Author: Bill Tarling

“Last fall, the Chicago City Council banned the sale of flavored vaping products but exempted flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes. Monday, that law triggered its first lawsuit, accusing two firms of “marketing and selling flavored vaping products” to Chicago kids. On Monday, that watered-down law triggered its first lawsuit — one that accuses Equte LLC, a marketing firm, as well as Vapes.com, of “marketing and selling flavored vaping products” to Chicago kids. The latest in a string of city lawsuits against the e-cigarette industry follows an investigation by the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection. It identified the two companies as having violated the flavored tobacco ban championed by Southwest Side Ald. Matt O’Shea (19th).”

ARTICLE LINK:   Chicago files yet another lawsuit against e-cigarette industry

“A House panel is considering raising the state cigarette tax by $1 and instituting the first-ever vaping tax under a proposal heard Monday. But members believe more of the revenue from the taxes should go to health causes than the bill is written, so a vote was delayed to craft an amendment. The legislation also would add a tax to eliquids containing nicotine. Under an amendment, it would be a 39% tax assessed at the wholesale level like cigarette taxes. But the cost would ultimately be borne by customers. Under House Bill 1434, most of the money from the new taxes – about 56% – would go to the state general fund for various uses. Another 5% would go to state pension relief at about $15 million a year.”

CASAA CALL-TO-ACTION:   INDIANA – STOP A VAPOR TAX (HB 1434)

ARTICLE LINK:   Legislators consider cigarette tax increase, vaping tax

“The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued warning letters to nine firms who manufacture and operate websites selling electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) products, specifically e-liquids. The move comes as they did not submit a premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) by the September 9, 2020 deadline. The firms that received warning letters are The Mad Alchemist LLC, Austin Vapor, BloVape, Bombay Vapor LLC, Chief Vapor, American Legends E-Liquid, LLLP, Average Joes Juice LLC, Cloud Chasers Apothecary LLC, and Carolina Vapor Mill, LLC. These firms were selling the products through their websites. They have collectively listed a combined total of over 100,000 products with the FDA.”

BILL TARLING — Remember back when Mitch Zeller from the FDA and said the PMTA would only affect a couple of hundred companies and products…

ARTICLE LINK:   Nine Firms Issued Warning Letters Against Selling Unauthorized E-liquids

“Just because a policy has already been documented to be a proven failure doesn’t mean politicians will cease proposing it. Maryland, Washington, Connecticut and a handful of other states are considering bills to ban flavored tobacco and vaping products, even though this same prohibition has backfired elsewhere. Early results from the flavored tobacco & vaping products prohibition enacted in Massachusetts show such bans deprive adults of less harmful alternatives to cigarettes, crush small businesses, depress tax collections as commerce shifts across state lines, and fail to curb smoking. If Maryland lawmakers and legislators elsewhere learn lessons from Massachusetts and heed the advice of non-partisan public finance experts, they’ll reject the pending prohibitions.”

ARTICLE LINK: One State’s Flavored Tobacco & Vape Ban Is A Cautionary Tale For The Nation

“Federal Trade Commission staffers urged the commission not to delay an upcoming in-house virtual trial against tobacco manufacturer Altria’s $12.8 billion investment in electronic cigarette company Juul. In a filing Thursday to the agency’s commissioners, the FTC’s trial staff said that by pushing for a three-month delay from the current April 13 start, Juul Labs Inc. and Altria Group Inc. “unrealistically speculate” that it will be safe by mid-July to hold an in-person trial on FTC staff allegations that Altria shut down its own e-cigarette business to pave the way for the investment, in the process eliminating competition in violation of antitrust laws, according to the opposition brief. The case is In the Matter of Altria Group/Juul Labs, file number 191-0075, before the Federal Trade Commission.”

ARTICLE LINK:  COVID-19 Can’t Delay Juul & Altria Trial, FTC Staff Says

“The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) asked the World Health Organization (WHO) to stop peddling lies about the risks of contracting Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) through vaping or the use of electronic cigarettes. In a 103-page white paper, CAPHRA said the vaping/COVID link is the latest dangerous lie being spread by the WHO as part of its anti-smoking agenda. The WHO has chosen to support deadly cigarette consumption over a healthier alternative and in the process has forced vaping into the waiting hands of the black market—and they do this with the full knowledge of the consequences of their actions.”

ARTICLE LINK: WHO Asked To Stop Peddling Lies About Vaping And COVID-19 Risks

“Vapers say taste matters. According to a survey conducted by Frost & Sullivan, among 3,000 Chinese vapor consumers, taste was a key factor in choosing an e-cigarette. The top three indexes in flavor were the overall sensation of taste (66 percent), aroma (61 percent) and the amount of vapor (50 percent).”

ARTICLE LINK:   Feelm Brings Science to Flavor Evaluation

“Tobacco legislation and regulation is constantly under review at the local, state and federal levels. In this monthly roundup, Convenience Store News highlights the latest proposals and approved changes happening across the United States.”

ARTICLE LINK:   January 2021 Legislative & Regulatory Roundup

“Aside from targeting the harm-reduction nature of vaping, some of the recent criticism has also sought to frame vaping as a gateway to conventional smoking. However, that couldn’t be farther from the truth, and the longer the European Union continues to demonise vaping, the fewer smokers get a chance to switch to a safer and healthier alternative. Moreover, countries that adopt harm reduction policies see better results in reducing smoking compared to more restrictive countries. It is important to keep in mind that demand for cigarettes per se is inelastic, and measures such as advertising bans, plain packaging, and taxes have not proved to be effective in reducing smoking rates. Vaping, on the contrary, serves as a viable alternative that provides smokers with an opportunity to reduce health-associated risks and eventually quit smoking. The effectiveness of e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation tool is undeniable as it targets smokers as opposed to non-smokers. E-cigarettes are a gateway out of smoking. E-cigarettes are a gateway out of smoking.”

ARTICLE LINK:    Vaping is the gateway out of smoking

“In 2019 Connecticut’s largest city raised the age limit for smoking from 18 to 21, and the entire state followed a few months later. Now local officials and activists are hoping history repeats itself as they pursue banning the sale of all flavored tobacco products in Bridgeport while also lobbying the General Assembly in Hartford to pass similar legislation. On Friday at 11 a.m. Nieves, state Sen. Marilyn Moore, D-Bridgeport, Greater Bridgeport NAACP President Rev. Stanley Lord and representatives from Bridgeport Hospital and the American Cancer Society will host an 11 a.m. teleconference to promote the effort. Then Nieves will introduce the local ban at Monday’s regular council meeting and ask her colleagues to vote to forward it to the ordinance committee for consideration and a public hearing. Should it pass, supporters said, Bridgeport would be the first Connecticut municipality to enact such a restriction.”

ARTICLE LINK:   Bridgeport pursues flavored tobacco ba