Category: News This Week

Global Number of Vapers Jumps

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The number of vapers has increased significantly worldwide, according to the latest research from the Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction (GSTHR).
A new peer-reviewed paper published this week in Drugs, Habits and Social Policy estimates there are now 82 million vapers worldwide. The GSTHR project, from the U.K. public health agency Knowledge Action Change (KAC), found that the 2021 figure represents a 20 percent on that for 2020.
According to KAC, vaping is a significantly safer alternative to smoking. “Each year, there are 8 million smoking-related deaths worldwide,” the organization wrote in a press note. “The growth in the number of vapers, most of whom will have swapped smoking for vaping, is therefore a hugely positive step in efforts to reduce the harms of combustible cigarettes and hasten the end of smoking.”
The new study comes shortly after the U.K. government announced its Swap to Stop scheme, which aims to give 1 million smokers a free vaping starter kit to help them quit smoking. According to KAC, the U.K.’s permissive vaping laws have helped drive smoking to its lowest level on record.
“The U.K.’s support of vaping for tobacco harm reduction is in sharp contrast to the situation in many countries, however,” KAC wrote. “GSTHR data shows that vapes are banned in 36 countries, and in a further 84 countries there is a regulatory and legislative vacuum. Millions of smokers who want to switch to much safer vaping cannot do so, or may be forced to purchase potentially unsafe products on black or grey markets, due to bans, or poor or non-existent product regulation.”

The updated Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction estimate suggests that there are now 82 million people worldwide who vape, proving that consumers find these products attractive.
Gerry Stimson, director of KAC and emeritus professor at Imperial College London
The GSTHR research shows that despite restrictive regulations or bans in many countries, increasing numbers of people are choosing to switch to safer alternatives to combustible tobacco. “Along with other countries like New Zealand, the U.K. offers strong evidence that positive government messaging about vaping for tobacco harm reduction can hasten reductions in smoking prevalence,” wrote KAC. “But an international meeting on tobacco control later this year could jeopardize global progress on reducing smoking-related death and disease through tobacco harm reduction,” the public health agency added, referring to the meeting of the parties to the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control scheduled for November in Panama City.
The WHO remains opposed to the use of safer nicotine products for smoking cessation, despite supporting harm reduction in other areas of public health such as substance use and HIV/AIDS prevention.
“The updated Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction estimate suggests that there are now 82 million people worldwide who vape, proving that consumers find these products attractive,” said Gerry Stimson, director of KAC and emeritus professor at Imperial College London. “As evidenced in the U.K., millions are making the switch from smoking. Safer nicotine products give the world’s 1 billion smokers the chance to quit using alternatives that pose significantly fewer risks to their health.”
April 21, 2023
Netherlands to Ban Nicotine Pouches

Photo: Andrii
The Netherlands will ban the sale of nicotine pouches and expand the rules for tobacco to cover all other types of tobacco-free nicotine products, the government announced on April 21.
Currently, Dutch law permits sales of nicotine pouches only if they contain less than 0.035 grammes of nicotine.
The new rules will also prohibit the use of nicotine pouches and other tobacco-free nicotine products in places where smoking is not allowed.
The government said it would also end all advertising for tobacco-free nicotine products, a segment that tobacco companies have invested heavily in as move away from combustible products to less harmful cigarette alternatives.
“The tobacco industry keeps launching new products that make it easy for young people to come into contact with nicotine,” health deputy minister Maarten van Ooijen was quoted as saying by Reuters.
“This is bad, because nicotine is addictive and harmful. That’s why I’m glad we will now treat these products the same as tobacco products,” he said.
April 21, 2023
Group Blasts Quebec Flavor Ban Proposal

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A proposal by the government of Quebec to ban nontobacco-flavored nicotine vaping products will have negative consequences for public health if enacted, according to the Canadian Vaping Association (CVA).
In addition to the flavor restrictions, the recently released draft legislation proposes a volume limit of 2 mL on prefilled devices and a limit of 30 mL on refill containers. Additionally, the regulations would restrict nicotine concentrations to 20 mg/mL and prohibit the use of any form, appearance or function that may be attractive to minors, both of which have already been regulated by the federal government.
If the draft rules are implemented, Quebec, with its population of 8.5 million, will become the largest Canadian province to prohibit flavors, according to Vaping360. Quebec is the country’s second-most populous province. According to the Alliance of Vape Shops in Quebec, there are over 400 independent vape shops in the province, employing over 2,200 people and generating more than $300 million in economic activity. The trade group predicts the shops will all close.

Quebec’s decision to ban flavors is a major win for tobacco companies, out-of-province vendors and contraband sellers.
Darryl Tempest, government relations counsel to the CVA board
In 2021, federal health agency Health Canada proposed a flavor ban that was scheduled to take effect in early 2022, but that plan seems to have been abandoned or postponed indefinitely without explanation. Health Canada’s updated vaping products regulations page makes no mention of the flavor restrictions.
The CVA says Quebec proposed its rules despite warnings by the industry about their negative impacts. Vaping is proven to be significantly less harmful than smoking, according to the CVA, which says there is substantial evidence from jurisdictions that have already implemented flavor bans that the public health outcome is negative, as many vapers will return to smoking and fewer smokers will switch to vaping.
“Quebec’s decision to ban flavors is a major win for tobacco companies, out-of-province vendors and contraband sellers,” said Darryl Tempest, government relations counsel to the CVA board, in a statement. “What Quebec has done is shift demand to tobacco owned products, retailers outside of Quebec and criminals. Quebec’s small businesses and domestic industry will be irreparably harmed in favor of multinational corporations,” said Tempest.
April 21, 2023
Altria to Face First Juul Marketing Trial

Photo: steheap
Altria Group is set to face trial April 24 in a lawsuit by San Francisco’s public school district accusing the company of fueling a teen vaping epidemic through its investment in Juul Labs, reports Reuters. The tobacco giant owned a 35 percent share in Juul Labs from late 2018 until March 2023, when it exchanged its stake for license to certain Juul Lab’s heated tobacco intellectual properties.
Through its lawsuit, the San Francisco Unified School District wants to make Altria pay for the cost of tackling student vaping on school grounds.
Thousands of individuals, local government entities and states have filed similar cases against Altria. U.S. District Judge William Orrick in San Francisco, who presides over much of the litigation, chose the San Francisco school district’s as a test case.
Suggesting the San Francisco case lacks merit, Altria vowed to defend itself vigorously. “Most of the allegations raised in this suit occurred years before we made a minority economic investment in Juul,” the company said in a statement on April 20.
The April 24 trial will mark the second time one of those cases goes before a jury. An earlier trial brought by the state of Minnesota, ended in a settlement, though the terms have yet to be disclosed.
April 21, 2023
Philip Morris Posts First-Quarter Results

Photo: PMI
Philip Morris International reported net revenues of $8 billion in the first quarter of 2023, up 3.5 percent over those from the comparable quarter in the previous year. Smoke-free product net revenues increased 14.5 percent to $2.8 billion. The company’s operating income was $2.7 billion during the quarter, 17.2 percent less than in the comparable 2022 quarter.
PMI shipped 171.1 billion cigarettes and heated-tobacco units during the 2023 quarter, down 1.1. percent from the 2022 quarter. The volume of heated-tobacco units increased 10.4 percent to 27.4 billion. Shipments of oral products, boosted by the company’s acquisition of Swedish Match, rose to 173.3 million cans.
“Our business performed strongly in the first quarter, with adjusted diluted EPS [earnings per share] of $1.38 exceeding our expectations,” said PMI CEO Jacek Olczak in a statement.
“Net revenues increased by 3.5 percent on a reported basis and by 3.2 percent organically, reflecting accelerated combustible tobacco pricing and robust underlying heated-tobacco unit shipment volume growth before the impact of inventory movements.
“We continue to successfully integrate Swedish Match, which delivered impressive—and accretive—results, accelerating our transition to a majority smoke-free company. The outstanding performance of Zyn in the U.S. complemented the positive momentum of IQOS, including the excellent traction of ILUMA across launch markets, and reinforces our position as a truly global smoke-free champion.
“With our encouraging start to the year, we are reaffirming our full-year 2023 forecast for organic net revenue growth of 7 percent to 8.5 percent and currency-neutral adjusted diluted EPS growth of 7 percent to 9 percent.”
April 20, 2023
‘Mimic Menthols’ Soar Following Flavor Ban
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.’s (RJR) “California compliant” cigarettes, which contain an artificial, flavorless cooling chemical, have proven a big hit among smokers in the wake of the state’s ban on menthol cigarettes and other flavored tobacco products, according to an article in Politico.
By March, sales of the new cigarettes were on track to replace nearly half of the menthol sales compared to last year, according to an expert cited by Politico who tracks cigarette sales trends.
RJR sold 2.8 million packs of Camel-branded menthol cigarettes and 2 million packs of Newport-branded menthol cigarettes in California in March 2022, according to Alex Liber, an assistant professor in the department of oncology at Georgetown University’s School of Medicine who studies tobacco sale trends.
This year, the company sold 1.4 million “California compliant” Camel branded cigarette packs and about 800,000 “California compliant” packs of its Newport brand.
According to RJR, the new products don’t violate California law because they don’t have a distinguishable taste or aroma other than tobacco. California law defines a flavored tobacco product as any product that has a “distinguishable taste or aroma, or both, other than the taste or aroma of tobacco, imparted by a tobacco product or any byproduct produced by the tobacco product.”
Some of RJR’s new products, like the Camel Crisp, contain a lab-made chemical called ethyl menthane carboxamide, or WS3. That chemical has less of the minty odor than menthol, but it provides the same cooling, soothing sensation as conventional menthol cigarettes.
Other new “California-compliant” cigarette products don’t list WS3 as an ingredient. The company considers many of its ingredients to be propriety and is required to list them only under a general description of “natural and artificial flavors.”
The success of RJR’s “mimic menthols” comes as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration prepares to ban menthol cigarettes nationwide this year.
Menthol cigarettes make up nearly 40 percent of U.S. cigarette sales and are particularly popular in minority communities, with an estimated 90 percent of Black smokers using menthol products.
The California Department of Public Health said it is aware of the new products, but doesn’t have the power to enforce the ban.

Photo: New Africa
April 20, 2023
BAT Chair Lauds Progress in 2022

Luc Jobin (Photo: BAT)
BAT made great progress against its strategy in 2022 despite a challenging external environment, according to chairman Luc Jobin.
Speaking at the company’s annual general meeting on April 19, Jobin noted that BAT’s new category business delivered strong volume, revenue and market share growth. The group, he said, delivered a 150 basis points improvement in adjusted operating margin at current rates and delivered another year of 100 percent operating cash conversion. “We also returned £6.9 billion ($8.57 billion) to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks,” said Jobin in a statement.
Around 15 percent of BAT’s revenue is now generated from noncombustible products, a twofold increase since 2018, according to Jobin. “At the end of 2022, we had 22.5 million consumers of our noncombustible products,” he said. “The upward trajectory, and the momentum we have, provides a clear pathway to reaching our goal of 50 million consumers by 2030.”
While expressing satisfaction with the progress BAT had made in transitioning smokers toward less harmful nicotine products, Jobin noted that BAT could not reduce the health impact of its business by itself.
“Policymakers, regulators and public health advocates must help build the science base and create the policy frameworks necessary for adult smokers to switch to less risky alternatives,” he said.
“As a board, it is our responsibility to make sure that BAT’s own transformation continues apace.”
April 19, 2023
Korea Backtracks on Hnb Tax Increase

Photo: KT&G
The government of South Korea has ditched a plan to raise the tax on heated-tobacco products just two days after the finance minister proposed the measure, reports The Korea Herald.
South Korea currently taxes regular cigarettes at higher levels than noncombustible tobacco products because it considers the former to be more harmful to health.
Combustible cigarettes attract a tax of KRW3,323 ($2.52) per pack, which includes a KRW1,007 tobacco excise tax, a KRW443 education tax, a KRW594 consumption tax, a KRW409 value-added tax, a KRW841 health promotion fee, a KRW24.4 waste charge and KRW5 to support tobacco farmers.
Noncombusted cigarettes, by contrast, are subject to a tax of KRW3,004, which represents 90.4 percent of the taxes imposed on regular tobacco products.
However, on April 17, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho said noncombusted cigarettes “should be treated similarly to regular cigarettes.”
His comments immediately provoked a public backlash, prompting the government to backtrack. The government “is not currently considering raising the tobacco tax at the moment,” the finance ministry said in a statement on April 19.
South Korea’s revenue from tobacco products has shrunk in recent years due to declining sales of combustible cigarettes. In 2022, the government collected KRW11.8 trillion in taxes on all tobacco products compared with KRW12 trillion in 2020. While sales of tobacco-heating products increased during the same periods, their comparably low volumes and lower tax rates meant that they did not offset the revenue lost due to declining cigarette sales.
April 19, 2023
Philip Morris Korea Appoints New MD

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Philip Morris Korea (PMK) has appointed Hannah Yun as its new managing director. Yun will take the helm at the Seoul office on May 1, reports The Korea Times.
“With its cutting-edge technology and dynamic market environment, Korea is one of the most important countries leading Philip Morris’ transformation to a ‘smoke-free future,’” said Yun, who is currently the managing director of Philip Morris Australia. “I will further strengthen the competitiveness of Philip Morris Korea by implementing consumer-centric strategies and services based on my international experience.”
Yun joined PMK in 1997, where she took charge of corporate affairs, business strategy and budget management. From 2003 to 2007, she worked for Philip Morris International in Malaysia, Switzerland and Hong Kong, supporting the development of business growth strategies and operational plans for each market.
She led PMI’s financial analysis and support division in Switzerland from 2008 to 2013, where she was responsible for managing the communication of consolidated PMI financial information.
In 2019, Yun was entrusted with overseeing Philip Morris Australia’s financial and commercial strategies. Two years later, she was appointed as managing director of that affiliate, leading the business in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.
PMK’s current managing director, Paik Young-jay, will move on to new opportunities, the firm said. Paik assumed the position amid the Covid-19 pandemic and is credited with establishing a corporate culture of agility and collaboration.
April 19, 2023
Minnesota Settles Juul Lawsuit

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Minnesota has settled its legal case against Juul Labs and Altria Group for deceptively marketing e-cigarettes. The terms of the deal will be kept confidential until formal papers are publicly filed with the court.
“After three weeks of trial highlighting and bringing into the public record the actions that Juul and Altria took that contributed to the youth vaping epidemic, we reached a settlement in the best interest of Minnesotans,” said Attorney General Keith Ellison in a statement.
“We followed in the footsteps of former Attorney General Skip Humphrey, who led the historic 1998 tobacco trial in Minnesota. Once again, Minnesota has demonstrated leadership in taking these cases head on, including going to trial to hold tobacco companies accountable, protect our community’s health and protect our kids. One of my goals in bringing this case was to send a message: We will not tolerate youth marketing of nicotine products in Minnesota,” said Ellison.
Minnesota’s deal comes less than a week after Juul Labs agreed to pay $462 million to settle similar claims brought by New York, California, Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Mexico and the District of Columbia.
Of the more than a dozen states and hundreds of local governments that have sued Juul, Minnesota was the first to go to trial. Filed in 2019, the state’s lawsuit alleges that Juul developed sleek devices and flavors that were appealing to youth and that Juul’s marketing deceptively attracted and addicted young people. In 2020, Minnesota amended its complaint to include Altria as a defendant: In 2018, Altria spent $12.8 billion to acquire a 35 percent share in Juul.
In a statement, Juul Labs stressed the importance of resolving legal challenges from the company’s past. “We are pleased to have reached a settlement with the state and will work to finalize this agreement over the coming weeks,” the company wrote.
Juul Labs has now settled with 48 states and territories, providing over $1 billion to participating states to further combat underage vaping and develop cessation programs. In addition, the company has resolved private litigation that covers more than 5,000 cases brought by approximately 10,000 plaintiffs.
“As we reach total resolution of the company’s past, we are focused on our path forward to maximize the value and impact of our product technology and scientific foundation,” wrote Juul. “Our technology already has transitioned over 2 million adult smokers from combustible cigarettes. And our priorities remain to secure authorization of our PMTAs [premarket tobacco product applications] based on the science and lead the category with innovation to accelerate our mission and advance tobacco harm reduction for over 31 million adult smokers in the U.S. and over 1 billion adult smokers worldwide.”
April 18, 2023