Tag: news

UK to Offer 1 Million Smokers Free Vapes to Quit

Credit: Brian Jackson
Up to 1 million smokers will be encouraged to swap their cigarettes for vapes, according to the British government. Pregnant women will be offered financial incentives to switch, reports Reuters.
“Up to two out of three lifelong smokers will die from smoking. Cigarettes are the only product on sale which will kill you if used correctly,” Health Minister Neil O’Brien will say in a speech later on Tuesday, the government said.
“We will offer a million smokers new help to quit. We will be funding a new national ‘swap to stop’ scheme—the first of its kind in the world.”
One million smokers will be given a free vaping starter kit to encourage them to give up tobacco products.
Pregnant women will also be offered up to £400 to stop smoking as part of a package of measures in England unveiled by the government on Tuesday.
A consultation will be launched on compelling cigarette manufacturers to put advice on quitting inside packs.
April 11, 2023
Public Hearing for Manufacturing Rules Tomorrow

Credit: Xtock
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will hold a public hearing tomorrow, April 12, concerning its proposed guidelines for vaping product manufacturers. When finalizing its rules, the agency weighs the public’s perspective and the perspective of stakeholders like the vapor manufacturing companies that produce the products.
The FDA will also bring together its Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee on May 18 to get the opinions of those independent experts. The proposed rules would apply to all FDA-regulated bulk and finished tobacco products, including cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco and e-cigarettes.
The hearing is an opportunity for the public to verbally comment on the agency’s proposed rule “Requirements for Tobacco Product Manufacturing Practice.” The FDA is proposing new requirements for vaping and other tobacco product manufacturers regarding the manufacture, design, packing and storage of their products.
Registration also includes a “listen-only” option for those who want to attend the session but do not want to request to speak.
When announcing the hearing, the FDA said speaking spots were limited, and the agency could not guarantee that it would be able to accommodate all requests. The agency asked groups and organizations to select a single spokesperson to help the agency hear as many different perspectives as possible.
Registration to provide oral comments closed on March 31, 2023. The oral session will be recorded, and a transcript will be added to the docket of the proposed rule.
April 11, 2023
Juul Labs Settles With West Virginia for $7.9 Million

Credit: Carol
West Virginia has reached a settlement agreement with e-cigarette manufacturer Juul Labs Inc. based on its advertising and marketing practices, according to state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey.
Juul Labs has agreed to a $7.9 million settlement, based on accusations the company violated West Virginia’s Consumer Credit and Protection Act, according to media reports.
The company was accused of “engaging in unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the manufacturing, designing, selling, marketing, promoting and distributing of e-cigarettes” in the state, especially promotions targeting underage users, according to Morrisey.
“This settlement puts companies like Juul in check to not copy big tobacco’s playbook and gear marketing strategies toward underage people,” he said. “In Juul’s case, we have alleged it has deceived consumers about its nicotine strength, misrepresented the nicotine equivalency of its products to traditional cigarettes and understated the risks of addiction that occur with such powerful levels of nicotine.”
The settlement represents “yet another step in Juul Labs’ ongoing commitment to resolve issues from the company’s past,” according to a statement from Austin Finan, vice president of corporate communications at Juul Labs.
“The terms of the agreement, like prior settlements, provide financial resources to further combat underage use and develop cessation programs and they reflect our current business practices, which were implemented as part of our company-wide reset in the fall of 2019,” Finan said. “With West Virginia having the highest cigarette-smoking rate in the U.S., we hope that some funds will go directly to interventions to reduce the use of combustible cigarettes and improve public health in the state.”
Juul has now settled with “40 states and territories, providing hundreds of millions of dollars to the participating states,” according to Finan.
April 10, 2023
Russia’s Vape Market Growing With Boost From China

A vape shop in Vladikavkaz, Russia in 2019. (Credit: irinabal18)
The withdrawal of European and American tobacco manufacturers and the gradual reduction of foreign e-cigarette brands doing business in Russia due to its war with Ukraine has allowed for the growth of Chinese e-cigarettes in Russia.
As Russia’s tobacco industry relies heavily on the support and investment of foreign brands, the withdrawal of international tobacco companies will cause a large shortage in the Russian tobacco market, which will lead to a sharp increase in the price of tobacco products sold in Russia, according to iGeekPhone.
By the end of 2021, there were more than 5,000 stores selling e-cigarettes in Russia, including more than 1,100 in the Moscow region.
According to real estate platform DNA REALTY, the number of tobacco shops in Russia grew by at least 20 percent in 2022, with the bulk of their profits coming from e-cigarette sales.
BAT announced it will withdraw from the Russian and Belarusian tobacco markets in 2023. Philip Morris International (PMI) and its subsidiary Fimo International, are also considering retaining their business in Russia because Russia is the seventh-largest tobacco market for PMI.
Japan Tobacco suspended investments in Russia and Imperial Brands transferred its Russian operations to a successor in Russia.
“E-cigarettes have great potential as alternatives to the tobacco market in Russia, where e-cigarette consumers account for 6.8 percent of the total number of smokers,” the article states. “After the United States and Europe, Russia is the world’s third-largest importer of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS).
“China accounts for 90 percent of the global market. In 2021, China’s exports to Russia reached 82.5 billion rubles. This year it could increase by 35 percent to 111 billion rubles.”
April 10, 2023
UK to Launch Youth Vaping ‘Enforcement Squads’

Credit: DIY13
The UK is set to launch “illicit vapes enforcement squads” as part of a crackdown on the illegal sale of e-cigarettes to youth under the age of 18.
Led by Trading Standards, the squads will work across the country and share knowledge across regional networks and local authorities.
The government says its priority is to prevent people from smoking, and supporting them to quit. It has admitted vaping is a preferable alternative for adults, reports Sky News.
However, it recognizes it has an issue with illegal sales to children and illicit vapes being introduced into the market.
Neil O’Brien, the health minister who will unveil the new plans said the new illicit vapes enforcement squad will work across the country and clamp down on those businesses that sell vapes to children.
“Our call for evidence will also allow us to get a firm understanding of the steps we can take to reduce the number of children accessing and using vapes,” he said.
April 10, 2023
Judge Rules Reynolds can Continue to sell Vuse

A Virginia federal judge denied a permanent injunction request from Philip Morris International (PMI) to bar R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co. from selling vaping devices that a jury found violated PMI patents. In the order, the judge stated that banning the devices would harm public health.
However, RJRV was ordered to pay a modest patent royalty to its rival PMI. Judge Leonie Brinkeina of the Eastern District of Virginia stated that RJRV is required to pay a royalty of 1.8 percent of net sales for infringing on a patent used in Vuse Alto cartridges, and a 2.2 percent royalty for infringing on a patent used in Vuse Solo G2 cartridges, reports the Winston-Salem Journal.
The royalties will be enforced for the remaining life of the patents. The royalties will be paid quarterly, retroactive to June 16. PMI said that if a permanent injunction was not approved, it requested a 33.5 percent royalty on the Alto cartridges and a 3.75 percent royalty on the Solo G2 cartridges.
The royalties are on top of jury awards in 2022 that totaled $10.91 million for the Alto infringement and $3.16 million for the Solo G2 infringement.
PMI said in a statement that “while we continue to review the court’s decision, we reiterate our gratitude to the jury for its finding that BAT’s affiliate RJR infringed two of our patents with its Vuse products, its confirmation of BAT’s obligation to pay us damages, and its vindication of our industry-leading investments in smoke-free technologies, such as e-vapor.”
RJRV said in a statement that “while we welcome the decision to reject an injunction, we are disappointed with the underlying verdict regarding patent validity and infringement.”
“R.J. Reynolds Vapor is currently evaluating next steps, including the possibility of an appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, seeking reversal of the jury’s verdict regarding patent validity and infringement.”
Brinkeina determined that PMI “has not established that it has suffered irreparable injury” from the patent infringements.
The judge wrote that “(PMI) did not have a significant market (in the U.S.) before Reynolds infringed on its patents, has not demonstrated that it has brand recognition in the U.S. for its products, and has not provided compelling evidence that shows the loss of goodwill in the domestic market.”
Brinkeina also determined that the public’s interest in having potentially harm reduction Alto and Solo G2 cartridges available at retail outweighs ordering a permanent injunction “given the undisputed popularity of Reynolds’ Vuse products.”
In the latest Nielsen report on convenience store sales of tobacco products, top-selling Vuse holds a 42.2 percent market share, compared with Juul at 26.1 percent.
April 10, 2023
Texas County to Discuss Selling Vapes to Inmates

Credit: Rawf8
A county sheriff in Ector County, Texas told county commissioners that he believed the jail can make “a million dollars” from selling e-cigarettes to inmates.
Sheriff Mike Griffis is scheduled to speak to the commissioners on Tuesday. The agenda item of “consider, discuss, and take any necessary action to approve the sale of e-cigarettes to inmates at no cost to the county or taxpayers; all proceeds collected will be used at the Ector County Detention Center,” according to Yahoo.
“We are not only looking at this as a behavioral tool, but a financial tool to help offset some of the taxpayer-funded items that we have to provide inmates in the jail,” Griffis said. “We hope to implement it within the next few weeks.”
Griffis explained to the Odessa American the cost of the e-cigarette will be $3.85 each and come in a 50-count package.
The jail plans to have an initial order of 1,000. The cost to the inmates will be $14 (a 364 percent increase) which includes $1.07 in sales tax. Griffis said there will be stipulations for inmates to purchase an e-cigarette with their commissary funds.
Griffis said inmates can only purchase and have one e-cigarette at a time. Griffis said before the inmate can purchase another e-cigarette they have to return their initial e-cigarette purchase. Griffis also explained that if the e-cigarette has been tampered with the inmate won’t be able to purchase any more e-cigarettes.
“If it’s abused, that inmate will not be eligible to get another one,” Griffis said.
April 9, 2023
BAT Partners with CBD Giant Charlotte’s Web

BAT has partnered with CBD firm Charlotte’s Web to develop a drug for an undisclosed neurological condition, reports Bloomberg. The partnership is part of BAT’s plan to diversify away from cigarettes.
A joint venture between BAT’s subsidiary AJNA BioSciences PBC and Charlotte’s Web, which BAT invested in last year, plans to seek approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for a treatment made from hemp extract. AJNA invested $10 million in the deal. Charlotte’s Web and AJNA each own 40 percent of the entity while BAT controls the remaining stake, according to a statement.
April 7, 2023
Price set at $7 per Share for Ispire Technology IPO
Credit: IQoncept
Ispire Technology Inc. announced that it has priced its initial public offering of 2,700,000 shares of its common stock offered at a price to the public of $7.00 per share.
In addition, the company also granted the Underwriters a 45-day option to purchase up to an additional 405,000 shares of common stock to cover over-allotments, according to a press release.
The shares began trading on the NASDAQ Capital Market on April 4, under the ticker symbol “ISPR.”
The initial public offering is expected to close on April 6, 2023, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.
Proceeds from the offering will be used for:
Approximately 35 percent to develop manufacturing operations in Vietnam and the United States;
Approximately 25 percent for research and development activities, which include efforts to develop new products and new vaping technology;
Approximately 20 percent for the marketing and promotion of the Company’s branded products; and
The balance of approximately 20 percent for general administration and working capital.
US Tiger Securities, Inc. is acting as sole book-running manager for the offering. TFI Securities and Futures Limited and Prime Number Capital, LLC are acting as underwriters for the offering.
In addition, 1,750,000 shares of common stock may be offered by two selling stockholders pursuant to the prospectus.
These shares may be sold from time to time by the selling stockholders, who have not engaged any underwriter in connection any sales they may make. The company will not receive any proceeds from sales by the selling stockholders.
Last year, Shenzhen-based Aspire Global, parent to Ispire, applied to U.S. regulators to withdraw its New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) listing application.
April 5, 2023
Vuse Market Share Grows to 42%, Juul Drops to 26%

R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co. has continued to expand Vuse‘s market-share gap with Juul, according to the latest Nielsen convenience store report released Tuesday.
Vuse’s market share rose from 41.5% in the previous report to 42.2%, compared with Juul declining from 26.1% to 26.1%.
The latest Nielsen analysis covers the four-week period ending March 25, according to media reports.
According to Barclays, Nielsen largely covers the big chains. For the smaller chains, the group extrapolates trends, which is why trend changes don’t appear immediately in Nielsen.
Consumer demand for tobacco products has ebbed and flowed over the past 12 months, mostly from the impact of inflation and recent upticks in traditional cigarette prices.
No. 3 NJoy was unchanged at 2.7%, while Fontem Ventures’ blu eCigs was unchanged at 1.4%.
On March 6, Altria Group Inc. delivered another shakeup to the tobacco industry by confirming it would pay $2.75 billion in cash to take full ownership of NJoy.
Altria cleared the way for the NJoy purchase by exiting its minority stake in No. 2 e-cigarette Juul while acquiring global licensing rights.
Juul’s four-week dollar sales in the latest report have dropped from a 50.2% increase in the Aug. 10, 2019, report to a 23.9% decline in the latest report.
By comparison, Reynolds’ Vuse was up 31.1% in the latest report, while NJoy was down 10.9%, blu eCigs down 37.4% and Japan Tobacco’s Logic up 5.2%.
As recently as May 2019, Juul held a 74.6% U.S. e-cig market share.
April 5, 2023