Author: Taco Tuinstra

Thailand Health Minister Says No To Vaping

Photo: kikujungboy
Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul insisted that Thailand’s Public Health Ministry will not support legalizing electronic cigarettes in the country, reports The Bangkok Post.
He made his remark on Monday during a meeting with board members of the Thai Health Promotion Foundation (ThaiHealth) to discuss tobacco control.
Anutin, in his capacity as chairman of the ThaiHealth board, said he has noticed e-cigarettes trending among teenagers, and some of them are aiming to have sales legalized.
To help boost e-cigarette control, Anutin said he has assigned a tobacco control panel under the Department of Disease Control (DDC) to review current regulations to determine whether they should be revised or new rules should be issued.
However, current laws can still suppress the rise of e-cigarettes, he said.
“The DDC has also been instructed to coordinate with police to come up with a solution in preventing e-cigarettes from becoming more popular in the future,” he said.
Surachet Satitniramai, second deputy chairman of ThaiHealth, said that currently, many business operators are attempting to legalize the import of e-cigarettes to the country, which is a topic of concern among members of the committee.
“E-cigarettes will have a widespread effect on tobacco farmers in the country,” he said. “As the materials of e-cigarettes don’t consist of tobacco but chemical, farmers will suffer income loss.”
April 25, 2022
U.S. Industry Braces for Menthol Announcement

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration could announce a detailed proposal for phasing out menthol cigarettes as early as this week.
On April 21, the White House concluded its review of FDA proposal to ban menthol cigarettes after nearly 40 virtual meetings with outside groups.
According to an Associated Press report, dozens of interest groups have met with White House staffers to try to persuade them to oppose the proposal.
Menthol is the only cigarette flavor that wasn’t banned under the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, which gave the FDA authority over tobacco products. Menthol cigarettes account for more than one-third of the U.S. cigarette market.
Health advocates oppose menthol because the ingredient’s “cooling” effect make it easier to start smoking and harder to quit. The health consequences have disproportionally fallen on black smokers, 85 percent of whom use menthols.
In recent weeks, menthol ban opponents have stepped up their campaign against the proposed measure, meeting with lawmakers and publishing editorials. For example, earlier this month, Guy Bentley of the Reason Foundation warned that banned banning menthol cigarettes is a high-risk strategy.
All major federal regulations—particularly those that could impact the economy—must be reviewed before publication by the White House Office of Management and Budget. Outside groups and individuals can request a meeting, offering a last chance to try and shape the final product.
According to the Associated Press, more than half of the budget’s office on the menthol proposal were requested by group that traditionally oppose tobacco restrictions. Correspondence shows the groups raised concerns about unintended consequences of a ban, including increases in illegal market sales and increased policing of Black communities to contraband cigarettes.
More than a quarter of meeting were reportedly requested by gas station owners, convenience stores and distributors. Members of the Southern Association of Wholesale Distributors, for example, said that some convenience stores could lose a third of their cigarette revenue, forcing them to close and create “food deserts”—geographical areas in which it is difficult to buy affordable or good-quality fresh food.
Other groups, such as the Americans for Tax reform, which has received funding from Altria Group, warned of lost government revenue.
Health advocates dismiss concerns about over-policing of Black communities and illicit sales. The proposed rules, they say, target distribution rather than possession, and most cigarette smuggling in the U.S. today is across state lines to take advantage of difference in tax rates. If menthol production stops, there will be little supply to smuggle, say health advocates. Canada banned menthol cigarettes in 2018.
April 25, 2022
FEELM Joins Vaping Awareness Campaign

Photo: Smoore
SMOORE’s flagship atomization tech brand FEELM has signed up to the VApril 2022 consumer awareness campaign to offer specialist smoking-cessation advice to U.K. smokers and encourage them to switch to less harmful alternatives.
Established by the U.K. Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA), VApril is the largest campaign worldwide to promote smoking cessation through switchover to vaping.
“Research has shown that vaping increases the likelihood of a successful cigarette quit attempt by 50 percent and is now the U.K.’s most popular way to quit” said John Dunne, director-general of UKVIA.
“However, suspect science and misinformation on vaping are discouraging many smokers from switching to a less harmful alternative. We need to take an evidence-based approach to educate the public about vaping which is what Vapril was designed to do. It is great to see UKVIA member FEELM supporting these events this month.”
During VApril vaping awareness month, FEELM will present the most up-to-date evidence-based vaping facts on social media targeting adult smokers, to help them make the most informed choices.
In April, FEELM teamed up with specialist vape retailer Vapourcore, to give away Core Pro disposable vapes to adult vapers and smokers seeking to switch in London and Manchester. Vapourcore and FEELM jointly introduced this ultra-slim disposable product with ceramic coil in early 2022.
Built to be lightweight and compact, Core Pro is designed specifically for adult smokers looking to switch. It includes a bowl-shaped FEELM ceramic coil with a microporous surface, which increases the surface area in contact with the e-liquid, hence uniform temperatures around the whole coil, lowering the risk of burnt tastes. Moreover, the FEELM ceramic coil features a unique anti-condensation and maze-shaped structure that prevents leakage and spit-back. In 2021, Pro Core won 2021 MUSE Design Award for its technology and design.
“Our aim was to produce a high quality and elegant vaping product for adult smokers and the Core Pro is just this” said Vapourcore CEO Charles Bloom. “Utilizing the FEELM ceramic coil gives the Core Pro a uniquely smooth, flavorsome and very efficient nicotine delivery far superior to other disposables.”
April 25, 2022
Kiwi Health Director Urged to Permit Flavors

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The attitude and actions of the next director-general of health will be key to New Zealand achieving its smokefree ambitions, says the Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA).
“This person could make or break Smokefree 2025. He or she advises the government, oversees regulation, and has the final say on new vape store licences. It’s an incredibly important position when it comes to New Zealand effectively addressing tobacco,” says Nancy Loucas, executive coordinator of the Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Advocates (CAPHRA).
Current Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield will leave the job in July, with his successor yet to be appointed.
Loucas says that while New Zealand’s Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Vaping) Amendment Act 2020 is viewed internationally as relatively progressive, there are some provisions that the next director-general should review.
“The act claims to strike a balance between ensuring vaping products are available to adult smokers while protecting young people. Sanctioning it as an R18 product has helped achieve that. However, banning the most popular flavours from general retail is only stopping adult smokers from quitting deadly tobacco,” she says.
Since August 11, 2021, general retailers such as supermarkets, service stations and convenience stores have been limited to just selling three flavors–mint, menthol and tobacco. Only licenced specialist vape stores can sell a full range of more popular flavours.
“The next Director-General of Health must review this restriction on general retail. By the time he or she takes office, the flavor ban would have run a year and many of us strongly believe it’s hindering not helping New Zealand achieve Smokefree 2025.
“Adult smokers desperate to quit can go to a supermarket and choose any brand of cigarette under the sun, yet they can only choose from three vape flavors. That’s not enabling them to make the best decision for their health nor is it helping New Zealand reduce its smoking rate,” says Loucas.

This person could make or break Smokefree 2025. He or she advises the government, oversees regulation, and has the final say on new vape store licences. It’s an incredibly important position when it comes to New Zealand effectively addressing tobacco.
Nancy Loucas, executive coordiinator, CAPHRA
With youth smoking at a historic low and 9.4 percent of adults now daily smoking, New Zealand’s goal of Smokefree 2025—where 5 percent or less of the general population smoke—is looking increasingly likely to be achieved.
CAPHRA says overall Bloomfield has been a supporter of New Zealand’s Tobacco Harm Reduction public health strategy. This has included approving and promoting messages on the ministry of health’s Vaping Facts website, which headlines “vaping is less harmful than smoking”—an approach that has been heavily supported across New Zealand’s health sector.
Late last year Associate Health Minister Ayesha Verrall released the government’s Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 Action Plan.
At the time, CAPHRA and other THR advocates raised concerns that vaping—a 95 percent less harmful alternative and New Zealand’s most effective smoking cessation tool—is largely absent from the government’s reinvigorated approach to stamping out smoking.
“The smokefree action plan makes tobacco less available and less appealing. It fails, however, to fully acknowledge the positive role vaping has played, and will play, in getting Kiwis off the cancer sticks. That’s a worry because we won’t get there without safer nicotine products,” she says.
CAPHRA says top of mind for the next director-general of health is that fact that over 5,000 Kiwis continue to die from smoking-related illnesses every year, and the job to reduce that is by no means done.
“The next director-general of health will need to keep a close eye on whether the government’s vaping regulations and Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 Action Plan are in fact delivering on their promise. With so many lives at stake, he or she will have no time to waste,” says Nancy Loucas.
April 25, 2022
Researchers Invited to Access PATH Data

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is encouraging researchers to access recently published numbers on tobacco consumption.
In March, the agency’s Center for Tobacco Products, together with the National Institutes of Health, released the first set of widely available Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) study tables and figures that provide information on tobacco use among youth (aged 12-17), young adults (aged 18-24), and adults (aged 25+).
The content, which is available for public use, may be downloaded from the PATH Study webpage, which also provides information about the analytic methods used to generate the tables and figures.
The PATH Study is a uniquely large, long-term study of tobacco use and health in the United States. By following study participants over time, the PATH Study helps scientists learn how and why people start using tobacco, quit using it, and start using it again after they’ve quit, as well as how different tobacco products affect health over time.
April 25, 2022
Rolling Paper Market to Exceed $1 Billion

Photo: Curved Papers
The value of the global rolling papers market will be $679 million in 2022, according to a new report by Future Market Insights. Sales are projected to increase at a 5.1 percent compound annual growth rate, with the market size reaching $1.1 billion by 2032.
Traditionally, tobacco was smoked using paper scraps and leaves of different trees. However, paper scraps and leaves have gradually evolved into sophisticated and commercial rolling papers. Increasingly, cigarette paper and rolling papers are made from non-wood plant fibers such flax, hemp, sisal, rice straw and esparto.
Rolling papers are available in several forms, which include transparent, colored and flavored varieties. These papers offer desired tearing strength, thickness, air permeability and burning speed control. Rising number of commercial cigarette brands and surging popularity of roll-your-own smoking are expected to bolster sales in the market in the forthcoming years.
By material type, hemp segment is estimated to account for around 60 percent of the total market share in 2022. In terms of basis weight, demand in the 10 gsm to 25 gsm segment will increase at a 4.6 percent CAGR through 2032, according to the report.
Sales in the U.S. rolling papers market will grow at a 3.7 percent CAGR, reaching a valuation of $164.8 million by 2032. China will account for a lion’s share in the east Asian rolling papers market, with total sales reaching $136 million by 2032.
April 22, 2022
Taipei: Rally Against Proposed Vaping Ban

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
Smoker rights groups on April 21 protested outside the legislature in Taipei against a proposal to ban e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products (HTPs), reports The Taipei Times.
The government must respect the rights of smokers, they said, adding that it should offer people choices, instead of instituting a ban.
The protest was in response to the legislature’s Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee considering changes to the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act that would ban e-cigarettes and limit HTPs. Amendments to the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act to restrict e-cigarettes are also be considered by the Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee.
One protester said that vaping devices, HTPs and flavored cigarettes should be regulated like regular cigarettes, with taxes and age restrictions for purchase.
“HTPs and e-cigarettes should be classified as tobacco products, just like the cigarettes sold at convenience stores,” the protester was quoted as saying by The Taipei Times. “We agree that the government should impose restrictions and rules, not permit sale to minors, no advertising, no online purchase and have health warnings.”
April 22, 2022
Study: Menthol Ban Could Increase Lung Cancer Rates

Photo: New Africa
Banning the sales of menthol cigarettes will likely have unintended consequences, according to a study by researchers from Vanderbilt University Medical Center published April 21 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute .
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration plans to issue proposed rules this spring that would prohibit menthol cigarettes. The measure is intended in part to address a health disparity since a significantly larger percentage of African Americans than whites smoke menthol cigarettes and African American men have higher lung cancer incidence and death rates from the disease.
According to the FDA, nearly 85 percent of all non-Hispanic Black smokers smoke menthol cigarettes, compared to 30 percent of non-Hispanic white smokers. The agency also believes that menthol-flavored cigarettes can be more addictive than non-menthol cigarettes and harder to quit.
However, the study by the Vanderbilt researchers revealed similar quit rates among menthol and non-menthol smokers overall and no statistically significant difference between white and African American participants.
The researchers tracked 16,425 smokers who entered the study between 2002 and 2009 and completed a follow-up survey between 2008-2012, 2012-2015 and 2015-2017. The average annual quit rate from those surveys was 4.3 percent for menthol smokers and 4.5 percent for non-menthol smokers.
Prior research by this Vanderbilt research group has shown that non-menthol smokers are at higher risk for lung cancer. They also cited research from Canada, where menthol-flavored cigarettes are banned, which revealed that most menthol smokers tend to switch to non-menthol brands rather than quit.
“If the existing epidemiologic data showing lower risk of lung cancer among menthol than non-menthol smokers hold generally, then in the long-term if high percentages of menthol smokers switch to non-menthols, the ban could have the unintended consequence of a net increase rather than decrease in risk, at least for lung cancer,” the researchers noted in the study.
April 22, 2022
Critics: San Francisco Flavor Ban Study Flawed

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New research refutes a May 2021 study suggesting San Francisco’s ban on all flavored tobacco products was tied to higher smoking rates in high school students compared to school districts without flavor policies in place, according to the Truth Initiative, an antitobacco organization.
Led by Harvard University’s School of Public Health’s Jessica Liu, the most recent research found that the data for the May 2021 study was collected too early to draw meaningful conclusions.
The San Francisco ban on flavored tobacco went into effect in July 2018. Enforcement, however, did not start until January 2019, according to the authors of the Harvard study.
The May 2021 study used data from the 2011-2019 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) to determine smoking rates in youth after San Francisco’s flavor ban went into effect. However, the 2019 YRBSS data in San Francisco were collected between September and December 2018, before the flavor law was enforced.
Given that compliance with flavored tobacco laws was relatively low in fall 2018 (17 percent in December 2018) and that few retailers were enforcing the restriction, data collected at this time are “an inappropriate data source for evaluating the effects of the city’s flavored tobacco sales restriction,” the authors write. “…the impact on actual access to flavored products did not really start to materialize until well after the YRBSS completed data collection in San Francisco.”
Liu’s team also looked at Oakland, whose survey data on tobacco use in youth were collected after that city started enforcing a flavored tobacco ban in January 2019. Researchers observed that high school youth vaping and cigarette use declined between 2017 and 2019 in Oakland.
April 22, 2022
Imperial to Transfer its Russian Business

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Imperial Brands today announced the transfer of its Russian business to investors based in Russia, subject to finalization of the registration of the transaction with local authorities, which is expected to take place shortly.
The transaction aligns with the company’s desire to divest its entire Russian operation as a going concern in order to provide the best outcome for its 1,000 Russian employees.
Imperial Brands’ Russian operations include a sales and marketing business, and a factory in Volgograd.
“We continue to support our Ukrainian colleagues and their families, including with transport and accommodation to enable them to escape the areas most heavily affected by war, and resettlement assistance for those who have left Ukraine,” the company wrote in an update.
Imperial Brands said its previous guidance on the financial impact of its exit from Russia and suspension of our Ukraine operations remains unchanged.
In fiscal year 2021, Russia and Ukraine represented in total around 2 percent of Imperial Brands’ net revenues and 0.5 percent of adjusted operating profit. The company anticipates a non-cash write off of around £225 million ($293.78 million) for this transaction, which it expects to be treated as an adjusting item.
April 21, 2022