Tag: news

  • New Chicago Vape Shops will Need Permit From City

    New Chicago Vape Shops will Need Permit From City

    Credit: Stephen VanHorn

    New businesses in the U.S. city of Chicago that get 20 percent of their income from the sale of vaping products will now be required to obtain a special city license. There is no moratorium clause.

    The ordinance from 41st Ward Ald. Anthony Napolitano, which passed by voice vote Wednesday, also restricts how closely such shops can operate from each other.

    “The devil is always in the details, but a model that permits new stores to open appears more consumer-friendly than the possibility of moratoriums,” said Gregory Conley, director of legislative and external affairs for the American Vapor Manufacturers Association.

    Napolitano’s original proposal would have given the City Council authority to place moratoriums in specified areas on future tobacco retail licenses, which are required in Chicago to sell cigarettes, vapes and other smoke products.

    The newest legislation, which exempts existing vape shops, comes as the city has moved to crack down on electronic cigarettes, which have lately been a target of a broad coalition of aldermen and Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

    But those working in vape shops have countered that their products have helped many adults quit traditional cigarettes, and existing constraints have failed to keep the electronic ones out of children’s hands. They worry the legislation would further hurt small businesses without making a dent in preventing youth addiction.

  • Scotland Officially Places Disposables Under Review

    Scotland Officially Places Disposables Under Review

    Credit: ArieStudio

    The Scottish government has officially commissioned an “urgent review of the environmental impacts and management of single-use vapes.”

    The review, which comes in response to emerging concerns around the negative consequences of disposable vaping devices, will inform potential policy responses, which could include a ban of the products.

    The disposable smoking devices have been linked to issues including litter, plastic waste and fire risk, according to Scotland’s government.

    Zero Waste Scotland will lead the review, which will consider international experience and action, including any key developments in the European Union.

    Other approaches could include increasing access to responsible disposal options, improved product design, or public communications campaigns.

    “Any form of littering is an unacceptable, anti-social behavior, that is damaging to the environment and the economy,” Iain Gulland, Chief Executive of Zero Waste Scotland, said. “Single-use items, like disposable vapes, are becoming an all-too-common eyesore in areas where we live, work, and socialize, and can last in our environment for years and years. Tackling our throwaway culture is a priority here at Zero Waste Scotland and we are happy to lead on this important review.”

  • AVM to Hold Public Forum With CTP Director King

    AVM to Hold Public Forum With CTP Director King

    Brian King / Credit: FDA

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products Director Brian King will participate in an open discussion with the vaping industry in late February.

    The virtual event will be moderated by American Vapor Manufacturers Association (AVM) legislative director Gregory Conley and newly-named AVM vice president Allison Boughner.

    “The Future of Vaping in the US: A Conversation with FDA’s Dr. Brian King” will be held on Feb. 24 at 1:00 p.m. EST, and is open to the public. Participants must register in advance, and AVM has provided an opportunity to submit questions for King.

    King has been quiet since memos recently submitted to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit show that he reversed a recommended marketing approval of Logic Technology’s menthol vaping products, ignoring the advice of FDA scientists, according to Logic’s lawyers. 

  • Philippines: Group Wants Crackdown on Illegal Vapes

    Philippines: Group Wants Crackdown on Illegal Vapes

    Credit: Tupungato

    The Philippine Tobacco Industry (PTI) has called on the Philippines’ Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to crack down on illicit vapor products, reports The Manilla Times.

    In a letter sent recently to BIR Commissioner Romeo Lumagui Jr., the group emphasized that the full implementation of the Vaporized Nicotine and Non-Nicotine Products Regulation Act “will ensure that the public is protected against the dangers of using illicit products as well as the collection of appropriate taxes aimed at helping our economy.”

    The Act, which became law in July 2022, regulates the importation, manufacture, sale, packaging, distribution, use and communication of vaping products such as e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products.

    Under the laws implementing rules and regulations (IRR), e-commerce platforms, e-marketplaces and other similar online platforms are mandated to allow only Department of Trade and Industry and BIR-registered distributors, merchants or retailers of vape products, devices and novel tobacco products to sell on their website or platform.

    To ensure vape products are made inaccessible to minors, the IRR also requires vapor product refill receptacles to be tamper- and child-resistant. Products packaged or labeled with flavor descriptors appealing to minors are prohibited.

    “We are also hoping that the BIR will closely work with enforcement agencies such as the Philippine National Police, The Armed Forces of the Philippines as well as relevant anti-illicit trade groups from the Bureau of Customs to make sure the law and its IRR are effectively implemented,” the PTI said.

    The PTI members include Japan Tobacco International Philippines, Associated Anglo-American Tobacco Corp. and Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Co.

  • 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.

  • Fifth Circuit Grants Triton Rehearing Before Full Court

    Fifth Circuit Grants Triton Rehearing Before Full Court

    Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals

    The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted Wages and White Lion Investments LLC, doing business as Triton Distribution, and Vapetasia LLC’s, request for the full court to re-hear Triton’s appeal of its marketing denial order (MDO), according to a court order handed down today.

    Triton lost before a three-judge panel in July, but attorneys for Triton then filed a petition for a rehearing en banc by the entirety of the Fifth Circuit.

    Most circuit court appeals are decided by a three-judge panel, however, the special circumstances surrounding the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s denial of Triton’s premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs) motivated the court to allow a majority of the active judges (an estimated 17 judges) to vote to rehear the case “en banc.”

    The FDA rejected applications to market 55,000 flavored e-cigarettes in August 2021, including Triton’s, and said applicants would likely need to conduct long-term studies establishing their products’ benefits to win approval.

    A Fifth Circuit panel in October then agreed with Triton’s claim that the new requirement for long-term studies differed from earlier FDA guidance and called the action a “surprise switcheroo” and the panel allowed Triton to keep selling its e-cigarettes until another panel could hear its appeal.

    The court then denied Triton’s request for review of the agency’s MDOs in a 2-1 decision.

    The Fifth Circuit will hear the en banc argument in Wages and White Lion Investments v. U.S. Food & Drug Administration in May.

  • Italy Announces Rules for Ban on Indoor Vaping

    Italy Announces Rules for Ban on Indoor Vaping

    New measures against nicotine products will be introduced in Italy to address the prevention and fight against vaping and smoking.

    Italy’s health minister, Orazio Schillaci, announced new measures against vaping and other tobacco products to achieve a “tobacco-free generation,” reports Euractiv.

    “Measures will have to be taken to guarantee all citizens maximum protection of their health, a fundamental right of the individual and an interest of the community,” said Schillaci.

    Smoking rooms indoors will be banned, and the ban on smoking in open-air places in the presence of minors and pregnant women will be extended.

    E-cigarettes and heated-tobacco products will also be included in the ban, taking into account “the constantly increasing diffusion of new products on the market and the growing evidence on their possible harmful effects on health.” Plans to extend the cigarette advertising ban to new nicotine-containing products are also in place.

    “This process aims to allow the different multiple interests related to tobacco products, involving economic ministries, not to override health protection,” Schillaci said.

  • UK Trading Standards: Fake Vapes a Major Threat

    UK Trading Standards: Fake Vapes a Major Threat

    Credit: Innovated Captures

    According to UK Trading Standards officials, shops selling illegal vapes and the sale of vaping products to children are the top threats on the country’s High Streets.

    Hundreds of thousands of vapes that flout current laws have been seized, according to BBC.

    UK laws limit how much nicotine and e-liquid is contained in vapes, and which health warnings are required on packaging.

    But some shops are selling vapes containing 12,000 puffs of e-liquid, when the law permits only about 600. Others contain illegally high levels of nicotine.

    In the north-east of England alone, more than 1.4 tonnes of illegal vapes were seized from shops in the second half of last year, while in Kent there was a dramatic rise in counterfeit vaping products seized at Channel ports in December, with more than 300,000 removed.

  • New Mexico Lawmakers to Consider Flavor Ban

    New Mexico Lawmakers to Consider Flavor Ban

    New Mexico State Capitol at dusk (Credit: Ball Studios)

    A New Mexico lawmaker is proposing a ban on all flavored vaping and other tobacco products. The bill would stop the sale of any vaping or other tobacco product that has any flavoring added. The representative behind this bill says the main goal is to stop kids from getting hooked on nicotine.

    “Most of my sales are all flavored stuff. There’s far few and in between that will come and be like ‘I just want nothing flavored,’” says Sabrina Garley, manager of Biroska SmokeShop, a vape vendor in New Mexico, according to KRQE.

    Local smoke shops around Albuquerque say they fear a bill banning these flavored tobacco products like e-cigarettes and vapes will hurt their business. “I thought, ‘we’re going down.’ Definitely, definitely one of our biggest sellers. We’d have to figure out something else to replace that,” Garley says.

    House Bill 94 is sponsored by Las Cruces State Representative Joanne Ferrary. “House Bill 94 will prohibit the sale of flavored tobacco products and it will define the terms and make sure that we aren’t losing a new generation of kids to nicotine,” Ferrary says, “By removing the flavored tobacco products from the market, it will keep kids from gravitating towards any of the flavors on the market.”

  • Calls for Scotland to Ban Disposable Vape Devices

    Calls for Scotland to Ban Disposable Vape Devices

    A lawmaker in Scotland is calling for a ban on disposable vapes “after Scotland’s streets became a plastic dumping ground.”

    Green MSP Gillian Mackay said city parks have become clogged up by disposable plastic vaping products, which experts say are a threat to children’s health and a menace to wildlife and she will urge the Government to introduce a ban on disposable plastic vapes.

    Mackay warned the single-use devices were turning up more and more on streets and in beach clean-ups – and claimed they could become “the cotton bud of their time,” according to the Daily Record.

    It comes after the Scottish Government last year banned most types of single-use plastics as part of efforts to shift to a “circular economy” with fewer items wasted. But disposable e-cigarettes weren’t affected, and they’ve exploded in popularity since 2021 with a 14-fold increase in their use among vapers over more eco-friendly rechargeable products.

    Mackay recently also called for a ban on flavored vaping products and all advertising for vaping products.

    Research last year found 1.3 million single-use vapes are being discarded every week in the UK, enough to cover 22 football pitches – an average of two thrown away every second.

    Recycling the products is also tricky as inside the plastic are valuable lithium batteries. Campaigners say the number of batteries chucked away would be enough to power 1200 electric cars.