Author: Bill Tarling

“We are writing to you because of our concern about a recent paper published in the Journal of Adolescent Health which we feel was based on flawed data, leading to questionable conclusions, which now appears to be influencing policy decisions. The paper in question is the one published recently by Gaiha and colleagues (2020) which reported on a cross-sectional online convenience sample to examine correlations between self-reported vaping and smoking behavior and self-reported COVID-19 symptoms, testing, and positive COVID-19 test results. Facts do matter, which is why we write to you urging you to retract this flawed and misleading paper. The data are fraught with serious problems that render the analyses presented by the authors and conclusions reached as not reliable. The concern about COVID-19 is real. However, we worry when policymakers rely upon faulty data to justify policy initiatives. This has already happened in the case of the Gaiha et al paper which was cited as the basis for proposals (Krishnamoorthi, 2020; Shaheen et al, 2020) to ban the sale of nicotine vaping products until the COVID-19 pandemic is resolved.”

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Bad Data and Bad Conclusions Will Lead to Bad Policy – Implausible Claims that Vaping Increases COVID-19 Risk for Youth and Young Adults

“Tomorrow’s deadline for the submission of premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) marks the start of a new era for the e-cigarette industry, according to an article published by The Motley Fool. Companies who fail to apply for marketing authorization by the deadline will be required to remove their hardware and e-liquids from store shelves, and The Motley Fool expects many e-cigarette companies to exit the business. Because the cost of complying with the regulations is staggeringly high, many manufacturers will not be able to make it over the hurdle, and the e-cigarette market will be left largely to the tobacco giants.”

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Tobacco to Dominate Vapor Business Post-PMTA

“The Australian Tobacco Harm Reduction Association (ATHRA) is pleading with vapers to submit short video clips that could be used as part of a campaign to fight the unjust ban on nicotine base import. They are also after friends and families of vapers and shop owners who all stand to suffer from the prohibition. “As you know,” says ATHRA, “the Australian Government intends to impose a fine of $220,000 for anyone importing nicotine e-liquid from 1 January 2020. This is a disaster for Australia’s 520,000 vapers. Many will relapse to smoking and others will turn to the black market. Lives will be lost unnecessarily.””

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Video Stars Wanted

“Reynolds announced its final submission of a group of Premarket Tobacco Product Applications (PMTAs) to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) through R.J. Reynolds Vapor Company (RJRV), seeking orders authorizing the marketing of Vuse Alto electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) under Section 910(c)(1)(A)(i) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act), as amended by the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. The group of applications concludes a multi-year application process launched in advance of FDA’s Sept. 9 deadline for PMTAs. Reynolds first submitted a PMTA application in October of 2019 for Vuse Solo, and submitted additional applications for its Vuse Ciro and Vuse Vibe vapor products in April of 2020. Applications for VELO lozenge and pouch products submitted in August of this year. The VELO product PMTAs have been accepted by the FDA after their August filing, while the Vuse products are currently in substantive scientific review by the FDA. Thirteen Vuse Alto ENDS products are included in the Vuse Alto PMTAs, comprised of an ENDS component (the Vuse Alto Power Unit) and 12 closed e-liquid cartridges. Vuse Alto Cartridges are available in four flavors, each in three nicotine levels.”

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Reynolds Completes PMTA Submissions With Vuse Alto E-Cigarette Applications

“The United Vapers Alliance (UVA) organised a mass demonstration in Washington this Saturday to push home the message that vaping saves lives, the administration is set to kill the bulk of the independent business sector, and remind politicians that vapers vote – a key message for Donald Trump as he continues to sit behind in the polls. The UVA says it “educates the public and politicians regarding the benefits of harm reduction via vapour products, and strongly conveys that changes must be made, within the FDA, to provide an economically feasible pathway to market. Currently, the FDA pathway to market is not obtainable for small and medium size manufacturers. The only entities that can afford the FDA pathway to market is Big Tobacco, while more than 11,000 family owned vapor businesses will shut their doors. Left unchallenged, 99% of the vapor products, will exit the market in September 2020.””

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Washington Vape Demo

“Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, the Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform’s Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy, and Senator Dick Durbin, urged the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to update its guidance to colleges and universities and encourage campuses to go tobacco-free—which would include e-cigarettes—for the fall semester. Chairman Krishnamoorthi and Senator Durbin requests the CDC’s written response by September 9, 2020.”

BILL TARLING — Both Krishnamoorthi & Durbin continue to con the public by knowingly using debunked fake studies and conclusions in order to protect their financial interests in keeping people smoking while presenting a pretense of fraudulent claims about e-liquid vapor products.

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Subcommittee Chair Krishnamoorthi and Senator Durbin Urge CDC to Update Higher Education Guidance on Coronavirus to Include Tobacco-Free Campuses

“Aldermen are set to consider a ban on the sale of most flavored liquid nicotine products in Chicago on Friday, after an effort to prohibit the sale of all flavored tobacco products failed to advance in July. The measure set for a vote by the City Council’s Committee on Health and Human Relations would ban the sale of all flavored nicotine products — except those that taste and smell like tobacco, according to the proposal. The ban applies to products that feature liquid nicotine that has “tastes or aromas of menthol, mint, wintergreen, chocolate, vanilla, honey, cocoa, any candy, any dessert, any alcoholic beverage, any fruit, any herb, or any spice,” according to the proposal. The initial proposal from Ald. Matt O’Shea (19th Ward) would have banned all flavored tobacco products, however, business groups pushed back on the ban, saying it could hurt small businesses struggling to stay afloat. The scaled-back ban would not apply to flavored cigarettes, cigars or chewing tobacco, according to the proposal, after objections from groups like the Illinois Retail Merchants Association. Instead, the ban takes aim at those who vape flavored tobacco.”

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Aldermen to Weigh Scaled-Back Ban on Flavored Tobacco Products

“Juul Labs is planning another major restructuring effort that includes layoffs and cost cutting. The e-cigarette maker is also considering halting sales in Europe and Asia, reducing its footprint to its core markets of the U.S., Canada and the U.K. The bulk of the cuts will hit Juul’s marketing department. Juul said it would cut 150 jobs and phase out the position of chief marketing officer, adding to 500 reductions announced in October. In total, the company is slashing 650 jobs, or 15 percent of its global workforce.”

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Juul to Cut Jobs, Consider Exit from Europe and Asia

“The electronic cigarette industry is poised to irreversibly change next week. Manufacturers face a Sept. 9 deadline to submit premarket tobacco product applications (PMTA) to the Food & Drug Administration or face having their e-cigs and e-liquids pulled from store shelves. Because the cost of complying with the regulations is staggeringly high, many manufacturers will not be able to make it over the hurdle, and the e-cig market will be left largely to the tobacco giants. Some 650 PMTAs have been submitted to the FDA as of June, the most recent data available, but each application covers a separate product. The problem is it’s not just e-cig manufacturers that need to comply with the regulations, but also manufacturers of the e-liquids the devices use, as well as the vape shops that sell them. The e-cig market is about to become significantly smaller in just a few days, a change that is not necessarily better for trying to wean smokers away from traditional cigarettes.”

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Big Tobacco Is About to Dominate the E-Cig Industry

“Smoking is now completely banned at all sites in the north of the county run by the Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust (CNTW). David Muir, group director for the North Cumbria locality at CNTW, said: “Creating a smokefree environment at our sites is more important than ever. Smoking, and breathing in second-hand smoke, puts people at greater risk of a whole host of illnesses.” Vaping, which is considerably less harmful than smoking, will continue to be allowed in designated areas on CNTW sites.”

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NHS mental health trust bans smoking completely on all north Cumbria sites