Tag: e-cigarettes

FEELM Commits to Net-Zero Carbon Emissions by 2050
The largest atomization technology brand yesterday released its “Race to Zero” roadmap to carbon neutrality. FEELM, a division of China-based vaping hardware manufacturer Smoore International, stated that its plan brings forward FEELM’s ambitions to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 in its direct production activities and indirect purchased energy. The company has also made a commitment to use renewable energies in at least 30 percent of its total energy consumption by 2030.
“As one of China’s first atomization tech brands to make a carbon neutrality commitment, FEELM pledges to reach net zero in full supply chain and full product lifespan by developing sustainable products, improving energy efficiency with automated production, supporting the supply chain in decarbonization, and increasing renewable energies and eco-friendly materials,” a press release states. “FEELM, being the world ‘s largest closed vape system solution provider, plays a significant role in the global vaping supply chain.
“On the one hand, it provides millions of global consumers with premium product experience by virtue of partnership with vaping brands around the world; on the other hand, FEELM has been leading a sustainable revolution in the supply chain.”
Beginning in 2019, FEELM has pioneered a number of green vaping solutions. The company won the iF Design Award 2020 for its disposable paper e-cigarette, which is made up of spiral composite paper tubing that improves “the degradability rate to approximately 76 percent of the total volume,” compared to the plastic used in traditional vaping products.
FEELM is also set to unveil another eco-friendly non-nicotine disposable e-cigarette at Vaper Expo UK 2022 in late May. The new device was awarded the Red Dot Award for Product Design 2022. Its external structure is composed of recyclable and reusable aluminum foil. It looks similar to a paper foil pouch that also serves as a packaging bag, which the reduces the amount of packaging materials.
“In addition to developing sustainable products, FEELM has also partnered with suppliers to develop and encourage utilizing biodegradable materials while optimizing the water, electricity and gas consumption management,” the release states. “FEELM is also working with global customers to promote the recycling and reusing, so as to explore a feasible path towards carbon neutrality for the product lifespan and the supply chain.”
May 20, 2022
Washington County, Oregon Votes to Ban Flavored Vapes
Credit: Raw F8
Washington County voters Tuesday overwhelmingly upheld a ban on sales of flavored vaping and other tobacco products.
According to election returns released by the Secretary of State’s Office, 76 percent of ballots were against a repeal of a county policy banning sales of flavored products.
The ban is the first of its kind among Oregon counties.
County commissioners originally passed the policy banning flavored tobacco in November before a vaping industry advocate Jonathan Polonsky successfully gathered enough signatures to put the issue up to voters, according to Pamplin Media Group (PMG).
On the ballot, the measure read “Should ordinance 878, prohibiting flavored tobacco products, machine sales, coupons, discounts, and moveable sales of tobacco products, be repealed?”
Polonsky tried to challenge the wording of the measure, which required voters to vote “yes” against the ban or “no” in favor of the ban, in Washington County Circuit Court, but a judge upheld the measure.
Polonsky told the PMG earlier this month if a majority of voters choose “no,” he intends to appeal the results to an appellate court to determine whether the results of the election are valid based on the ballot language.
According to Tuesday’s results, 66,192 ballots were in favor of the ban, while 20,089 were against it.
May 19, 2022
Senator Calls on U.S. FDA to End Enforcement Discretion
Credit: Durbin.gov
In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin blasted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its delays in complete its public health review of e-cigarette premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs). The deadline for FDA to finish reviewing e-cigarette applications was September 9, 2021, more than eight months ago.
On June 13, the regulatory agency submitted an update on the agency’s review of e-cigarette applications and stated it will not finish reviewing e-cigarettes until July 2023 and products under review may continue being sold.
“These companies have flooded the market with addictive devices. Companies like JUUL, partially owned by the tobacco companies, understand that they’ve promoted their products to children,” Durbin said, according to a release from his office. “For years none of these products were legally authorized. Who was supposed to be the cop on the beat? The Food and Drug Administration, but they were nowhere to be found.”
In March, Durbin led a bipartisan letter with 14 of his colleagues calling on FDA to finish its review of e-cigarettes immediately; reject applications for e-cigarettes, especially kid-friendly flavors, that do not prove they will benefit the public health; and clear the market of all unapproved e-cigarettes.
“I am calling on the FDA to immediately halt its enforcement discretion and remove all unauthorized e-cigarettes from the market,” Durbin stated. “Don’t allow JUUL and other tobacco companies one more day of endangering our children. Stop cowering before Big Tobacco’s highly paid lawyers.”
May 19, 2022
Imperial’s Vapor and Heated Product Sales Surge in Europe
Imperial Brands is on track to meet its full-year goals. The expectation is bolstered by strong sales of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco in Europe, the company said on Tuesday, boosting its shares to a more than two-year high.
Investors seem “relieved that the firm is on track to hit its full year guidance figures, as it proceeds in its five year strategy to shift to tobacco alternatives,” Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, told Reuters.
After years of slow growth and market share losses, Imperial CEO Stefan Bomhard laid out a turnaround plan in 2021 focused on its five top markets and expanding next-generation products (NGP) deemed less harmful to health. Together, the United States, Britain, Germany, Spain and Australia account for over 70 percent of Imperial’s revenue.
Sales of Imperial’s next generation brands, which include Pulze heated tobacco and blu e-cigarettes, were up 8.7 percent to 101 million pounds ($126 million), driven by demand in Europe. In November, the company reported a more than 50% reduction in losses in the business.
May 18, 2022
San Diego, California Officially Bans Flavored Vapes
Credit: Zach
Now it’s official. The San Diego City Council passed an ordinance Tuesday that bans the sale of flavored vaping and other tobacco products — including menthol — in the city, effective Jan. 1, 2023.
The ban follows similar actions in California cities such as Imperial Beach, Encinitas and Solana Beach, along with San Diego County for unincorporated areas.
It also comes months before a statewide referendum tackling the issue in November, according to the Times of San Diego.
The council passed the first reading of the issue in April. This second vote makes the ordinance — known as the Stop Adolescent Addiction From E-Cigarettes or SAAFE Act — law.
The ordinance does not apply to the sale of shisha, premium cigars or loose-leaf tobacco and unflavored or tobacco-flavored e-cigarettes, as well as FDA-approved cessation devices that will also be exempt from the ban.
In opposition to the law at the lengthy public hearing in April were dozens of small business owners, who claimed flavored tobacco made up anywhere from 25 percent to nearly half of their business.
May 18, 2022
Study: E-Cigs Effective at Helping Pregnant Smokers Quit
Credit: Andrey Popov
New research reveals that e-cigarettes are as safe to use as nicotine patches for pregnant smokers trying to quit and may be a more effective tool.
Quitting smoking is difficult. For smokers who become pregnant, not quitting smoking in pregnancy can increase the risk of outcomes including premature birth, miscarriage and the baby having a low birth weight, according to a story in The Guardian.
“Many pregnant smokers find it difficult to quit with current stop smoking medications including nicotine patches and continue to smoke throughout pregnancy,” said Dr. Francesca Pesola, an author of the new study who is based at Queen Mary University in London.
While e-cigarettes have been found to be more effective than nicotine patches in helping people quit, Pesola noted there has been little research into their effectiveness or safety among pregnant women, despite an increase in use by expectant mothers.
Writing in the journal Nature Medicine, Pesola and colleagues describe how they randomly assigned 569 pregnant smokers to use e-cigarettes and 571 to use nicotine patches – a form of nicotine replacement therapy that can already be prescribed by during pregnancy. The participants were, on average, 15.7 weeks pregnant and smoked 10 cigarettes a day.
Only 40 percent of those given e-cigarettes and 23 percent of those given patches used their allocated product for at least four weeks. However, both uptake and duration of use during the study was higher among those given e-cigarettes.
After excluding participants who self-reported not smoking but who used nicotine products other than those allocated to them – for example those given patches group who used e-cigarettes – the team found those given e-cigarettes appeared to do better at quitting smoking.
May 17, 2022
FDA Hands Court PMTA Status Report for Market Leaders
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has submitted a status report for products that currently have a premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) under review. The regulatory agency states that it expects to have resolved 63 percent of the applications set out in its original priority by June 30, 2022, and 72 percent of the applications in its original priority set by the end of this year. However, the agency does not expect to complete its review of timely submitted applications until June, 2023.
“The FDA’s progress largely reflects the review priorities that the agency established in 2020, when review began. Given the large influx of concurrent applications, the FDA prioritized review of applications from manufacturers with the greatest market share at the time because decisions on those applications were expected to have the greatest impact on public health,” the report states. “As a result, the FDA allocated significant resources to review applications from the five companies whose brands represented over 95 percent of the e-cigarette market at that time: Fontem (blu), JUUL, Logic, NJOY, and R.J. Reynolds (Vuse).”
During a House subcommittee meeting after the release of the report, the head of the FDA said the agency needs more resources to speed up its review of e-cigarettes and is avoiding making hasty decisions that could incite lawsuits from the industry.
“This is an industry that has amazing capabilities on the legal front,” FDA Commissioner Robert Califf said. “If we make one single error in the process, we can be set back for years in these applications.”
In the order requiring the FDA to submit status reports, the Maryland court stated that covered applications are limited to applications for products that are sold under the brand names JUUL, Vuse, NJOY, Logic, Blu, SMOK, Suorin or Puff Bar. Additionally, any product with a reach of 2 percent or more of total “Retail Dollar Sales” in Nielsen’s Total E-Cig Market & Players or Disposable E-Cig Market & Players’ reports.
To determine which applications are for products sold under the listed brand names, the FDA used its internal PMTA database, which organizes applications by manufacturer, according to the agency. The FDA searched its database for the brand names to identify the manufacturers related to each relevant brand name and then searched its database to identify applications submitted by the manufacturers.
The FDA stated that it had conferred with the plaintiffs in the case who agreed that only one brand beyond those listed meets the 2 percent threshold. That brand was not identified. Of those applications the FDA deems requiring status reports, the agency stated that it had identified 240 covered applications. The agency estimates that its best forecast, based on current information, the FDA will take action on:

51% of covered applications by June 30, 2022;

52% of covered applications by September 30, 2022;

56% of covered applications by December 31, 2022;

56% of covered applications by March 31, 2023; and

100% of covered applications by June 30, 2023.
The agency also states that not every covered application has an equal potential impact on the public health. For example, more than 25 percent of the covered applications are for products not currently on the market.
The FDA identified two applications for products sold under the relevant brand names where the applicant stated that the products were not on the market as of August 8, 2016. The FDA also identified three other applications for products sold under the relevant brand names where the applicant did not state whether the products were on the market as of August 8, 2016. The FDA has not included information about these five applications in the current status report.
“Also, some e-cigarette devices consist of a small number of components, resulting in a small number of individual product applications for the entire system. A disposable prefilled device, for example, could constitute a single product, with one application. Other e- cigarette devices, by contrast, consist of many components, with separate tanks, coils, tubes, and pods, resulting in dozens of separate product applications for a single system,” the status report states. “Of the covered applications that the FDA anticipates will remain to be resolved beyond the end of 2022, more than half are for components of a limited number of e-cigarette device systems representing under 2.5 percent of the e-cigarette market. The FDA has made and will continue to make significant progress in reviewing and resolving applications for e-cigarette products to achieve the greatest impact on public health.”
The agency stated that it will file another status report by July 29, 2022, that will include any revisions to the estimates disclosed in the first report.
This story will be updated throughout the day.
May 16, 2022
New South Wales Sets High Fines for Youth Sales
Credit: F11 Photo
More than $1 million worth of illegal e-cigarettes and liquids containing nicotine have been seized in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, this year.
NSW Health has seized more than $3 million of the banned products since July 2020.
Since October 2021, products containing nicotine are only available for people over the age of 18 when prescribed by a medical practitioner for smoking cessation purposes, from an Australian pharmacy or via importation into Australia with a valid prescription, according to 7News.
For all other retailers in NSW, the sale of e-cigarettes or e-liquids containing nicotine is illegal.
The curb on illegal nicotine sales extends to online shops with the maximum penalty of $1650 per offence, six months in prison or both.
Selling to minors also comes with hefty fines. For individuals, up to $11,000 for a first offence, and up to $55,000 for a second or subsequent offence; and for corporations, up to $55,000 for a first offence, and up to $110,000 for a second or subsequent offence.
Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said retailers were being put on notice, if they were selling the contraband products.
“We are cracking down on the illegal sale of nicotine e-cigarettes and liquids and taking a zero-tolerance approach to those who sell them,” she said.
“NSW Health regularly conducts raids on retailers across the state to protect young people from these harmful devices. You will be caught, illegal items will be seized, and you could face prosecution, resulting in being fined or even jailed.
“The harmful impacts of vaping on young people cannot be underestimated. People think they are simply flavored water but in reality, in many cases, they are ingesting poisonous chemicals that can cause life-threatening injuries.”
The Alcohol and Drug Foundation says around 14 percent of 12 to 17-year-olds nationwide have tried an e-cigarette, with around 32 percent of these students have used one in the past month
Around 12 per cent of students reported buying an e-cigarette themselves.
May 16, 2022
New Brunswick Appeals Court Maintains Flavor Ban
Credit: Pete Linforth
The New Brunswick Court of Appeal has upheld a lower court decision not to suspend the province’s ban on the sale of flavored e-cigarettes.
Last September, the province banned all e-cigarette flavors except for tobacco, but a vape store and five individuals wanted sales to resume pending a full court challenge of the legislation, according to CBC.
They argued that vape stores were suffering financially because of the law, and that without flavored e-cigarette options, people trying to quit smoking would go back to smoking tobacco, which poses a greater health risk.
The ruling from the Court of Queen’s Bench in March said the government’s intent with the legislation was to protect the health of residents, particularly young people.
In his one-line decision Thursday, Court of Appeal Justice Brad Green said the motion for leave to appeal is dismissed.
No date has been set for the full constitutional challenge.
May 16, 2022
EU Advocacy Group Petitioning Policymakers on Flavors
Credit: WVA
A global alliance of vapers gathered in Brussels on Wednesday to call on European policymakers to stand against possible bans on flavored vaping products. The World Vapers’ Alliance (WVA) displayed an art installation in front of the European Parliament with a simple message – “Flavors help smokers quit.”
This marks the third event of WVA’s Europe-wide campaign #FlavoursMatter, according to a press release. The campaign was launched with one aim: to show policymakers in Europe and across the world that vape flavors are instrumental for smoking cessation.
The group hosted demonstrations in Stockholm, Sweden and the Hague, Netherlands in March 2022. Shortly after the demonstration, a postponement of the Dutch vape flavor ban by six months was announced in the Netherlands.
“Flavors play a crucial role in helping consumers quit smoking – millions of Europeans have already stopped by switching to vaping. The variety of flavors is one of the most important reasons many people switch to e-cigarettes and never go back to smoking. We have already seen that vaping works,” says Michael Landl, director of World Vapers’ Alliance. “It helped millions of people change their lives and now, we need policies to catch up. Therefore, we are delighted that some MEPs are with us and help to defend vaping flavors.”
The installation was attended by Member of the European Parliament Pietro Fiocchi.
“We all agree that not smoking is the best choice, but we also know very well that tax increases and limitations are not working solutions. I do strongly believe that alternative systems to traditional smoking are the biggest instrument to greatly reduce the percentage of lung diseases and cancer,” said Fiocchi. “Any ideological approach against such systems is negative and against any scientific data.”
May 13, 2022