Tag: news

Cannabis Vape Hardware Firm Greentank Gets $16.5 Million

Credit: VetKit
Vape hardware manufacturer Greentank Technologies closed a Series B financing round worth $16.5 million with an unspecified “strategic investor group” that includes Canadian cannabis producer Organigram Holdings.
The funding will be used to launch new vape technology, which Greentank CEO Dustin Koffler said in a statement “moves away from the traditional ceramic and wicked coil systems commonly used in most vaporizer products today.”
The technology “is expected to launch later this year and serve multiple markets beyond cannabis,” Toronto-based Greentank said in a Friday news release, according to MJ Biz Daily.
The $16.5 million funding round includes a $14.5 million equity investment from the investment group, plus $2 million in debt financing from existing shareholders.
The terms of the debt financing were not disclosed.
In a statement, Greentank said its new vape technology “will expand its reach beyond cannabis to serve the broader vape category including nicotine, e-liquids, pharmaceuticals and more.”
April 4, 2023
Palau Makes Sale, Use of Vaping Products Illegal

The small island nation of Palau has outlawed e-cigarettes and other vaping products after President Surangel Whipps signed a law for “a total ban on the import, advertising, sale, and use of e-cigarettes” on March 29.
The law – RPPL 11-27 – has expanded the country’s Tobacco Control Act to include e-cigarettes and will come into effect 60 days after being enacted, according to the NZ Herald.
Beginning May 29, businesses and individuals can be prosecuted if found with e-cigarette products.
Individuals who are caught violating the law could face a US$1000 (NZ$1588) fine and businesses or persons importing, distributing, and/or selling the product could face a US$20,000 (NZ$31,753) fine.
The initial bill was introduced in the Palau National Congress in July last year.
April 4, 2023
April 30 Deadline for Malaysian Vape Manufacturers

Credit: Olly
Following the removal of nicotine e-liquid or gel from the Poisons Act 1952 to allow for e-cigarettes and vaping products to be taxed in Malaysia, local manufacturers producing e-liquid or gel products containing nicotine must register their manufacturing activities with the Customs Department by April 30, according to the Ministry of Finance (MOF).
“Early registration within this prescribed period may prevent manufacturers from being charged a compound for the offense of late registration. This early registration will ensure comprehensive industry compliance and smooth tax collection by May 2023,” the MOF said in a statement on April 2, according to The Edge Markets.
This follows the imposition of an excise tax of 40 sen ($0.004) cents per milliliter on nicotine e-liquids or gels.
rime Minister and Finance Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced the government’s plan to impose an excise tax on liquid or gel products containing nicotine when he re-tabled Budget 2023 in February.
The previous government under Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s administration also proposed to extend tax collection from gel or liquid products containing nicotine for vapes and e-cigarettes in the tabling of Budget 2022 by imposing a tax of RM1.20 per ml. However, the plan was postponed, because nicotine vape liquid was still classified as a Class C poison under the Poisons Act.
The new excise duty, the MOF said, would enable the government to tax the vape industry which is estimated to be worth over RM2 billion ($454 million), and at the same time help discourage the use of vapes.
It will also help improve rules and control of excise duty goods by the customs to avoid leakage of national income, according to media reports.
April 3, 2023
Singapore Officials Seize More Than 85,000 Vaping Products

Credit: Sharaf Maksumov
Authorities in Singapore seized more than 85,000 vaping products in a warehouse raid conducted by Singapore’s Health Sciences Authority (HSA).
This is the largest seizure of e-cigarettes and other vaping products by HSA, surpassing a haul in 2021 where more than S$2.2 million ($3 million) worth of products were confiscated, said HSA and the Singapore police in a joint press release today. The latest seizure has an estimated value of more than $5 million.
The raid was the result of HSA following up on leads from investigating a group of people suspected of selling illegal vaping products, according to Channel News Asia.
On Mar 28, six individuals were detained by the police at a multi-story car park at Block 592 Montreal Link.
“The driver of a van was allegedly found to be distributing parcels containing e-vaporizers to five persons purportedly assisting in the delivery to buyers,” said the authorities.
Under the Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) Act, it is an offense to import, sell or distribute vape products.
Those found guilty for the first time can be fined up to S$10,000, jailed for up to six months, or both.
Subsequent offenses double the penalties to a fine of up to S$20,000, a jail term of up to a year, or both.
Vaping is illegal in Singapore. The purchase, use and possession of all vaping products are also prohibited.
April 3, 2023
Malaysia Removes Nicotine E-Liquids From Poisons List

Credit: Gerey
Malaysia’s government has removed e-liquid containing nicotine used in e-cigarettes and other vaping products from the country’s Poisons List of controlled substances. The move enables taxation on e-liquids.
Media reports claim the removal effectively legalizes e-cigarettes with nicotine without any regulations in place, as the current Control of Tobacco Products Regulations 2004 under the Food Act 1983 only cover conventional cigarettes and other tobacco products.
The Control of Tobacco Product and Smoking Bill 2022 – which seeks to regulate both tobacco and vape products, besides a ban on these products for anyone born from 2007 – has yet to be tabled in the current 15th Parliament, reports Code Blue.
Health Minister Zaliha Mustafa gazetted an order Friday to exempt nicotine “preparation of a kind used for smoking through electronic cigarette and electric vaporizing device, in the form of liquid or gel” from the Poisons List under the Poisons Act 1952 – overriding the Poisons Board that unanimously rejected the proposal last Wednesday.
The Excise Duties (Amendment) Order 2023 – which subjects e-liquid or gel containing nicotine to excise duty of 40 sen ($0.004) per milliliter – gazetted by Finance Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who is also the prime minister, was dated last March 29, the same day as the Poisons Board meeting.
The tax on e-liquids with nicotine went into effect on April 1.
CodeBlue reported that the Poisons Board, an independent body formed under the Poisons Act, wholly objected to the government’s proposal to exclude nicotine-containing e-liquid from the Poisons List on the basis that the harm of allowing e-cigarettes to be sold to anyone, including children, outweighed the benefit of tax revenue from such products containing nicotine, a highly addictive substance.
April 2, 2023
Former CTP Director Zeller Joins Qnovia Advisory Board

Mitch Zeller, former director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products
Mitch Zeller, the much-maligned former head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s tobacco center has joined the advisory board of a company developing a first-of-its-kind smoking cessation inhalation product.
Zeller said Qnovia’s nicotine inhalation product, RespiRX, has the potential to be a “game changer” in lowering the use of combustible cigarettes.
The former director of the Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) from March 2013 until his retirement in April 2022, Zeller is now providing policy and regulatory strategy consulting to Qnovia, Inc.
The company is currently preparing an application to the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) for a cessation therapy which, if approved, will be the first inhaled prescription therapy to help tobacco smokers quit.
Zeller’s addition to the company’s advisory board comes as the FDA aims to finalize proposed bans on menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars by August. The FDA also plans to propose a rule limiting nicotine levels in cigarettes and some other tobacco products.
Zeller said access to Qnovia’s product can be one essential tool along with an administration-wide effort to provide support to those with nicotine addictions once those product standards take effect.
“Some people will be able to quit cold turkey, but a whole bunch won’t, and they will be seeking nicotine elsewhere,” Zeller said in an interview, told Bloomberg Law.
“The last thing that we want smokers to do if any of those policies go into effect is to simply switch to another tobacco product,” he added.
Qnovia’s goal is for RespiRx to be the first inhaled prescription smoking cessation therapy product, according to Qnovia CEO Brian Quigley. Instead of using heat to create vapor, the RespiRx device uses an orientation-agnostic vibrating mesh nebulizer. The aerosolizing engine is nothing like a traditional e-cigarette that heats a coil to atomize nicotine based in PG and/or VG.
RespiRx is activated when a user inhales on the device. To aerosolize the nicotine, it sends an electrical current that causes the perforated piezo mesh to vibrate more than 100,000 times a second. “It’s that vibrating action of the mesh that then forces the liquid to the holes, creating an aerosol that appears vapor-like, allowing it to be inhaled,” says Quigley. That, he says, is fundamentally different from a traditional e-cigarette product, where the heating process can create undesired thermal byproducts.
RespiRx uses proprietary software to deliver a precise dose of nicotine. Every time it’s activated, the device fires for three seconds and delivers a targeted dose of the drug. The base is reusable and serves as the housing for the battery and software. The RespiRx nebulizer sits within the pod that houses the nicotine drug product.
“The nebulizing unit (cartridge) gets replaced by the patient every one to two days. That interface means that the patient doesn’t have to clean the nebulizer,” explains Quigley. “The biggest challenge with other vibrating mesh products is that they require cleaning if used over an extended period. We’re mitigating that through the design of the interface. There is no cleaning required. We do believe that this will result in RespiRx having a very long use life.”
Late last year, Qnovia raised $17 million to continue the development of its RespiRx nicotine replacement product.
In June of 2020, the company appointed Quigley, a 16-year veteran of Altria Group, as its Chief Operating Officer. At Altria, Quigley served as CEO of its smokeless tobacco business from 2012 to 2018, a $2.3 billion business with over 800 employees,
March 31, 2023
UK to Consider Banning Flavors Other Than Tobacco

Credit: Mary
The UK government will consider banning fruit-flavored vapes in order to combat youth, ITV News reports.
Public Health Minister Neil O’Brien is expected to make a speech next month calling for an investigation into the issue, with the possibility of banning the addictive fruity flavors that have exploded in popularity in recent years.
In the UK it is illegal to sell vapes to those under 18, there are also strict limits on nicotine content, refill bottle and tank sizes, as well as restrictions on advertising and labeling.
On Thursday, Justice Secretary Dominic Raab said the Department of Health and Social Care is exploring ways to tackle youth vaping in response to a question in the Commons.
The government is still keen to promote vaping among adults as an alternative to smoking.
March 31, 2023
Belfast Considering Ban on Vaping for 18 and Unders

Credit: Leonid Andronov
The Belfast Council in Northern Ireland is considering banning anyone under the age of 18 from vaping at its sites and premises around the city.
UUP John Kyle has forwarded a motion to be debated by the full council next week, calling upon Belfast City Council to convene a working group with other stakeholders considering measures to strengthen current legislation and enforcement in relation to vaping, according to Belfast Live.
The motion also calls for a ban on the use of vapes by all under 18’s indoors all council premises.
At the recent meeting of the council’s Standards and Business Committee, Councillor Kyle said: “Part of the purpose of this motion is that people, particularly parents of young people, are unaware of the dangers of vaping. It has become such a common practice with kids at school.
“Part of the purpose is to publicize the issue, make people aware of it, so I propose it is aired at full council before going for consideration to the committee to work it through. It would be beneficial if we as a council give some air space to what is a growing public health problem.”
March 31, 2023
Malaysia Vape Groups Wants OTC Nicotine E-Liquid

Credit: Butenkow
The vape industry in Malaysia expressed support for a potential exemption of liquid nicotine from control under the Poisons Act 1952 in the government’s bid to tax e-cigarettes.
Associations representing vape and e-cigarette companies claimed that this would enable regulations to be introduced for the vape industry, according to CodeBlue.
“Continuing to subject vape products containing nicotine under the Poisons Act does not help as it is not a suitable framework and does not work for the products,” Adzwan Ab Manas, president of the Malaysia Retail Electronic Cigarette Association (MRECA), said in a statement.
Currently, nicotine – except tobacco that is regulated separately under the Control of Tobacco Product Regulations 2004 under the Food Act 1983 – is classified as a Group C poison under the Poisons Act that can only be dispensed by medical practitioners or pharmacists.
Dewan Perniagaan Vape Malaysia (DPVM) secretary-general Ridhwan Rosli, in a separate statement, claimed that if liquid nicotine is exempted from control under the Poisons Act, vape products can be regulated under “current legislation”.
However, the only current law regulating vape products is the control of liquid nicotine under the Poisons Act which the government may soon eliminate.
March 30, 2023
Vermont Senate Gives Nod to Preliminary Flavor Ban

Vermont lawmakers have taken a big first step toward banning flavored tobacco products and e-liquids.
The Senate gave preliminary approval to S.18.
The bill would ban the retail sale of flavored cigarettes, e-cigarettes, and e-liquids, according to WCSX.
It would also get the Attorney General’s Office to report on the extent to which Vermont may legally restrict advertising and regulate labels for the products.
Several states in the Northeast have or are considering flavor bans. Connecticut also introduced a bill that would ban flavored e-cigarettes. New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island have barred the sale of flavored vaping products. Massachusetts banned all flavored tobacco items, including flavored cigars, cigarettes and vaping goods.
Vermont’s ban was originally proposed in early 2020 as a way to prevent youth use, but was sidelined after the Covid-19 pandemic began to impact the country.
March 30, 2023