Tag: e-cigarettes

Nebraska Seeks Vape Product List, End Online Sales

Credit: Sean Pavone Photo
The General Affairs Committee in Nebraska heard testimony on a bill that its sponsors say seeks to reduce access to vaping devices by minors in Nebraska.
LB1296, introduced by Seward Sen. Jana Hughes, would prohibit the sale of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) products that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not approved.
Violations would be considered a deceptive trade practice under the Uniform Controlled Substances Act. The state aims to use the same list that is used by states that have passed similar laws, such as Alabama and Louisiana, according to a release.
Devices that are pending approval from the FDA would be authorized for sale under the bill, but online sales of ENDS, regardless of FDA approval, would be prohibited.
“We have a serious problem on our hands that threatens to undermine the progress made over the past 40 years in reducing the use of nicotine products by our kids,” Hughes said.
LB1296 also would create a directory of ENDS manufacturers who have received or sought FDA approval. Beginning April 1, 2025, each manufacturer must register with the state tax commissioner and pay a $500 initial certification fee per device and $500 annually.
Payments received would be directed to the state Department of Revenue to reimburse the cost of enforcing the bill’s provisions.
The committee took no immediate action on LB1296.
Louisiana’s passed a law that bans retailers from selling vape products not listed on a state-approved registry, known as the V.A.P.E. Directory. Alabama and Florida use the same list.
To receive authorization, products need a marketing order from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or must meet one of several narrow exceptions, which favor products that have been on the market since at least 2016.
The state’s Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control (ATC) released its list of nearly 400 approved vape products
February 9, 2024
Flavors Help Save Lives According to New Study

Image: Fotofabrika
Today, the R Street Institute released a new report that explores how flavors are processed by the brain, especially as it pertains to tobacco and nicotine products. Using these findings, the author, Jeffrey Smith, resident senior fellow for integrated harm reduction policy at R Street, explains how flavor can influence behavior and why well-intentioned efforts to ban flavored tobacco and nicotine products can have unintended consequences in the fight to reduce smoking rates in the United States.
This report comes at a crucial time as the debate over flavored tobacco and nicotine products continues at state, national, and international levels. Across the United States, policymakers are proposing or enacting flavor bans without fully appreciating the impact of their actions for adult smokers. And just this week, the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control is hosting their 10th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP10), where many expect the WHO to continue its crusade against flavored, reduced-risk nicotine products.

To reduce the nearly 500,000 smoking-related deaths that occur each year in the United States, the CTP must take a scientifically driven approach that recognizes the neurobiological rationale for allowing a wide variety of flavored, reduced-risk products to be available to adults—while minimizing youth access.
Jeffrey Smith, resident senior fellow for integrated harm reduction policy, R Street
Smoking rates have declined in recent years and, under the Trump administration, the age to purchase tobacco products was raised to 21. This has reduced youth use, and continued enforcement will help lower rates even more. However, millions of adults in the United States still smoke combustible cigarettes to the detriment of their health.
A number of tools exist to help these individuals quit smoking. Flavor, for example, has been shown to help move adult smokers away from combustible cigarettes to alternative, reduced-risk products. This makes sense on the surface; if it tastes good, then it’s more appealing. However, in R Street’s report, author Jeffrey Smith goes far deeper and explains the neurobiological connections between flavor and behavior. While adults may seek tobacco flavored products to initially switch, other flavors help them maintain abstinence from cigarettes. In the end, flavor will save more lives, according to Smith’s research.
“To reduce the nearly 500,000 smoking-related deaths that occur each year in the United States, the FDA Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) must take a scientifically driven approach that recognizes the neurobiological rationale for allowing a wide variety of flavored, reduced-risk products to be available to adults—while minimizing youth access,” said Smith in a statement. “It is essential that the CTP approve non-tobacco-flavored, reduced-risk products.”
February 8, 2024
PMI Sees IQOS Surpass Marlboro Brand in Revenue

Photo: Arkadiusz Fajer
Philip Morris International reported net revenues of $9.05 billion for the fourth quarter and net revenues of $35.17 billion for fiscal year that ended Dec. 31, 2023. On a reported basis, the figures were up 11 percent and 10.7 percent, respectively, over the comparable 2022 periods.
Performance was driven by revenue growth in both the combustible cigarette business, where pricing offset reduced volumes, and the company’s smoke-free operations, which continued to increase their share of the company’s business mix.
“We are pleased that smoke-free products reached nearly 40 percent of our total net revenues and over 40 percent of our gross profit in the fourth quarter,” said PMI CEO Jacek Olczak in a statement.
“This was led by the continued growth of IQOS, which has now surpassed Marlboro in terms of net revenues, confirming its position as the leading premium nicotine brand less than 10 years from launch. The fourth quarter also marked the first anniversary of our combination with Swedish Match, which delivered very strong results in 2023 driven by the stellar U.S. performance of ZYN.”
PMI shipped 116.3 million cans of ZYN in the fourth quarter of 2023, representing growth of 78.2 percent versus fourth-quarter 2022 Swedish Match shipments of 65.3 million cans.
“We are entering 2024 with strong momentum, and we expect it will be another year of excellent performance underpinned by an acceleration in organic smoke-free net revenue and profit growth,” said Olczak.
PMI also expects to benefit this year from a recent settlement with British American Tobacco that resolves all ongoing patent infringement litigation between the parties related to heated tobacco and vapor products. The deal allows each party to innovate and introduce product iterations.
February 8, 2024
West Virginia House Passes ID Check for Vapes

Credit: Sean Pavone Photo
West Virginia delegates voted nearly unanimously Tuesday for a proposal that, if passed by the Senate, would require stores by law to check IDs on vape purchases, verifying one’s age with the buyer’s driving license, passport, military card, or other government identification.
The proposal is sponsored by Del. Heather Tully. She says current law is not clear on if a store must check your ID. Her proposal removes that uncertainty, according to media reports.
The proposal would increase fines for those in violation — from $250 for a first offense to a maximum of $5,000 for a fourth offense and every other instance thereafter within five years of the initial conviction.
Yet, one discrepancy remains — what age can one buy vaping products?
Federal law says 21. West Virginia law says 18.
Clark has introduced separate legislation to raise West Virginia’s age to 21.
That proposal waits action in Tully’s committee. She says its progress remains uncertain in the House.
“It’s a personal liberty question,” she told WSAZ. “I know that the body may be a little bit more divided on that — at what age is it appropriate, what age is considered an adult — and so I would rather keep the focus on checking the IDs and making sure that we are verifying the IDs for sales, rather than splitting the body on the semantics of should it be 18 or 21.”
“I get both arguments,” Clark said. “How we come across — or how we fix it? I have no clue.”
The legislation to check IDs now moves to the state Senate.
February 7, 2024
Health Department Wants Stricter Vape Rules

Image: Oleksii
The Philippines Department of Health (DOH) is gathering data on vaping prevalence in the country, reports Malaya Business Insight.
DOH Undersecretary Eric Tayag said the information will be used to convince policymakers to strengthen laws against vaping.
According to the Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS), e-cigarette users among the youth increased from 11.7 percent in 2015 to 24.5 percent in 2019.
The DOH statement comes after nine former health officials called on the Philippine delegation to the 10th Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP10) of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) to take the lead in pushing for the fight against vapes and electronic cigarettes.
The former DOH secretaries and undersecretaries believe the Philippine delegation should speak about the serious threat to public health brought about by weak Philippine regulations on e-cigarettes and vapes.
February 7, 2024
U.S. House Lawmakers Push FDA Chief on Vaping

Credit: Rafel
A news media outlet is reporting that U.S Reps. Rob Wittman and Raja Krishnamoorthi wrote a letter to Robert Califf, head of the Food and Drug Administration, asking for answers to inquiries they had sent to the agency in November.
“While we appreciate the recent joint federal operation resulting in the seizure of more than 1.4 million units of illegal e-cigarettes in December 2023, much more needs to be done,” the letter exclusively provided to The Hill states. “Illegal vaping products from the PRC [People’s Republic of China] now make up more than half of all vaping products sold in the United States and contribute significantly to underage vaping rates.”
The lawmakers specifically cited the brand Elf Bar as being “illegally imported” from China. The product line features brightly colored e-cigarettes with various fruity flavors, which anti-vaping advocates say attract youth.
The lawmakers asked what the FDA planned to do to stem the flow of e-cigarettes from China and whether it planned to enforce legal proceedings against manufacturers. They also asked why the FDA has not issued a rule requiring foreign manufacturing registration, which the Tobacco Control Act allows for.
The agency has repeatedly delayed its reviewing of premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs), which are required for new tobacco products to be legally marketed in the U.S. The FDA previously said it would finish reviewing applications by the end of December 2023.
The FDA now states that it will complete all covered marketing applications by June 30. In its latest court-ordered status report, the agency stated that continued review is necessary in light of recent judicial decisions, including the D.C. Circuit’s decision in Fontem US.
Krishnamoorthi and Wittman asked when the FDA would complete its reviews and pressed the agency over the delay.
February 7, 2024
Taxpayers Group Holds ‘Counter COP’ in Panama

Photo: TPA
Concurrent with the 10the Conference of the Parties (COP10) to the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which takes place in Panama City this week, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) is hosting an event at the Central Hotel Panama under the name “Good Cop/Bad Cop.” The event will be livestreamed on TPA’s YouTube channel.
Good COP will feature nearly two dozen tobacco harm reduction experts, representing 14 different countries and highlighting some of the leading experts on consumer issues, national and global policies, and the science surrounding harm reduction.
Throughout the event, TPA and the Good COP participants will be monitoring the WHO’s meeting and providing running commentary via livestreams, media interviews, blogs, and social media.
“The taxpayer-funded WHO ignores science and puts billions of smokers at risk of not having access to life-saving technology to quit smoking,” said TPA’s President, David William in a statement.
“The participants of Good COP will hold the WHO accountable for denying life-saving access to tobacco harm reduction products and denying access to the public and media to these meetings. “In real time, harm reduction experts from around the globe will be fact-checking and providing commentary on the WHO’s anti-science agenda at COP10.”
February 7, 2024
VTA Buys Ads Targeting Senator Over Zyn Comments

The Vapor Technology Association (VTA) announced the launch of a cable news ad buy targeting Sen. Chuck Schumer and his proposed ban on Zyn nicotine pouches. The ad runs this week on FOX News and FOX Business during key programming slots, including “FOX and Friends,” “Kudlow,” and “The Five.”
Sen. Charles Schumer
The ad connects a proposed ban on e-cigarettes with a ban on all less harmful, tobacco-free nicotine products, such as Zyn nicotine pouches. The ad also calls out entrenched bureaucrats at the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP), led by Brian King, for repeatedly blocking access for millions to e-cigarettes as harm reduction tools that the science has proven are the most effective product on the market to help people quit smoking cigarettes, according to an emailed press release.
“Sen. Schumer and the FDA are simply wrong: wrong on e-cigarettes, wrong on Zyn, and wrong on the science,” said Tony Abboud, executive director of VTA. “Rather than give adult smokers broader access to a greater number of lower-risk alternatives, the FDA and CTP have instead imposed a de facto ban on e-cigarettes – and Zyn is next.”
The ad states that Schumer’s proposed Zyn ban precisely mimics his attempts to eliminate e-cigarette use nationwide, amounting to an assault on Americans’ personal freedom to choose lower-risk, tobacco-free nicotine products that overwhelming scientific and medical data demonstrates are effective at helping adults quit smoking.

February 6, 2024
New FEELM Turbo Promises ‘Explosion’ of Flavor

Credit: FEELM
FEELM, a leading vape solution provider, has launched the world’s first “burst power ceramic coil” vape solution. The FEELM Turbo solution leverages “cutting-edge” ceramic coil technology to deliver an explosion of flavor for consumers, according to an emailed press release.
“Like none others, it can deliver intense flavors, powerful vapor in the shortest time, and enduringly long product life. Compared to other high-powered vapes, products equipped with FEELM Turbo have smaller sizes yet deliver even higher bursts of vapor,” FEELM states. “This technology is also perfectly adapted to the two major vape categories, the disposables, and the pod-system, suitable for customers to create differentiated products to seize the market.”
Despite its small size, the Turbo can deliver a 200 percent improvement in taste intensity. It efficiently atomizes large molecules while enhancing e-liquid aroma recovery, resulting in a richer and more satisfying hit, according to the release. “With a burst time of just 0.5 seconds, it outperforms mainstream products on the market by strides. Tests show that just one burst power ceramic coil performs more than on par with dual MESH coils,” FEELM states.
At this year’s TPE exhibition, FEELM showcased an ultra-thin burst power disposable product the 2024 TPE trade show held in Las Vegas at the end of January. With a body thickness of only 14mm, the product “impressed consumers with its elegant thinness, excellent feel, and powerful first puff. It truly lives up to its name: ‘thin yet powerful!’”
The FEELM Turbo solution delivers significantly more vapor at a lower power setting. Compared to dual Mesh products on the market, FEELM Turbo sees an 80 percent increase in performance, offering a richer flavor experience. The Turbo also boasts constant power engine technology, which ensures consistent flavor and vapor volume throughout the product’s lifespan.
“Users can enjoy the same satisfying taste with every puff, unlike mainstream products where flavor often fades to bland. Compared to the competitors, FEELM Turbo products demonstrate a 35 percent improvement in flavor consistency and a remarkable 95 percent consistency in the vapor volume,” the release states.
February 6, 2024
Australia: Over $1 Million in Illicit Nicotine Seized
More than 30,000 vapes and tobacco products worth more than AUD 1 million ($650,000) have been seized by health authorities in a series of raids across Sydney.
The major vaping blitz saw 60 retailers targeted throughout the city’s southeast last week.
More than 30,000 e-cigarettes, 118,000 cigarettes, 45 kilograms of flavored and loose-leaf tobacco, and 284 containers of nicotine pouches were taken during the NSW Health and Therapeutic Goods Administration raids.
The total street value of the seizures is over $1.1 million, NSW Health said.
It takes the total value of illegal vapes and tobacco products seized across the state since July 2020 to $31.6 million.
February 6, 2024