Author: Bill Tarling

“The United States has been waging an insane war on vaping and tobacco harm reduction and truth has become redundant to authorities which no longer care about educating the public or being seen to tell the truth. The Indiana High School Athletic Association and the Indiana Department of Health are the latest tragic exponents. “The Indiana Department of Health and the Indiana High School Athletic Association are joining forces to communicate the risk of serious lung disease caused by vaping to every high school athlete, student and community in Indiana,” they say. For the two organisations to be persisting in a lie that has been debunked by experts around the world, and one no longer supported by the USA’s Centers For Disease Control, beggars belief. Other lies the Athletic Association and the Department of Health are propagating includes a claim that there is an “epidemic” of vaping in the state, “especially among teens.” Cherry picking from the worst, most scientifically illiterate studies possible, their website goes on to claim formaldehyde, arsenic, and lead is found in vapour.”

ARTICLE LINK:   Shameful Stuff From Indiana

“A new peer-reviewed study published in the journal Toxicological Research & Application shows acute exposure of a 3D human bronchial tissue model to e-cigarette aerosol has minimal impact on gene expression compared to smoke from combustible cigarettes. “Within this model, exposure to combustible cigarette smoke triggered significant changes in gene expression, indicating – amongst other effects – changes in oxidative stress and inflammation markers,” confirmed Matt Stevenson, Pre-Clinical Toxicology Manager at Imperial Brands. “Conversely, the vape aerosol generated only a minimal response, similar to that observed in the air control.” The results from this study show, that under the conditions of test, acute exposure to vape aerosol had less impact on gene expression in human lung cells in vitro than the equivalent dose of cigarette smoke. “We encourage regulators and policy makers to consider the weight of evidence that shows the clear scientific differences between combustible cigarettes, which burn tobacco, and potentially harm-reduced NGPs [𝘕𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘎𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘷𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘴] that do not,” he concluded.”

ARTICLE LINK:
Vape aerosol and gene expression in human lung tissue compared to cigarette smoke

“Bloomberg Philanthropies has bestowed billions of dollars to global issues close to the billionaire’s heart such as education, environment and public health, transforming Bloomberg into a sort of flamboyant private government. The recent channelling of funds into Indian non-profit agencies in exchange for a strong lobby against tobacco products and safer alternatives have called the credibility of Billionaire’s influence in question and has brought them under scrutiny. Because the WHO and Bloomberg put so much emphasis on these various issues, it is not too difficult to draw a line between those activities and the failure of the WHO to help contain the initial outbreak of COVID-19 in China. The steps to promoting soft power Nanny State are not only appreciated but are aided by WHO. Bloomberg’s Nanny Missions emerged as a grim threat to the health care sector, making the current pandemic more threatening.”

ARTICLE LINK:   Michael Bloomberg turns the dial on Indian health policy

“With the Covid-19 scourge receding, you can expect that various pressure groups and public health officials will renew their wrongful war against e-cigarettes. E-cigarettes are not the equivalent of tobacco cigarettes. They contain no tobacco! And they are 95% safer than regular smokes. Contrary to what anti-vapers posit, e-cigarettes are not a gateway for teenagers to move on to tobacco. Teenage smoking has plummeted over the years. Anti-vapers are pushing to ban flavored e-cigarettes. Angry petitioners there have put a referendum on next year’s ballot to overturn this law. Those who want an excellent way to give up smoking tobacco should root for the success of this proposition.”

ARTICLE LINK:   E-Cigarettes vs. Tobacco And What Anti-Vapers Are Getting Wrong

“The Swiss parliament is currently debating tightening restrictions on advertising of tobacco products. This comes after a people’s initiative calls for a radical advertising ban to protect children. The Senate debated this bill back in September 2019 and stricter rules on advertising were proposed, including regulating advertising for e-cigarettes. Advertising is a particularly sensitive topic in Switzerland, as the country is home to the international headquarters of industry giants including Philip Morris International, British American Tobacco and Japan Tobacco. The national government has in place of the initiative recommended a tightening of the current Tobacco Products Law. Switzerland has so far refused to restrict tobacco advertising targeting young people, making it part of a small group of countries that haven’t ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.”

ARTICLE LINK:   Switzerland is wrangling over implementation of tougher tobacco laws

“Non-governmental organisation Retail and Trade Brands Advocacy Malaysia (RTBA Malaysia) believes the government stands to gain an estimated tax revenue of more than RM300 million if appropriate vape regulations are introduced. RTBA managing director Datuk Fazli Nordin said Malaysia has an opportunity to expand its revenue stream in this growing market. “There is potential revenue of more than RM300 million for the government should the taxation framework include vape e-liquids with nicotine which is an option for new sources of revenue. “The vape market is long established in Malaysia and there are already over one million consumers using the products. This is an untapped sector that the government can immediately gain revenue this year by expanding the taxation framework,” he said.”

ARTICLE LINK:   Tax revenue of RM300m possible if vape is regulated — RTBA Malaysia

“The use of Electronic Nicotine Delivery systems (ENDS), also known as e-cigarettes, and other vaping devices in public spaces are to fall under the scope of the Tobacco Control Act 2020, which is now being reviewed by a joint select committee of Parliament. The provision goes beyond the traditional tobacco products, as the Government seeks to fill gaps in the current legislation to make the country fully compliant with the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FTCC). The proposed Bill prohibits holding or smoking a lit electronic tobacco product in public places such as bus stops, schools, government-occupied buildings supermarkets, areas designated for use by children, sport and recreational facilities, and health facilities, including pharmacies.”

BILL TARLING — Of course they’re also following the U.S. FDA and CDC anti-vaping policy by referencing the E-liquid Vape Products as “ENDS”

ARTICLE LINK:   Electronic cigarettes to come under Tobacco Control Act

“A new Eurobarometer survey came out last month looking at attitudes towards vaping in the EU. It makes grim reading. Things are going backwards on every level. The survey shows that among those who have little or no experience with vaping, only 20 per cent think e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products help smokers quit. Seventy per cent think they do not. The proportion of all respondents who believe that e-cigarettes are ‘harmful to the health of their users’ increased from 27 per cent in 2012 to 65 per cent in 2020. The survey does not ask what they mean by ‘harmful’ and no one claims that e-cigarettes are completely risk-free, but there are indications elsewhere that the average member of the public thinks the risks are much greater than they are. A study published last year found that 59 per cent of Europeans wrongly believe that vaping is as dangerous or more dangerous than smoking.”

ARTICLE LINK:   Vaping’s Image Problem

“The World Vapers’ Alliance (WVA) has written to the European Union’s Ministers of Heath about their “misguided and dangerous policy”. The ministers are set to discuss the European Commission’s Beating Cancer Plan prior to meeting with the Commission. The Plan signals a dangerous path towards a much harsher legislative environment based on fallacies and ignorance. The Commission is the EU’s unelected executive arm, responsible for drawing up proposals for legislation and implementing decisions made by the Parliament and Council. The WVA tells the Ministers of Heath: “We believe that this plan does not adequately consider tobacco and smoking-related cancers. The plan shuts the door for smokers trying to quit using novel tobacco products, specifically vaping by picking abstentionism over harm reduction.” It describes the plans to tax vaping like tobacco, to ban vaping in public areas, and to treat vape like a tobacco product as misguided and dangerous.”

ARTICLE LINK:   WVA Writes To EU Ministers of Heath

“The International Network of Nicotine Consumer Organisations (INNCO), a global association advocating for sensible tobacco harm reduction policies, today introduced a new position paper, “10 Reasons Why Blanket Bans of E-Cigarettes and HTPs in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) Are Not Fit for Purpose.” Available for download on the organisation’s website, the policy report rebukes the “overly simplistic and impractical” bans on electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) and other tobacco harm reduction (THR) products in LMICs, warning organizations and governments that limiting options to reduce harm will only increase the number of people smoking tobacco, inevitably leading to illicit markets and increases in crime. According to the paper, simplistic solutions to complex public health challenges may appear attractive, but ultimately do not work.” INNCO believes that a prohibitionist approach is “patronising and discriminatory,” and does not allow for finding innovative solutions to answer the challenge of decreasing smoking rates. Bans on THR products overlook a significant public health opportunity to encourage people who smoke and are not ready to quit to switch to reduced-harm alternatives, a pragmatic approach that could save millions of lives.”

ARTICLE LINK:
New INNCO Position Paper Outlines Why Bans on Popular Alternatives to Smoking Will Do More Harm Than Good