Tag: vaping

Maldives Readies to Ban Vaping Products

Photo: siraphol
Maldives will ban e-cigarettes and related products, reports The Edition, citing an announcement by President Mohamed Muizzu on X. Lawmakers will receive proposed amendments to the island nation’s legislation this week.
According to the post, Maldives will outlaw import of all vape products and parts of vape devices is to from Nov. 15, 2024. Additionally, the use, possession, production, sale, advertisement and distribution of all vape products will become illegal from Dec.15, 2024.
This decision follows numerous requests from concerned parents, health service providers and groups such as NDC Alliance and the Doctors Association and Nurses Association.
According to figures shared with Mihaaru News by Maldives Customs Service, local businesses imported vapes worth MVR124.34 million 2018 and July of this year.
Currently, some 50 countries ban vapes, including at least five countries in Asia.
October 15, 2024
U.K. County Installs Vape Waste Bins for Recycling

Credit: North Yorkshire Council
In North Yorkshire County in the United Kingdom, vape recycling bins have been installed at all 20 household waste recycling centers to prevent vapes from ending up in curbside bins.
Materials used in single-use vapes can harm the environment and must be disposed of separately.
Once collected at the recycling centres, they are transported to the recycling facility to be dismantled and the lithium-ion battery is removed for processing while the metals and plastics are recycled.
Lithium-ion batteries can cause fires if discarded in curbside recycling or waste bins. These batteries cause most fires in the waste collection and recycling industry.
“This exciting new initiative has the aim of ensuring that people who use vape devices know how to dispose of them in the right way,” said the county’s executive member for waste services, Cllr Greg White. “Vapes are not safe to be recycled or disposed of in kerbside bins or boxes at home. One incorrectly discarded vape could cause huge damage or serious injury.
“In August, we also introduced coffee pod bins at our recycling centers as we aim to continue expanding what we accept at our recycling centers. These initiatives demonstrate our commitment to responsible recycling and reducing our carbon footprint.”
Research released this year from Material Focus found that, in the UK, the public is buying 7.7 million single use vapes per week, which has doubled compared to 2022.
People are also throwing away five million single use vapes per week, or eight per second, which has quadrupled compared to 2022.
October 14, 2024
CAPHRA Activists Celebrate Slowing Smoking Rates

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New Zealand has achieved its Smokefree 2025 goal ahead of schedule, with smoking rates plummeting to unprecedented lows, according to the Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA).
Data from the most recent New Zealand Health Survey reveals that smoking rates have fallen dramatically, particularly among youth. The decline has been so significant that statisticians now struggle to accurately measure the small proportion of young smokers due to sample size limitations, says CAPHRA, which attributes the success to New Zealand’s accommodation of new nicotine products as tools to helps nicotine users transition away from cigarettes.
“New Zealand’s success in reducing smoking rates is a testament to the country’s progressive approach to tobacco harm reduction,” said Nancy Loucas, executive coordinator of CAPHRA. “By embracing vaping and other less harmful alternatives, we’ve seen smoking rates drop from 11.9 percent in 2020 to an astounding 6.8 percent in 2023. This is a clear indication that our strategy is working.”

Our success story should be a wake-up call for countries like Australia who are still clinging to prohibitionist policies.
Nancy Loucas, executive coordinator, CAPHRA
The success is particularly notable among young people, with youth smoking rates reaching historic lows. “The fact that we’re having difficulty measuring youth smoking rates due to their minuscule prevalence is a cause for celebration,” Loucas added. “It’s a clear sign that we’re winning the battle against smoking-related harm.”
Despite this undeniable success, some in the tobacco control and public health sectors seem reluctant to acknowledge the effectiveness of New Zealand’s approach, according to CAPHRA.
“It’s perplexing that some individuals in tobacco control can’t seem to accept our successful strategy,” said Loucas. “We’ve achieved what many thought impossible, yet instead of celebrating, they’re focusing on potential issues with vaping. We need to recognize this victory and continue supporting policies that have proven effective in reducing smoking rates.”
CAPHRA urges policymakers and health advocates worldwide to look to New Zealand as a model for successful tobacco harm reduction. The organization emphasizes the importance of embracing evidence-based approaches that include a range of less harmful alternatives to smoking.
“Our success story should be a wake-up call for countries like Australia who are still clinging to prohibitionist policies,” said Loucas. “It’s time to put aside preconceived notions and focus on what works – a pragmatic, harm-reduction approach that prioritizes public health over ideology.”
October 14, 2024
Jamaica to Pass New Rules for Vape Products

Credit: Daniel
Jamaica has supported an updated strategy to accelerate action to meet Tobacco Control targets in the Region of the Americas.
“Jamaica wishes to reconfirm our unwavering commitment to achieving these targets and thanks PAHO for their continued leadership and technical support in advancing tobacco control in Jamaica,” noted Minister of Health & Wellness, Christopher Tufton, addressing the 61st Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) Directing Council in Washington DC where the updated strategy was presented.
The Minister is leading the Jamaica delegation, including Chief Medical Officer Jacqueline Bisasor-McKenzie, to the meeting.
“We are concerned about the slow progress of member states in making environments completely smoke-free, which requires further assessment to close this gap. Of significant concern to Jamaica is the use of e-cigarettes and vaping among children, adolescents, and young adults, along with the general use of cannabis and the proliferation of hookah bars. The regulation of e-cigarettes is a significant step that will address this concern,” Tufton noted.
At the same time, he said it will be necessary to have an accompanying public education campaign, “especially to debunk the myths around e-cigarettes and the use of hookahs, that they are safe alternatives to smoking and not harmful to health”.
“We should also ensure that the Tobacco Control response is integrated into the NCD response,” the Minister said, according to Jamaica’s Ministry of Health and Wellness.
Jamaica is also promulgating new legislation that will regulate Government officials’ interactions with the tobacco industry, test and measure tobacco products’ contents and emissions, and promote communication and public awareness of tobacco control issues and the health risks of tobacco consumption and exposure to tobacco smoke.
Also covered, the Minister said, is “full and mandatory prohibition on tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship, including a ban on point-of-sale tobacco displays, and increasing the size of the graphic health warning from 60 to 80 percent of the principal display areas of tobacco products”.
October 11, 2024
Kansas City Council Pushes Pause on Flavor Ban
The Kansas City Council postponed an Oct. 10 vote on a proposed ban on selling flavored nicotine products in Kansas City.
The ban, if passed, is tentatively set to take effect the first of the year.
At the council meeting, many said the ban, introduced less than a week ago, is being rushed.
Some local retailers say they want council members to vote against the ban, citing that around 35% of their income is based on these sales. They say the financial effects could be devastating because sales support both the local economy and employee salaries, according to media reports.
The council held its first reading on the proposed ban on Oct. 3, the first many retailers said they’d heard of these plans to outlaw the sale of flavored tobacco products.
Retailers claim the rushed process is disrespectful because the city failed to provide time for those impacted to voice their concerns. The city council is also aware of the significant tax revenue lost if this ban is passed. The ban would move sales to nearby cities where flavored tobacco remains legal.
A vote on the ban in currently scheduled for late October.
October 11, 2024
Marlyland Schools Get $2 Million From Juul Labs

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Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) in Maryland will receive $2 million to purchase vape detection devices after the Montgomery County Council voted unanimously Tuesday to transmit settlement money from the Juul e-cigarette company to the school system.
The funding comes from a state grant created after the Juul vape company was ordered to pay $7.5 million to the state for marketing its products to minors, media reports.
The settlement included more than 5,000 lawsuits from schools, states, and counties. In 2019, the county joined a state lawsuit against Juul for marketing its products to youth.
According to MCPS officials, the school system plans to use the funds to install vape detectors in high school bathrooms. The school board voted at its Aug. 20 meeting to move forward with the plan, provided the council approved the funding.
October 9, 2024
England: Rich Kids More Likely to Vape, Use Drugs

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Vaping, illegal drug use, and drinking alcohol are more common among English children from better-off families compared to poorer households, a new study suggests.
The data showed that a more significant proportion of children aged 11 to 15 from affluent backgrounds in England self-reported their experience of each than those from the least affluent backgrounds.
The Social Mobility Commission said its analysis of National Health Service (NHS) digital data showed that almost a third (32 percent) of young people from wealthier backgrounds had consumed alcohol in the previous month.
This compared to less than a fifth (19 percent) of those from poorer households, suggests media reports.
Some 13 percent of more affluent kids had vaped, compared with 10 percent in the least advantaged group, while almost a quarter (23 percent) had taken drugs compared with 17 percent from poorer groups.
The authors suggested access to alcohol might be easier for children from higher socioeconomic backgrounds.
However, the researchers said they don’t believe this explains the broader findings, and called for further research “to explore these worrying trends.”
October 9, 2024
Imperial Brands Boosts Share Returns, Vapes Boom

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Imperial Brands said on Tuesday that the nicotine company would boost shareholder returns to 2.8 billion pounds ($3.7 billion) in its new financial year, as it reported strong growth in vapes and other nicotine alternatives, sending its shares higher.
The maker of Blu vaping products has benefited from hiking tobacco prices to offset a decline in volumes, as well as rising demand for next generation products (NGPs) including vapes, e-cigarettes and oral pouches.
The company said it planned to buy back 1.25 billion pounds of shares in the year ending September 2025 and pay out cash dividends of about 1.5 billion pounds. That would be up from 2.4 billion pounds of shareholder payouts in fiscal 2024.
Imperial forecast 20-30 percent growth in NGP net revenues at constant currencies for fiscal 2024, ahead of some analyst expectations, but said overall results would be in line with guidance, with a stronger pound holding back its adjusted operating profit, according to Reuters.
Shares of the Bristol-headquartered firm were up 4.2% at 2,239 pence in morning trade, the biggest gain on London’s benchmark FTSE index.
“Imperial Brands is managing to drive growth not only in its fledgling next generation brands but also in ‘legacy’ tobacco products which still make up the lion’s share of the business,” said Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown.
October 9, 2024
French Vape Organization SOVAPE to Shutter Doors

Credit: Zoran Milic
French consumer vaping organization SOVAPE announced this week it will dissolve. The group has been active since 2016.
Best known for organizing three Vape Summits in France between 2016 and 2019, SOVAPE also co-founded the European Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (ETHRA) umbrella organization. Since 2019, the group has commissioned annual surveys of French public opinion on vaping and nicotine conducted by major market research firm BVA.
However, this year BVA notified SOVAPE that it could no longer participate due to a health industry client’s contract prohibiting BVA from also working with nicotine-associated organizations, according to media reports.
The abrupt cancellation of the survey followed other recent blows, including news articles accusing SOVAPE and other consumer groups of connections to the tobacco industry, and attacks on scientists and health professionals who supported SOVAPE’s mission.
In an Oct. 6 website post, SOVAPE explained it can no longer carry out its mission due to the current climate of “censorship, threats, lies, denigration and slander, to which can be added the dissemination of fake news and the denial of scientific data.”
“Dialogue in this context is impossible,” SOVAPE wrote, “and clearly, it is now even ‘forbidden’ to provide information, such as a banal survey, on reducing the risks of smoking in France.”
SOVAPE will donate the balance of its funds equally to the Pasteur Institute and fellow vaping groups AIDUCE and La Vape du Cœur. SOVAPE has paid to keep its website available for 10 years, and maintains videos of Vape Summit proceedings on its Youtube channel.
“We regret that we are no longer able to cultivate a dialogue to promote the risk reduction approach against the main cause of preventable diseases and premature deaths in France,” SOVAPE said in its post. “We do not regret having tried, but must acknowledge that it is no longer possible for us to lead this fight that is dear to us, and which has nevertheless contributed to saving lives!”
October 8, 2024
Canadian Trade Group Supports Flavored Vapes

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The Canadian Vaping Association (CVA) has expressed concern over recent attempts by tobacco control lobbyists to convince the government to ban vape flavors nationwide. According to the trade group, such a ban would have negative public health consequences and undermine Canada’s goal of reducing smoking rates to less than 5 percent by 2035.
“We must acknowledge and not ignore that more than 1.5 million adult vapors in Canada use flavored vaping products to stop smoking,” the CVA wrote in a statement.
“We agree underage youth should not vape; however, more needs to be done through education and providing the necessary tools for parents, teachers, coaches and community members, to understand the underlying issues as to why youth are vaping and providing solutions to solve their nicotine dependence.”
According to the CVA, Canada already has some of the best vape regulations globally, covering labeling, packaging, marketing, promotions, reporting and nicotine concentration limits. The group also urged the tobacco control lobbyist to consider the risks of the illicit market.
“The bullying tactics of anti-harm reduction lobbyists pressuring Minister Saks and Health Canada to act quickly, will only help grow the black market of vaping products,” the CVA wrote. “This will make vaping more accessible to youth, at much lower prices and greater risk to their health.”
October 8, 2024