Science & Policy
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Posted: November 27, 2022
Some of the biggest supporters and pro-campaigners of Britain’s ever-emerging vape industry have been honoured at the prestigious Vaping Industry Recognition Awards 2022.
Hosted by the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA), the ceremony saw members from all sectors of the industry, including politicians and representatives from the NHS and Trading Standards, celebrated for their hard work and support.
Dr Anita Sharma, a local GP from Oldham who has been campaigning for smokers, including pregnant women, to switch to vaping to improve their health, was awarded Most Supportive Public Health Professional.
While Mike Pawsey MP, who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Vaping which explores appropriate legislative responses and reports into e-cigarettes as a harm reduction tool was handed the accolade for Most Supportive Parliamentarian.
The Independent European Vape Alliance (IEVA) meanwhile
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Posted: November 27, 2022
The Financial Times has reported today that the European Union, which faces significant economic problems, plans to triple vaping tax in the near future.
This measure, to increased levies- especially on the higher nicotine strengths, potentially doubling their current cost and adding up to 3€ to the retail price, will hit the most addicted smokers turned vapers the hardest - pushing many back to smoking.
In response, vaping.com is launching a campaign to make sure the UK Government doesn’t tax vaping in the same way as cigarettes, and instead, looks to reduce vape VAT to 5% - in line with other nicotine replacement therapies such as gum and patches.
With the British Government also facing an apparent £40 billion black hole in its finances, it’s not hard to imagine that the Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, could be looking to similarly hike taxes on vaping.
But Hunt – the longest-serving
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Posted: November 20, 2022
Senior British academics, who recently carried out the largest review of its kind on e-cigarettes for the UK government, were reportedly “in despair” over the new research in America which made global headlines, explaining that nicotine in vaping causes these symptoms - and coffee create a similar if not larger response.
The American research by the University of Wisconsin sparked a barrage of news articles last week when it’s Cardiac and Lung E-Cig Smoking (CLUES) Study - due to be presented at this weekend’s American Heart Association’s Scientific Session - reported how participants suffered increased blood pressure and heart rate along with blood constriction, immediately after vaping or smoking cigarettes.
In a second report, they found people who used e-cigarettes consistently performed worse on treadmill exercise measurements, compared to those who did not use nicotine. The “significant
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Posted: June 15, 2022
A top advisor to the UK Government has said that without drastic action – including the promotion of vaping as a less harmful alternative to smoking – the country will miss its smoke-free 2030 target by 7 years.
Dr Javed Khan OBE – a senior NHS leader and former CEO of the Barnardos children’s charity – was asked to review Britain’s progress towards its target of a smoking prevalence of less than 5% by 2030.
Khan’s report to the Department of Health makes for critical recommendations:
- Increase investment - around £125 million in smoke-free 2030 policies should fund accessible stop smoking support; while Khan also recommends implementing a tobacco industry levy in order to raise the money.
- Increase the age of sale
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Posted: June 15, 2022Categories: Science & Policy
Vaping is as safe as nicotine patches for pregnant women wanting to switch from cigarettes and could be “more effective” according to new medical research.
The study has found that pregnant smokers were more likely to make a better transition away from smoking when using e-cigarettes than patches after four weeks.
The UK research, which involved 1,140 smokers who were around 15.7 weeks pregnant and smoked an average of 10 cigarettes a day, also revealed that:
“vaping did not pose any greater risk to mothers or babies during pregnancy than other nicotine replacement methods”.
The study published in Nature Medicine magazine is one of the first to look at the safety and efficacy of e-cigarettes amongst women who are pregnant.
It comes as Dr. Francesca Pesola, the author of the research
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Posted: June 15, 2022Categories: Science & Policy
A new scientific study has revealed that smokers who switch to vaping may be more likely to improve their health and well-being over those who choose cigarettes.
Research by the University of Washington has shown adult cigarette users who had shifted to vaping in their 30s reported to be more focused on “better health and wellbeing”.
Smokers who opt to vape may also have “more opportunities for healthy social engagement” - thus promoting “healthier ageing among nicotine users approaching midlife”, the study also found.
The research looked at 156 smokers and monitored changes in “health and social functioning” between the ages of 30 and 39.
Of the 156 study participants, 64% smoked
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Posted: February 03, 2022
THE UK government is set to introduce a tax on heated tobacco for the first time.
In the 2018 Budget announced this week, “heat not burn” smoking alternatives, which include brands such as Philip Morris's iQOS, will be taxed at the same rate as hand-rolling tobacco from April 2019.
Britain’s The Mirror newspaper discovered the “hidden” measure after painstakingly trawling through the Budget’s red book, after it was released by Chancellor Philip Hammond on Tuesday (October 30th).
Duty on rolling tobacco amounts to around £7 for the smallest (30g) packs, while under the new tobacco duty, prices of cigarettes will cost £10 for a packet of 20.
But experts say that the government's tax hike on tobacco will do little to discourage smokers with a better way of helping people quit to help develop and promote e-cigarettes and vaping instead.
Giles Roca of the Tobacco Manufacturers' Association said: "Tobacco taxes have
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Posted: February 03, 2022
SCHOOLS across America are increasingly installing Artificial Intelligence in bathrooms to catch young vapers, it has been revealed.
Pro-vapers have slammed the latest extreme measures in response to a so-called vaping “epidemic” sweeping the US, saying underage use of e-cigarettes has been vastly over-exaggerated by the media and campaign groups.
But over 200 schools in 23 American states and Canada have installed special AI devices, which are trained to detect the water vapour signatures coming from vaping pens, e-cigarettes and other vaping paraphernalia. Its manufacturers claim it is now receiving 20 new inquiries a day from schools.
The Fly Sense device, which uses machine-learned AI, was originally developed by Soter Technologies to detect bullying in school, since it also reacts to elevated sound levels that might indicate fighting. But it has quickly been brought in to monitor vaping instead as concerns among parents rise.
It works by using technology
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Posted: January 07, 2022Categories: Science & Policy
The NHS and vaping - how does the British healthcare system treat vapers?
Britain’s National Health Service is unquestionably the most popular institution the country has. Founded in 1945, it offers all kinds of healthcare free at the point of use to anyone in the country who needs it.
The British Government has also been at the forefront of encouraging smokers to switch to less harmful products like vapes or nicotine pouches. The Department of Health, backed by medical doctors at the Royal College of Physicians, regularly tells smokers that they’d be far better off if they vaped, and that vaping is 95% less harmful than smoking.
But how does the NHS itself - the hospitals and other healthcare facilities that fall within the remit of this huge national treasure - deal with vaping in the real world?
We decided to
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Posted: March 10, 2021
THE US government is considering banning the online sales of e-cigarettes, it has been revealed.
Head of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Scott Gottlieb has admitted the shock move is one of the proposals "on the table" as part of its crackdown on teen vaping.
While speaking on a panel discussion on e-cigarettes hosted by US news website Axios on Tuesday, Gottlieb explained the FDA will reveal more about its future plans in November when they release new data on the use of e-cigarettes by minors.
The proposal has already been heavily criticized as a potential disaster to America's health with thousands of ex smokers having quit their deadly cigarette addiction thanks to vaping.
Gottlieb told the panel: “One of the things we’re looking at is whether or not we should change our regulations to address how these products are being sold, particularly how they’re being sold online.
“We have two problems
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Posted: March 05, 2021
“If anything, restricting e-cigarettes may incentivize youth to try combustible cigarettes instead.”
The man who invented nicotine patches to help smokers quit has raised serious doubts about the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) strategy to combat youth vaping.
Last month, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb launched a raft of new enforcement measures as he deplored a new youth vaping ‘epidemic’.
New measures included a clampdown on shops selling to minors and the possibility that some products - particularly flavoured e-liquids - could be removed from shelves.
While Dr. Gottlieb acknowledged that e-cigarettes are a helpful smoking alternative for adults, he said that this needed to be balanced against the risk of nicotine addiction in kids.
“It’s now clear to me, that in closing the on-ramp
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Posted: March 05, 2021Categories: Science & Policy
The much-vaunted Cole-Bishop Amendment was voted down on Sunday. The Cole Bishop amendment would have grandfathered all vaping products that were on the market on 8/8 last year, and exempted them from PMTAs.
As things stand, then, we’re back on the FDA’s regulatory countdown; although the countdown was (perhaps not coincidentally) pushed back by 3 months on Monday.
This is not to say, however, that things are the same as they were six months ago. A few things have become clear to me over the last couple of weeks through conversations with people deeply involved in the regulatory process. These elements will shape the contours of how this all plays out over the long-term.
- FDA understands vaping better now
FDA has
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Posted: November 30, 2020Categories: Science & Policy
It was only a few months ago that the whole vaping community stood still to watch the industry clash with tobacco control organisations in a roundtable with President Trump. That event led the President to limit a proposed ban on non-tobacco flavours.
But after the end of a marathon Presidential race, the situation seems to have changed once again.
Although the legal challenges will need to work their way through the Court system, there is now little doubt that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will become the next President and Vice President of the United States.
But with FDA regulations coming into force just before polling day, what does all this mean for the future of vaping?
Biden has only made one statement on the topic so far:
…I choose science over fiction. And so if the science has demonstrated [that vaping] is doing great damage then I don't care what it does to a small business person who's selling this stuff.
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Posted: February 14, 2020
Millions of smokers have used e-cigarettes to ditch tobacco. And landmark studies have shown that vaping only carries a fraction of the risk of smoking cigarettes.
But the world of vaping can be confusing for beginners. Just look at some of the terminology involved.
Sure, you can always ask for advice from your friend who has vaped for years. But an experienced vaper’s set-up probably isn’t suitable for someone who is just starting out.
One of the first distinctions a new vaper needs to know about is the difference between Mouth to Lung and Direct Lung vaping.
First and foremost, this is a difference in vaping styles. But it also affects what hardware and vape juice a vaper buys, because some products are optimized for Mouth to Lung vaping and some for Direct Lung
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Posted: February 14, 2020Categories: Science & Policy
Cigarette branding is powerful stuff. Tobacco companies’ own research shows that half of smokers can’t distinguish one brand of cigarette from another in blind taste tests.
“For smokers and especially for the decisive group of new, younger smokers, the consumer’s choice is dictated more by psychological image factors than by relatively minor differences in smoking characteristics.”
That’s according to internal documents drawn up by British American Tobacco.
Several countries have adopted plain packaging as a way of tackling the appeal of cigarettes. It is still early doors, but studies show that the policy works, especially with young impressionable smokers.
So as lawmakers introduce strict new regulations to tackle youth vaping, we ask why America has ignored plain cigarette packaging.
Marlboro Man and ‘Light’ Cigarettes
Marlboro made millions with their hyper-masculine mascot Marlboro Man. Other companies have tried to play down
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Posted: February 14, 2020
YOUTH smoking has fallen three times faster since the emergence of vaping, a new study has confirmed.
The long-term decline in youth and young adults having a deadly cigarette habit has accelerated in the US since e-cigarettes became popular in 2014, according to research published in the Tobacco Control journal.
Entitled “Examining the relationship of vaping to smoking initiation among US youth and young adults: a reality check”, the study was led by public health experts Professors David Levy, Ken Warner and Australian Ron Borland.
The research, which used publicly available data to study the trends, revealed: “There was a substantial increase in youth vaping prevalence beginning in about 2014. Time trend analyses showed that the decline in past 30-day smoking prevalence accelerated
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Posted: February 14, 2020
SMOKERS who live in public housing could face a smoking ban in their own homes and urged to vape instead, under new plans being considered in the UK.
Following a recent report which revealed smoking is twice as common and “highly concentrated” in council-owned properties and estates, tenants of new housing blocks may be forced to stop smoking cigarettes under new proposals, it has been revealed.
Politicians have suggested smokers be handed vaping kits by housing associations if the idea comes into force to help ease tenant's withdrawal symptoms and manage their nicotine addiction .
Two All Party Parliamentary Groups and anti-smoking charity Ash believe the new measures could save lives and have asked housing associations to look at bringing in the ban to any new housing properties that become available.
Ash’s Hazel Cheeseman said: “We are not saying all new developments should be [smoke-free] but it’s something that housing
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Posted: February 14, 2020
SWITCHING to vaping is successful in helping heavy smokers quit their habit, another new study has shown.
New research presented at the nicotine and tobacco research conference, SRNT in Munich, showed – yet again - that e-cigarettes are helping those who are addicted to smoking tobacco.
Senior Lecturer Alexis Bailey presented preliminary results to industry experts from his observational study, “SmokeFreeBrain”, which looked at the effect that switching from smoking to vaping for 28 days, had on heavy smokers.
The team measured several parameters including psychometric, cardiovascular, quality of life, brain activity and bio-markers of toxicity.
Findings from the 31 subjects who completed the study showed subtle but significant changes in psychometric parameters and a considerable reduction in bio-markers of toxicity.
Switching from cigarettes to e-cigarettes also reduced the craving to smoke and affected brain regions associated with addiction. Exposure
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Posted: February 14, 2020
HONG Kong plans to impose a total ban on e-cigarettes, it has been announced – because they are too tempting to young people.
Chief executive Carrie Lam said in a policy address on Wednesday (October 11) that all alternative smoking devices, from e-cigarettes to heat-not-burn tobacco products, will be made illegal, including their sale, manufacture and import.
Cigarettes and conventional tobacco products, however, will remain available.
Hong Kong had ruled out a ban earlier this year and outlined in legislative proposal in June how it intended to regulate e-cigarettes by prohibiting advertising and restricting its sale to minors, as it does with traditional tobacco products.
But in a dramatic U-turn, Lan announced that due to its attractiveness to young people and that there was “a lack of sufficient evidence to prove the products can help quit smoking” the government favoured an outright ban instead.
Lam said at a briefing after her address: "Without
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Posted: February 14, 2020
AMERICA’S new restrictions on the sale of e-cigarette flavours have come under fire by both anti and pro vapers.
The U.S. government's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that while it won’t implement a ban on flavoured vape juice and pods from stores and gas stations, as originally expected in its drive to restrict underage vaping, all shops must now “police” themselves.
Stores will be expected to implement closed-off, over-18 areas instead, which would be inaccessible to teenagers, where fruit and candy flavours will be sold. Under the new laws, tobacco, menthol and mint flavours will remain unrestricted and can be sold anywhere.
In a move that pro vapers and ex smokers say could result in stores cutting back on selling juices and pods all together, a separate cashier would be needed for the new