Tag: e-cigarettes

  • Heat-not-Burn Sales Start to Catch Fire in U.K.

    Heat-not-Burn Sales Start to Catch Fire in U.K.

    Credit: Postmodern Studio

    New data from Philip Morris Limited (PML) shows that retailers should stay stocked up on the latest technology advancements in next-generation nicotine products to keep ahead of growing consumer demand.

    Kate O’Dowd, head of commercial planning UK & Ireland at PML, said that data shows that store owner competition in the heat-not-burn category is shifting the landscape, by challenging the dominance of traditional categories (such as e-cigarettes) and accelerating the pace of change.

    “The race to switch adult smokers to alternative products between convenience retailers and large multiples, and the speed with which manufacturers and their brands are developing and commercializing the most innovative products to meet growing demand show everyone is feeling the heat,” she said. “For instance, if we look at heat-not-burn – a relative newcomer to the U.K. market – we see a category growing at over twice the speed of the e-cigarette category, which launched at least a decade earlier.”

    O’Dowd cited data from PML’s first quarter results that found that the firm’s HEETS tobacco sticks accounted for more than 6 percent of the market share of the total industry sales volume for heated tobacco units.

    PML also recently commissioned a survey, which included more than 1400 convenience retailers, to find whether retailers would forego competing with other stores if it meant they could help their community to make the swap to smoke-free options.

    More than two-thirds of the respondents to the survey said they would look beyond competition with other stores to work together to help their community to go smoke-free.

    Aiming to push this potential of the heat-not-burn subcategory further, PML recently rolled out its new IQOS Originals Duo heat-not-burn product, an advancement to its previous IQOS 3 Duo, the comapny said. The new device comes in a kit with a compact, lightweight holder and two packs of HEETS at an RRP of £39.

  • Australia Group Wants Harsher Rules for Illegal Sales

    Australia Group Wants Harsher Rules for Illegal Sales

    Credit: Alexey Novikov

    Health officials in Australia are demanding a crackdown on vaping sales violators with stricter laws and stiffer penalties due to a surge in illegal vape importers, vendors and advertisers.

    Australian shop keepers that have sold outlawed nicotine vapes have been fined more than $730,000 in the last 13 months, up $110,000 from the previous year, according to the Daily Mail.

    New data from the Therapeutic Goods Administration shows the continuous sale of illegal e-cigarettes is taking a massive toll on health budgets. However, fighting the black market trade is a major expense as the suspected illegal e-cigarettes have to undergo laboratory testing to find traces of nicotine.

    Australia took action against the growing epidemic by outlawing nicotine vapes in Oct. 2021, but the products have remained readily available on the black market.

  • Geekvape Inks Deal With Paris Saint-Germain

    Geekvape Inks Deal With Paris Saint-Germain

    Credit: Uslatar

    Geekvape has announced its partnership with the football club Paris Saint-Germain, marking the second time the two parties have inked a sponsorship agreement.

    In a press release, Geekvape, a China-based e-cigarette manufacturer, states that it first became an official partner of Paris Saint-Germain in 2021. The alliance has extended the “Geek” spirit through “spectacular events” that drew a broad international audience.

    “I am delighted that our partnership was so successful last year, and it is an honor to carry on the spirit of healthy sport with Paris Saint-Germain, in the new year, in keeping with our mutual pursuit of excellence and elegance for a great new and exciting season,” said Geekvape CEO Allen Yang. “Geekvape intends to capitalize on the enormous popularity of football as a sport in order to spread the love of sport and the concept of health to people throughout the globe.”

    Paris Saint-Germain is one of the most popular football clubs in the world with superstar players like Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé and Neymar Jr. on its roster.

  • Ohio Governor Aims to Ban Vape Flavors Statewide

    Ohio Governor Aims to Ban Vape Flavors Statewide

    Ohio Governor Mike DeWine

    The governor of the U.S. state of Ohio has called for a statewide ban on the sale of flavored nicotine products. The announcement came when Gov. Mike DeWine vetoed a bill that would have barred local governments from making any tobacco rules more harsh than state regulations.

    “I’m just looking at this from a logical point of view,” DeWine said. “I listen to my friends who have businesses. I understand their desire to get uniformity…I just think the easiest way to do this is to have a statewide ban.”

    The provision he vetoed was a legislative response to a ban recently approved by the city of Columbus. The governor announced his decision during a press conference held with his state health director, Bruce Vanderhoff, to specifically talk about the dangers of youth use of flavored tobacco products, according to The Blade.

    “We have an epidemic,” DeWine said. “We are seeing more and more of young people starting to vape at a younger and younger age. This has been going on long enough now that we know that many of them then transition over to tobacco, and we know the long-term consequences of that.”

  • Campaigners Slam Threat to Ban U.K. Cigarette Sales

    Campaigners Slam Threat to Ban U.K. Cigarette Sales

    Photo: Taco Tuinstra

    Campaigners have slammed the suggestion that a future Labour government could ban the sale of cigarettes to eradicate smoking by 2030.

    Speaking to the BBC, shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said Labour would consult on banning the sale of cigarettes.

    Simon Clark, director of the smokers’ rights group Forest, condemned the idea.

    “The health risks of smoking are well known but it’s a legitimate habit that millions of adults enjoy,” he said. “Banning the sale of cigarettes to future generations won’t stop people smoking. It would merely drive the sale of tobacco underground and into the hands of criminal gangs.”

    Unlike countries such as the U.S., regulators in the U.K. have embraced using vaping products to curb tobacco use and the strategy has been effective.

    Clark pointed out that current U.K. smoking rates are the lowest on record and an increasing number of smokers are switching voluntarily to reduced risk products like e-cigarettes without government intervention.

    “Given all the problems facing the NHS [National Health Service] and the country at large, it’s laughable to think that tackling smoking might be considered a priority for a future Labour government,” said Clark.

    During the BBC interview, Wes Streeting said more radical options were needed as the U.K. was set to miss its target of being “smoke-free” by 2030

    “One of the things that was recommended to the government in one of their own reviews was phasing out the sale of cigarettes altogether over time. We will be consulting on that and a whole range of other measures,” said Streeting.

    Streeting said he would pay close attention to the results of a recently announced law in New Zealand that makes it illegal to sell tobacco to anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 2009.

    Under the new rules, which take effect this year, the country’s smoking age of 18 would be raised year by year until it applied to the whole population. Beginning in 2023, those under 15 would be barred from buying cigarettes for the rest of their lives.

    “I am genuinely curious,” he said. “If we are going to get the NHS back on track, we need to focus on public health. 

    Streeting’s comments follow a review ordered by Sajid Javid when he was health secretary which listed 15 measures to give the U.K. its “best chance” of hitting a national target of making the UK smoke-free by 2030.

  • Authorities Raid Shops, Seize E-Cigarettes in Oman

    Authorities Raid Shops, Seize E-Cigarettes in Oman

    The Consumer Protection Authority (CPA) in the country of Oman raided a number of shops suspected of selling vaping products.

    The Sultanate banned the sale and marketing of e-cigarettes in 2015. However, importing, use and possession are legal.

    According to a statement by the CPA, during inspection field visits carried out by a CPA control team to shops and markets in the Wilayat of Shinas in the capital city of Muscat, “a number of electronic cigarettes were seized in shops selling tobacco and its derivatives.”

    The Authority clarified that this behavior is in violation of its rules regarding the ban on the circulation of e-cigarettes and hookahs, according to media reports.

  • Cambodia Wants Crackdown on Online Vape Promos

    Cambodia Wants Crackdown on Online Vape Promos

    Credit: Luzitanija

    Cambodian Movement for Health operations director Mom Kong has called on the authorities to pursue legal action against people who promote the sale of e-cigarettes on social media despite several recent high profile raids.

    Kong said that the confiscation and incineration of e-cigarettes, or vapes, contributes to a reduction in their use among young people, according to Asia News.

    “I applaud the authorities’ willingness to destroy confiscated stock, as it demonstrates the strength of their commitment to the fight against these devices,” he added.

    He issued his statement just days after the Consumer Protection, Competition and Fraud Repression Directorate-General of the Ministry of Commerce – in cooperation with the National Authority for Combating Drugs and the Phnom Penh Municipal Police Commission – destroyed 7,200 boxes, or 288 cartons of confiscated vapes and related products in a Dec. 30 bonfire.

    The products that were incinerated were confiscated during an early November raid on a Phnom Penh warehouse.

  • Altria Accuses Juul Labs of Hiding Payment Details

    Altria Accuses Juul Labs of Hiding Payment Details

    Altria Group Inc, Juul Labs’ largest stakeholder, has asked a federal judge to order the e-cigarette manufacturer to turn over details of its settlement with about 10,000 plaintiffs seeking to hold it responsible for a rise in youth vaping.

    In a motion filed Wednesday in federal court in San Francisco, the Virginia-based company said the settlement, reported by The Wall Street Journal to be worth $1.7 billion, remains “shrouded in secrecy” even from other parties in the litigation.

    Marlboro cigarette maker Altria, which took a 35 percent stake in Juul in 2018, was not part of the settlement and remains a defendant in mass tort litigation consolidated before U.S. District Judge William Orrick. Plaintiffs, including individuals and local government entities, accuse it of taking part in shaping Juul’s strategy to market e-cigarettes to minors, according to Reuters.

    Altria said it needed to see details of the settlement, and the negotiations leading up to it, in order to evaluate its own potential remaining liability and explore potential claims against third parties.

    While there may be reasons for keeping the settlement out of public view, the company said, Juul’s refusal to share it with Altria “goes far beyond the protections needed to address those concerns, lack any legal basis, and would severely prejudice” Altria.

    In a separate motion Wednesday, Altria also asked Orrick to put on hold a class action seeking refunds on behalf of all Juul purchasers nationwide while Altria appeals the judge’s order certifying the class. The class action is one part of the larger consolidated mass tort before Orrick.

  • Ohio Cities can Create Vape, Tobacco Laws After Veto

    Ohio Cities can Create Vape, Tobacco Laws After Veto

    Credit: Daniel Jedzura

    The governor of the U.S. state of Ohio, Mike DeWine, vetoed legislation Thursday that would have stopped Ohio cities from strengthening their anti-vaping and anti-tobacco laws.

    “This measure is not in the public interest, therefore, just a few minutes ago, I vetoed this bill, “ DeWine announced Thursday morning at a news conference.

    Lawmakers had passed the legislation during the lame duck session of the Ohio General Assembly mere days after Columbus officials voted to ban the sale of flavored and menthol tobacco products in the state’s largest city, starting in 2024.

    During the nearly 17-hour marathon debate session last month, lawmakers argued allowing cities to make tobacco rules could cause cities like Cleveland, Cincinnati and Columbus to ban anything considered unhealthy.

    Opponents argued that the state proposal would have acted as a broader “preemption” law, stopping cities from passing local ordinances beyond state law on new fees or taxes on tobacco products or raising the age to buy them, according to Cleveland.com.

    Speaking to reporters, DeWine said Ohio is in the midst of an epidemic where a growing number young people are starting to “vape” or smoke e-cigarettes at younger ages.

    Defenders of preemption laws often cite a need for uniformity in laws across the state and an aversion to a patchwork of different rules in different Ohio cities. DeWine said young people’s lives are more important than uniformity.

    As of September last year, 24 states have laws preempting local ordinances restricting sales of tobacco to young people, according to the CDC. Both state and federal law prohibit vendors from selling tobacco products to anyone younger than 21.

  • Oncology Journal Retracts ‘Vape Causes Cancer’ Study

    Oncology Journal Retracts ‘Vape Causes Cancer’ Study

    Credit: Tonefotografia

    A 2022 article that claimed e-cigarette users faced the same cancer risk as combustible cigarette smokers has been retracted by the World Journal of Oncology.

    “After publication of this article, concerns have been raised regarding the article’s methodology, source data processing including statistical analysis, and reliability of conclusions … [because] the authors failed to provide justified explanations and evidence for the inquires [sic], subsequently this article has been retracted at the request of Editor-in-Chief,” the editors state.

    Many of the concerns raised by the editors who retracted the article mirror the problems with other studies that have linked vaping to smoking-related diseases.

    The study failed to address the question of whether diagnoses were made before or after people started vaping, a minimum requirement for inferring causation, a common theme with vapor studies conducted by anti-nicotine researchers. In 2020, the same problem led to the retraction of a Journal of the American Heart Association article that reported an association between vaping and heart attacks by anti-nicotine activist Stanton Glantz, a professor at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine.

    The World Journal of Oncology article—which was attributed to no fewer than 13 researchers at institutions such as the University of Missouri, Temple University Hospital, the Mayo Clinic, and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai—has other obvious problems that should have been apparent before publication, writes Jacob Sullum with Reason magazine.

    It features enough inconsistencies, writing errors, non sequiturs, and failures of reasoning to make you wonder whether peer reviewers and editors actually read it, let alone carefully evaluated its strengths and weaknesses.

    In an email to Sullum, Brad Rodu, a University of Louisville professor of medicine who has been studying tobacco harm reduction for decades, says the “grossly flawed” study of vaping and cancer raises a troubling question: “How could it get through peer review?”