VAPING NEWS

VAPING NEWS: ALTRIA / JUUL [Request To Dismiss RICO Claims]

“Altria Group Inc. on Friday urged a California federal judge to cut racketeering claims from multidistrict litigation alleging the tobacco giant fueled the youth epidemic by pushing e-cigarette maker Juul Labs Inc., of which Altria holds a large stake, to market tobacco products to teens. U.S. District Judge William H. Orrick issued a tentative ruling prior to Friday’s hearing stating that he was inclined to deny all of Altria’s motions to dismiss, except for state claims where there are no class representatives: Delaware, District of Columbia, Idaho and North Dakota.”

ARTICLE LINK:   Altria Urges Judge To Nix RICO Claims In Juul Vaping MDL

VAPING NEWS: UK [Parliament Discusses E-cigs & Tobacco]

“In the House of Commons, John Spellar MP was concerned about vaping in public. In the House of Lords, Baroness Hayman was worried about littering and Viscount Ridley inquired about the reasons for the continuing ban on snus, a product that has delivered a huge reduction in Scandinavian smoking rates.”

ARTICLE LINK:   Parliament Discusses E-cigs and Tobacco

VAPING NEWS: PHILIPPINES [Bloomberg Corruption]

“Grubby money from Michael Bloomberg’s assorted non-governmental organisations has been flooding into countries around the world. The cash came with strings and bit by bit the truth is starting to leak out; from the appointment of officials to the drafting of legislation, Bloomberg can be held directly responsible for poor working men and women being denied access to a Covid-19 vaccine. Last year, the FDA was cast under a cloud when it emerged it had already received “questionable” Bloomberg money. None of this made any difference as the Administration decided to plough on with its proposals despite the public consultation remaining unfinished. Then, last week, the FDA finally admitted that not only had it received money but it had actively sought it out. Bloomberg Initiatives paid the government to formulate legislation banning tobacco company employees from receiving vaccines. This means workers are now barred from being given a Covid-19 vaccine. There seems to be no level to which Bloomberg’s minions won’t stoop. It’s no wonder they don’t care about tobacco harm reduction – they clearly place no value on anybody’s lives if they don’t kowtow to their billionaire boss.”

NOTE: “Corruption” – dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery

ARTICLE LINK:   Grubby Money Corrupts Vape Legislation

VAPING NEWS: MALAYSIA [80% Want Vape Products Regulated & Taxed]

“A majority of Malaysians, representing 80%, want the government to take more action to regulate the vaping industry of Malaysia. Malaysian Vape Industry Advocacy president Rizani Zakaria said oficial reports from the Ministry of Health (MoH) indicate that there are over one million vapers in Malaysia and yet there are no regulations in place, leaving consumers no choice but to use unregulated products. The poll also saw 87% of Malaysians agreeing that tax should be imposed on vaping products and 74% think the revenue collected could be spent by the government on areas of importance, such as education and the economy.”

BILL TARLING — One issue with such polls (as well as most voting polls) is that those wanting the regulations and taxation often feel so, but not only don’t understand the difference between regulating the products and passing bad regulations that can hinder the benefits they provide. As well, since most of those polled don’t use the product, it’s easy for them to say impose [deterrent] taxes and use it to benefit their needs because (since they don’t use the products) that’s an enticing ‘Free Money’ prospect since they will not be the ones paying — i.e. as long as it’s not coming from their pockets, they feel it’s a wonderful idea to make others pay for it [again, even though that then puts a burden and hindrance on the positive benefits the products have in helping smokers break away from their smoking habit with a proven harm reduction option. People should not be penalized more for wanting a successful and safer alternative to smoking.

ARTICLE LINK: 80% of Malaysians want vape industry regulated

VAPING NEWS: FRAUDULENT ANTI-VAPING STUDIES & FUNDING

“Lies and half-truths are corrupting the reputation of tobacco harm reduction products. In South Africa, zealots are claiming vaping doesn’t help smokers quit – a clear distortion of the truth. Stopping Tobacco Organizations and Products (STOP) is a Bloomberg funded organisation has published a document full of smears and falsehoods. Is there anything that can be done to improve vaping’s reputation? “The evidence shows that vaping helps people quit smoking. This has been shown in a series of randomised controlled trials, the gold standard of scientific evidence. “Why, then, does a growing majority of EU citizens believe the opposite? Partly it is because the Americans’ moral panic about e-cigarettes has drifted across the Atlantic. Junk science from California regularly makes its way into European newspapers. Chemical experiments on mice, zebrafish and other small animals have been inappropriately extrapolated to humans to produce scary headlines and undermine the public’s confidence in e-cigarettes.” writes Christopher Snowdon in an article on New Europe”

ARTICLE LINK:   The Battle Between Ecig Facts and Lies

VAPING NEWS: AMERICAN STUDY FINDS E-CIGS ARE A GOOD SMOKING CESSATION AID

“There is good news for America’s smokers hoping to quit. A new study authored by researchers at Kansas University, California State and San Marcos University revealed when smokers switch to non-combustible alternatives, such as electronic cigarettes, they are more likely to quit and experience better health outcomes. This finding should be no surprise to those who are familiar with past studies on e-cigarettes showing their viability as a smoking cessation device. In contradiction to what this most recent vaping study and broader research shows, government policies continue to discourage the use of e-cigarettes. Instead of embracing electronic cigarettes as a healthier alternative to smoking, governments at both the state and federal level have imposed high taxes and regulatory burdens. If government officials want to improve public health, they should incentivize the use of e-cigarettes so that smokers can have more readily available access to vapor products that are shown to aid quitting and do not have the same long-term effects as traditional cigarettes.”

ARTICLE LINK:   Policymakers: Stop Ignoring the Science on Vapes

VAPING NEWS: GENETIC SUSCEPTIBILITY [Risk Takers More Likely To Smoke If E-cigs Banned]

“The findings imply that the genetic influences associated with people taking up smoking also influence people being e-cigarette users; these were also found to be associated with risk-taking behaviours more generally, such as externalising disorders in childhood. Previously, e-cigarette-use has been linked to an increased risk of smoking. However, if individuals are genetically more likely to both smoke and use e-cigarettes, policies which aim to prevent e-cigarette use by removing them from the market may actually encourage smoking where only cigarettes are available.”

ARTICLE LINK:   Risk-takers predisposed to smoking and e-cigarette use, new study suggests

VAPING NEWS: PACT ACT CLASSIFIES VAPE PRODUCTS AS CIGARETTES [aka Vape Mail Ban]

“Sellers who do no register or comply with new regulations, which are set to take effect 90 days from passage, would be subject to severe penalties, including up to three years in prison. The amended bill, known as the PACT Act (Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking), modifies the definition of “cigarettes” to include any vaping product, whether it contain nicotine or not. These changes prohibit Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) from being sent to consumers through the United States Postal Service, influencing other common carriers such as FedEx, which announced it would ban the delivery of vaping products as of March 1, 2021.”

ARTICLE LINK:   VAPE INDUSTRY UNDER PACT ACT ATTACK

VAPING NEWS: VAPING BANNED DURING JUUL DEPOSITION

“A California federal magistrate judge on Tuesday said vaping would be off-limits during upcoming depositions in multidistrict litigation claiming e-cigarette maker Juul Labs Inc. intentionally marketed its harmful tobacco products to teens, although she did greenlight smoke breaks for anyone who needs them. The unusual directive came in a short order issued following a discovery conference that day.”

ARTICLE LINK:   ‘No Party Shall Vape’ During Juul Depositions, Judge Says

VAPING NEWS: EU PARLIAMENT MEMBERS [Lack Of Knowledge About Vape Products They Vote To Restrict Or Ban]

“How much politicians know about e-cigarettes and other novel tobacco products has a major effect on their perceptions of safety and risk, new research suggests. A survey of members of the European Parliament (MEPs) found that those who were knowledgeable about novel tobacco products were far more likely than those with no knowledge to consider them less risky than smoking. The survey conducted by ECigIntelligence and TobaccoIntelligence, independent data providers to the sector, found that high proportion of MEPs have no knowledge about new nicotine products.”