News & Media
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Posted: September 28, 2018
A GLOBAL coalition of vaping industry groups has called on the World Health Organisation to change its stance on allowing vaping to be banned.
Advocacy groups from sixteen countries across North America, Europe, Asia and Australasia have joined forces to demand the public health agency reverse its stance, which allows some countries to make vaping illegal.
At present, while WHO recognizes vaping’s potential for reducing smoking rates, the agency’s tobacco control group contradicts it by allowing member states to ban vaping products outright, should they wish to, as part of a tobacco control plan.
Britain’s largest vaping body, the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) is now leading a call to action to change its stance. Along with its fellow signatories, the UKVIA says WHO’s position is at odds with certain member states, such as the UK and New Zealand, who promote e-cigarettes as part of a
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Posted: August 21, 2018Categories: News & Media
Vapers in South Africa will be banned from using e-cigarettes in public if the government’s proposed Tobacco Draft Bill is passed.
The country’s Department of Health is waging war on cigarettes with a set of new laws - and vaping is going to be hit with the same legalities.
The proposed bill sets out stricter laws on the recreational habit including more graphic packaging, banning smoking in public places and the removal of all signage on cigarette packaging.
The CEO of the Vapour Product Association of South Africa (VPA), Zodwa Velleman, has confirmed electronic cigarettes are currently included for the proposed new laws.
The VPA is now urging national government to adjust the bill to treat vapes and tobacco cigarettes as two separate concepts, instead of lumping them into one category.
“The industry is not saying we don’t want regulation, we need regulations as an industry even though we have our own self regulation that ensures we only
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Posted: August 17, 2018Categories: News & Media
POLITICANS in the UK have called on its government to actively support vaping to reduce death and disease from smoking, saying it is far less harmful than cigarettes.
MPs on the Commons Science and Technology Committee have published a report packed with facts, figures and recommendations to relax current vaping laws and make e-cigarettes more attractive to the British public.
The committee noted that about 2.9 million people in the UK are using e-cigarettes, including 470,000 who are trying to stop smoking and vaping could be key in helping the National Health Service (NHS) address the issue.
It also said pubs, employers and train operators should re-think blanket bans on e-cigarette use, with suggestions like vaping carriages on trains or on buses as a way of making it easier for users.
“Concerns that e-cigarettes could be a gateway to conventional smoking, including for young non-smokers, have not materialised,” said Norman Lamb, who chairs the
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Posted: August 06, 2018Categories: News & Media
CANCER charities along with the UK vaping industry have hit back at a government plan to tax e-cigarettes.
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Posted: August 02, 2018Categories: News & Media
THE UK is to be hit with a vape tax to raise an extra £40million for the country’s ailing National Health Service.
According to government insiders, e-cigarettes are to be added to the so-called list of “sin taxes”, which are set for increases in this Fall’s budget.
The punitive measure is set to hit the UK’s 2.9million vapers, half of which claim they took up the recreational activity to help quit their deadly habit.
The news comes despite the NHS itself encouraging e-cigarettes as a way of giving up smoking with vaping allowed in many of its hospitals.
One Whitehall insider told Britain’s The Sun newspaper: “Vapers are likely to be hit as they are not taxed at all.”
Users typically spend around £275 a year on vaping fluid. A five per cent tax would cost them £13.75 a year and raise almost £40million.
But last night Chris Snowdon, of think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs, said a vaping tax would harm the nation’s health.
He said: -
Posted: July 24, 2018Categories: News & Media
Philip Morris International (PMI) has been ordered by the British government to stop advertising its iQOS devices.
The UK’s Department of Health has sent a formal warning to the tobacco giant after discovering it had been illegally supplying newsagents and corner stores with posters promoting its “healthier alternative” to the Marlboro cigarettes it has been selling for generations.
The new smokeless cigarette devices, which stand for “I quit original smoking”, have cost $3billion to develop by PMI and while they are less dangerous than smoking, they are not as low risk as vaping, according to reports.
Using an electronic "heat not burn" system, which heats tobacco sticks up to 350°C, around half the temperature of cigarettes, it generates a nicotine-containing vapour and is part of the company's long-term strategy of building a "smoke-free future".
But during an investigation, British newspaper The Telegraph, found the world’s largest tobacco firm
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Posted: July 19, 2018Categories: News & Media
From 31 July, tobacco smokers won’t be able to light up in or near public housing, but vaping may still be permitted.
It is thought that e-cigarettes will still be allowed in the majority of public housing communities, however, it will probably be banned in places where legislation restricts the use of e-cigarettes in line with combustible cigarettes.
In the state of New York, for example, the Smoke-Free Air Act prohibits the use of e-cigarettes in places where smoking is also banned. This includes bars, restaurants, offices, parks and, from the end of this month, public housing.
Guidance from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) says that “electronic or e-cigarettes may
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Posted: July 19, 2018Categories: News & Media
SMOKERS believe more advertising showing the public health and cost benefits of vaping compared to cigarettes is key in helping them quit, new research reveals.
Both smokers and industry experts now want to see a change in advertising rules on TV, radio and print media so information on e-cigarettes can reach those who would benefit most from making the switch.
The study published this week by Consumer Intelligence on behalf of the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) reveals that:• 68% felt that changing current advertising restrictions imposed by the Advertising Standards Agency to allow public health messages to be promoted by the vaping industry would help more smokers make the switch.
• nearly 2 in every 3 smokers (63%) interviewed felt that information from their GP, pharmacist or a healthcare professional would influence their decision to make the change.
• 61% said that visible information in a healthcare environment would be beneficial.
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Posted: July 05, 2018Categories: News & Media
VAPING has helped to slash smoking numbers by 1.6 million in six years, an official report has revealed.
The impressive new figures show as the number of vape users have risen in Britain, a million and a half tobacco smokers have kicked their deadly habit for good.
Experts believe the drop in smokers and rise in e-cigarette users is also due to the UK having a pro-vaping government with its National Health Service encouraging smokers to make the switch to vaping when offering advice on cessation aids.
According to the report published by the Office of National Statistics this week, 6.1 million, or 15%, of adults in England used tobacco in 2017 – down from 7.7 million, or 20%, in 2011.
And there are now 2.8 million vapers after 5.5% of adults said they used an e-cig in 2017 – up from 3.7% when records started in 2014.
Health officials in the UK have now tentatively confirmed the UK is winning the war on tobacco as more of its population is continuing to -
Posted: July 04, 2018Categories: News & Media
A UK healthcare trust has extended itsno smoking policy to cover vaping - and has threatened disciplinary action against staff who flout its new rules.
The Western Health and Social Care Trust, which is responsible for NHS healthcare in the western half of Northern Ireland, has ignored the latest government guidance and added vapour products to its existing smoking ban.
The move, which bans the use of e-cigarettes on any of the trust’s properties, has already upset medical staff – particularly nurses who are the most likely victims of the harsh new policy.
Anyone caught using an e-cigarette on hospital grounds now faces punishment. Staff are also being encouraged to ask carers and service users who smoke [or vape], to refrain from doing so an hour before any scheduled visit and while they are in the trust’s hospitals and grounds.
Dessie Lowry of the Royal College of Nursing described
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Posted: June 26, 2018Categories: News & Media
THAILAND has been ranked as the worst place in the world for vapers.
Holidaymakers to the country have been warned that flouting its draconian laws which ban the import, export, sale and possession of e-cigarettes could see them end up with big fines or even jail time.
Australia has been ranked the second worst at this year’s Global Forum on Nicotine which saw 500 delegates from 60 countries vote, while India came in third.
Members of the International Network of Nicotine Consumer Organizations were each allowed to nominate up to five countries in the worst category and five in the best from a list of the world’s 100 most populated countries.
From 36 members, an overwhelming 33 nominated Thailand as having the most unreasonable vaping regulations while 18 nominated Australia and 16 chose India.
In Thailand, the strict vaping rules have been in place since November 2014.
Anyone found breaking the law will have their items confiscated
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Posted: June 19, 2018Categories: News & Media
Australian citizens want vaping to be legalised despite its government's refusal, new research shows.
Ex smokers in the country want e-cigarettes to be made available in shops, according to a recent poll, since many are importing e-cigarettes over the internet instead.
Experts say the trend could have major health implications for consumers buying their vape products from little-known merchants overseas and suggest it would be better for the nation's health to buy less harmful products from local stores.
The Australian Retail Association poll, conducted by the Crosby Textor Group, shows 61 per cent of 1,200 adults backed a move towards legalizing e-cigarettes and vapes.
ARA executive director Russell Zimmerman has now called on the government to follow the lead of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand by opening up the market.
He said in a statement this week: "More and more Australians are buying personal
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Posted: June 12, 2018Categories: News & Media
EX-SMOKERS would be better off with high over low nicotine strength e-cigarettes, new research has revealed.
A recent experiment into vaping use, funded by well-respected charity Cancer Research, showed vapers who used to smoke tobacco are more likely to use their devices more intensely
While ex smokers might believe that starting out on a low nicotine strength e-cigarette might be a good thing, it may be more beneficial to start high to reduce overuse and the amount of e-liquid used.
While the amount of toxins in vaping is minimal compared with smoking and the impact on health is much smaller, the use of more e-liquid does come at a financial cost.
Vapers are now advised to adjust nicotine levels in their e-cigarettes to a comfortable level where they don’t feel a strong urge to vape, don’t have acute withdrawal symptoms and are more satisfied after use.
Researchers based at London South Bank University studied 20 e-cigarette users in the
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Posted: June 05, 2018Categories: News & Media
A US city could have one of the strictest anti vaping regulations ever seen in the western world.
A total ban on flavoured liquids is set to be voted for by San Francisco residents on Tuesday, June 5th, after the city’s Board of Supervisors last year approved a total ban on flavoured tobacco products, including e-liquids.
The law was agreed despite the city government facing fierce opposition from vaping advocates and the industry as a whole.
But before it was actioned, tobacco company RJ Reynolds organised a petition to force a ballot – now known as Proposition E – which will see the law go to the public vote in a matter of days.
The ban includes everything from candy-flavoured e-cigarettes to conventional menthol smokes.
Opponents to the ban, who are mostly consumers and small business owners, are worried the law could kill off local businesses in the city.
Vape users as well as harm reduction advocates also argue that banning flavours would -
Posted: May 25, 2018Categories: News & Media
E-cigarettes and vaping could start appearing in glossy TV, radio and newspaper ads under new laws in Canada.
The federal government's new Tobacco and Vaping Products Act will force tobacco companies to use plain packaging but it also opens up a world of marketing possibilities for vaping liquids and e-cigarettes.
The new law, which received royal assent last week, legalizes and regulates what had been a "bold, black market," according to David Hammond, a prominent university professor and chair of Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
Nicotine e-liquids have, until now, been technically illegal but available at vape shops and other stores in most cities across the country with most international companies staying out of the market.
With legalization however, Hammond predicts Canadians will see big multi-national companies move into the marketplace and so will their ads.
Restrictions on e-cigarette advertising will also be far weaker than
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Posted: May 17, 2018Categories: News & Media
VAPING with nicotine is now legal in New Zealand.
The country’s ministry of health has announced all tobacco products (except types that are chewed or dissolved in the mouth) can be lawfully imported, sold and distributed under the Smoke-free Environments Act 1990.
The move has been on the cards for over a year after Health Minister Nicky Wagner revealed in March 2017 how it was set to adopt a low risk approach to legalising vaping, since "scientific evidence was still being developed".
Last August, the health ministry went further by confirming smokeless tobacco products such as snus and inhaled nicotine were going to be added to the list of legalised products as part of the Smokefree 2025 campaign.
Following the new legislation, Wagner said the government was now looking forward to seeing how allowing people to vape might affect smoking rates.
“There’s a general consensus that vaping is much less harmful than smoking. The Government is taking a cautious -
Posted: May 15, 2018Categories: News & Media
CONSUMERS in South Africa would find it harder to vape than smoke cigarettes if a new law is passed.
A consumer group has also warned the country’s vaping industry could go "up in smoke" under new government proposals.
The new law - The Control of Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Bill - which is out for comment and consideration, proposes to bring e-cigarettes and heat-not-burn products under regulatory control for the first time.
Under the proposals, e-cigarettes will no longer be available in vending machines, will be sold in plain packaging and banned for under-18s.
E-cigarettes users will also face tight restrictions on where they can vape as the bill proposes more stringent limits on smoking in public places than the Tobacco Products Control Act, which it will replace.
The Vapour Product Association, which represents companies that sell e-cigarettes, is now planning a national campaign to oppose the proposed law, saying
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Posted: May 11, 2018Categories: News & Media
Smokers who want to quit with e-cigarettes could be put off if they’re prescribed by doctors, experts say.
Users who are thinking of using the devices as a stop-smoking tool might not experiment with vaping if they start to be treated as a medical product.
Industry experts explained that because smokers don’t see their nicotine addiction as a disease, if patients starting picking up e-cigarettes at a pharmacy or via a medical prescription, it could have a “detrimental effect” on their success.
Not only that, it could potentially make them less available on the high street.
The warning given to UK politicians at a Commons Science and Technology Committee comes after Public Health England said in a report earlier this year there was "compelling evidence" e-cigarettes should be made available on the NHS due to their success in helping people stop smoking.
The body said e-cigarettes are at least 95 per cent less harmful than smoking and suggested
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Posted: May 07, 2018Categories: News & Media
A PROPOSAL to use cigarette packets to promote vaping could be considered in the UK.
Pharmacy minister Steve Brine said the “interesting idea” to help smokers switch to e-cigarettes as a cessation aid may be something his department would back.
The proposal to use cigarette packets, which currently feature public health images, as a vehicle to promote e-cigarettes was put to the minister by MP Stephen Metcalfe at a parliamentary hearing.
Brine was giving evidence along with representatives from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), Public Health England (PHE), the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.
Tim Baxter, director of healthy behaviours at the DHSC, told the Science and Technology committee hearing on e-cigarettes that under current legislation it is illegal to put promotional material into cigarette packs, but agreed with Brine that it was something the government should -
Posted: May 03, 2018Categories: News & Media
LIFE insurance for vapers is finally set to drop after Public Health England's report revealed it is 95 per cent less harmful than smoking.
Until now, e-cigarette users have had to pay double the premiums of a non-smoker after receiving the same life insurance rates as cigarette smokers.
Now the UK Vaping Industry Association has collaborated with insurance broker Future Proof and Canada Insurance to finally offer vaper users life insurance that reflects their switch to a healthier lifestyle. It is now hoping others will start following suit.
The move comes after it was revealed how most high street insurers calculate vaping to be as dangerous as smoking for life insurance policies and for many years have been doubling premiums.
An industry conference also heard how no major insurance firm in Britain was prepared to downgrade the risk for users of e-cigarettes or nicotine-containing smoking substitutes.
Insurance expert Andrew Wibberley told the UK Vaping