Author: Bill Tarling

“The government announced plans to put a 20 per cent tax on vaping products. Hagen said once the budget is passed in the spring, Alberta will become the fourth province in Canada to tax vaping products, falling in line with Nova Scotia, British Columbia and Saskatchewan. According to Budget 2020, devices like pens, open systems, pot and cartridge devices and all their accessories will be subject to the tax. All e-liquids, including cannabis ones, will also be taxed the extra 20 per cent. The government will also be taxing what it calls “other DIY vaping products,” like propylene glycol, vegetable glycerin, nicotine solutions and flavourings, that are sold for vaping.”

ARTICLE LINK:

Alberta getting new vaping tax, what does that mean for young vapers?

“The U.S. House approved 90 minutes of debate on regulating nearly all tobacco products as well as vaping. No amendments will be allowed. The bill gives the F-D-A oversight of current tobacco products and any new products that might be created; bans flavored tobacco, including menthol flavored cigarettes; and places a fee on the makers of tobacco and vaping products to pay for implementing the proposed law.”

ARTICLE LINK:

Tobacco Products & Vaping Regulation Bill

“The city is looking into banning flavored tobacco products after Corning High School students gave a presentation against the substance at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. The group asked the city to consider including a flavored tobacco ban as an agenda item at a future council meeting. Mayor Doug Hatley asked City Manager Kristina Miller if city staff could come up with an ordinance banning flavored tobacco products. Miller said she would prefer to come up with a report for the council about the substance before crafting an ordinance. The council unanimously agreed to give staff time to gather information for the report.”

ARTICLE LINK:

Corning considers banning flavored tobacco products

“Apple has removed all 181 vaping-related apps from the iOS App Store, Axios reported on Friday morning. Some of the banned apps provided news and information about vaping. Some were vaping-themed games. There were also apps that allowed users to adjust the temperature and other settings on their vaping devices. To avoid breaking functionality for existing customers, Apple is allowing them to continue using vaping apps already on their devices—and to transfer them to new devices. But new users won’t be able to download these apps, and new vaping apps can’t be published on Apple’s store.”

ARTICLE LINK:

Apple bans vaping apps from the iOS App Store

“There’s been a moralist war on nicotine vaping for years, despite the scientific near-consensus that it is far safer than conventional cigarettes, which kill 480,000 Americans a year. Flame-fanning, ill-informed media coverage hypes concerns from some sectors into dangerous misinformation, and does little to improve public or personal health. Panicky, paternalistic media coverage serves neither public nor personal health. In the case of vaping, it may lead to measures that harm more people than they are purportedly meant to save.”

VAPING NEWS:

Media Vapors Over Vaping Cloud Public Health Goals

“The City Council in Solana Beach wants to make it illegal to sell any kind of flavored tobacco within the city. Under the proposed ban, stores in Solana Beach wouldn’t be allowed to sell any kind of flavored tobacco. That means menthol cigars, flavored hookah tobacco, flavored cigars, e-cigarettes or anything else that has a “distinguishable tast or aroma or both, other than the taste or aroma of tobacco, imparted by a Tobacco Product or any byproduct produced by the Tobacco Product.””

ARTICLE LINK:

Solana Beach considers ban on sale of flavored tobacco products

“A sweeping tobacco bill slated for a House vote this week is reviving interest in limiting the levels of nicotine in cigarettes and other products. House Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), who’s sponsoring the bill, this week prodded FDA leaders about the status of nicotine cap, which was part of an ambitious tobacco agenda launched by former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb in 2017. The renewed attention to nicotine limits is partly fueled by a new low-nicotine cigarette called Moonlight that’s billed as less addictive and could soon hit the U.S. market. A panel of FDA advisors this month weighed whether the product with 5 percent the nicotine of ordinary cigarettes is enough to earn it a “modified risk” designation, meaning it could benefit the health of the population as a whole.”

BILL TARLING — The low nicotine cap on cigarettes is actually a rather stupid and counterproductive direction which would likely sell more cigarettes [which would help Tobacco companies] since smokers would need to smoke more in order to get their nicotine satisfaction. A smarter solution would be to ban the carcinogens and chemical boosters from cigarettes that Tobacco Companies use to boost the nicotine addictive strength. If you get rid of the cigarette addictive boosters, then it would be much easier for smokers to quit.

ARTICLE LINK:

House tobacco bill revives talk of nicotine limits

“Florida House and Senate leaders agree that the state needs to rein in teenagers’ skyrocketing use of electronic cigarettes, but the two chambers have adopted different approaches on the issue and, with time running down on the legislative session, an ideological standoff could doom efforts to address it. The House plan (HB 7089) would regulate vape shops, the retail establishments that sell e-cigarettes and other vaping products. Under the bill, the state Department of Business and Professional Regulation, which oversees sales of tobacco, would permit and regulate vape shops by creating a new category of “nicotine products” under state law. But the proposal would not do two things the Senate is seeking: identify e-cigarettes and vaping products as “tobacco products” and raise the age to purchase any tobacco products — including e-cigarettes — from 18 to 21. Under the Senate plan, retailers who sell vape products would be regulated like other establishments that sell tobacco products and have to pay the same $50 permit fee to the Department of Business and Professional Regulation as retailers that sell cigarettes and other tobacco products. Senate President Bill Galvano, a Bradenton Republican who has made a crackdown on youth vaping one of his legislative priorities, has said he does not support creating a separate regulatory structure for vape shops. House Speaker José Oliva, meanwhile, is balking at raising the age to purchase cigarettes and vaping products, despite the federal law.”

ARTICLE LINK:

Florida House, Senate At Odds On Vaping Solutions

“The South African unit of cigarette maker Philip Morris International Inc (PM.N) welcomed the government’s decision to introduce a lower excise tax on heated tobacco products than on regular cigarettes. Minister of Finance Tito Mboweni said, in line with Department of Health policy, his government will start taxing heated tobacco products. But he said the rate will be set at 75 per cent that of the tax on cigarettes. Electronic cigarettes, or so-called vapes, will only be taxed from 2021, Mboweni said. In July, Philip Morris opened its first flagship store in Johannesburg in an attempt to boost demand for its “reduced risk” heated-tobacco device IQOS. Vapour Products Association of South Africa (VPASA) has raised concerns about the excise for electronic vapor products, saying it will considerably increase the retail price of these electronic products, while at the same time hurting small to medium business owners.”

BILL TARLING — Tobacco companies support the vape taxes knowing it would eliminate most competition from consumer created vape companies since the smaller consumer companies make more advanced equipment and larger sized e-liquid products which would face much higher cost increases from the taxes than the Tobacco Companies cheaper quick sale versions of vape products.

ARTICLE LINK:

South African unit of Philip Morris welcomes tax stance on cigarette alternatives

“British American Tobacco (BAT) reported better-than-expected annual profits on Thursday, helped by higher pricing of its cigarettes, and said it is confident of resuming sales of flavoured e-cigarette pods in the US despite a ban. “It’s not a ban forever,” chief marketing officer Kingsley Wheaton told Reuters, adding that BAT is confident its flavoured products will be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and go back on the market. Despite the ban, the FDA will consider applications to sell these products and has given e-cigarette makers until May 22 to submit them. BAT said it is going to file applications for a range of flavours.”

BILL TARLING — Big Tobacco companies have immensely deep pockets and can easily afford the costs towards seeking PMTA approval — knowing that most of the competing consumer based industry, which developed the successful harm reduction market and real e-liquid vaping products will be forced out of business due to the prohibitive costs to file a successful PMTA

ARTICLE LINK:

Higher cigarette prices help the maker of Lucky Strike raise profits