A vape shop in Wyandotte County in the U.S. state of Kansas business has been ordered to pay $30,000 for selling counterfeit vaping products. Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt says a Vinodbhai Patel, operator of Jay Ganegh, LLC, has been ordered to pay $30,000 in penalties for selling fake e-cigarette products.
Credit: Auremar / Dreamstime.com
The company was ordered to pay the civil penalties in a consent judgment that was approved on Tuesday in Wyandotte Co. District Court by Judge Constance Alvery, according to an article on wibw.com. Schmidt said the defendants were also ordered to reimburse the cost of the investigation into their business.
Schmidt said that the consumer protection judgment is the third reached by his office in the past six months that address counterfeit e-cigarette products discovered by his Tobacco Enforcement Unit. Schmidt said in October of 2020, Aaron Dune and Smoke Stax, LLC, were ordered to pay $5,000 in civil penalties and the costs of his investigation in a case filed in Sedgwick Co.
According to the ruling, the defendants knowingly misled customers by falsely representing e-cigarette products to be authentic branded merchandise when they were not. Schmidt said the products involved in the case included both vaping hardware and e-liquids, adding that additional investigations into counterfeit vaping products remain pending.
Swissx Labs sent a cease and desist letter to hundreds of companies today demanding they stop selling Juul and other companies that manufacturer patent infringing products within 30 days. The goal is to protect the public from dangerous unapproved uses of its inventor’s IP, according to a press release.
Credit: Bill Oxford
The cease and desist letter demands that stores and chains remove vape products made by Juul and others from their shelves or risk being included in the massive lawsuit already underway for patent infringement. SwissX says it is concerned about the integrity of its inventor’s patent, as well as the safety of the public who may be being put in danger by infringing products.
When the suit is done it is expected the final penalty will top infamous cases on the level of the Enron scandal, the release states. Recipients of the cease and desist letter include 7-11, Speedway, Casey’s, Cumberland Farms, Quick Stop, AMPM, Wawa, ExtraMile and other roadside favorites. Also receiving the letter are major tobacco shop chains such as the 800+ store Smoker Friendly chain. They have 30 days to comply.
“We don’t want innocent retailers to get swept up in this,” said Rudy Delarenta, senior vice president of sales and marketing for SwissX. “That’s why we’re giving them 30 days notice to pull Juul’s infringing products. But if they refuse, we’ll do what we have to do.”
The U.S. FDA issued warning letters today to 11 firms who manufacture and sell unauthorized e-liquids for premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) violations. The regulatory agency advised the manufacturers that selling products which lack PMTA authorization is illegal, and therefore cannot be sold or distributed in the U.S. The firms did not submit PMTA by the Sept. 9, 2020 deadline.
The firms receiving warning letters are Jojo’s Smokeless World Inc. d/b/a Mod Shield; Sugar Vapor Company; DC Vapor, Inc.; Take Off Corp; The Vapor Spot, LLC; Premium Vapor Technologies LLC; Vaping Xtreme, LLC; Vapes Gone Wild Juice, LLC; Vapeoholic LLC; Vaporescence LLC d/b/a Vape King USA; and Elemental Vapor Bar, LLC.
Credit: Premium Vapor Technologies
While each warning letter issued today cites specific products as examples, collectively these companies have listed a combined total of more than 150,000 products with the FDA, according to a to the FDA’s website.
Following an initial set of such warning letters announced earlier this year, FDA has continued to issue additional warning letters for these types of products. The FDA sent 10 warning letters in mid-January.
“Per a court order, applications for premarket review for certain deemed new tobacco products on the market as of Aug. 8, 2016—including e-liquids—were required to be submitted to FDA by Sept. 9, 2020. For companies that submitted applications by that deadline, FDA generally intends to continue to defer enforcement for up to one year pending FDA review, unless there is a negative action taken by FDA on the application,” the agency wrote. “In line with the agency’s stated enforcement priorities, after Sept. 9, 2020, FDA is prioritizing enforcement against any ENDS product that continues to be sold and for which the agency has not received a timely product application.”
Securience, LLC, parent to the DuraSmoke, Forge, AmericaneLiquidStore, and VapeMoar brands, will be going out of business at the end of March 2021.
Credit: Durasmoke
In a letter to its partners, the company states that the recent passing of the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking (PACT) Act, which prohibits the shipping of vapor products through the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), was the catalyst for the decision to close the company’s doors. The company cites its inability to mail product to consumers, however, the PACT Act also prevents B2B shipments by USPS, according to a representative from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) who spoke during the recent Tobacco and Vapor Law Symposium presented by the law firm of Keller Heckman.
“Because of the complexity of these new shipping rules, FedEx, UPS, and DHL have all informed us that they will stop shipping vaping products completely — including our shipments to you, our wholesale vape shop customers, and distributors,” wrote Securience owner Don Muehlbauer. “While we have looked at some alternatives, given the geographic locations of our customers, the significant increase in compliance costs, and our capabilities as a small business, we have been unable to find a feasible alternative and have been left in a situation that makes continuing business impossible.”
Securience opened its doors in 2008 and has since been a staple in the vaping industry. Muehlbauer stated that he anticipates the PACT Act will not only impact his company, but many small e-liquid manufacturers. “Those manufacturers who are able to afford the increased compliance costs will have increased shipping costs that may impact [retail] shops,” he wrote. “The last day we will be able to accept orders for shipping is March 25 or until supplies run out.”
Chinese authorities have shut down an illicit enterprise involved in the manufacture and international distribution of counterfeit Juul products in China, Juul Labs announced in a press release. The operation resulted in the seizure of more than 110,000 counterfeit products, closure of the production facility and arrest of criminal actors behind the illicit enterprise.
Through its global enforcement operations, Juul Labs was able to identify individuals who were offering suspected counterfeit Juul products at wholesale from China. After in-depth surveillance and monitoring, the company was able to locate a clandestine factory manufacturing counterfeit Juul products for international distribution. Juul Labs then shared this information with Chinese law enforcement and supported its efforts to investigate and raid the illicit factory.
In addition to seizures of counterfeit Juul products, packaging and labeling, officials were able to retain a significant amount of documentation on businesses and individuals with purchase history, which will be used in follow-up investigations and enforcement actions. As a result of the raid, both the factory owner and manager have been arrested and will be subject to criminal prosecution.
The raided factory had thousands of counterfeit packaging for Juul products at 5.0 percent nicotine by weight in various flavors, with production runs ongoing for counterfeit Juul pods in menthol flavor. Juul Labs suspects the that the products were intended for the U.S. market. In addition, the factory appeared to have been manufacturing disposable vapor products under various brand names.
Philip Morris International (PMI) wants smokefree products to account for more than half of its revenues by 2025, up from its earlier target range of 38-42 percent. The new goal was announced during PMI’s 2021 investor day on Feb. 10., a virtual event broadcast from the company’s operation’s center in Lausanne, Switzerland, during which senior management presented PMI’s business strategies and growth outlook.
The company shared its 2021 to 2023 targets, including net revenue and adjusted diluted earnings-per-share (EPS) compound annual organic growth of more than 5 percent and 9 percent, respectively, and 2023 heated tobacco unit shipment volume of 140 to 160 billion units.
PMI plans to launch IQOS ILUMA, the next generation of its IQOS heat-not-burn product featuring internal heating based on Smartcore induction technology, in the second half of 2021.
In addition, the company intends to launch IQOS VEEV, its MESH technology vapor product, in more than 20 markets this year. PMI expects to commercialize IQOS in a total of 100 markets by the end of 2025, from 64 markets at the end of 2020.
Also at the investor day, PMI announced its target of at least $1 billion in net revenues from “beyond nicotine” products in 2025.
With the right regulatory frameworks, dialogue and support from civil society, the company said cigarette sales can end within 10 to 15 years in many countries.
Andre Calantzopoulos
“In just five years, we have thoroughly transformed our company, building IQOS into a top-5 global nicotine brand—with nearly $7 billion in net revenues and over 17 million users across 64 markets—while maintaining our leadership position in the international cigarette category,” said PMI CEO Andre Calantzopoulos in a statement.
“We are now embarking on our next growth phase, further shifting to a better, more sustainable business by driving the development of the smokefree category and leveraging our leading commercial model, which places the consumer at the core, to switch more adult smokers to our smokefree products.”
“This next growth phase is underpinned by our unmatched portfolio of innovative products. We are very excited to announce the planned launch of IQOS ILUMA—the next generation of our IQOS heat-not-burn product featuring a new internal heating induction technology—during the second half of this year.”
“As outlined today, we are well positioned to deliver excellent top- and bottom-line growth, as well as strong shareholder returns. We now aim to be a majority smokefree product company by 2025, an important milestone toward our ambition to deliver a smokefree future, to the benefit of adults who would otherwise continue to smoke, society, the company and our shareholders.”
Philip Morris reaffirmed its full-year 2021 guidance for earnings per share in the range of $5.90 to $6.00. For the three-year period between 2021 and 2023, Philip Morris is guiding for net revenue and adjusted EPS compound annual growth of 5 percent to 9 percent. Cigarette volume is expected to decline in that period. Philip Morris stock has fallen 3.5 percent over the last year while the benchmark S&P 500 index SPX, -0.03 percent is up 16.7 percent for the period.
A transcript and slides of the Investor Day are available at www.pmi.com/2021InvestorDay. An archive of the webcast will be available until 5 pm ET on March 11, 2021.
The cannabis vaping industry may be making some of the same mistakes as the nicotine vaping industry. A study led by University of Queensland researchers finds that YouTube videos glorifying cannabis vaping as fun and joyful are widely available and easily accessible by youth. The videos studied showed elements of risk-taking behavior including vaping a whole cartridge of THC—the main psychoactive compound in cannabis—in a single setting, and 52 percent of videos had no age access restrictions.
photo: Jeremynathan | Dreamstime
Lead author Ph.D. student Carmen Lim from UQ’s National Centre for Youth Substance Use Research said the volume and accessibility of YouTube videos promoting cannabis vaping was concerning. It was also an issue faced by nicotine vaping companies and is often labeled as a cause for the rise in youth vaping.
“There’s been an increase in the potency of cannabis over the last two decades, and more recently, there has been a significant rise in the number of young people who are vaping cannabis,” Miss Lim said. “Unrestricted access to the large volume of YouTube videos portraying cannabis vaping as fun and joyful could increase uptake among adolescents.”
The UQ research team searched for cannabis vaping videos on YouTube between 2016 and 2020 and categorized these into prominent themes—advertisement, product review, celebratory, reflective, how-to, and warning.
Metrics around the number of views, likes, dislikes, and comments for each video were recorded, according to an article in MedicalXpress. Co-lead author Dr. Gary Chan from UQ’s National Centre for Youth Substance Use Research said many of the YouTube videos on vaping cannabis had no age restrictions, meaning children and adolescents could easily access them.
“Only around 25 percent of cannabis vaping-related videos communicate the potential harms of cannabis vaping,” Chan said. “The videos with a ‘how-to’ theme were viewed more than five million times and videos with a ‘celebratory’ theme, expressing the fun and joy of cannabis vaping, were viewed more than seven million times. As YouTube has become a popular source of accessing cannabis-related information, we need to reduce the accessibility of cannabis-related content to adolescents.”
This is the first study to examine the availability of cannabis vaping videos on YouTube since cannabis became legal in many jurisdictions in North America. The researchers hope the study results are used to inform a future regulatory framework on YouTube and other social media platforms around mandating age restrictions on videos promoting cannabis use.
South Carolina’s fifth-largest school district, Richland 2 school district will not be joining a class-action lawsuit against Juul Labs the board voted Tuesday. In October, Lexington 1, a neighboring school district, became the first school district in S.C. to join the Juul Labs class-action. It was later joined by Greenville School District in December.
The lawsuit alleges Juul Labs engaged in deceptive marketing practices and marketed its product to minors. Juul Labs has said it has curbed advertising, is less harmful than alternatives and that its customer base is adults.
Board member Amelia McKie made a motion to join the lawsuit, which saw support from district Superintendent Baron Davis, according to an article in The State.
“Sometimes you take on an issue and lend your voice so others who don’t have a voice can have the strength to do so,” Davis said. “So we wanted to join the collective group of school districts that say ‘we believe vaping is wrong and we want to do something about it.’”
The motion to join the suit was a 3-3 vote, meaning it fails. McKie, Cheryl Caution-Parker and Manning voted for joining the suit. Lashonda McFadden, Agostini and Elkins voted against joining the lawsuit. Board member Teresa Holmes was not present at the meeting because she was sick, board chair James Manning said. The board may revisit the issue at a later date.
Board members Monica Elkins and Lindsay Agostini voted against joining the lawsuit because Richland 2 has no data to back up how many students in the district are using Juuls or vapes, they said.
“Richland 2 is a data-driven school district,” Elkins said. “I can’t support something in the dark.”
Mark Pawsey MP and Chairman of the APPG for Vaping
Prominent tobacco harm reduction advocates Gerry Stimson (Knowledge-Action-Change), Clive Bates (The Counterfactual), John Dunne (U.K. Vaping Industry Association) and Daniel Pryor (Adam Smith Institute) attended a virtual meeting organized by the U.K. All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Vaping, a collection of MPs and Peers focused on e-cigarettes.
The tobacco harm-reduction advocates’ input will be used to advise the U.K. delegation to the Conference of the Parties (COP9) to the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which is scheduled to take place in the Netherlands this November.
Chaired by Mark Pawsey, the APPG is keen for the U.K. to defend its vaping position internationally, and to promote the successes of British vaping. The expert witnesses highlighted the considerable public health benefits of harm reduction tools, and the potential benefit they could provide around the world.
Tuesday’s evidence session came as the U.K. government continues its own review of tobacco regulations, meaning a busy time for advocates hoping to protect the public potential of vaping.
“I was happy to accept the invitation from the APPG, because the UKVIA believe we have an incredible opportunity to spread the word—that innovative, appropriately-regulated vaping industries save lives,” said Dunne in a statement. “Post-Brexit Britain is newly independent in forums like COP9, and it means we can drive this positive message home like never before.”
Ireland has the highest rate of people who use e-cigarettes in the European Union at 7 percent, while the EU average is 2 percent.
Credit: Haiberliu
According to a new survey from Eurobarometer, Ireland also has the highest percentage of people in the EU who use cannabis products at 17 percent. Tim Hayes of the European Commission said the number of Irish people smoking cigarettes has continued to decline, according to breakingnews.ie.
“Luckily, the number of people smoking is steadily declining in Ireland, and now only one in five smoke tobacco on a daily basis,” he said. “Nevertheless, about one in ten smoke e-cigarettes, and surprisingly, almost one in five have smoked cannabis over the last year.”
