Author: Bill Tarling

“The initial deception almost always gets more attention than the subsequent correction. As the often-misattributed quip puts it, “A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.” This especially holds true for potential public health threats, which are ripe for spreading misinformation and causing panic. Last June, the Journal of the American Heart Association published a study that found e-cigarettes are linked to a significantly heightened risk of a heart attack. One of the authors, Stanton Glantz, is a prominent critic of e-cigarettes who once said e-cigarette users “would be better off just smoking.” However, it turns out that claim is not supported by scientific evidence. It would be wise to remember there are huge incentives for researchers to report scary stuff. It garners more grant money, exposure and influence. The drug prohibitionists have always relied on flimsy evidence and the public’s willingness to make snap judgments in the face of a perceived public health menace.”

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Do Iowa lawmakers care about vaping facts?

“After suffering a backlash in the US for allegedly being responsible for a “vaping epidemic,” e-cigarette giant JUUL Labs expands its market internationally. They have met privately with Philippine policy makers and the medical community. The House health committee vice chair stood his ground as e-cigarette giant JUUL Labs tried to convince lawmakers that their products were viable alternatives for smokers, and that they were aboard the mission to prevent non-smoker and youth usage. On February 13, the House technical working group approved a motion to revert the minimum age of buying vapes to 18.”

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After U.S. scandal, JUUL develops new market in the Philippines

“The state House passed a bill on Wednesday to increase taxes on vaping products and other non-cigarette tobacco products, a measure estimated to raise $50 million of new tax revenue over the next two fiscal years. Sponsored by Rep. Jerry Miller, R-Louisville, House Bill 32 would add vaping products to the list of smokable tobacco products such as cigars that are subject to a wholesale tax, with that rate increasing from 15% to 25%. The legislation also doubles the per-unit tax on non-smokable and chewable tobacco products, but does not affect the tax rate on packs of cigarettes. The bill passed the House with a vote of 75 to 17 and now heads to the Senate.”

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Kentucky House passes bill raising taxes on vaping

“Indiana lawmakers are poised to double the fines stores could face for selling smoking or vaping products to anyone younger than 21 years old. The additional penalties are part of a bill increasing Indiana’s minimum age for smoking and vaping from 18 to 21 to conform with a new federal law. But the Republican-sponsored proposal doesn’t include any additional taxes on cigarettes or regulations on vaping liquids as sought by health advocates. The House and Senate must still give final approval to the agreement before the legislative session ends in a couple weeks to send it to Gov. Eric Holcomb, who has endorsed tougher retailer penalties.”

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Indiana lawmakers agree on tougher tobacco sales penalties

“Dimitris Agrafiotis, executive director of the Tennessee Smoke-Free Association and chief executive of Global eVapor Consulting, has found cause to worry about supply chain disruptions. Agrafiotis predicts that the virus will disrupt the supply chain for vaping products, including possible travel restrictions on factory staff in the city of Shenzhen – the critical point of production for the global e-cigarette industry, with more than 1000 e-cigarette factories operating.”

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Coronavirus in China may mean global shortages for vaping manufacturers

“Last week, Stanton Glantz received a massive slap in the face when one of his research papers was retracted by a journal. Now harm reduction expert Clive Bates is calling for a second Glantz study, this one claiming to have found a gateway effect from vaping to smoking, to be withdrawn. Ignoring the fact that there is no real-life evidence that supports a ‘Gateway Effect’, and studies showing that precisely the opposite is happening, the trio juggled PATH data (which Glantz and his colleagues are now banned from) to ‘prove’, “among youth who had experimented with cigarettes but had not progressed to established smoking, additional use of e-cigarettes was positively associated with future onset of current established smoking.””

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Call For Another Retraction

“On February 6, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began to enforce a previously-issued policy on unauthorized flavored cartridge-based e-cigarette products with the goal of addressing the current epidemic of youth use of e-cigarettes. A new study by researchers at Penn State finds that adults enjoy sweet e-cigarette flavors just as much as teens, suggesting that the policy may have consequences for adults too. The researchers studied changes in flavor preference in a group of long-term, adult e-cigarette users and found that, over time, preference for the traditional tobacco, menthol and mint flavors decreased, while preference for chocolate, candy and other sweet flavors increased.”

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Research suggests adults – not just teens – like electronic cigarette flavors

“Several proposals to ban flavored tobacco products and e-cigarettes have advanced in the state legislature, a move that vape shop owners say would put them out of business. The first, Senate Bill 2228, prohibits the sale of flavored products for electronic smoking devices. It also would make it unlawful to ship e-liquid products or mislabel products that contain nicotine. The only tobacco sales permitted would be for adults at retail shops in person. The second, Senate Bill 2538, is a comprehensive ban that would prohibit the sale of all flavored tobacco products, mislabeling. It goes a step further by establishing fines and penalties and authorizes a court to require people caught in violation to participate in a tobacco education program and complete tobacco use cessation program. If a minor is convicted of possession of a tobacco product or e-cigarette device, then the bill proposes having the parents select among penalty options. Meanwhile, three floors above in the House Finance Committee hearing room, impassioned speeches were delivered in support of a flavor ban proposed in House Bill 2457.”

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Proposed Crackdown On Vaping Advances At The Legislature

SENATE BILL 2228  |  SENATE BILL 2538  |  HOUSE BILL 2457

“Smokers would have to be 21 to purchase any tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, and vaping products would be taxed a rate of 24% under a package of bills debated in Lansing on Tuesday. Juul supported the bills, saying it was a common sense legislation that would protect children while preserving the rights of adults.”

BILL TARLING — Of course JUUL would support it — their products are low priced, so the tax would be minimal compared to real vape devices and products.

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Vaping products would be regulated, taxed under package of bills

“A bill introduced in the Pennsylvania legislature would end smoking in the state’s 13 casinos and racinos. Democrat Dan Frankel introduced HB 2298 last week, which would seek to expand the Clean Indoor Air Act into casinos, bars, and private clubs. The expansion of that bill would effectively ban smoking in those locations. The bill would also prohibit using e-cigarettes in those establishments.”

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Pennsylvania Lawmaker Introduces Legislation To Make Casinos Smoke-Free

House Bill 2298: An Act amending the act of June 13, 2008 (P.L.182, No.27), known as the Clean Indoor Air Act, further providing for title of act, for definitions, for prohibition, for signage, for enforcement, for annual reports, for administration, for preemption of local ordinances and for repeal; and making editorial changes.

HB 2298