Tag: Loucas

  • CAPHRA Urges End to Disinformation About Vapes

    CAPHRA Urges End to Disinformation About Vapes

    Vapor Voice archives

    The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) states that as it celebrates World Vape Day on May 30, 2024, the organization is urging global leaders to recognize the life-saving potential of safer nicotine products and to expose the ongoing disinformation campaign led by the World Health Organization (WHO). 

    “Despite overwhelming scientific evidence supporting the reduced risk of vaping compared to combustible tobacco products, the WHO continues to ignore the facts and mislead the public,” said Nancy Loucas, executive coordinator of CAPHRA. “These products, including e-cigarettes, snus, and heated tobacco products (HTPs), offer a viable alternative for millions of smokers seeking to reduce their health risks.

    “The GSTHR reports have shown that these alternatives are not only effective in reducing harm but also play a significant role in public health by providing accessible and acceptable options for smokers worldwide.”

    CAPHRA has criticized the WHO’s exclusionary tactics, particularly at the 10th Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP10). By excluding consumer groups and harm reduction advocates, the WHO has demonstrated a blatant disregard for the voices of those directly impacted by tobacco use, according to an emailed press release.

    “One of the most egregious aspects of the WHO’s stance is its use of children as pawns to propagate the false narrative that vaping is not a tobacco harm reduction product,” said Loucas. “This disinformation campaign not only undermines the credibility of harm reduction efforts but also jeopardizes the health of millions of adult smokers who could benefit from switching to safer alternatives.”

    CAPHRA is calling on all vaping industry stakeholders, including policymakers, public health officials, and the media, to recognize the truth about tobacco harm reduction. The release states that it is time to challenge the disinformation spread by the WHO and advocate for evidence-based policies that prioritize the health and well-being of smokers worldwide.

    “It’s time for the WHO and FCTC to listen to consumers and integrate harm reduction into their policies. Only then can we tackle both the public health crisis of smoking and the escalating illicit tobacco trade,” said Loucas. “The WHO’s stance not only ignores the evidence supporting these strategies but also undermines the global fight against the tobacco epidemic.”

  • Advocates Clarify Science Controversies Ahead of COP10

    Advocates Clarify Science Controversies Ahead of COP10

    Photo: Alliance

    Tobacco harm reduction advocates are keen to clarify controversies surround the science on nicotine and vaping ahead of the Conference of the Parties (COP10) to the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which will take place in November 2023.

    The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Advocates (CAPHRA) has written FCTC delegation heads to help inform their respective countries’ positions.

    In its letter, CAPHRA notes that two high-profile studies, which have been quoted by tobacco controllers regarding the dangers of nicotine and vaping, have since been retracted and removed from significant medical journals.

    “The first retraction is an article published in February 2022 in The World Journal of Oncology, claiming that nicotine vapers face about the same cancer risk as cigarette smokers,” CAPHRA wrote.

    Another article, in the Journal of the American Heart Association, which reported an association between vaping and heart attacks was also retracted. Astoundingly, advocates noted, this article is still used as a reference in the FCTC guidelines around e-cigarettes.

    Consumers’ rights to choose to use less harmful products to switch from smoking remain under tremendous threat from FCTC’s continuing failure to address scientific evidence, democratic processes and human rights.

    Nancy Loucas, executive coordinator, CAPHRA

    In addition, the THR regional advocacy group sent delegates a bibliography of key and current studies that disprove some of the more outrageous claims around harm.

    On the supposed “youth vaping epidemic,” CAPHRA noted “a new survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Food & Drug Administration suggests that youth vaping rates appear to be dropping, compared to pre-pandemic levels… In fact, youth vaping in the U.S. has plummeted by 60 percent over the past two years.’  

    “Consumers’ rights to choose to use less harmful products to switch from smoking remain under tremendous threat from FCTC’s continuing failure to address scientific evidence, democratic processes and human rights,” says CAPHRA executive coordinator Nancy Loucas.

    The CAPHRA representatives reminded the health leaders that the FCTC has a mandate to pursue Harm Reduction as a core tobacco control policy—a position it has failed to acknowledge or implement since its inception, according to CAPHRA.

    “WHO and its FCTC continue to press for signatory states to adopt ever more restrictive policies, including outright bans, based on dubious science. Delegates to COP10 should be representing the rights and aspirations of the citizens,” wrote the CAPHRA member organizations.

    “Consumers have the right to make choices that help them avoid adverse health outcomes and smokers have the right to access less harmful nicotine products as alternatives to smoking. Please take account of these rights when making and presenting your submissions to COP10,” the letter concluded.

  • Kiwi Vape Group Wants Large Fines for Retail Youth Sales

    Kiwi Vape Group Wants Large Fines for Retail Youth Sales

    Credit: Mehaniq41

    A New Zealand vape industry advocate says retailers selling to underage youth are destroying the industry and must be prosecuted.

    Nancy Loucas, co-founder of Aotearoa Vapers Community Advocacy (AVCA), made the comments following the airing of a consumer television show, Fair Go, conducting a hidden camera investigation which showed three retailers selling to under 18-year-olds in Gisborne, a city in the country’s North Island, in one afternoon.

    Just six vape stores nationwide have been issued with infringement notices in the past two years, according to the AVCA.

    “I’m pleased Associate Health Minister Ayesha Verrall and Health New Zealand are promising more compliance checks and enforcement,” said Loucas. “No one wants kids vaping and so any rogue dairy owners need the book thrown at them and fast. No prosecutions have so far been made and that needs to change forthwith.”

    In June last year AVCA publicly called for greater enforcement. At the time it stated that “retailers have had long enough to know right from wrong. I respect the Government’s initial focus is on educating retailers about the new law, but it’s now time to move onto enforcement.”

    AVCA claims dedicated standalone specialist vape stores are not the main issue. Instead, the problems occur when convenience stores partition off a part of their shop to be a “specialist vape store” enabling them to sell a full range of flavors. AVCA stated that it’s a cynical move, which might be within the new vape laws, but needs greater attention, in an email to Vapor Voice.

    “These supposed ‘vape stores’ at one end of dairies [convenience stores] need greater oversight before they’re signed off and then greater enforcement. Overall, the regulations that came out of the 2020 vaping legislation are working well, but youth access remains a work in progress,” said Loucas.

    A recent ASH survey on youth vaping confirmed that only two percent of youth vapers illegally purchased the vapes themselves. The rest are getting it from their friends, siblings, or parents, according to Loucas.

    The Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Bill, currently in Parliament, aims to significantly limit the number of retailers able to sell combustible tobacco by banning sales to anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 2009.

    AVCA is encouraging supporters of New Zealand’s Tobacco Harm Reduction (THR) approach to make a submission to Parliament’s Health Select Committee on the bill by Aug. 24.

    “MPs and officials need to keep their eyes on the prize and not let a few anti-vapers hijack this all important smokefree legislation. This is not the time to try to relitigate the country’s vaping laws which were well covered in 2020. This is all about crunching the cancer sticks which is long overdue,” said Loucas.

  • Study on Vape’s Adverse Effects on Teeth Debunked

    Study on Vape’s Adverse Effects on Teeth Debunked

    Credit: Kraken Images

    A claim in the British Dental Journal that found vaping to cause tooth damage was made by two food science lecturers at the Cardiff Metropolitan University School of Sport and Health Science. That study has now been shown to be rife with errors.

    A letter has since been published in the British Dental Journal by Newcastle University vaping and dentistry experts Richard Holliday, Elaine McColl, Anthony Weke and Zella Sayeed debunking the claims out of Cardiff.

    The four wrote they “were disappointed to see several basic errors and misrepresentations” and went onto correct five major errors in the “erosive potential of vaping” paper.

    Newcastle’s experts say the study authors cite a World Health Organization poster and incorrectly claim that nicotine causes a “high risk of oral and whole-body health complications.”

    In reality, nicotine has been used in the form of NRT for over 30 years, including in pregnant women, and is regarded as extremely safe, even for long-term use, according to Scoop.

    Also significantly, the authors wrongly claim that e-cigarettes are associated with cancer. The supporting reference does not make this claim and instead states “no long-term evidence related to oral and systemic health effects exist.”

    The Newcastle experts then “point UK dental professionals to the well-considered public health guidance which basically concludes that, for the best chances of quitting smoking, one should use support and pharmacotherapy and that e-cigarettes can be part of that package.”

    Nancy Loucas, executive coordinator of the Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA), said the food science lecturers’ biggest mistake was “one made by so many – that is talking up the WHO’s anti-vaping stance” as the official public health position.

    “Tellingly, all UK public bodies, including the NHS, ignore the WHO’s advice. They support vaping, knowing it does not erode teeth nor lead to gum disease,” said Loucas. “Once again science and human evidence have trumped another untenable ideological lie about vaping.”