Tag: news

  • Vape Products Tied to Reduced Smoking Prevalence

    Vape Products Tied to Reduced Smoking Prevalence

    Photo: Rain

    A new analysis conducted on the latest available U.S. National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) data through 2022 showed that population-level data suggest that smoking prevalence has declined at an accelerated rate in the last decade in ways correlated with increased uptake of e-cigarette use.

    Since their market introduction, the question of whether combustion-free products could be a useful tool in the fight against cigarette smoking or simply a substitute has divided the scientific community. Over the years, technological innovation and the development of various products on the market have modified the health risk parameters related to the use of these tools, creating the basis for a redefinition of public health policies.

    To date, vaping is at the center of scientific debate: both for adult smokers who cannot quit and see these products as a way to reduce exposure to toxic substances released by cigarette smoke, and for the concern over use by at-risk groups, such as younger individuals. Many experts believe that vaping represents a gateway to smoking.

    According to the Center of Excellence for the acceleration of Harm Reduction, evidence for the gateway effect has not been detected in population-level studies on the prevalence of e-cigarette use and smoking among young people; indeed, smoking prevalence remains at an all-time low among U.S. adolescents and young adults, despite increases in e-cigarette use.

    The new analysis “Increased e-cigarette use prevalence is associated with decreased smoking prevalence among U.S. adults” published in the Harm Reduction Journal  is an update on a previous analysis modeling population-level prevalence that assessed whether and how much the introduction of e-cigarettes in the U.S. may be correlated with declining smoking prevalence among populations of U.S. adults using the NHIS .

    Results showed that population-level data continue to suggest that smoking prevalence has declined at an accelerated rate in the last decade in ways correlated with increased uptake of e-cigarette use.

    “We found that as ecig use increases at the population level, smoking prevalence tends to decrease, which is what you’d expect to observe if e-cigarettes were used as an alternative to cigarette smoking in the real world” said Floe Foxon, Pinney Associates researcher and author of the analysis, in a statement

    “We also found that this possible substitution between e-cigarette use and smoking was most pronounced in groups that used e-cigarettes the most, which again would be expected if e-cigarettes were being used instead of cigarettes. While it is important to note that the study does not infer causality and that these methods have limitations noted in the paper, they do appear to support a growing body of literature including other simulation studies, econometric research, and randomized controlled controls which suggest that e-cigarettes substitute for cigarettes among adults.”

  • FDA Almost Finished Reviewing PMTA Products

    FDA Almost Finished Reviewing PMTA Products

    Photo: thodonal

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is almost done reviewing premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs) for mass-market vaping products.

    In a July 22 progress report the agency said it had taken action on 185 of 186 marketing applications for e-cigarette products covered by a 2022 court order, which applied to products with significant market share that filed applications by Sep. 9, 2020.

    The manufacturers of those orders have received either a marketing denial order (MDO) or FDA authorization.

    Observers say the one application still under review is Juul. The FDA issued an MDO to Juul in 2022, but quickly stayed its order and agreed to further review the application. In June, the FDA rescinded the denial order, returning Juul’s products to full scientific review.

    In its report, the FDA says it has also issued more than 18 million refuse-to-accept decisions, over 67,000 refuse-to-file decisions, and approximately 46,000 MDOs—most of them for bottled e-liquid made by small- to medium-sized manufacturers.

    The new progress report is the most recent in a series of reports mandated by the U.S. District Court for Maryland as part of its decision that forced the FDA to move the PMTA submission deadline forward.

  • More Warnings for Sellers of Elf Bar, Lost Mary Vapes

    More Warnings for Sellers of Elf Bar, Lost Mary Vapes

    Credit: Chris Titze Imaging

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced on July 25 that it had issued warning letters to 80 brick-and-mortar retailers in 15 states for selling unauthorized e-cigarette products, including Elf Bar and Lost Mary. 

    The regulatory agency also filed complaints for civil money penalties (CMPs) against eight other retailers who failed to take action after being previously warned about selling unauthorized e-cigarettes.

    “These warning letters and CMPs are a result of FDA’s ongoing monitoring of multiple surveillance systems to identify products that are popular among youth or have youth appeal. The 2023 National Youth Tobacco Survey, according to an FDA release, found that more than 50 percent of youth who use e-cigarettes reported using the brand Elf Bar.

    Additionally, the brand Lost Mary—manufactured by the same firm as Elf Bar—was identified as popular or youth-appealing following an agency review of retail sales data and emerging internal data from a youth-use survey. 

    The FDA generally sends warning letters the first time an investigation or inspection reveals a violation. Warning letter recipients have 15 working days to respond with the steps they will take to correct current violations and prevent future violations. However, failure to promptly correct the violations may result in additional FDA action, including CMPs.

    For the retailers receiving the eight CMPs, the FDA previously issued warning letters for to them for selling unauthorized tobacco products. Follow-up inspections revealed that the retailers had failed to correct the violations, and the agency is now seeking $20,678 from each retailer.

    These actions are the latest in the FDA’s ongoing efforts to address the marketing and sale of unauthorized e-cigarettes that appeal to youth. Throughout the last year, the agency has conducted inspections of retailers to identify those selling unauthorized e-cigarettes, including in May, March, and February. As a result of these actions, the FDA has issued more than 690 warning letters and more than 140 civil money penalty actions to retailers for the sale of unauthorized e-cigarettes.

    To date, the FDA has authorized 34 e-cigarette products and devices. These are the only e-cigarette products that currently may be lawfully marketed and sold in the United States. Further information on tobacco products that may be legally marketed in the United States is available in the FDA’s Searchable Tobacco Products Database.

  • Cannabis Investor Accused in ‘Ponzi-Like’ Scheme

    Cannabis Investor Accused in ‘Ponzi-Like’ Scheme

    Credit: Somchairakin

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit on Monday against California businessman Robert Newell and one of his former companies, Black Hawk Funding. They alleged that Newell orchestrated a $38 million “Ponzi-like” scheme to defraud investors.

    The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in the Central District of California, alleges that 63-year-old Newell raised $37.7 million from about 200 investors nationwide between 2016 and 2019 to ostensibly invest in legal marijuana businesses. Instead, he “engaged in various undisclosed and unauthorized uses of the funds, including making Ponzi-like payments to investors and paying for the expenses of unrelated entities.”

    Newell founded Black Hawk Funding in 2011, originally with a focus on the real estate industry, but he pivoted to cannabis following recreational legalization in California in November 2016, according to the lawsuit. Newell acted as the principal financial adviser to three private funds: Verde Ventures Inc., Verde Holdings Inc., and Verde Partners Inc, according to Green Market Report.

    Another separate corporation, National Asset Valuation Services, was also created by Newell “as a conduit to misappropriate money” from two of the three funds, the SEC lawsuit alleges.

    “Newell engaged in a scheme and deceptive course of business to defraud investors by creating a false impression that the Verde Funds were more successful than they were, which allowed Newell to continue raising funds from investors and to enrich himself at the expense of the investors,” the SEC alleged in the suit.

  • BAT Chief Says US Needs Crackdown on Illegal Vapes

    BAT Chief Says US Needs Crackdown on Illegal Vapes

    Credit: Iama Sing

    A surge of illegal vaping products originating from China is negatively impacting the sales of legal alternatives to cigarettes in the U.S., according to the CEO of British American Tobacco.

    Tadeu Marroco advocated for stricter penalties for individuals importing unauthorized vapes into the U.S. “What we are seeing with the lack of enforcement is a reduction of the legal market of vapor,” the CEO said.

    BAT is one of the tobacco producers waiting for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s long-delayed completion of its review of marketing applications for vaping products. BAT is a major player in the vaping industry worldwide and in the U.S. with its Vuse brand.

    The delay is leading manufacturers of illicit products to take advantage of the uncertainty by continuing to sell them, Marroco said. The FDA needs to “decide publicly what are the products that are allowed to stay in the market and the products that need to be taken out of the market,” he added, according to Bloomberg.

    The FDA and the U.S. Department of Justice have formed a federal task force spanning multiple agencies to stop the distribution of illegal e-cigarettes. As of early June, the FDA had issued 1,100 warning letters to makers, importers and distributors of unauthorized new tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, and fined more than 55 manufacturers and 140 retailers.

    BAT has launched two claims with the International Trade Commission, one related to patent infringement and another about the importation and marketing practices of illegal vapes.

    The company reported first-half results earlier Thursday, in which it said it’s unlikely to hit a £5 billion ($6.4 billion) revenue target in 2025 for vapes, heated tobacco and nicotine pouches, blaming the lack of a U.S. clampdown on illicit products.

  • BAT Reports First-Half Results, Revenues Down

    BAT Reports First-Half Results, Revenues Down

    Photo: BAT

    British American Tobacco reported revenue of £12.34 billion ($15.88 billion) for the first half of 2024, down 8.2 percent from the comparable 2023 period. The decline was driven by unfavorable currency exchange rates and the sale of BAT’s businesses in Russia and Belarus following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

    Reported revenue from new category products, which include vapes, heated tobacco and nicotine pouches, declined 0.4 percent to £1.65 billion. Smokeless brands now account for 17.9 percent of BAT’s group revenue, up 1.4. percentage points from fiscal year 2023

    Profit from operations was £4.26 billion on a reported basis, down 28.3 percent from the first half of 2023. BAT attributed the decline to its December 2023 decision to write down the value of some of its traditional cigarette brands in the United States to reflect the diminishing outlook for combustible tobacco products, along with its exit from Russia and Belarus.

    The company said it’s unlikely to hit its £5 billion revenue target in 2025 for new category products, blaming fierce competition from illicit vapes in the United States. The U.S. accounted for more than 40 percent of BAT’s revenues in 2023, primarily from traditional tobacco products, according to Reuters.

    Tadeu Marroco

    In a statement, BAT CEO Tadeu Marroco welcomed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s recent marketing authorization of its Vuse Alto device and tobacco flavor consumables, but expressed concern about the continued lack of enforcement against unauthorized single-use vapes, which makes it difficult for authorized brands to compete in that market.

    Nonetheless, Marroco said BAT is on track to deliver its full-year guidance. “Focusing on ‘quality growth’ is delivering better returns on more targeted investments across all three new categories,” he said. “In H1 2024, we increased organic new category contribution by £165 million—at constant rates—and I am particularly pleased with the growth of modern oral. We expect to deliver further improvement in revenue and profitability across our new categories for the full year.”

  • PMI Mysteriously Postpones U.S. Launch of IQOS

    PMI Mysteriously Postpones U.S. Launch of IQOS

    Credit: F Armstrong Photo

    Philip Morris International has postponed the test launch of its IQOS heated tobacco device in the U.S. to the fourth quarter, reports Reuters. The company declined to say why.

    The pilot was earlier scheduled to run in Austin, Texas, in the second quarter, for which the company reported results on the day.

    Anti-tobacco activists have been seeking to derail the U.S. introduction of IQOS, arguing among other things that PMI exaggerates the number of people who have quit smoking regulator cigarettes using IQOS.

    In a joint letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration dated June 27, six health groups cited yet-to-be published independent studies contradicting PMI’s findings about how many IQOS users completely switch to the device from cigarettes.

    Meanwhile, PMI said the impact of the EU ban on flavored heated tobacco in the European Union has had a “slightly greater” impact on IQOS sales than previously assumed.

    This led the company to temper its expectations for volume growth in the heated tobacco category to around 13 percent for the full year, down from between 14 percent and 16 percent expected earlier.

  • County in Oregon Pushing State to Ban Vape Flavors

    County in Oregon Pushing State to Ban Vape Flavors

    Credit: Manuel Mata

    Leaders of Deschutes County, Oregon, are asking the state Legislature to ban flavored tobacco products to protect kids from smoking or vaping. “Nine out of ten adults who smoke reported that they started smoking before the age of 18,” Deschutes County Tobacco Prevention Specialist Jasmine Gerraty told Commissioners Monday.

    Commissioner Tony DeBone was the lone ‘No’ vote, saying he doesn’t believe the county has much authority on the matter: “There’s a lot of good information here. There’s a legislative choice at the Legislature.” In 2020 and ’23, with the commissioners’ approval, Deschutes County public health officials testified in Salem in support of statewide bans that later failed.

    Commissioner Phil Chang read part of a proclamation he approved Monday, saying, “Whereas ‘Big tobacco’s’ use of candy flavors like bubblegum, blue raspberry, root beer and minty menthol have an increased likelihood of attracting new and existing consumers – especially students and other targeted groups – on the massive hits of nicotine their tobacco products can deliver.”

    Commission Chair Patti Adair also approved of the proclamation, reading in part, “Be it resolved that Deschutes County strongly encourages the Oregon Legislature to pass legislation ending the sale of flavored tobacco products. This action is necessary to protect our children, students and other targeted groups from starting or continuing the use of candy-flavored and minty-menthol tobacco products.”

  • Vapes, Modern Oral Product Sales Boost PMI Income

    Vapes, Modern Oral Product Sales Boost PMI Income

    Photo: PMI

    Philip Morris International’s operating income jumped 34.2 percent to $3.44 billion for the quarter that ended June 30. On an adjusted basis, operating income rose 3.5 percent to $3.66 billion. Net revenues were $9.47 billion, compared with $8.97 billion in the comparable 2023 quarter.

    During the quarter, PMI shipped 157.6 billion cigarettes, 35.5 billion heated tobacco units and 4.2 billion oral smoke-free products, a category that excludes snuff, snuff leaf and U.S. chewing tobacco.

    The smoke-free business accounted for 38.1 percent of PMI’s total quarterly revenues, up 2.7 percentage points from the comparable 2023 period. Oral smoke free products experienced the largest volume gains, growing by 20 percent from second quarter last year.

    This growth was driven by primarily the popularity of Zyn nicotine pouches in the U.S., where shipments reached 135.1 million cans, representing growth of 50.3 percent versus the prior-year quarter. The company expect Zyn sales to reach 580 million cans in 2024.

    Scrambling to fulfill ferocious U.S. demand for Zyn, PMI recently announced a $600 million investment in a new nicotine pouch factory in Aurora, Colorado.

    Quarterly heated tobacco product sales were strong in Japan, following an expansion of the IQOS product range, as well as Greece, Hungary and Spain. In Japan, Philip Morris grew its market share for heated tobacco by more than 3 percentage points to more than 29  percent.

    The company will begin a trial of IQOS in Austin, Texas, USA, in the fourth quarter of this year, according to Chief Financial Officer Emmanuel Babeau.

    “The excellent momentum of our smoke-free business continued with an outstanding second-quarter and first-half performance,” said PMI CEO Jacek Olczak in a statement.

    “The powerful combination of excellent underlying performance and proactive measures across all categories enabled our business to outperform once again, and we are on track for a strong 2024. As a result, we are raising our full-year guidance, despite currency headwinds.”

  • CAPHRA Applauds Philippine’s Vaping Measures

    CAPHRA Applauds Philippine’s Vaping Measures

    Vapor Voice Archives

    The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) stated that it extends its full support to the Government of the Philippines Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in their efforts to protect consumers and prevent youth access to vaping products.

    However, instead of ending online sales CAPHRA advocates for greater enforcement of existing laws to prevent youth access to vaping products and ensure the appropriate collection of taxes. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) recently suspended the online sale of vape products, citing concerns about youth access and tax evasion.

    “While the intention behind the suspension is commendable, CAPHRA believes that a more effective approach would be to enhance enforcement measures rather than imposing outright bans that could inadvertently drive consumers back to more harmful combustible tobacco products,” stated Clarisse Virgino, a leading tobacco harm reduction expert from the Philippines and member of CAPHRA.

    “CAPHRA supports the government’s efforts to crack down on illegal sales to minors and urges for increased penalties and surveillance to ensure compliance, under the existing Vape Law, or Republic Act No. 11900.”

    CAPHRA is aware that too many importers and retailers are failing to register for and pay the appropriate taxes, leading to significant revenue losses for the government.

    “With appropriate enforcement of internal revenue stamps for vape products by the Bureau of Internal Revenue, these concerns can be overcome,” Virgino stated in an emailed release. “We need to ensure that all vape products in the market are properly taxed and that violators face strict penalties.”