VAPING NEWS

BIG TOBACCO SUPPORT FOR ANTI-VAPING AGENDAS

“Under increasing pressure, big tobacco companies are doing everything possible to keep electronic cigarettes, which offer a safer nicotine alternative, from intruding upon their shelf space. It is easy to see why vaping, which offers a safer product with reportedly better taste and smell due to its wider availability of flavors, is edging out traditional cigarettes in the marketplace. But tobacco companies aren’t competing in a free market. And Big Tobacco learned long ago how to use their financial clout to make sure the regulatory process works in their favor. They’ve developed a deep political playbook at the federal and state level as well. At the federal level, tobacco companies are promoting federal taxes on electronic cigarettes and even tax cuts on traditional cigarettes. At the state level, there are campaigns to ban flavored electronic cigarettes and to divert some Master Settlement Agreement funds from anti-tobacco advertising to anti-vaping advertising. ”

ARTICLE LINK: Tobacco’s Surprising Partners in Stubbing Out Vaping

DEBUNKED JUNK SCIENCE PSEUDO STUDIES

“The media reports the results of sloppy vaping research, then quickly forgets them. Each paper generated widespread media coverage, usually one news outlet duplicating the uncritical coverage of the last, giving consumers the false impression that vaping poses a greater health threat than it actually does. When we examined these studies in more detail, we identified their serious flaws. But health reporters tend to obsess over a topic for a few days then forget it entirely, quickly moving on to the next exaggerated study. So in the spirit of developing a more comprehensive understanding of the health risks and benefits of vaping, here’s a greatest-hits compilation of the questionable research that has hit the headlines in recent months.”

ARTICLE LINK: Lousy Vaping Studies: A Master List Of Junk Science

ELEMENT VAPES [Hackers Skim Credit Cards]

“BleepingComputer has confirmed Element Vape, a prominent online seller of e-cigarettes and vaping kits is serving a credit card skimmer on its live site, likely after getting hacked. With its presence across the U.S. and Canada, Element Vape sells e-cigarettes, vaping devices, e-liquids, and CBD products in both retail outlets and on their online store.

Element Vape’s website is loading a malicious JavaScript file from a third-party website that appears to contain a credit card stealer. Our analysis of ElementVape.com on Wayback Machine indicates the above code was absent as of February 5th 2022 and before. Therefore, the infection appears to be more recent, occurring sometime after the date and before getting discovered today.

If you have recently made any purchases on the website, make sure to check your credit card transactions for any suspicious activity”

Warning: Popular e-cigarette store hacked to steal credit cards

PHILIPPINES – Give Smokers Access To Less Harmful Alternatives

PHILIPPINES – “Some readers, including colleagues in the medical community, have been asking us to explain why we support the vape bill. Our short answer is, “Because we would like to put our smokers back into the health equation.” We confess that in our clinic, we used to have a condemning, somewhat discriminatory attitude toward our recalcitrant smokers. Yes, we unjustly excluded them from the health equation previously, as if their lives didn’t matter, and they deserved whatever complications they were likely to develop with continuous smoking. We’re convinced that properly regulated ATPs are a potent tool and our best bet at the moment to finally reduce smoking to the barest minimum in 10 years’ time. We’ve tried all sorts of carrot-and-stick interventions—from nicotine gums and patches to hypnosis, acupuncture and sin taxes—but they just didn’t work well enough to attain our goal for our smokers. We have explained in a previous commentary that the use of e-cigs and HTPs could serve as a pragmatic middle ground to wean smokers off their addiction to cigarettes. Making them quit smoking eventually is our primary objective but, meanwhile, they should be given access to these less harmful ATPs.”

Vape bill ‘1st real antismoking measure in 20 years’

UKECRF Research Round-Up (February 2022)

“The UK E-Cigarette Research Forum (UKECRF) is an initiative developed by Cancer Research UK in partnership with Public Health England (PHE) and the UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies (UKCTAS). Among other things, it brings together genuine experts to look at research related to vaping and tobacco harm reduction. It has released its latest research round-up.”

UKECRF Research Round-Up (Feb 2022)

VAPING NEWS: No more doubts: e-cigs are less toxic than traditional cigarettes.

International researchers of the Replica project from Italy, Greece, Oman, the USA and Serbia aimed to replicate three major international studies, testing them independently.

Exposure protocols for tests comply with international standards (ISO, CORESTA and HCI), and experimental conditions used in vitro were consistent with those of the smoker.

Firstly, the researcher evaluated diverse smoke toxicity from conventional cigarettes and the volatile component with no nicotine. Therefore, they assess that acute toxicity is mainly induced (about 80%) by the volatile components rather than nicotine. Secondly, researchers exposed different cell cultures to the same amount of nicotine from different products (classic cigarettes, electronic cigarettes) to demonstrate no toxicity associated with the aerosol of electronic cigarettes.

Scientists performed a further comparison between the aerosol from e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products showing no cytotoxic effect on bronchial cells on both products.

“This is a fundamental step for the international research on the electronic cigarettes,” stressed prof. Massimo Caruso, CoEHAR researcher involved in the Replica project. “In doing so, we developed shared research standards replicable in the future to avoid the proliferation of scientific studies with inaccurate and ineffective methodologies.”

Read more about the study HERE

VAPING NEWS: Harm Reduction and bias: a review confirms that ecigs are less harmful, but high-quality studies are much needed

A pioneering review evaluates the causal link between the use of ecig and the implications on health and examines 755 studies, conducted in the last 5 years, which have reported health damage caused by electronic cigarettes.

According to the research, only 37 are eligible for precise criteria of scientific quality.

By comparing the selected studies and critically evaluating their contents, it was possible to say that electronics are safer than conventional cigarettes.

Read the entire article HERE.

VAPING NEWS: Cigarette Sales Rose in 2020 for First Time in 20 Years

Gee, I wonder why???

People who once vaped may also have returned to regular cigarettes because of health concerns over vaping prompted by a mysterious lung illness in 2019 that was ultimately linked to vitamin E oil in marijuana vaping products. Bans on flavored vaping and increased e-cigarette taxes may have also contributed to the increase, consumers and industry officials said.

Read the entire article HERE.

VAPING NEWS: Texas company can keep selling flavored e-cigs, 5th Circuit rules

(Reuters) – Triton Distribution can continue selling its flavored e-cigarettes, a federal appeals court has ruled, despite the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s decision to the contrary.

In a unanimous opinion on Tuesday, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said that when the FDA last month denied the Richardson, Texas-based company’s application to sell its products, the agency did not give adequate consideration to Triton’s marketing plan to reduce the products’ appeal to youth.

Read the entire article HERE.

VAPING NEWS: Southmead Hospital could get vaping zones to make it ‘truly smoke-free’

Meanwhile… across the pond:

In 2017, North Bristol NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, bowed to public pressure and introduced two smoking shelters outside the main entrance and maternity ward.

Now it has admitted its ‘smoke-free’ policy is not working, and has said it is re-thinking its approach, with the possible introduction of designated outdoor areas where people can smoke e-cigarettes and the sale or provision of vapes on site.

Read the entire article HERE.