Monthly Archives: December 2018

As reported widely last week, Apple has told a British vaping website, Planet of the Vapes, that no more apps or app updates relating to vape will be allowed on the App Store.

Apple is known for its opacity when it comes to its business decisions, so don’t expect any explanation or justification for this.

Around the same time, news broke that Apple has patented a “vaporizer”. You can look at this patent elsewhere. This led many people to put two and two together and impugn a highly anti-competitive motive: Apple bans vape apps then moves in with its own iVape to corner the market. After all, is this the kind of thing Apple would do?

Well, maybe but of course, this isn’t what’s happening at all. Firstly, as Macobserver sleuth, Jeff Gamet, has shown that the application most likely relates to manufacturing processes. This is the type of thing the named inventor

POLITICIANS are calling for Parliament to set an example to British smokers by becoming more "vape friendly".

MPs are hoping for a rule change which would stop e-cigarette users being treated like tobacco smokers at government buildings in London.

Vapers are currently forced to use designated outdoor areas alongside smokers in the Houses of Parliament which has been described as non sensical and like "putting an alcoholic into a bar" at a committee hosted by MP Norman Lamb.

The call for a more vape friendly Parliament came at a special committee which coincided with last month's public health campaign VApril, which encouraged smokers to make the switch to e-cigarettes for a month.

During the debate, a number of anti-smoking and pro-vaping groups spoke to MPs to talk about the current state of the vaping industry and plans for its future - one of which was to encourage vaping in Parliament itself.

John Dunne,

The US government reportedly failed to promote the latest statistics which shows a "record low" in smoking rates - thanks in part to smokers switching to vaping

The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released the NHIS smoking data for 2017 but hasn't released a press release to report it.

The survey indicates adult smoking record rates have dropped from 15.8 per cent in 2016 to 14.1 per cent in 2017.

Anti-smoking activist, Bill Godshall, the executive director of Smoke Free Pennsylvania, posted the report on E-cigarette Forum, explaining although the statistics were on the CDC's website, they hadn't yet publicised their findings. He went on to say the CDC only reports "bad

ICELAND has seen a dramatic 40 percent drop in smokers thanks to vaping

E-cigarettes have now been hailed "a great blessing" for the country's overall public health.
Doctors have thanked Iceland's tobacco control policies for its continued success in seeing smokers quit cigarettes by promoting vaping instead.

Anti-tobacco campaigner and well-respected Italian doctor Riccardo Polosa said in a statement on social media site Twitter of the news this week: "This is a clear example that when the existing #tobaccocontrol policies are integrated with the promotion of #vaping extraordinary results can be achieved in terms of #publichealth."
In 2014, 35,000 Icelanders self-identified as smokers - comprising 14% of the population - just three years later in 2017 and thanks to a steady rise in vaping, numbers have dropped by 40 percent to 22,000.

“Smoking has been falling like a rock like we’ve never seen before,” top

NEW research has shown teen vaping rates have fallen for the second consecutive year

Despite recent headlines claiming more young people are being lured into using e-cigarettes, results from the latest National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) show vaping amongst high schoolers in America continues to drop.

Released by the Centre for Disease Control (CDC), use of e-cigarettes by youngsters has fallen from 16 per cent to 11.7 per cent since 2015 – equating to about a million fewer youth tobacco users taking up the habit

Experts hope the latest statistics will put parents' concerns about teenage vaping to rest.

In recent months, the media and a number of interest groups across America have fuelled a huge moral panic claiming an “epidemic” of underage vaping has emerged, particularly in regards to the use of e-cigarette brand Juul, supposedly a favourite with teenagers.

The latest report is also a welcome sign for the vaping industry

VAPING is not only less harmful and less expensive than smoking - but is more pleasurable, new research has found.

The new study conducted by the UK’s University of East Anglia (UAE) found people who switched from tobacco to vaping found it more enjoyable and was one of the main reasons why it was effective in helping consumers make the switch.

It’s pleasurable qualities also saw hardened smokers, who had no intention of giving up smoking, kick their habit.

Lead researcher Dr Caitlin Notley of the UEA team said: “[E-cigarettes] are at least 95 per cent less harmful than tobacco smoking, and they are now the most popular aid to quitting smoking in the UK.

"However the idea of using e-cigarettes to stop smoking, and particularly long-term use, remains controversial. We wanted to find out about how people use e-cigarettes to quit smoking and whether vaping supports long-term smoking abstinence."

Researchers took

VAPERS and their families are suing e-cigarette manufacturers Juul for getting them addicted to nicotine.

Three lawsuits have been filed against Juul Labs involving plaintiffs as young as 15, it has been revealed this week.

They claim in court filings the device is marketed towards teenagers, contain more nicotine than combustible cigarettes – and the resulting addiction is disrupting their lives.

The US vape company has already been at the centre of increasing controversy this year as its products have been slammed by the media, public health organizations and well-meaning parents and teachers for creating an “epidemic” of teenage vaping.

The news is the latest in a long line of controversial headlines for the US e-cigarette manufacturer who has been criticised by the media, government, consumer groups and well-meaning parents who blame it for a so-called “epidemic” of teenage vaping.

The

THE vaping industry is set to launch its first ever awareness month in April across the UK.

Organized by the Vaping Industry Association, VApril hopes to urge smokers to switch to e-cigarettes for the month to show them it is a healthier choice

Following in the footsteps of Stoptober, the NHS’s stop smoking challenge six months earlier, the awareness campaign will engage with the general public, government and public health organizations across the country to spread the message that vaping is better than tobacco.

With TV doctor Dr Christian Jessen fronting the campaign, famous in the UK for his Channel 4 show 'Embarrassing Bodies', VApril aims to show smokers the different types of vape products on offer while helping them to vape responsibly.

They will also have the opportunity to take the Vape Challenge by trying a vape product instead of smoking during April while having the health impact of doing so monitored

From April next year vape juice will be illegal to sell within the City of San Francisco. The Flavoured Tobacco Sales Restriction Ordinance bans flavours in all tobacco products without exemption.

Since the FDA’s deeming rule of last year legally confers “tobacco” status on vape, and since all vape juice is flavoured, it will not be permissible to sell any vape juice when the rule comes into effect.

Today, the BOS unanimously approved my legislation to ban the sale of flavoured tobacco in San Francisco. #FocusOnFlavours #DoItForTheKids pic.twitter.com/rmNaOnVVhG

— Malia Cohen (@MaliaCohen) June 21, 2017

In a somewhat extraordinary and unexpected development Scott Gottlieb, the newly appointed head of FDA, has announced that the submission deadline for PMTAs is to be delayed until 2022. 

This is a de-facto endorsement of the vaping industry and heads off the cataclysmic demise that was set in motion by the previous administration. 

The grandfathering date from last year is not changed, so new products may not be introduced to the market, although it’s unclear what enforcement there is likely to be on that front. 

This delay comes as part of a comprehensive anti-smoking plan which also involves the (controversial) denicotinisation of tobacco cigarettes which will start in 2021. In reality, this could be transformative for the vape industry, as smokers move to vape products to get their nicotine which is no longer available from smoking. 

A LEADING doctor has poured cold water on a report which claims e-cigarette users are inhaling significant amounts of lead and toxic metals.

Dr Konstantinos Farsalinos, a research fellow and cardiologist who has published over 50 studies and articles on smoking, tobacco harm and e-cigarettes, has questioned the findings by John Hopkins University which claimed dangerous levels of toxins - including lead, chromium and arsenic – are being inhaled by vapers.

The study published last week triggered a wealth of media reports, which went on to claim absorbing toxic metals could be linked to heart and brain damage.

But Dr Farsalinos says having looked at the research by the American university the level of metals actually found in the body were so low that in some cases you would have to vape more than 100ml of vape juice a day (with 15ml being an amount used by a heavy vaper per day) to exceed the limits set by the US Food and Drugs Administration.

EX SMOKERS who switched from cigarettes to vaping are more likely to use fruit flavours over tobacco, new research has revealed.

While many tobacco smokers initiated e-cigarette use by choosing flavours which mimicked their old habit - namely tobacco or menthol - over time more are switching to fruit, candy, desert or chocolate flavours and haven't returned to cigarettes.

The number of first-time vapers choosing non-tobacco flavours to help transition from cigarettes has also rocketed over the past few years.

The revealing statistics are being seen by the vaping community as vital in proving to the US government and pressure organizations that fruit and candy flavoured vape juice is very much used - and has real health benefits - to ex smokers at a time when cities and states are banning flavours, believing them to be sold as a tool to entice young people into taking up e-cigarettes.

The

The FDA is cracking down on vape juice labels, which could be mistaken for food or candy.

The government department sent 13 warning letters last week to manufacturers, distributors and retailers who are packaging or advertising their vape juice as kid-friendly food products.

The e-juice labels under fire were found to be nearly identical to recognizable edible items found in retail stores including juice boxes, candy and cookies.

The FDA's crackdown is just one of many measures which the vaping industry is currently seeing almost weekly.

The action comes less than a week after the FDA announced it sent a formal request to JUUL Labs requesting information on its popular e-cigarette brand, including documents relating to its product marketing.

The vape manufacturers who have now been hit with warning letters have been singled out for safety concerns, since the products look like food or drinks commonly consumed by