Author: Bill Tarling

“Hundreds of stores are stocked almost entirely with flavored nicotine products that will soon be illegal to sell in New Jersey. Mr. Mitrani, 48, had a second store in New Jersey and one in New York. He is shutting down one of his New Jersey stores at the end of the month and preparing to stock the very item he has spent years helping customers quit — tobacco — in the other. Darth Vapor, like roughly 270 similar shops in New Jersey, is filled almost entirely with products that will be illegal to sell in the state by mid-April. “How does a whole store that pays employees and rent survive on five flavors of tobacco?” Mr. Mitrani said. “The answer is it can’t.””

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Vape Shops Face a Choice: Close or Rebrand

“The Alabama House of Representatives passed a bill today to prohibit smoking or vaping in vehicles carrying children 14 and younger. The bill, by Rep. Rolanda Hollis, D-Birmingham, passed by a vote of 78-19. The original bill covered only smoking, but House members approved an amendment by Rep. Barbara Drummond, D-Mobile, adding vaping. Today’s vote sends the bill to the Alabama Senate, which could give it final passage.”

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Alabama lawmakers move to block smoking in cars with kids

“Eight months after the Journal of the American Heart Association published a study implying that e-cigarettes magically cause heart attacks before people even try them, it has retracted the article. Even before publication, in other words, JAHA’s editors and reviewers recognized that there was a logical problem with asserting a causal link between e-cigarette use and heart attacks based on cases that predated e-cigarette use. They asked Bhatta and Glantz to address that crucial issue, and the authors failed to do so. JAHA published the study anyway.”

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American Heart Association Journal Finally Retracts Study Implying That E-Cigarettes Cause Heart Attacks Before People Use Them

” Increasing taxes on e-cigarettes in an attempt to cut vaping may cause people to purchase more traditional cigarettes according to a new study funded by the National Institutes of Health. For every 10 percent increase in e-cigarette prices, e-cigarette sales drop 26 percent while traditional cigarette sales jump by 11 percent. The research team, economists from six universities including Georgia State University’s Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, looked at Nielson Retail Scanner data from 35,000 retailers nationally across the years 2011 to 2017. Their study was published by the National Bureau of Economic Research this week.”

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Raising Taxes on e-Cigarettes Increases Cigarette Sales, New Research Shows

“Lawmakers say vaping among teenagers in South Dakota needs to be curtailed, but a bill banning the sale and possession of flavored vaping products isn’t the right move to do that. The House Health and Human Services Committee sent House Bill 1064 to the 41st legislative day, effectively killing it, in a 8-5 vote on Tuesday. Committee members said they were concerned the bill would also ban adults from purchasing the products.”

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Lawmakers say they want to curb teen vaping, but bill banning flavored products isn’t right move

“SRNT Europe (SRNT-E), is the European Chapter of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. It has announced its 2020 SPECTRUM Nicotine and Tobacco Workshop that will take place on “the beautiful University of Stirling campus”. The Continuing Professional Development (CPD) module and Knowledge Exchange Workshop is aimed at professionals and charities with an interest in public health and policy. The list of speakers is very positive due to their position on vaping and tobacco harm reduction products. A number of other experts will also be presenting topics related to smoking, tobacco harm reduction, tobacco policy and vaping across the four days. Professionals and charity workers interested in attending can apply”

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2020 SPECTRUM Nicotine and Tobacco Workshop

“Recent news about e-cigarette misuse has fueled both public misperception and policy responses that are likely to have unintended consequences. As the US vaping market continues to evolve, policymakers face the tricky challenge of safeguarding the potential for positive public health outcomes from e-cigarettes, which offer a lower-risk alternative to traditional cigarettes, while ensuring reasonable protections against youth use. In the latter half of 2019, public health officials rushed to issue broad warnings against e-cigarettes in response to a surge in vaping-related hospitalizations and deaths that grabbed national headlines. The broad warnings proved to be unfounded, as the hospitalizations and deaths were determined to be unrelated to anything found in typical e-cigarettes. eliminating flavored e-cigarette products, outright e-cigarette bans, or another popular local policy, e-cigarette taxes, have a major downside: more cigarette smoking. Because e-cigarettes are a less harmful alternative to cigarettes, public health advocates and officials must appreciate the impact of e-cigarette restrictions on smokers.”

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Efforts to Combat E-Cigarette Misuse Could Backfire

“The White House fiscal 2021 budget plan proposed an interesting move: taking the Center for Tobacco Products, CTP, out of the FDA to create a new agency within HHS to focus on tobacco regulation. Even this modest transfer probably doesn’t stand a chance in Congress. No lawmaker will want to be seen as soft on vaping. Indeed, despite being far safer than cigarettes and intended for smokers only, e-cigarettes have a serious image problem. The devices have been unfairly blamed for deaths and lung illnesses that were actually due to contaminated THC; for allegedly “damaging” teen brains with nicotine; and for supposedly leading kids to take up smoking. Yet a new agency, call it CTP 2.0, has the potential to be a big vaping thing. With new leadership and a new vision, it could be a significant boon to smokers who are trying to quit — but if and only if Congress also changes the regulatory framework that applies to e-cigarettes.”

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Trump’s Good Idea: Get Drug Regulators Out Of Vaping

“Vaping shops and other tobacco retail outlets in New Mexico would be licensed and regulated by the state for the first time, under a proposal headed toward a decisive state House vote. The Senate-approved bill would license retail tobacco vendors and apply administrative sanctions against prohibited sales to youths under age 21. A House panel on health policy endorsed the bill Monday, setting up a House floor vote. The Legislature has until noon Thursday to send bills to the governor. Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham supports the regulatory framework. Retailers would initially pay $750 per location to apply for a license and $400 for renewals. The fees would help pay for the administration of licenses and enforcement activities.”

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Legislators seek enforcement of age limits on tobacco sales

“Regulations aimed at reducing smoking and vaping are rolling out in Broomfield and public health officials say education is a priority over enforcement. No smoking signs are still being placed around Broomfield parks and open spaces, restaurants and sporting centers thanks to an ordinance that went into effect Jan. 1. The ordinance covers smoking of traditional tobacco products and e-cigarettes. Residents can report violations of the ordinance to Broomfield police. The ordinance requiring retailers who sell tobacco products to be licensed goes into affect May 1. There are about 50 retailers in Broomfield who sell tobacco or vaping products, Long said, but part of the problem is the county does not have an official count because retailers don’t have to report that they sell tobacco.”

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Broomfield clamping down on public smoking, vaping via new ordinances