Tag: e-cigarettes

  • Singapore Officials Seize More Than 85,000 Vaping Products

    Singapore Officials Seize More Than 85,000 Vaping Products

    Credit: Sharaf Maksumov

    Authorities in Singapore seized more than 85,000 vaping products in a warehouse raid conducted by Singapore’s Health Sciences Authority (HSA).

    This is the largest seizure of e-cigarettes and other vaping products by HSA, surpassing a haul in 2021 where more than S$2.2 million ($3 million) worth of products were confiscated, said HSA and the Singapore police in a joint press release today. The latest seizure has an estimated value of more than $5 million.

    The raid was the result of HSA following up on leads from investigating a group of people suspected of selling illegal vaping products, according to Channel News Asia.

    On Mar 28, six individuals were detained by the police at a multi-story car park at Block 592 Montreal Link.

    “The driver of a van was allegedly found to be distributing parcels containing e-vaporizers to five persons purportedly assisting in the delivery to buyers,” said the authorities.

    Under the Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) Act, it is an offense to import, sell or distribute vape products.

    Those found guilty for the first time can be fined up to S$10,000, jailed for up to six months, or both.

    Subsequent offenses double the penalties to a fine of up to S$20,000, a jail term of up to a year, or both.

    Vaping is illegal in Singapore. The purchase, use and possession of all vaping products are also prohibited.

  • Malaysia Removes Nicotine E-Liquids From Poisons List

    Malaysia Removes Nicotine E-Liquids From Poisons List

    Credit: Gerey

    Malaysia’s government has removed e-liquid containing nicotine used in e-cigarettes and other vaping products from the country’s Poisons List of controlled substances. The move enables taxation on e-liquids.

    Media reports claim the removal effectively legalizes e-cigarettes with nicotine without any regulations in place, as the current Control of Tobacco Products Regulations 2004 under the Food Act 1983 only cover conventional cigarettes and other tobacco products.

    The Control of Tobacco Product and Smoking Bill 2022 – which seeks to regulate both tobacco and vape products, besides a ban on these products for anyone born from 2007 – has yet to be tabled in the current 15th Parliament, reports Code Blue.

    Health Minister Zaliha Mustafa gazetted an order Friday to exempt nicotine “preparation of a kind used for smoking through electronic cigarette and electric vaporizing device, in the form of liquid or gel” from the Poisons List under the Poisons Act 1952 – overriding the Poisons Board that unanimously rejected the proposal last Wednesday.

    The Excise Duties (Amendment) Order 2023 – which subjects e-liquid or gel containing nicotine to excise duty of 40 sen ($0.004) per milliliter – gazetted by Finance Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who is also the prime minister, was dated last March 29, the same day as the Poisons Board meeting.

    The tax on e-liquids with nicotine went into effect on April 1.

    CodeBlue reported that the Poisons Board, an independent body formed under the Poisons Act, wholly objected to the government’s proposal to exclude nicotine-containing e-liquid from the Poisons List on the basis that the harm of allowing e-cigarettes to be sold to anyone, including children, outweighed the benefit of tax revenue from such products containing nicotine, a highly addictive substance.

  • Former CTP Director Zeller Joins Qnovia Advisory Board

    Former CTP Director Zeller Joins Qnovia Advisory Board

    Mitch Zeller
    Mitch Zeller, former director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products

    Mitch Zeller, the much-maligned former head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s tobacco center has joined the advisory board of a company developing a first-of-its-kind smoking cessation inhalation product.

    Zeller said Qnovia’s nicotine inhalation product, RespiRX, has the potential to be a “game changer” in lowering the use of combustible cigarettes.

    The former director of the Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) from March 2013 until his retirement in April 2022, Zeller is now providing policy and regulatory strategy consulting to Qnovia, Inc.

    The company is currently preparing an application to the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) for a cessation therapy which, if approved, will be the first inhaled prescription therapy to help tobacco smokers quit.

    Zeller’s addition to the company’s advisory board comes as the FDA aims to finalize proposed bans on menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars by August. The FDA also plans to propose a rule limiting nicotine levels in cigarettes and some other tobacco products.

    Zeller said access to Qnovia’s product can be one essential tool along with an administration-wide effort to provide support to those with nicotine addictions once those product standards take effect.

    “Some people will be able to quit cold turkey, but a whole bunch won’t, and they will be seeking nicotine elsewhere,” Zeller said in an interview, told Bloomberg Law.

    “The last thing that we want smokers to do if any of those policies go into effect is to simply switch to another tobacco product,” he added.

    Qnovia’s goal is for RespiRx to be the first inhaled prescription smoking cessation therapy product, according to Qnovia CEO Brian Quigley. Instead of using heat to create vapor, the RespiRx device uses an orientation-agnostic vibrating mesh nebulizer. The aerosolizing engine is nothing like a traditional e-cigarette that heats a coil to atomize nicotine based in PG and/or VG. 

    RespiRx is activated when a user inhales on the device. To aerosolize the nicotine, it sends an electrical current that causes the perforated piezo mesh to vibrate more than 100,000 times a second. “It’s that vibrating action of the mesh that then forces the liquid to the holes, creating an aerosol that appears vapor-like, allowing it to be inhaled,” says Quigley. That, he says, is fundamentally different from a traditional e-cigarette product, where the heating process can create undesired thermal byproducts.

    RespiRx uses proprietary software to deliver a precise dose of nicotine. Every time it’s activated, the device fires for three seconds and delivers a targeted dose of the drug. The base is reusable and serves as the housing for the battery and software. The RespiRx nebulizer sits within the pod that houses the nicotine drug product. 

    “The nebulizing unit (cartridge) gets replaced by the patient every one to two days. That interface means that the patient doesn’t have to clean the nebulizer,” explains Quigley. “The biggest challenge with other vibrating mesh products is that they require cleaning if used over an extended period. We’re mitigating that through the design of the interface. There is no cleaning required. We do believe that this will result in RespiRx having a very long use life.”

    Late last year, Qnovia raised $17 million to continue the development of its RespiRx nicotine replacement product.

    In June of 2020, the company appointed Quigley, a 16-year veteran of Altria Group, as its Chief Operating Officer. At Altria, Quigley served as CEO of its smokeless tobacco business from 2012 to 2018, a $2.3 billion business with over 800 employees,

  • UK to Consider Banning Flavors Other Than Tobacco

    UK to Consider Banning Flavors Other Than Tobacco

    Credit: Mary

    The UK government will consider banning fruit-flavored vapes in order to combat youth, ITV News reports.

    Public Health Minister Neil O’Brien is expected to make a speech next month calling for an investigation into the issue, with the possibility of banning the addictive fruity flavors that have exploded in popularity in recent years.

    In the UK it is illegal to sell vapes to those under 18, there are also strict limits on nicotine content, refill bottle and tank sizes, as well as restrictions on advertising and labeling.

    On Thursday, Justice Secretary Dominic Raab said the Department of Health and Social Care is exploring ways to tackle youth vaping in response to a question in the Commons.

    The government is still keen to promote vaping among adults as an alternative to smoking.

  • Belfast Considering Ban on Vaping for 18 and Unders

    Belfast Considering Ban on Vaping for 18 and Unders

    Credit: Leonid Andronov

    The Belfast Council in Northern Ireland is considering banning anyone under the age of 18 from vaping at its sites and premises around the city.

    UUP John Kyle has forwarded a motion to be debated by the full council next week, calling upon Belfast City Council to convene a working group with other stakeholders considering measures to strengthen current legislation and enforcement in relation to vaping, according to Belfast Live.

    The motion also calls for a ban on the use of vapes by all under 18’s indoors all council premises.

    At the recent meeting of the council’s Standards and Business Committee, Councillor Kyle said: “Part of the purpose of this motion is that people, particularly parents of young people, are unaware of the dangers of vaping. It has become such a common practice with kids at school.

    “Part of the purpose is to publicize the issue, make people aware of it, so I propose it is aired at full council before going for consideration to the committee to work it through. It would be beneficial if we as a council give some air space to what is a growing public health problem.”

  • Malaysia Vape Groups Wants OTC Nicotine E-Liquid

    Malaysia Vape Groups Wants OTC Nicotine E-Liquid

    Credit: Butenkow

    The vape industry in Malaysia expressed support for a potential exemption of liquid nicotine from control under the Poisons Act 1952 in the government’s bid to tax e-cigarettes.

    Associations representing vape and e-cigarette companies claimed that this would enable regulations to be introduced for the vape industry, according to CodeBlue.

    “Continuing to subject vape products containing nicotine under the Poisons Act does not help as it is not a suitable framework and does not work for the products,” Adzwan Ab Manas, president of the Malaysia Retail Electronic Cigarette Association (MRECA), said in a statement.

    Currently, nicotine – except tobacco that is regulated separately under the Control of Tobacco Product Regulations 2004 under the Food Act 1983 – is classified as a Group C poison under the Poisons Act that can only be dispensed by medical practitioners or pharmacists.

    Dewan Perniagaan Vape Malaysia (DPVM) secretary-general Ridhwan Rosli, in a separate statement, claimed that if liquid nicotine is exempted from control under the Poisons Act, vape products can be regulated under “current legislation”. 

    However, the only current law regulating vape products is the control of liquid nicotine under the Poisons Act which the government may soon eliminate.

  • Vermont Senate Gives Nod to Preliminary Flavor Ban

    Vermont Senate Gives Nod to Preliminary Flavor Ban

    Vermont lawmakers have taken a big first step toward banning flavored tobacco products and e-liquids.

    The Senate gave preliminary approval to S.18.

    The bill would ban the retail sale of flavored cigarettes, e-cigarettes, and e-liquids, according to WCSX.

    It would also get the Attorney General’s Office to report on the extent to which Vermont may legally restrict advertising and regulate labels for the products.

    Several states in the Northeast have or are considering flavor bans. Connecticut also introduced a bill that would ban flavored e-cigarettes. New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island have barred the sale of flavored vaping products. Massachusetts banned all flavored tobacco items, including flavored cigars, cigarettes and vaping goods.

    Vermont’s ban was originally proposed in early 2020 as a way to prevent youth use, but was sidelined after the Covid-19 pandemic began to impact the country.

  • Minnesota AG Personally Opens Juul Labs Lawsuit

    Minnesota AG Personally Opens Juul Labs Lawsuit

    Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison personally opened his state’s case against Juul Labs on Tuesday, accusing the e-cigarette maker of using “slick products, clever ads and attractive flavors” to hook children on nicotine as the first of thousands of cases against the company reached trial.

    Minnesota is seeking more than $100 million in damages, accusing Washington, D.C.-based Juul of unlawfully targeting young people to get a new generation addicted to nicotine, according to the Federal News Network.

    “They baited, deceived, and addicted a whole new generation of kids after Minnesotans slashed youth smoking rates down to the lowest level in a generation,” Ellison said. “Now, big tobacco is back with a new name but the same game. Juul wiped out the work of our state with their slick products, clever ads, and attractive flavors.”

    Juul has faced thousands of lawsuits nationwide but most have settled, including 39 with other states and U.S. territories. Not Minnesota, which won a landmark $7.1 billion settlement with the tobacco industry in 1998. Minnesota added tobacco industry giant Altria, which formerly owned a minority stake in Juul, as a co-defendant in 2020.

    David Bernick, an attorney for Juul, promised jurors an “intense and interesting” trial. He said the purpose of Juul was always to convert adult smokers of combustible cigarettes to a less-dangerous product that would still provide a satisfying nicotine experience — not to lure kids. E-cigarettes aren’t safe but aren’t deadly either, he said; they’re somewhere in between. And Juul did nothing to intentionally drive youth demand, he argued, suggesting that the growth in youth vaping was more likely due to increasing adult demand resulting in ”leakage” to kids.

    William Geraghty, an attorney for Altria, denied Ellison’s assertions that Altria invested heavily in Juul because it ultimately wanted to hook kids on its cigarettes, which include Marlboro. He said Altria bought its passive stake because Juul had found the key to successfully switching adult smokers of conventional cigarettes to a less harmful product, while Altria’s competing e-cigarettes had failed in the marketplace.

    The lawsuit against Juul, filed in 2019, alleges consumer fraud, creating a public nuisance, unjust enrichment and conspiracy with Altria. The jury trial before Hennepin County District Judge Laurie Miller is expected to last about three weeks

  • House Oversight Committee to Probe CTP Failures

    House Oversight Committee to Probe CTP Failures

    The U.S. House Oversight and Accountability Committee announced its intent to investigate the practices of the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP).

    Chairman James Comer is conducting the probe of the FDA’s regulation of tobacco and nicotine products through the CTP, stating that the center has failed to effectively define and administer its tobacco and nicotine regulatory programs.

    The failure has resulted in industry uncertainty and unsafe products reaching the marketplace, according to a committee press release. In a letter to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf, Comer is requesting documents, communications, and a staff-level briefing related to the CTP’s activities to ensure it is performing its regulatory function as intended.

    “The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is conducting oversight of the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) regulation of tobacco and nicotine products through its Center for Tobacco Products (CTP). A recent evaluation of CTP by the Reagan-Udall Foundation (RUF) found that CTP has not clearly set out the most basic elements of its tobacco and nicotine regulatory programs. This has resulted in confusion, inefficiency, litigation and suspicions of political interference. CTP has fostered uncertainty in the marketplace and has allowed unsafe and unregulated products to proliferate. Therefore, we seek documents and information regarding CTP’s activities to enable transparency and to ensure the CTP is performing required functions,” wrote Comer.

    An evaluation of the CTP by the Reagan-Udall Foundation stated that the CTP is unable to perform its basic functions and ensure that Americans have access to products that have the potential to lower the rate of smoking-related disease and death. Amidst unclear policies, stakeholders have even reported having to guess what the CTP’s regulations might be. Congressional oversight is needed to bring transparency to the CTP’s lack of clear policies that have resulted in market uncertainty, unregulated products and enforcement failures, according to the press release.

    “We have deep concerns that CTP’s decisions have been influenced by political concerns rather than scientific evidence,” wrote Comer. “Comments from FDA staff to RUF, which are no longer available on its website, reflect such concerns. For example, one commenter said, ‘[i]n cases where reviews are finished and scientific decisions are made, they are also overruled by political agendas and pushed to change decisions.’ Another stated, ‘scientific disagreement is frowned upon, if not entirely suppressed,’ while a third said leadership was ‘… unsupportive of a reviewer’s fundamental duty to provide an unbiased review using the best available science.’ FDA must clearly identify and publicize what scientific criteria are necessary for a product, to include [electronic nicotine-delivery system (ENDS) products] and smokeless products, to be authorized through the PMTA pathway and—where appropriate—the subsequent [modified-risk tobacco product applications (MRTPs)] pathway.”

    Comer specifically asked the FDA to provide: FDA staff comments to the Reagan-Udall evaluation; all communications with the White House and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) regarding tobacco or nicotine policy; documents and communications between the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) regarding CTP policies; documents and communications between the FDA and “public health advocacy groups” regarding CTP policies; all documents that describe the specific analytic process the FDA uses to apply the “appropriate for the protection of public health” standard; and all documents and communications related to the FDA’s enforcement efforts to remove illegally marketed tobacco or nicotine products from retail locations.

  • Kansas Set to Raise Purchase Age of Tobacco to 21

    Kansas Set to Raise Purchase Age of Tobacco to 21

    The Kansas Senate passed House Bill 2269, 28-11, which will raise the minimum tobacco purchasing age in the state to 21 from 18, reports ksnt.com. The bill now heads to the governor’s desk.

    The bill would bring Kansas into compliance with federal law, making it illegal for a retailer to sell tobacco products, including electronic cigarettes and cigarettes, to anyone under the age of 21.

    Representative Tom Kessler, a Republican from Wichita who carried the bill, said the state could lose funding from the federal government if the legislation is not enacted. “We do stand to lose a little bit of funding if we don’t conform with federal law,” Kessler said. “We’re going to lose about $1.2 million of funding if we don’t make this transition within the window that the feds allowed us to.”

    Representative John Eplee said that some retailers in the state have moved toward federal compliance but others have not, making federal law harder to enforce. “Most vendors have already complied with this, but are not required to, and it makes enforcement ‘herky jerky’ in our state,” Eplee said. “Forty-six other states have already fallen into compliance … we’re just asking Kansas to do the same thing.”