Tag: news

  • State General Assembly Kills Colorado Flavor Ban Bill

    State General Assembly Kills Colorado Flavor Ban Bill

    Credit: Christopher Boswell

    It happened again. For the second time in the last three sessions, a bill to regulate flavored nicotine products has died in Colorado’s General Assembly.

    The proposal would have allowed a board of county commissioners to ban flavored tobacco and nicotine products. The House Business Affairs & Labor Committee defeated it on a 6-5 vote, according to Colorado Public Radio.

    Several lawmakers on the committee voting against the bill cited concerns about its impacts on local businesses, echoing testimony from several vape shop owners who said it would have hurt sales if a county banned flavored vaping and other tobacco products.

    “We have a long history of choosing to listen to the tobacco lobby,” said bill sponsor Rep. Elizabeth Velasco, as she appealed to her colleagues before the vote. “I hope that today we can really think about the children and make sure that we do the right thing to make sure that our children don’t have access to these products that have been targeted for them.”

    The measure had already passed a Senate committee and the full Senate. As has been seen in prior years, the bill drew intense lobbying, with 141 lobbyists from both sides signing up to voice support, opposition, or neutrality, according to the state’s lobbyist disclosure website.

    Tobacco companies like PMI, RJ Reynolds America, and Altria, represented by the lobbying company Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, and industry groups, including the Vapor Technology Association, hired lobbyists in opposition to the legislation.

    All the traditional anti-nicotine groups such as Bloomberg, Tobacco-Free Kids Action Fund and Kaiser Permanente also hired lobbyists in support.

    In 2022, a bill to ban flavored tobacco statewide failed after Gov. Jared Polis said the issue should be handled at the local level.

  • Massachusetts High Court Upholds First Generational Ban

    Massachusetts High Court Upholds First Generational Ban

    Credit: Mehaniq41

    The highest court in Massachusetts ignored objections from vape shop owners and tobacco retailers and upheld the legality of a novel bylaw that bars cigarette sales to anyone born after January 1, 2000, in the town of Brookline. The restriction, the first of its kind in the United States, is designed to prevent future generations from using not only tobacco but also nicotine.

    Retailers argued that the 2021 Brookline bylaw was pre-empted by a state law approved in 2018 that raised the minimum age for purchasing a tobacco product from 18 to 21, according to media reports. The retailers pointed out that the Brookline bylaw effectively means someone born after January 1, 2000, will not be able to purchase a nicotine product regardless of their age.

    Over time, as the population ages, the bylaw will effectively ban the sale of tobacco products in the town.

    In the Supreme Judicial Court’s unanimous opinion, written by Justice Dalila Wendlandt, the court acknowledged the Brookline bylaw is more restrictive than the state’s minimum age standard, but the justices had no issues with that. They said the bylaw “augments the state statute” by further limiting access to tobacco products to persons under the age of 21.

    The court rejected claims by the tobacco retailers that the state law was designed to clarify what had become a muddled regulatory environment as municipality after municipality raised the minimum age for buying tobacco products.

    “The retailers claim that the purpose of the Tobacco Act was ‘actually to benefit tobacco retailers . . . by eliminating the confusion that arises when the minimum age for purchasing tobacco varies from town to town and city to city across the Commonwealth,’” the opinion said. “To the contrary, the act reflects the legislative intent to protect young persons and other vulnerable populations from the deleterious health effects of tobacco product use.”

    The case drew attention in Massachusetts and around the nation and the world and the outcome is likely to prompt more communities to follow Brookline’s lead, creating a patchwork quilt of regulation of tobacco products.

  • Kentucky House Committee Pass Vape Registry Bill

    Kentucky House Committee Pass Vape Registry Bill

    Credit: Andreykr

    A bill co-sponsored by 20 Kentucky lawmakers aims to limit the number of e-cigarettes, vapes and other next-generation tobacco products retailers are allowed to place on store shelves.

    The Senate health services committee heard testimony on House Bill 11 on Thursday. The bill limits the sale of products to those authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and would punish retailers who sell unauthorized products or to anyone under 21 years of age.

    “These vapes are not even supposed to be offered for sale per the FDA,” said Rep. Rebecca Raymer, one of the bill’s co-sponsors, according to media reports. “We, as a state, have an obligation to offer some protection to our citizens.”

    Among other things, the bill would:

    • Require the Secretary of State to create and publish a list of certain tobacco product retailers;
    • Require the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to create and maintain a tobacco noncompliance database and reporting system;
    • Require wholesalers to verify a retailer’s presence in the database prior to transactions;
    • Establish and impose fines for wholesalers that unlawfully sell to a retailer that is in the noncompliance database;
    • Make ineligible any retailer with unpaid fines that are more than 60 days overdue from selling Tobacco Control Act-covered products until the fines are paid;
    • Direct manufacturers of Tobacco Control Act-covered products to provide safe harbor certification to wholesalers and retailers of their products;
    • Prohibit a retailer from selling Tobacco Control Act products to persons under 21 years of age.

    “What you’re going to hear from the people in opposition of this bill is that it’s going to take everything off the shelf,” Raymer said. “That is just simply not true. There’s other states that have used the same definition that we are using.”

    Troy LeBlanc, a Louisville vape retailer and distributor, traveled to Frankfort to speak against the bill, which he said would devastate dealers. In essence, LeBlanc said HB11 would create a monopoly.

    “It will ban about 98 percent of my products as well,” LeBlanc said. “Because all it’s going to do is to make sure that Altria is the main seller in every convenience store throughout the city — which is Juul.”

    LeBlanc and other like-minded retailers want lawmakers to change the bill to put the products in 21-and-older stores and even increase the fines.

    “We do not want children smoking,” LeBlanc said. “We’ve even suggested that the fines that they have — $1,000 for the first occurrence — be raised to $5,000. Because we want people who are selling to minors punished.”

    The bill passed out of committee by a 14-1 vote.

  • Study: Vapes ‘Twice as Effective’ to Quit Smoking

    Study: Vapes ‘Twice as Effective’ to Quit Smoking

    The American Consumer Institute (ACI) unveiled a study that provides a pivotal analysis of the potential for tobacco harm reduction alternative products, such as vaping and modern oral, to significantly reduce smoking-related deaths across the United States.

    Key findings from the study entitled “Transition from Tobacco to Vaping: The Health Impacts by State” by ACI Senior Policy Analyst Justin Leventhal, include:

    • A potential reduction of nearly 300,000 smoking-related deaths annually if e-cigarettes replace traditional smoking nationwide.
    • An estimated four million lives could have been saved from 2010 to 2024, surpassing deaths from the Coronavirus by a factor of four.
    • State restrictions and regulatory barriers on vaping products have been identified as significant obstacles for smokers seeking to quit, thereby increasing the annual death toll from smoking-related diseases.
    • Removing regulatory barriers on vaping products would enable a smoother transition for smokers toward safer products or kicking the habit entirely, potentially saving hundreds of thousands of lives each year.

    “Evidence suggests that e-cigarettes are nearly twice as effective as traditional nicotine replacement therapies like gums and patches in aiding smoking cessation,” a press release states. “Despite this, recent years have seen an increase in regulations, taxes, and outright bans on vaping products, hindering the progress toward a smoke-free future.”

    ACI calls for policymakers to reconsider these restrictive measures and focus on harm-reduction strategies that offer a pragmatic approach to reducing smoking-related mortality rates. By embracing tobacco harm reduction products as viable alternatives to smoking, states can significantly lower healthcare costs and mortality rates associated with tobacco use.

  • Analysts: U.K. Vape Tax Good for Tobacco Stocks

    Analysts: U.K. Vape Tax Good for Tobacco Stocks

    Image: Monster Ztudio

    Citi analysts have identified the UK government’s new excise tax on vaping products as an encouraging development for British American Tobacco PLC and Imperial Brands PLC.

    The Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, confirmed in his Spring Budget speech that vaping products would be subject to a new tax from October 2026. According to media reports, this move is designed to maintain a financial incentive for choosing vaping over smoking, complemented by a concurrent increase in tobacco duty, according to media reports.

    The taxation framework will be based on nicotine content, with a three-tiered system imposing charges ranging from £1-3 per 10ml, in addition to the current 20 percent VAT.

    This structured approach aims to regulate the vaping market further and aligns with the government’s health strategy by providing a less harmful alternative to traditional smoking.

    Citi’s short research note said: “Although [Wednesday’s] confirmation of the planned levy on vaping comes as little surprise, we believe that alongside the proposed ban on disposable vapes from April 25, the regulatory risk/reward is skewing to the upside for both BATS and Imperial.”

  • Senators Ask Retailers to End Flavored Vape Sales

    Senators Ask Retailers to End Flavored Vape Sales

    Credit: Roland Magnusson

    The chairmen of five key Senate committees on Thursday warned the chief executives of major convenience stores and wholesalers to stop selling illicit flavored vaping products, which they called “widespread violations of federal law.”

    The senators voiced their concerns in letters to the companies, amplifying the frustration among some lawmakers in Congress over the continued availability of disposable e-cigarettes. They say the vivid colors and candy flavors only attract kids. The unchecked sales, they wrote, “pose a tremendous public health threat.”

    “F.D.A. and the industry must do more to address the youth vaping epidemic and remove unauthorized vaping products from their shelves immediately,” Senator Dick Durbin said, according to media reports.

    The letters were addressed to retailers including 7-Eleven, Circle K, bp America, Pilot, Kwik Trip and others. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration had earlier issued warnings about sales of unauthorized brands like Elf Bar, E.B. Design and Funky Republic.

    “Today, millions of children use unauthorized e-cigarettes, risking nicotine addiction, respiratory illness, exacerbation of depression and anxiety, and many other harms,” read the letter to Joseph DePinto, the chief executive of 7-Eleven.

    The other senators who signed the letter were Ron Wyden, Bernie Sanders, Sherrod Brown, and Richard Blumenthal.

  • Critics Claim New U.K. Levy on Vapes is ‘Stupid’

    Critics Claim New U.K. Levy on Vapes is ‘Stupid’

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    Image: vadymstock

    The imposition of a vape levy in the U.K. is “stupid, short-sighted and potentially counterproductive,” according to smokers’ rights group Forest.

    During his budget speech in Parliament on March 6, Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt said he is planning to introduce an extra tax on e-cigarettes from October 2026, aiming to make vaping more expensive and deter nonsmokers from taking it up.

    Currently, most vapes in Britain are subject to value-added tax at the standard 20 percent rate, but there is no extra levy applied. Hunt said the government would also introduce a one-off increase in tobacco duty to maintain the financial incentive to choose vaping over smoking.

    Nonetheless, critics warned that the new vape tax would discourage smokers from transitioning to less harmful nicotine products.

    “If the government is serious about advocating vaping as a substantially less harmful alternative to smoking, a levy on vaping products sends completely the wrong message to consumers,” said Simon Clark, director of Forest.

    “Vaping products are already subject to VAT. Imposing excise duty as well is a stupid, short-sighted and potentially counterproductive measure that could deter many existing smokers from switching to a reduced-risk product that has helped millions of smokers to quit.”

    Maggie Rae, president of the Epidemiology and Public Health Section of the Royal Society of Medicine, said any tax must be carefully considered to ensure it benefits public health.

    “It’s imperative we ensure medicinal use of vapes continues to be encouraged, as smoking cessation remains the matter of greater importance,” she said.

    Clark noted that above-inflation increases in the cost of tobacco disproportionately punish those on lower incomes.

    “Further tax hikes will drive even more smokers to the black market, taking money from legitimate retailers and putting it into the hands of criminal gangs,” he said.

    Jefferies analyst Owen Bennett said the tax could benefit larger players like BAT by making it harder for smaller players to compete.

    “BAT, especially given its highly profitable broader cigarette business, can afford to swallow the tax and not adjust prices,” he told Reuters, whereas it could make smaller firms’ products unviable.

  • Largest Nicotine Trade Show in U.S. Gets Bigger

    Largest Nicotine Trade Show in U.S. Gets Bigger

    The year’s first and largest trade show, the Total Products Expo, continues to broaden its reach.

    By VV Staff

    This year’s Total Products Expo (TPE) was the largest show yet. Nearly 570 exhibitors were visited by an estimated 14,000 visitors. Held from Jan. 30 through Feb. 2 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, TPE 2024 increased its show floor by 27 percent, and many vendors said that sales through the end of Thursday (with one day remaining) had already surpassed sales from the last few years.

    TPE is often a launching point for new products. Several brands had numerous different types of product debuts during the show, including some not-so-new innovations for disposable products. Spaceman, for example, showcased its latest product, the Spaceman Prism 20K. The new disposable device offers a 1.77-inch smart screen that provides more intuitive information, including displays for e-liquid and battery levels and the current mode in use. The three-mode switch offers consumers a more personalized and customized vaping experience.

    “Technologically, electronic devices are becoming more interactive with diverse features, and they are accommodating larger tank capacities based on consumer demands,” according to Maryna Gudym, business development manager with Wingle Electronics Group, a consulting company focused on innovative products. “Disposable devices amalgamate the best features from previous pod mod and box mod devices, showcasing a revival of old technology trends in a new form factor.”

    Many products presented at TPE followed the growing trend of merging of e-cigarette and oil vaporizer platforms, e.g., universal pod system for oil and nicotine replacement pods by BO Vape USA. There are two main methods of merging electronic device platforms: 1) within own brand: develop universal battery supporting different consumables and 2) cross-support: develop a universal battery with adaptors to fit competitor consumables (pods, 510 carts). Both methods were on display during TPE 2024.

    The vaping industry is witnessing innovations in device construction and extended features that enhance user convenience and experience, according to Gudym. Examples include devices with touch screens, large color displays, dual mesh coils and unique features like vibration feedback and magnetic connections, allowing users to customize flavor combinations.

    Disposable pods are becoming increasingly sophisticated, integrating innovations such as rapid charging and new smarter technologies such as dual mesh coils. The innovations make it possible to design devices with a larger capacity and improve the taste. “This trend indicates a movement toward better quality and functionality in market offerings,” Gudym said.

    Chapo Extrax, a cannabis company, is expanding its market horizons by releasing a vape in partnership with Blue Lotus extract, a nicotine-free and THC-free product popular among DIY vape enthusiasts but rare in prefilled vape products, according to Gudym.

    There is also notable interest in alternative substances, such as ephedra-powered energy shots, kratom shots and kratom pouches, signaling the market’s exploration of new, modern ways to meet consumer needs with low or absent psychoactive impact. Additionally, the market is expanding beyond traditional vapes to include branching out into other tobacco segments with products like electronic hookahs. Several China-based companies are studying the demand for hookah and shisha tobacco and are offering new developments within the product segment.

    Vaping, particularly the disposable pods market, shows a strong trend toward improving product quality and expanding the product range to meet growing consumer demands and preferences. Several products had LED displays, several power output modes, new coil designs, larger liquid capacities, etc. Interestingly, Hangsen, a China-based e-liquid supplier, stated that the current bestselling e-liquid flavors in the U.S. vape market are Mint Candy, Raspberry Ice Cream, Watermelon Ice, Strawberry Kiwi, Blue Razz Lemonade and Tangerine Blackcurrant, according to Wingle Group.

    In manufacturing, most of the represented China-based factories are slowly switching to free-flow tank designs, which provide better e-liquid utilization and better flavor release but at the same time increase requirements for tank sealing and urge to install heater-liquid separation mechanisms or novel e-liquid supply designs.

    Smoore announced it partnered with two new U.S. vape brands, Fasta (Reazen Tech Limited) and Aroma King’s Boss Bar. Smoore promoted its nonrechargeable devices with Power Alpha battery technology (nonrechargeable chemistry LiMnO2 3.0 volts). The batteries are supplied by EVE Energy. Power Alpha is a charge-free solution for large-puff disposable devices that solves issues disposable vape users face, including short battery life, charging inconvenience, fading flavor and a burning taste after recharging.

    FEELM, a vaping industry leader in closed-system products and a subsidiary of Smoore, launched the first charge-free disposable vaping system. The Power Alpha 2.0 solves the problem of needing repeated charging in the large puff vapes currently popular on the market. FEELM started developing the charge-free battery technology to empower large-puff vapes as early as 2022. The previous version of the company’s original Power Alpha technology could only support 6,000 puffs without charging.

    Also, during the show, Chemular, a leading provider of regulatory and compliance solutions to the tobacco, nicotine and medical device industry, announced a strategic partnership with IGEN, developers of a widely used platform designed to navigate compliance and reporting requirements in heavily regulated industries, according to Wingle Group. The two entities are creating a new “compliance as a service” platform focused on streamlining the burden of compliance for small-sized to medium-sized companies who need turnkey solutions for the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act, excise tax reporting and registration services.

    “The time and effort required to stay compliant with federal, state and local laws is increasingly burdensome for small-[sized] to mid-sized companies in regulated categories,” said Jason Carignan, chief commercial officer of Chemular. “Except for larger players, most companies don’t have a dedicated compliance officer who can ensure every regulatory detail is addressed so their products can stay on the market—especially in industries like ours, where the rules change rapidly. Chemular, now powered by the IGEN backbone, will be able to significantly scale its turnkey compliance service offering to a growing portfolio of tobacco manufacturers and distributors.”

    A cool new concept that launched during TPE 2024 came from Fresor when the company unveiled its Fresor NOVA Technology and its latest disposable, Fresor N10000. It is the first large-capacity transparent disposable vape. Consumers will no longer “face uncertainty about the remaining e-liquid levels,” according to a Fresor representative.

    Total Product Expo 2025 will take place Jan. 29–31, 2025, at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

  • South Carolina Senate Advances Vape Registry Bill

    South Carolina Senate Advances Vape Registry Bill

    Credit: Philip

    South Carolina lawmakers are advancing a bill that would restrict vape shops to selling only FDA-approved products. Supporters, including major tobacco companies, say the goal is to inform retailers and consumers about what products are legal to market.

    “The goal is to try and protect our children from getting hooked on nicotine and using what I call these attractive nuisance vape products at a very young age,” said Senator Brad Hutto, a lead sponsor of the bill.

    Hutto and Senator Thomas Alexander co-authored the legislation, which proposes the establishment of an official registry listing all FDA-approved vape products.

    The State Attorney General would oversee this registry, effectively prohibiting the sale of any product not included. Opponents, including vape shop owners, say the bill will hurt their industry.

    Any retailer found selling unapproved products could face severe penalties, including fines and suspension of their business license. If signed into law, the registry must be operational by September 1, 2024, or whenever the Attorney General releases it for the first time, whichever happens later.

    Several states have passed or are considering vape registry laws.

  • Heated, Oral Tobacco Output Increases in Russia

    Heated, Oral Tobacco Output Increases in Russia

    Photo: Delovoy Petersburg

    Cigarette manufacturers in Russia produced 182 billion cigarettes in 2023, reports CRPT, which operates the Honest Mark product labeling system. Accounting for 87.7 percent of domestic tobacco production, cigarette manufacturing was largely stable (up 1 percent) from the previous year.

    Production of heated tobacco products, by contrast, jumped 26 percent to 1 billion packs, claiming 10 percent of the Russian tobacco market in 2023. Output of oral tobacco products more than doubled to over 5.8 million. Production of cigarillos increased to 61.5 million packs in 2023 from 32 million in 2022.

    The only categories of tobacco products whose production decreased in 2022-2023 were cigars and smoking tobacco, according to CRPT. The production of cigars fell by 38 percent to 4.2 million packs, and smoking tobacco decreased by 8 percent to 1.3 million packs.

    Domestic tobacco companies manufactured 96.6 percent of the nicotine products on the Russian market in 2023.

    Following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, leading international nicotine companies, such as British American Tobacco and Imperial Brands have sold their operations to domestic investors.

    The multinationals that remain are finding it increasingly difficulty to extract themselves from the market due to onerous government restrictions on such transactions.