities that tobacco-derived nicotine contains and is an ideal alternative for manufacturers who may not wish to use pure nicotine derived from tobacco.”
Hangsen Technology says it was both the first PG/VG e-liquid maker and the first to use natural plants as ingredients in the industry. The company has continued to invest in the research and development of e-liquids during its 10+ years of providing high-quality products around the world.
In 2019, Hangsen Technology entered the field of synthetic nicotine. According to Hangsen, the SYN Nicotine series boasts the same smoke and taste and satisfaction as other nicotine products but without residue of harmful impurities.
All SYN series products must also pass the China National Accreditation Service for Conformity Assessment standard laboratory accreditation and other testing certifications.
September 11, 2020
Malaysian Minister Apologizes for Vaping During Session
After being caught vaping during last Thursday”s parliamentary session, Malaysian Foreign Affairs Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said this morning that he did the crime, so he paid the fine.
Malaysian Foreign Affairs Minister Hishammuddin Hussein / Twitter
Days after a nine-second clip of Hishammuddin sneaking in a quick smoke under his face mask went viral on social media, the 59-year-old minister apologized for his “new habit” and vowed “not do it again,” according to a story on Yahoo Singapore news.
“I was compounded and paid the fine,” he said in today’s parliament sitting, referring to Thursday’s incident. “What I have done is wrong and I have already apologized for vaping in the parliament.”
The representative of the Semborong constituency said this after being questioned by Kluang representative Wong Shu Qi, who noted that the current government seems to be practicing a double standard, according to the story.
“I hope we can clarify the issue in which the representative of Semborong was caught vaping in the House of Parliament,” she said, nearly two hours into this morning’s parliamentary sitting. “To outsiders, it looks as if our government practices double standards. Our citizens are fined for flouting the law, but the representatives of the government here seem to have been spared.”
Since January, those found guilty of smoking or vaping in prohibited areas, except designated “smoking zones,” can be fined RM250 (US$60). Failure to pay the fine will result in criminal action that carries a two-year prison sentence and RM10,000 (US$2,300) fine.
August 10, 2020
Taxpayers’ Group Slams Kiwi Curbs on Flavors
Photo: Duh84bk – Dreamstime.com
New Zealand will enact flavor restrictions and ban vapor product advertising in November, reports the New Zealand Herald.
The country’s House of Representatives passed the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Vaping Amendment Bill on Aug. 5—just before the final sitting day in this term of government.
Associate Health Minister Jenny Salesa promised to regulate the industry in November 2018 but didn’t introduced the bill until this year. She described the legislation as the most significant change to the Smokefree Act.
The new law will:
Ban the sale of vaping products to those under the age of 18.
Prohibit advertising the products and encouraging people to buy them in-store.
Limit the sale of all flavors to specialist stores, including online retailers, with shops Like dairies, supermarkets and petrol stations restricted to mint, menthol and tobacco.
Allow specialty stores to continue offering loyalty points and discounts.
Ban vaping in cars with children.
Enable all retailers to display products in-store.
Provide a framework for regulations to be set where people can vape in or outside premises.
Introduce a safety system which would allow the Ministry of Health to recall products, suspend them and issue warnings.
Critics said the new rules are too restrictive and could prompt people using vaping as a smoking-cessation tool to turn back to cigarettes.
“The vaping regulations rushed through under urgency are an absolute boon for the tobacco industry,” said Jordan Williams, spokesman of the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union. “Decreasing the availability of appealing alternatives to cigarettes will keep disproportionately poor New Zealanders on the durries, paying a massive price in excise tax and devastating health outcomes.
“The range of appealing flavors is one of the key attractors for smokers transitioning off cigarettes,” he said. “When someone walks into a convenience store and is denied access to flavored vape liquid but can still buy their favorite cigarette brand, they’re at risk of falling off the wagon. And a complete ban on advertising for vaping products will prevent these brands from appealing to smokers to make the switch,” said Williams.
August 7, 2020
Puff Bar Suspends U.S. Sales

Photo: Puff Bar
Puff Bar has “ceased all online sales and distribution in the U.S. until further notice,” according to its website. International sales will continue for now.
The California-based e-cigarette company has come under scrutiny lately for replacing Juul as the vape of choice among young people as Juul Labs discontinued some of its flavored products.
Puff Bar comes in more than 20 flavors, including pina colada and pink lemonade. Although the Trump administration banned fruit, mint and dessert flavors in refillable cartridge-based e-cigarettes like Juul earlier this year, it exempted brands that are used once and thrown away.
Launched last year, Puff Bar has been the key beneficiary of the decision to exempt disposables form the flavor ban. Juul’s business, by contrast, has shriveled since it restricted sales in the United States to tobacco and menthol varieties last fall.
When the FDA started regulating e-cigarettes, it permitted the continued sale of products that were on the market as of Aug. 8, 2016, pending agency review. Because Puff Bar was introduced after that date, the agency should have the authority to remove it even though the product is disposable and even if the FDA cannot prove the company is targeting youths.
The exception would be if Puff Bar had already been on the market before the 2016 deadline, under a different name or sold by another company.
Much remains unknown about Puff Bar. For example, it is unclear who owns the company, according to FairWarning. A document filed with the California Secretary of State lists Patrick Beltran as the chief financial officer and Nick Minas as the CEO, but both men have stated that despite their titles, they are in charge only of running the company’s website.
While online U.S. sales have been suspended for now, Puff Bar products are still available on other ecommerce sites, such as Eliquidstop, which is owned by Minas and Beltran. Puff Bars can also still be found at numerous convenience stores throughout the U.S.
July 14, 2020
Juul Files Action Against Infringing and Illicit Products

Photo: Juul
Juul Labs has filed its third action with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), directed at all importers of unauthorized “Juul-compatible pods” that copy Juul Labs’ patented product designs without authorization.
The action seeks a general exclusion order barring the importation of any infringing, unauthorized pod-based product designed to be used with the Juul System, including compatible flavored pods and refillable pods, effectively eliminating a sector of illicit products that seek to circumvent federal policy, can present additional health and safety risks to adult consumers, and undercut underage-prevention measures.
Additionally, Juul Labs is asking the ITC to issue orders stopping the distribution, marketing, and sale of all such products already in the country.
This patent enforcement action builds off previous actions Juul Labs pursued at the ITC, targeting a broad range of importers of unauthorized Juul-compatible products, including Eonsmoke and Ziip Labs. According to Juul, past actions have successfully resulted in stopping the ongoing importation of more than 40 brands of illicit and unauthorized Juul-compatible pods and products.
With this new action, Juul Labs says it seeks an even larger impact with a remedy that will not only bar the pod products named in the complaint but will also bar all other infringing pod products that copy Juul Labs’ patented designs.
July 13, 2020
RELX Presents Infinity

Image: RELX
RELX Technology has launched two new e-cigarettes: Infinity and Essential.
Using independently developed “super smooth performance” technology, both products offer full flavor and “velvety smooth” puffs, according to RELX.
“The Infinity demonstrates our focus on relentless technological innovation,” said RELX CEO Kate Wang. “I’m proud of the entire RELX global team for creating a beautifully designed device with superior technology, and with a dedication to innovation that RELX is now globally known for.”
To ensure leak resistance and high quality, RELX’s engineers tested more than 12,000 Infinity pods. The company has submitted patent applications for more than 50 innovations used in the device. In March 2020, the Infinity was awarded the Red Dot Award: Product Design 2020.
June 25, 2020
Pending Ban Triggers Run on Nicotine Vapes in Australia

Photo: Ethan Parsa from Pixabay
Australians have started stockpiling e-cigarettes after their government announced it would ban imports of most vapor products, reports the Daily Mail.
From July 1, it will be illegal to import e-cigarettes and refills containing nicotine liquids or salts.
New Zealand’s leading retailer of vaping supplies, Shosha, recorded a 130 percent spike in sales from Australia since the announcement. Shosha also experienced a 44 percent increase in foot traffic compared to the same time last year.
Under Australia’s new regulations, individuals would need to visit a doctor and be issued a prescription to purchase their nicotine containing e-cigarettes or refills.
Even valid prescription holders would still be prohibited from purchasing the devices from overseas themselves.
The ban on importing nicotine e-cigarettes and refills would be in line with existing bans on their sale in each state and territory.
The prohibition would last 12 months while the government conducts a public consultation on the regulation of nicotine products by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.
The regulation would see nicotine products added to the Poisons Standard making them prohibited permanently with the exception of tobacco cigarettes and smoking-cessation products such as gums and patches.
The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) has protested Australia’s ban, saying it will deprive millions of vapers and existing smokers of their rights to access better alternatives to combustible cigarettes.
“Smokers in Australia have been denied access to a proven harm reduction tool and vapers in Australia have yet again been dealt a potentially fatal blow which will see many of the 300,000 strong vaping community go back to smoking cigarettes,” CAPHRA Executive Director Nancy Loucas said in a statement.
The group pointed to studies showing that e-cigarettes are 95-percent less harmful than combustible tobacco because they do not involve combustion. “It has been known for decades that tar, and carcinogens found in tobacco smoke, cause the death and disease associated with smoking, and not nicotine,” CAPHRA stated.
June 24, 2020
Australia Extends Nicotine Vape Ban

Photo: Haiberliu from Pixabay
E-cigarettes containing nicotine will remain illegal in Australia for at least another year, reports The Daily Mail.
The federal government is extending a ban on the importation of such products unless prescribed by a doctor.
The ban will remain in place for 12 months to allow for public consultation on the regulation of nicotine products by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.
Under the ban, Australians would still be able to vape nicotine if their doctor provides a prescription.
They would get their e-cigarettes or refills via a permission granted by the health department to a doctor or medical supplier who would be able to import the goods using a courier service or by cargo service.
The goods cannot be imported through international mail.
The Australian Medical Association (AMA) welcomed the decision, saying that vaping is not a healthy alternative to smoking.
“Nicotine is a highly addictive substance and there is no level of tobacco use which is safe,” AMA Vice President Chris Zappala said.
June 22, 2020
Study: Assessment of Relative Risk Determined by Questioning

Photo: 104691896 | © Milkos | Dreamstime.com
The share of people who believe e-cigarettes are equally harmful or more harmful than traditional cigarettes depends on how the question is asked, according to new research published in Tobacco Control.
Tobacco companies often claim that a large proportion of the population perceives potential modified risk tobacco products as equally or more harmful than cigarettes, and argue misperceptions need to be corrected using modified risk claims.
However, the studies they cite predominantly use one specific measurement of comparative risk, according to the researchers.

Image: Tobacco Control
The authors studied the way questions were posed in the 2017 Tobacco Products and Risk Perceptions Survey. When asked directly to compare harms of e-cigarettes and cigarettes, 33.9 percent of participants identified e-cigarettes as less harmful than cigarettes, 36.4 percent reported equal harm, 4.3 percent said e-cigarettes were more harmful and 25.3 percent said, “I don’t know.”
When asked indirectly, however, 42.1 percent identified e-cigarettes as less harmful than cigarettes, 23.8 percent said they were of equal harm, 7.1 percent perceived e-cigarettes to be more harmful and 27.1 percent did not know.
The authors say researchers should use both direct and indirect risk questions when assessing the public’s perceptions of harms associated with novel tobacco products.
June 18, 2020
Louisiana Bill Bans Vaping in Car With Kids
Vaping with a child in the will be illegal in Louisiana on August 1.
Louisiana law already prohibited drivers and passengers from smoking cigarettes, pipes or cigars if a child’s in the vehicle. A bill by Gretna Rep. Joe Marino, who has no party affiliation, adds vaping to that list.
Gov. John Bel Edwards announced Tuesday that he signed the measure into law. The new prohibition takes effect in August.
The House voted 80-19 for the measure in the regular session that ended June 1, while the Senate agreed 30-0.
June 11, 2020