Tag: e-cigarettes

Media Reports Claim Turkmenistan Banned Vaping

Credit: Michalknitl
Turkmenistan has banned the sale of electronic cigarettes and other vaping products, according to media reports.
E-cigarette use has grown in the country where conventional tobacco products are almost completely banned.
Buying disposable electronic cigarettes, reusable vape devices, spare parts for them, as well as filling liquids has recently become almost impossible, according to the reports.
Officially, no regulations were issued, the goods simply disappeared from sale. Sellers tell buyers that they have been banned.
Previously, electronic cigarettes were sold online and in some brick-and-mortar stores.
“In particular, high-end night shops throughout Ashgabat have become a popular place[s] to sell this product,” media reports. These shops are owned by relatives of the president’s family.”
Sources note that even now in some of these stores people can still buy disposable electronic cigarettes, as well as hookahs and tobacco for them, according to media reports.
June 5, 2023
Alabama State Senate Doesn’t Vote on Vape Rules

Credit: David Mark
Legislation that would establish new fines, fees, and regulations related to the vaping industry in the U.S. state of Alabama wasn’t voted on by the state’s Senate after a lengthy discussion on the bill Thursday.
The legislation was ultimately carried over at the call of the chair and could come up again on the Senate floor on Tuesday, the final day of the legislative session. The bill passed the House on May 16 by a margin of 100-1. State Rep. Arnold Mooney (R-Indian Springs) was the lone ‘no’ vote.
House Bill 319 (HB 319) by State Rep. Barbara Drummond (D-Mobile) and State Sen. Garlan Gudger (R-Cullman) makes it illegal for retailers to sell all vape products to youth under 21, makes it illegal for youth under 21 to purchase, use and possess and transport all vaping products; requires all vape products to be placed in an area not accessible to individuals under 21, identifies and regulates the specialty retailers of electronic nicotine, and creates a tobacco licensing and compliance fund for tobacco and nicotine prevention, education and operational costs.
The bill is opposed by public health groups such as the American Cancer Society, American Lung Association, and the American Heart Association due to the legislation continuing to “allow the tobacco industry and its retailers to run rampant across Alabama,” according to a letter from those groups and others sent to lawmakers on May 11.
Gudger told reporters on Thursday, “There’s different organizations and associations that are opposed to our anti-vaping bill for the fact that you have to be 100 percent all for what they want or nothing at all.”
Under the legislation, manufacturers wishing to sell vaping products in Alabama would have to state in writing to the state under the penalty of perjury that the product does not contain any synthetic nicotine or “nicotine derived from a source other than tobacco.”
Jon Roundy, a vape shop owner and chief information officer with Breathe Easier Alliance of Alabama, an advocacy group that represents vaping retailers and consumers, told 1819 News in an interview on Friday that the legislation as written unfairly burdens small vapor companies and “big tobacco continues to sell their products indiscriminately without facing similar restrictions.”
“If this bill were to pass in its current state, I would be out of business in under ninety days and have no idea how I would pay back the federal (Economic Injury Disaster) loan I took out to save our company during (Covid-19),” Roundy said. “We purchased legal product during that time which the state will essentially make illegal. If they pass this, we’ll go bankrupt.”
Roundy said the “bill removes consumer choice.”
According to a fiscal note on the legislation, the bill would increase personnel and inspection costs of the Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) board by a minimum of $805,000 annually. Those costs would be offset by a minimum of $900,000 annually in new receipts to the Tobacco Licensing and Compliance Fund created by the bill for operational costs and prevention education.
The funding would come from $50 one-time filing fees, $150 annual permit fees, and $50 transfer fees, receipts from new and increased fines, penalties, and fees levied by the legislation.
The bill would also increase revenue to the Public Safety Fund by a minimum of $300,000 annually from new permit fees in the legislation.
State Sen. Tim Melson (R-Florence) said on the Senate floor on Thursday he’d be voting against the bill until he gets more information.
June 5, 2023
UK Government Under Fire for Support of Juul

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The government in the United Kingdom has been criticized for its “completely inappropriate” endorsement of Juul vaping products. Many organizations blame the manufacturer for fuelling an “epidemic” of underage vaping in the U.S.
Juul Labs was promoted in an official briefing circulated by the Department of Health and Social Care about the prime minister’s plan to close a loophole allowing free samples to be given to children, according to media reports.
The press release – which included quotes from Rishi Sunak, England’s chief medical officer Chris Whitty and health minister Neil O’Brien – portrayed the company as a leader in combating youth vaping, saying it “takes steps to ensure its products do not appeal to and are not used by anyone who is under age, and encourages others in the sector to do the same.”
It also included a quote from Joe Murillo, a former tobacco executive and chief regulatory officer at Juul Labs, in which he praised the UK government’s policy and called for more to be done “to combat underage use of these products”.
The briefing – which was sent to journalists before the policy was announced publicly – appears to have directly resulted in positive media coverage for Juul, with Murillo’s quote republished by four national newspapers.
June 5, 2023
New Zealand Readies to Address Youth Vaping

Image: Tobacco Reporter archive
New Zealand Health Minister Ayesha Verrall is set to unveil the government’s strategy to address youth vaping, reports Stuff.
While an outright ban on cheap, disposable vapes or making them prescription-only has not been promised, Verrall aims to strike a balance between using vaping as a smoking cessation tool and preventing its appeal to young people.
The Australian government recently banned the importation of vapes except through pharmacies and introduced quality standards. Verrall did not confirm if New Zealand would follow suit, but she emphasized the need for a vaping policy that aligns with the country’s specific needs.
Proposed regulations include restricting the location of specialist vape retailers near schools or sports grounds, regulating vape flavor names and implementing safety measures for single-use vaping products. Some experts suggest further measures, such as educating young people and limiting availability to pharmacies.
The regulation of vaping products and retailers was not included in the previously passed legislation to ban tobacco sales to a generation.
The government also plans to reduce the number of places selling tobacco products from 6,000 to 600 as part of their Smoke-Free 2025 action plan.
June 2, 2023
Bangladesh Minister Proposes Rise in E-Cig Import Duties

Bangladesh Finance Minister Mustafa Kamal proposed a significant increase in import duties on e-cigarettes and their parts in the proposed budget for the 2023–2024 fiscal year, reports the Dhaka Tribune.
The import duty on e-cigarettes will be raised from 5 percent to 25 percent, and for parts of electric cigarettes, the duty will be increased by 100 percent. Previously, there was no import duty on the parts of electric cigarettes.
The minister has also suggested a 150 percent additional duty on liquid nicotine and transdermal nicotine.
The proposed measures aim to increase import duties and make importation of e-cigarettes and related components more expensive in an effort to regulate their use and reduce their prevalence.
June 2, 2023
Retailers Want FDA List of Legal Vaping Products

Retail associations have asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to provide them with list of e-cigarettes and vape products that are legal to market, reports NACS.
In October 2021, NACS and five other retail associations sent a letter to the FDA asking the agency to publish the names of vapor products for which it has taken action. In their letters to FDA, the associations expressed the critical nature of this list for their retail members who need to know which products are legal to sell and which are not.
The FDA formally responded in January 2022, stating that it understands the retail groups’ request for specific names of products and that the agency is working on updating the list with final actions taken on individual products, including those that received marketing denial orders (MDOs).
“Given the large number of products involved, sharing this information requires additional time and resources so that the Agency does not disclose confidential commercial information (CCI) about products that are not yet marketed,” stated the agency.
In a more recent letter to the FDA, the associations said they “can appreciate the immense task of reviewing millions of applications. However, there remains widespread confusion in the marketplace as to which products can remain on shelves and which need to be removed.”
“While Director Zeller encouraged retailers to contact manufacturers with any questions about products in their inventory, this is not an adequate or fair solution. It places the burden on retailers to verify the marketing status of ENDS and vape products with the manufacturers. Many of our members are small operators who do not have the resources or bandwidth to contact the manufacturers,” wrote the associations.
“Moreover, manufacturers providing a list does not guarantee accuracy or give the assurance that a verified list from the agency would give. These retailers stand to face enforcement if they are out of compliance with the law and the only way to ensure they can comply is if they have a verified list from the agency.”
Renewed support for a list of legal products come after the FDA issued warning letters to 30 retailers, including one distributor, for illegally selling unauthorized Puff Bar and Hyde disposable vaping products. The FDA typically sends warning letters to manufacturers, however, now retailers are facing stiffer scrutiny.
FDA Commissioner Robert Califf said cracking down on disposable products most used by youth is a priority for the regulatory agency. “We’re committed to holding all players in the supply chain – not just manufacturers but also retailers and distributors – accountable to the law,” he said.
June 2, 2023
European Elections Could Impact Support of Vaping

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Elections in several European countries could affect support of reduced-risk nicotine products like e-cigarettes, according to Tamarind Intelligence Policy Radar research.
Governments in Europe are the most likely to officially support reduced-risk products.
According to Tamarind Intelligence, forthcoming elections in Finland, Spain, Ireland and the Czech Republic as well as elections for the European Parliament could be significant in determining the future of the products.
“Our analysis of official attitudes toward e-cigarettes and other tobacco harm reduction products shows some clear global trends,” said Tamarind Intelligence Editorial Director Barnaby Page. “For example, European countries tend to have more favorable attitudes while Asian countries tend to be much more polarized.
“However, the laws in this area can change very rapidly—sometimes because government itself changes or at other times because issues such as underage vaping or the environmental impact of disposable vapes come into the spotlight.”
Researchers expect worldwide regulation of reduced-risk products to become stricter, especially in upper-middle-income and high-income countries. Flavored products are expected to receive the most attention with countries proposing bans on the products.
June 2, 2023
FDA, NIH Fund Center for Rapid Surveillance of Tobacco
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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have awarded funding for a new Center for Rapid Surveillance of Tobacco (CRST). Through rapid surveillance and reporting of information, CRST will enhance the Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) and the research community’s ability to understand, document and quantify changes in the tobacco product marketplace and tobacco use patterns.
“Nothing like this has ever been attempted before now,” said Cristine Delnevo, director of the Rutgers Center for Tobacco Studies and principal investigator of the rapid surveillance center. “No one has collected such comprehensive information, let alone organized and disseminated it rapidly. We think it will provide the FDA with meaningful and timely data to inform their congressionally authorized regulation of the tobacco market.”
Research results from the CRST are expected to generate findings and data that are directly relevant in informing the FDA’s regulation of the manufacture, distribution and marketing of tobacco products to protect public health. In particular, the CRST will support more time-sensitive data collection, analysis and reporting—making potentially actionable information available before more traditional data collection methods.
“Given the rapidly evolving tobacco landscape, it’s critical that we have nimble surveillance tools that can keep pace to best protect public health,” said Brian King, director of the FDA’s CTP. “This new center is another important addition to our surveillance toolbox to help identify emerging issues and to inform timely action.”
The CRST is supported through the Tobacco Regulatory Science Program, an interagency partnership between the NIH and CTP to foster tobacco regulatory research.
The work is led by Rutgers Center of Excellence in Rapid Surveillance of Tobacco with substantial involvement from a large collaborative network that triangulates multiple data sources, federal scientific staff at CDC, NIH and CTP as well as external advisors with relevant expertise.
“The signals about JUUL’s popularity with youth were there as early as 2017, but without identifying early, meaningful signals and subsequently implementing nationally representative large surveys with appropriate measures, it took much longer to evaluate the problem,” Delnevo said. “Successful rapid surveillance will facilitate a comprehensive understanding of the problem in a timely manner.”
The grant money will fund the Rutgers Center of Excellence in Rapid Surveillance in Tobacco, which officially began operations on June 1, pulling information from numerous data sources. Researchers will:

Collect information from marketing company databases, tobacco maker websites, social media and merchant outlets to spot new marketing strategies;
Analyze retail scanner data to track tobacco-product sales and spot trends involving new product characteristics such as innovative flavors or delivery mechanisms;
Triangulate responses from surveys of youth, young adults, and adults who use tobacco and nicotine products to understand preferences and behaviors;
Synthesize the data to identify meaningful trends early and provide the FDA with actionable information to improve its regulation of tobacco products.
Another seven faculty members from the Center for Tobacco Studies will join Delnevo on the rapid surveillance project, as will 13 co-investigators from Roswell Park Cancer Institute, East Carolina University, Stanford University, the University of Kentucky, The Ohio State University, Columbia University, and Westat, Inc.
June 2, 2023
Altria’s Acquisition of Njoy Comes to a Close

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Altria Group has completed its acquisition of Njoy Holdings. The tobacco giant has also updated its guidance for 2023 full-year adjusted diluted earnings per share (EPS) in connection with the transaction.
“The completion of this transaction is a transformative step in our goal of ‘Moving Beyond Smoking,’” said Billy Gifford, Altria’s CEO. “We are pleased to have received antitrust clearance, and we are now fully focused on responsibly accelerating U.S. adult smoker and adult vaper adoption of Njoy Ace, currently the only pod-based e-vapor product to receive marketing authorization from the FDA.
“Our updated 2023 full-year EPS guidance range includes planned investments behind the U.S. commercialization of Njoy Ace and reflects our goal to deliver strong shareholder returns while making progress toward our vision.”
“We are excited to combine our resources with Njoy’s talented team to benefit adult tobacco consumers across the country,” said Shannon Leistra, the new president and CEO of Njoy.
As a result of the transaction, Altria expects to deliver 2023 full-year adjusted diluted EPS in a range of $4.89 to $5.03, representing a growth rate of 1 percent to 4 percent from an adjusted diluted EPS base of $4.84 in 2022.
“Our 2023 full-year adjusted diluted EPS guidance range includes planned investments in support of the company’s vision, such as (i) continued smoke-free product research, development and regulatory preparation expenses, (ii) enhancement of the company’s digital consumer engagement system and (iii) marketplace activities in support of the company’s smoke-free products, including planned investments behind the U.S. commercialization of Ace,” Altria wrote in a press note.
Altria’s updated guidance range also includes estimated amortization charges of approximately $50 million for the remainder of 2023 related to intangible assets acquired in the transaction.
June 1, 2023
Kaival Brands Acquires GoFire Patent Portfolio

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Kaival Brands Innovations Group announced it has acquired an extensive patent portfolio from GoFire, Inc. with the goal of diversifying its product offerings and creating near- and longer-term revenue opportunities.
The GoFire patent portfolio includes 12 existing and 46 pending with novel technologies across extrusion dose control, product preservation, tracking and tracing usage, multiple modalities (i.e., different methods of vaporizing) and child safety.
The patents and patent applications cover territories including the United States, Australia, Canada, China, the European Patent Organisation, Israel, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand and South Korea. The portfolio also includes a proprietary mobile device software application that is used in conjunction with certain patents in the portfolio.
“We are excited to place these valuable assets into Kaival’s hands. After working hard to create this intellectual property with a goal of providing safer and healthier products to the marketplace, we engaged in a comprehensive assessment of how best to further its development into actual products and services with consumer reach,” Peter Calfee, CEO of GoFire, stated. “At the end of that process, we chose to invest our patent portfolio in Kaival in exchange for Kaival equity as the right fit for our technology.”
The acquired assets will be housed in Kaival Labs, Inc., a subsidiary of Kaival Brands that develops new branded and white-label products and services in the vaporizer and inhalation technology sectors, according to a press release.
In the near term, Kaival Brands expects to seek third-party licensing opportunities in the cannabis, hemp/CBD, nicotine and nutraceutical markets as a means of monetizing its new patents.
Longer term, Kaival Brands believes it can utilize the acquired patents to create innovative and market-disruptive products, including patent-protected vaporizer devices and related hardware and software applications.
“This is a transformative asset acquisition for Kaival Brands,” stated Eric Mosser, president and chief operating officer of Kaival Brands. “As we look to the future of our company beyond our core BIDI Stick distribution business, the purchase of this extensive patent portfolio marks the first step in diversifying our product offerings for adult consumers and potential revenue streams.
“We believe this forward-looking acquisition, with the acquisition consideration structured in key respects at premiums to the current market value of our common stock, broadens and strengthens our company and our prospects considerably as we seek to drive value for our stockholders.”
June 1, 2023