Category: News This Week

Consumer Confusion Preventing Cessation

Photo: kues1
Confusion about smokefree alternatives is preventing many smokers from quitting smoking according to a global survey, reports Arab News.
Commissioned by Philip Morris International and conducted by Povaddo, the study surveyed nearly 30,000 people in 26 countries. The researchers found that many adult smokers remain unaware that alternatives to cigarettes exist, are unable to access them, or are confused by conflicting information that prevents them from making an informed choice.
The survey showed that despite the science backing up smokefree alternatives, there was public confusion surrounding these products, such as heated tobacco products or e-cigarettes.
Thirty-three percent of the respondents cited a lack of information about how these products differ from cigarettes and 35 percent said they were unsure about the science behind these new products.
The survey found that 32 percent of smokers have easier access to cigarettes and so don’t switch to alternatives.
“The findings of the survey show there is confusion about smokefree products. For those adults who would otherwise continue to smoke cigarettes, having access to evidence-based information about smoke-free products is critical,” said Tarkan Demirbas, area vice-president for the Middle East at PMI.
According to the World Health Organization, there are more than 1 billion smokers in the world today, and this number is expected to stay steady until 2025.
November 22, 2021
Puff Bar Owners on TV “to Build Trust”

Puff Bar owners Nick Minas and Patrick Beltran appeared on CBS Mornings for their first television interview.
Puff Bar rose to prominence in early 2020 after the Food and Drug Administration banned candy and fruit-flavored e-cigarettes because of their youth appeal but continued to permit the sale of flavored single-use devices like Puff Bar because they were not yet very popular.
Today, Puff Bar is the most popular e-cigarette brand among high schoolers and middle schoolers. Nielsen reports that store sales of Puff Bar in the United States topped $150 million last fiscal year, but much of that is believed to be counterfeit product.
Puff Bar has operated in the shadows for most of its existence. It listed its mailing address first to a shuttered storefront on skid row in Los Angeles and more recently to a P.O. box. The company appeared to relish its obscurity. Last year, its website read “Who makes Puff Bar? Everyone wants to know.” Minas and Beltran say the brand was originally developed in China, where it continues to be manufactured.
In 2020, the FDA ordered Puff Bar off the market amid lawsuits and a widening public outcry about youth appeal. The company pulled its products but later reintroduced redesigned versions using synthetic nicotine, which some believe remains outside of the FDA’s remit.
Four states have banned the product. It also faces a probe in the House of Representatives and lawsuits in at least three states. Recently, North Carolina’s attorney general launched an investigation.
In early November, U.S. Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, chair of the subcommittee on economic and consumer policy, wrote a letter to Minas and Beltran requesting information about its sale of synthetic nicotine products.
Minas and Beltran, both 27, are childhood friends from Southern California who said they are now the sole owners and co-CEOs of Puff Bar. During the CBS interview, Beltran said they wanted to speak out to “build trust” with their consumers.
“We’re aware that there is a lot of mystery, and there was a lot of shadowiness before. Us being here right now, talking with you guys [CBS News] is our first step in kind of really, like, building the trust with our consumers,” he said.
The FDA declined to speak to CBS News about Puff Bar. In a statement, the agency said it was aware that companies have publicly announced strategies to switch to synthetic nicotine in an attempt to evade FDA jurisdiction, adding that it is investigating the issue.
November 22, 2021
Lebanon Picks Anti-Counterfeit Technology

David Thomas, sales director at OpSec Security, presenting a commemorative plaque to Regie Libanaise Chairman Eng. Nassif Sobhi Seklaoui.
OpSec Security and Scopsis are partnering with the Lebanese tobacco monopoly, Régie Libanaise des Tabacs et Tombacs, to combat the trade in illicit tobacco.
As part of the deal, OpSec will provide authentication stamps to Régie Libanaise, enabling the protection of the company’s products, beginning with the market-leading Cedars brand of cigarettes. OpSec’s proprietary Insight software platform will be utilized to provide the authentication and traceability of each licit stamped pack throughout the supply chain.
OpSec’s solution will provide advanced mobile authentication of stamp security features and product traceability for Régie Libanaise enforcement staff as well as customs and border officials. Retailers and consumers within Lebanon will also be empowered to authenticate packs and gain visibility of product provenance using the Insight customer engagement functionality, freely available on any mobile device.
OpSec will further utilize its web monitoring technology to ensure any attempt by illicit traders to sell counterfeit stamps via online marketplaces, websites or social media will be captured, removed and reported to enforcement officials.
“As well combatting illicit trade and protecting much needed revenues for the Lebanese Republic, the first phase implementation is a proactive step towards adopting the provisions of the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control,” said Mohamad Ali Ahmad, project manager at Beirut-based Scopsis, in a statement. “The project will be amongst the first of its kind in the region and represents a beacon of hope for Lebanon and a demonstration of its commitment to its roadmap for reforms.”
Illicit trade is estimated to account for around 25 percent of the Lebanese tobacco market, causing the government to miss between $200 million and $250 million in revenues annually.
November 22, 2021
PMI’s Di Giovanni Wins Communication Award

Tommaso Di Giovanni (Photo: PMI)

Philip Morris International’s vice president for market activation and support, Tommaso Di Giovanni, won the Gold Globee Award for “Communications Individual of the Year” at the 11th Annual 2021 Communications Excellence Awards. As the only gold award winner in the category this year, Di Giovanni was recognized for “Scaling communications encouraging honest dialogue and change in 100+ countries.”
“I am delighted to achieve this distinction, which reflects above all the hard and very collaborative work of our team and all our colleagues around the world, who daily share information and engage in dialogue,” said Di Giovanni in a statement.
“We can now replace cigarettes with better alternatives, and in some countries, this can be done in a matter of a decade or more. But, like any transformative vision, change needs to be explained and we have to face skepticism and misinformation,” Di Giovanni continued. “It is our collective responsibility to ensure people know the facts, understand who we are and what we stand for.”
PMI’s Internal Communications team also received a Gold Globee Award for “Communications or PR Campaign of the Year,” with the judges recognizing the company’s “enhanced engagement by rewiring internal comms during pandemic-era business transformation.” PMI created interactive content through varied internal communication platforms, including videos, roundtables, and podcast channels, to ensure continued connection with the worldwide workforce during remote working conditions.
“Philip Morris International aligned its internal communication strategy to its people-first culture to design influential communication programs during Covid-19,” said Bessie Kokalis Pescio, vice president of global internal communication, who won a Gold Globee Award as “Internal Communications Professional of the Year.”
The Globee Awards comprise 11 awards programs created to honor and recognize the accomplishments and contributions of companies, business executives, and professionals worldwide.
November 22, 2021
Smoker Awarded $6 Million in Engle Progeny Case

Photo: Aerial Mike
A jury in Jacksonville, Florida, USA, awarded a former smoker with lung disease $6 million in a case against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., reports The Florida Times-Union.
The case is part of a crop of lawsuits filed after the Florida Supreme Court decertified a large class action, known as Engle, in 2006 and required smokers to sue individually for injuries that appeared between 1990 and 1996. The recent suit is unusual because it is uncommon for plaintiffs in those cases to be still alive.
“Many Engle case victims do not live to see case verdicts such as this one, so it’s gratifying that in this instance Mrs. Wydra is indeed here to experience justice served,” said Rod Smith, Partner, Avera & Smith, which helped secure the award, in a statement.
Born in 1947, Kathleen Wydra became a regular smoker while in high school in the early 1960s and smoked up to two packs of cigarettes per day. She quit smoking in 1998, following a diagnosis of COPD in the mid-1990s.
Jurors decided that Kathleen Wydra had been negligent in smoking and bore 35 percent of the fault for her injuries, but that R.J. Reynolds carried the other 65 percent of the blame.
They set the price of those injuries at $1.5 million for suffering, disability and harm already incurred, plus another $1.5 million for suffering still ahead of her.
They also found that R.J. Reynolds agreed to conceal information about smoking’s harmful effects or its addictive nature, and said the company should pay punitive damages, which accounted for the other $3 million judgment.
November 22, 2021
Institute Recognized for Fighting Child Labor

Photo: Rachel Almeida
Brazil’s Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights has recognized the Instituto Crescer Legal (ICL)—the “Growing up Right Institute”—with its Brazil Child-Friendly Award for its efforts to combat child labor in rural areas.
ICL CEO Iro Schunke accepted the award during a ceremony on Nov. 19 in Brasilia. “We are very happy, and it encourages us to spare no effort in creating opportunities for young people to continue expanding their horizons”, he said in a statement.
Created in 2015, the ICL is an initiative of the interstate tobacco industry union, SindiTabaco, and its associate companies. In addition to promoting education, the institute facilitates apprenticeships and offers entrepreneurship courses.
Previously, the ICL was recognized by the Innovare Institute, which represents prestigious associations in the legal profession.
The Brazil Child-Friendly Award recognizes best practices in the promotion of children’s rights.
Tobacco Reporter profiled the Growing Up Right Institute in its April 2021 issue.
November 22, 2021
FDA Rebuked Over Slow Progress Menthol Ban

Photo: New Africa
On Nov. 17, Magistrate Judge Kandis A. Westmore of the United States District Court in the Northern District of California issued a ruling putting the Food and Drug Administration on notice that further delay in issuing a proposed rule on ending the sale of menthol-flavored cigarettes could be constructed as “undue delay” under the Administrative Procedure Act.
In April 2021, the FDA announced that it would begin the rulemaking process in response to a citizen’s petition filed in 2013. The announcement followed a lawsuit filed by the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council (AATCLC), Action of Smoking and Health, the American Medical Association, and the National Medical Association. Filed on June 17, 2020, the lawsuit asserted that the FDA had failed to act on menthol cigarettes contrary to the duties and mandate imposed by the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act.
“We applaud District Court Judge Westmore for keeping the FDA’s feet to the fire,” explained AATCLC Co-Chair Phillip Gardiner. “The Black community has been waiting far too long for the FDA to act and protect the health of our people. Ending the sale of menthol cigarettes will be one of the most impactful steps this country can take to save African American lives and advance health equity.”
“We’re very pleased that Judge Westmore agreed that the FDA’s April 29 announcement is a beginning, not an end, for complying with the lawsuit,” said Laurent Huber, executive director of Action on Smoking and Health. “Unfortunately, when it comes to tobacco the FDA has rarely met a deadline, even a self-imposed one. Every delay costs lives.”
Each year, more than 72,000 African Americans are diagnosed with a tobacco-related illness and more than 45,000 die from a tobacco-induced disease, according to the AATCLT. Eighty-five percent of all African American smokers smoke menthol cigarettes compared to 29 percent of White smokers. Menthol cigarettes increase addiction and make it harder to quit. More than 70 percent of African American smokers want to quit, and more than 60 percent made a quit attempt in the previous year. However, African American smokers are less likely than White smokers to successfully quit smoking.
November 21, 2021

Vapor Rebounds From Post-EVALI Declines

After declining in 2019 and 2020, vapor industry sales grew 10-15 percent in 2021 to date, according to Management Science Associates (MSA). Speaking during TMA’s “From Change to Change” webinar on Nov. 17, MSA Vice President Don Burke, said that he expects the industry to continue its growth into 2022.

“Vapor cartridges were up by 18.5 percent. Over … 2019 going into 2020, we were seeing some declines in vapor. One of the things to keep in mind is at the end of 2019 was that illegal THC vaping [EVALI] crisis,” said Burke. “That turned a lot of people off of vapor, even though it was only an illegal product that caused the issues. No legitimate product caused any problems. It’s about a year-and-a-half now since that occurred … because of that, consumers are starting to forget, vapor is coming back.”

Burke said disposables, because they’re allowed to have flavors, were up 28.9 percent and all-in-one kit volumes are growing (up 2.9 percent). He said vape shop and tobacco outlet sales are also on the rise after many closed or limited hours due to the Covid pandemic. MSA’s research includes approximately 300,000 stores. It does not include vape shop sales.

“We’re looking at distributor to shipment retail data. In many cases, that’s important because a lot of the convenience stores and some tobacco outlets do not collect their data and, therefore it’s very difficult to get a clean read,” he said. “The convenience channel—because they were considered essential businesses in most parts of the U.S.—managed to survive the pandemic and in fact, now are a larger percentage of stores. Also, 71 percent of tobacco volume goes through convenience stores.”

Closed-pod systems (cartridges) were up 6 percent in the most recent quarter. Burke said that during the third quarter of 2021 disposables continued to have strong sales, rising by 21 percent. E-liquid distribution fell by 49.6 percent through 2020 and into current 2021 and sales fell nearly 15 percent, mostly due to recent regulatory action in the U.S.

Burke also said cannabis sales grew significantly during 2020 and into 2021.–Timothy Donahue

U.S. Nicotine Share – Servings (percentage)
	Third quarter 2020	Third quarter 2021	Share Change
Cigarettes	78.9	77.4	-1.5
Moist	7.3	7.2	-0.1
Vapor	5.1	6.3	+1.2
Large Cigars	2.9	3.2	+0.3
Papers/Tubes/Wraps	3.4	3.0	-0.4
Modern Oral	0.7	1.4	+0.7
Little/Filtered Cigars	1.1	1.0	-0.1
Snus	0.3	0.3	No Change
Pipe Tobacco	0.3	0.2	-0.1
Roll Your Own	0.02	0.02	No Change

Source: MSA

November 21, 2021

‘Good COP, Bad COP’ Awards Announced
Tobacco harm reduction (THR) advocates have handed out “Good COP, Bad COP” awards following the ninth Conference of the Parties (COP9) to the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) from Nov. 8-12.
Banned from participating in the gathering the THR advocates organized a global livestream that ran simultaneously to the COP9.
Dubbed sCOPe, the round-the-clock YouTube simulcast attracted significant attention, adding to increasing international pressure on the WHO to embrace safer nicotine products, not demonize them.
Nancy Loucas of the Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates says sCOPe gave a voice to leading consumer advocates who were shut out of COP9. The focus, however, must now move to preparing for COP10 in 2023 where harm reduction products will be a key discussion for delegates.
“Those of us passionate about safer nicotine products must reach out to the likes of public health officials and influencers. We need to humanize this debate and show how vaping has saved the lives of millions of ex-smokers,” said Loucas.
sCOPe’s Good COP awards:
The “Wow, Someone’s Actually Telling Us What’s Going On” Award went to COPWATCH for getting on the inside and giving the world real-time insights online.
The “Give the Man a Cigar” Award went to Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary, Teodoro Locsin Jr, for standing up to COP9 delegates by promoting the use of science in tobacco control.
The “I am the Evidence” Award went to passionate U.S. consumer advocate and sCOPe panellist, Liana Hudspeth.
sCOPe’s Bad COP awards:
The “You Shouldn’t Really Say That About Yourself” Award goes to FCTC Head Adriana Blanco Marquizo for her “How industry weaponizes science” Tweet, which the THR advocates described as “very bizarre.”
The “Our Proposal Won’t Do A Thing But Delegates Loved It” Award went to Iran, whose government holds a sizable stake in its domestic tobacco industry.
The “Where the Hell Is Wally” Award went to WHO sponsor, anti-vape crusader, and American billionaire Michael Bloomberg for trading in COP9 and instead flying to the COP26 Climate Conference in Glasgow.
November 21, 2021
U.S. Pictorial Health Warnings Postponed Again

Image: FDA
The new effective date for the FDA’s final rule on health warnings is Jan. 9, 2023, after the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas ruled to extend the date in R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. et al. v. United States Food and Drug Administration et al.
Deadlines tied to the effective date have also shifted. For instance, while the FDA strongly encourages entities to submit cigarette plans as soon as possible, the deadline for submission is now March 12, 2022.
The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (TCA) of 2009 directed the FDA to issue regulations requiring color graphics depicting the negative health consequences of smoking to accompany new textual warning statements.
In March 2020, the FDA finalized the “Required Warnings for Cigarette Packages and Advertisements” rule, establishing 11 new cigarette health warnings consisting of textual warning statements accompanied by color graphics, in the form of photorealistic images, depicting the negative health consequences of cigarette smoking.
The new graphic warnings, which depict some of the lesser known health risks of smoking, such as diabetes, must cover at least the top 50 percent of the front and rear panels of packages as well as at least 20 percent of the top of advertisements.
In April and May 2020, cigarette manufacturers and retailers sued the FDA, arguing that the graphic warning requirements amount to governmental anti-smoking advocacy because the government has never forced makers of a legal product to use their own advertising to spread an emotionally charged message urging adults not to use their products.
In a more recent challenge, tobacco companies argued that the deadline was too onerous due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. They also pointed to the risk that they would lose their investments in new packaging if the graphic health warning requirement were ultimately thrown out in court.
The industry won several postponements of the new health warnings’ effective date in court.
This is the FDA’s second attempt to enact graphic health warnings under the TCA. The first rule was struck down by the federal court in the District of Columbia as a violation of the First Amendment.
November 19, 2021