Author: Bill Tarling

“The San Diego City Council voted Monday to ban the sale of flavored tobacco and vape products starting in 2023. The proposal put forward by Councilmember Marni von Wilpert exempts shisha, premium cigars, loose-leaf tobacco and FDA-approved smoking cessation devices. Unflavored e-cigarettes and those flavored like tobacco are also exempt. California lawmakers approved a statewide ban on the sale of flavored tobacco products in 2020, but opponents gathered enough signatures to force the measure to pass a statewide referendum. That vote is planned for November.”

ARTICLE LINK: San Diego bans sale of flavored tobacco, vape products

“Vaping products could be a lot harder to find in Connecticut under new legislation at the state Capitol. The bill would limit sales to licensed “adults only” smoke shops that could only admit customers 21 years and older. The change would take effect in June of 2023. The bill replaces an earlier version that would have banned flavored e-cigarettes but kept tobacco-flavored vapes in thousands of grocery stores and gas stations. Under the new language, licensed smoke shops could still stock flavors. On Friday, the legislature’s Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee adopted the last-minute change. Co-chair Sen. John Fonfara (D-Hartford) proposed it, arguing an outright ban on flavored vape products could lead to a black market. The new bill also removes a to 35 mg/mL cap on the amount of nicotine in vapes, concerning many lawmakers. It’s unclear if the vaping bill will get a final vote. The General Assembly adjourns in less than two weeks, and similar legislation has run out of time in previous years.”

Vape sales would be sharply limited under new legislation

“The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will be required to give premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) status reports every 90 days. The first reports are due on April 29, according to a revised order from District Judge Paul Grimm for the United States District Court for the District of Maryland. It’s been more than eight months since the 12-month continued compliance policy for products subject to timely submitted PMTAs ended, but the agency is still sitting on some 88,000 reviews, including some of the vaping products with the highest market shares. Requiring the FDA to provide the status reports comes with some controversy. Chowdhury says that it wouldn’t be appropriate for the protection of public health (APPH) or positive for the vaping industry if a requirement for status updates forced the regulatory agency to make PMTA decisions only to appease the anti-vaping groups or politicians.”

FDA to Provide PMTA Updates Every Three Months

“Many physicians incorrectly believe all tobacco products are equally harmful, according to a study published online April 15 in JAMA Network Open. Cristine D. Delnevo, Ph.D., from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and colleagues conducted an online survey to assess physician-patient communication regarding electronic cigarettes. The analysis included 2,058 board-certified physician respondents. The researchers found that more than 60 percent of physicians believed all tobacco products to be equally harmful.”

Many Doctors Unaware of Benefits of E-Cigarettes for Quitting Smoking

“A new study looking at how vaping helps pregnant smokers quit and remain smoke-free has been published in the British Medical Journal. The research team from the University of Nottingham, St George’s University of London, and the University of Stirling conducted a longitudinal study of pregnant women to see if e-cigarettes are associated with a postpartum return to smoking. The research team say this is the first study exploring the use of vapes in pregnancy and postpartum. They found that vaping works to help pregnant women quit smoking and remain tobacco-free in the three months following birth.”

Pregnancy Research

“E-cigarettes are officially banned under Houston’s smoking ordinance. Houston City Council voted unanimously Wednesday morning to ban e-cigarettes and vaping devices in places where traditional tobacco products are prohibited. The ordinance will go into effect immediately.”

ARTICLE LINK: Ban on e-cigarettes in indoor places passed by city of Houston

“Indiana’s new tax on vaping is being cut even before it takes effect despite protests from anti-smoking advocates. Gov. Eric Holcomb signed a bill this week that included provisions cutting the 25% tax that wholesalers were to be charged for closed-system vaping cartridges such as Juul devices to 15%. State lawmakers approved the higher rate last year for Indiana’s first tax on electronic cigarettes to start in July 2022. But the Republican-dominated Legislature approved the lower rate with seven lines included in a 118-page bill on mostly technical tax law changes.”

ARTICLE LINK: Part of Indiana’s new vaping tax cut before taking effect

“According to the latest results from the National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS), the CDC says, “about 2.55 million U.S. middle and high school students reported current (past 30-day) use of a tobacco product in 2021.” If you have not been paying attention to the CDC’s inveterate dishonesty on this subject, it may surprise you to learn that most of those 2.55 million students did not use products that contained tobacco. The CDC routinely conflates e-cigarettes with “tobacco products,” despite the vast difference between the risks posed by vaping nicotine and the risks posed by inhaling smoke from conventional cigarettes. The press release notes that “about 1 in 3” of those 2.55 million students “used at least one type of combustible tobacco product,” which means two-thirds did not. Smoking among teenagers has been falling since the late 1990s, and that downward trend accelerated as vaping took off.”

ARTICLE LINK: Why Can’t the CDC Tell the Truth About Smoking and Vaping by Teenagers?

“16 French doctors, researchers and medical professors have called for government support of vaping, in response to a publication by the French High Council for Public Health last year which was critical of the sector. Everything must be done to find effective ways to reduce smoking rates. A tried and tested means would be the e-cigarette: “According to the highly recognized international scientific consortium Cochrane, the most effective of these means of nicotine substitution are electronic cigarettes…“. Pointing to the high relapse rates among smokers seeking to quit with medical cessation devices—an estimated 70 percent to 80 percent of users return to smoking—the authors call on healthcare professionals to recommend e-cigarettes to smoking patients as a significantly less harmful alternative.”

ARTICLE LINK:  French experts call for tobacco policy rethink

“State Sen. Julie Morrison, D-Lake Forest, has been a steadfast supporter of banning flavored tobacco products. She has introduced Senate Bill 3854, which would prohibit the sale of all flavored tobacco products, including cigarettes, e-cigarettes and chewing tobacco. The measure remains in a Senate committee. Municipalities around the state, including Chicago, Skokie and Oak Park, have all passed some kind of ban on the sale of flavored e-cigarette and vaping products.

Elizabeth Hicks, U.S. Affairs analyst with the Consumer Choice Center, said enacting a flavor ban for vaping products will push adult consumers to switch back to smoking combustible tobacco at a time when smoking cigarettes has been trending down in Illinois. “About 12% of adults in 2020 reported smoking, however, if this bill passes, we can certainly expect that number to increase,” Hicks said.“

ARTICLE LINK: Legislation Would Ban Flavored Tobacco And Vapes In Illinois