Category: News This Week

Logic to End U.S. Online Sales in March
Logic brand e-cigarettes will end online sales of its products in the U.S. “Unfortunately, as of March 16, 2021, we will discontinue online sales of Logic products,” the manufacturer wrote in an email to customers. “Due to recent regulations, Logic will be unable to ship online orders after this date.”
The company says that the recent amendment to the 2009 All Cigarette Trafficking (PACT) Act prevents the company from being able to mail its products to consumers. In late December, Congress voted into law a $2.3 trillion coronavirus relief and government funding bill that contains a provision banning the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) from delivering vapor products.
The USPS was already prohibited from delivering cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products to consumers under the PACT Act. The law passed in December extends the act’s original definition of “cigarette” to include electronic nicotine-delivery systems (ENDS).
Tobacco and vapor companies may use private services to ship their products to consumers, but the PACT Act requires them to register with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the tobacco tax administrators of the states into which a shipment is made. Delivery sellers are further required to verify the age and identity of the customer at purchase and maintain records of delivery sales for a period of four years after the date of sale, creating substantial administrative burdens.
Critically for the vapor industry, the most popular carriers, Federal Express (FedEx) and United Parcel Service (UPS), have recently announced that they would cease all deliveries of vapor products.
Age-verified adult consumers can order Logic products at logicvapes.us until March 16 at 11 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.
Logic is not the first vapor company to cease online sales in the wake of the shipping ban. In February, Securience, which manufactures Durasmoke, Forge and other brands, announced it would be closing its doors in March due to the restrictions.
When the legislation took effect, experts predicted that small companies would bear the brunt of the measure.
March 4, 2021
Chinese Lawmaker Calls for Smoking Ban

Photo: Tobacco Reporter archive
A Chinese lawmaker has called for a nationwide ban on smoking in indoor public places.
The proposal was brought by Chen Jingyu, a cardiothoracic surgery expert and deputy at the 13th National People’s Congress.
As of February, 20 cities had adopted regional laws to restrict indoor smoking in public venues, but that is not adequate for China to achieve its Healthy China Action Plan, Chen told The Global Times. The Healthy China Action Plan aims for more than 80 percent of China’s population to be covered by smoke-free protections by 2030.
Currently, there are more than 300 million smokers in China, and more than 1 million people die of smoking-related diseases annually, according to Xinhua News Agency.
Allowing special smoking areas in indoor public places, such as restaurants, entertainment venues and airport terminals, violates the WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), Chen noted. Scientific research shows that there is no safe level of exposure to tobacco smoke, and the only way to effectively prevent nonsmokers from suffering from secondhand smoke is to completely ban smoking in indoor environments.
The FCTC requires all indoor public places, public transport facilities and indoor workplaces to be smoke-free.
China signed the FCTC in 2003, ratified it in 2005, and the treaty came into legal force in China in 2006.
In a survey conducted by the China Association for Smoking Control, 91.9 percent of respondents expressed support for a smoking ban.
March 4, 2021
JT Recognized for Employee Health
Japan Tobacco (JT) has been recognized under the 2021 Certified Health & Productivity Management Outstanding Organizations Recognition Program, also commonly known as the “White 500,” in the large enterprise category for the fifth consecutive year.
The program, conducted by the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Nippon Kenko Kaigi, recognizes the top 500 organizations that view their employees’ health as essential from a business management perspective, implementing various initiatives to support the improvement of their health.
“We are honored to be recognized on the ‘White 500’ yet again,” said Koichi Mori, senior vice president of human resources, in a statement. “JT is committed to ensuring the physical and mental well-being of all our employees, which we believe is essential for our sustainable growth. Even during the Covid-19 pandemic, our commitment remained unchanged. We have been promoting new ways of working, including active utilization of remote work and online meetings and continuing our business operations while taking all necessary health-related measures. We prioritized the health and safety of all of our colleagues, their families and all of the stakeholders.”
JT believes that its inclusion in the “White 500” reinforces its commitment toward continuously adapting its workplace to ensure all colleagues can work comfortably.
March 4, 2021
USTC Announces New CFO

Keith Merrick (Photo: USTC)
The U.S. Tobacco Cooperative (USTC) has hired a new chief financial officer, Keith Merrick, effective March 1, 2021.
Most recently, Merrick was the market president and senior business relationship manager for Wells Fargo in Wilson and Rocky Mount, North Carolina, where he was responsible for acquisition, credit underwriting and management of the bank’s local commercial portfolio. Prior to that, he spent 11 years as the senior vice president and chief financial officer for S.T. Wooten Corp. He also has more than 12 years of tobacco experience from his position as vice president, treasurer and director of investor relations at Standard Commercial, a predecessor company of Alliance One International.
Oscar House
“I am pleased to welcome Keith to our leadership team,” said Oscar House, USTC’s president and CEO. “His deep and extensive experience in leading the financial operations and operational changes will make an immediate impact as we manage through the current economic challenges and continue to position USTC for the future. I am confident Keith will provide strong leadership and is an excellent addition to the USTC team.”
As CFO, Merrick will be responsible for accounting, treasury, financial planning and analysis, tax, information technology and investor relations for USTC and its subsidiaries.
Merrick holds a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics from Texas A&M and a master’s degree in agribusiness and finance from the University of Missouri.
March 3, 2021
New Advisors to Support 1account’s

Simon Bazalgette

Murray Perkins

Ralph Topping

Mark Aylwin
1account, a technology provider to online vendors of age-restricted products and services, has created a new advisory board to support its ambitious plans in the vaping sector, which includes the rollout of a new business-to-consumer ID app to prevent underage access to vape devices and e-liquids online and offline.
Joining the new board are Mark Aylwin, former managing director of Booker; Ralph Topping, former chief executive of bookmaker William Hill; Simon Bazalgette, former CEO of the Jockey Club; and Murray Perkins, former policy director at the British Board of Film Classification.
Following 1account’s success in providing age verification technology to the vaping and gambling sectors, Aylwin will help drive the continued rollout of the company’s online technology and help businesses in the vaping sector make the transition to accepting the company’s new consumer digital ID app, 1account ID, for their online and offline commerce.
The new B2C product will help to prevent unlawful access to vaping products online and in vape retail outlets, convenience stores and supermarkets, aligning with the British government’s strategy to build a Digital Identity Trust Framework.
“The creation of a digital ID for the purchase of vape products online and offline represents a major step forward and will enable vape retailers to take the most proactive stance possible in preventing underage sales of vape devices and e-liquids,” says Aylwin. “1account can offer vape retailers a solution both online and offline that enables compliance for now and the future.”
March 3, 2021
Relaunched Puff Bar Under Scrutiny

Photo: Tobacco Reporter archive
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is investigating Puff Bar’s redesigned fruit-flavored disposable vaporizers, reports The Hill.
In early 2020, the Trump administration banned fruity flavored e-cigarettes in reusable devices like Juul, the blockbuster brand that helped trigger the teen vaping craze in the U.S. Under that policy, only menthol and tobacco flavors were allowed for those devices. But the flavor ban did not apply to disposable vaping products like Puff Bar, which is offered in more than 20 flavors, including pina colada and pink lemonade.
Following the ban, Puff Bar quickly emerged as the vape of choice among young people.
In mid-2020, the FDA told Puff Bar to stop selling its fruity vaporizers as part of a broader crackdown on underage vaping. In a letter to Puff Bar, the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products said Puff Bar products hadn’t been authorized for sale by the agency and that the company had made unauthorized claims on its website that its vaporizers were less harmful than traditional cigarettes. In July 2020, Puff Bar announced that it would cease all online sales and distribution in the U.S. until further notice.
However, the brand resumed sales on its website last month with a changed product. To get around the ban, Puff Bar is now using tobacco-free nicotine, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The FDA said it was aware of Puff Bar’s move but would not say whether the agency’s ban was still applicable, citing the ongoing investigation.
Puff Bar has fallen to No. 3 in the disposable category this year, after Bidi Stick and Blu, according to Nielsen data.
It’s unclear who owns Puff Bar. Previous owners include Cool Clouds Distribution in California and DS Technology Licensing in China.
March 3, 2021
Reynolds American Appoints Senior Leaders

Photo: RAI
Reynolds American Inc. has appointed two senior leaders.
Shay Mustafa, currently senior vice president of modern oral, will assume the role of senior vice president of business communications and sustainability, reporting to Reynolds’ president and CEO, Guy Meldrum. Mustafa will serve on the Reynolds management team and will also serve on the global business communication and sustainability leadership team.
Mustafa has successfully held leadership roles within the corporate sector and as co-founder of a technology start-up. Within the Reynolds companies, she has held a range of positions, including leading the Newport, Pall Mall and Grizzly brands. She has also set up the new modern oral business unit, which includes the Velo brand.
Leila Medeiros, currently senior vice president of vapor, will become senior vice president of new categories, which combines the leadership of the Reynolds companies’ Vuse vapor and Velo modern oral brands.
Medeiros joined the BAT Group in 2001 in Brazil and has successfully served in numerous leadership roles in different BAT geographies before assuming her current position in the U.S.
March 3, 2021
Researcher Urges Vapor Regulation

Photo: Hazem Mohamed | Dreamstime
Health researchers have called on the South African government to revive legislation intended to regulate e-cigarettes, saying the products don’t help people quit smoking as advertised, reports Business Day.
The Control of Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Bill was released for public comment in 2018, but the legislation has yet to be submitted to Parliament. As a result, e-cigarettes and other nicotine-delivery devices remain unregulated in South Africa.
Presenting recent research on e-cigarette use in South Africa, Lekan Ayo-Yusuf, director of the Africa Centre for Tobacco Industry Monitoring and Policy Research at the Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, said that more than 95 percent of e-cigarette users continued to smoke and few of them managed to stop smoking for more than six months.
Compared to people who had never used e-cigarettes, the likelihood of kicking the smoking habit for six months to 12 months was 77 percent lower among regular e-cigarette users.
“While the tobacco and e-cigarette industry likes to position e-cigarettes as cessation aids, the limited effectiveness of these products for long-term quitting, the health harms associated with usage and the industry’s clear and targeted marketing to youth are facts which are conveniently omitted from their narrative,” said Ayo-Yusuf.
According to one of the prevalence studies, 2.71 percent of adults, or 1.09-million people, used e-cigarettes daily or occasionally during 2018. Almost all these people (97.5 percent) were regularly smoking cigarettes as well. A separate study found vape shops were clustered in the wealthier parts of urban centers, and two-thirds were within a 20 km radius of a university or college campus.
E-cigarettes have been available in South Africa for more than 10 years but remain untaxed. Recently, the treasury department said it plans to release a discussion paper on tax proposals for electronic nicotine devices.
The recent research has not been published in a peer-reviewed journal.
March 2, 2021
John Miller President and CEO at Swisher

John Miller (Photo: Swisher)
Swisher’s board of directors has elected John J. Miller to serve as the company’s president and chief executive officer. Miller has served in senior leadership roles during his tenure at Swisher, including most recently as president since 2017. Prior to that, he was senior vice president of sales and marketing with responsibility for its core tobacco and adjacency businesses, overseeing sales, marketing, trade and business analytics
Miller joined Swisher in 2012, and since then, he has guided the company through significant strategic change, highlighted by year-over-year record-breaking growth. A principled leader with a deep understanding of the adult consumer market, Miller has been instrumental in transforming the organization and refocusing priorities on growth and innovation. This includes the redesign of Swisher’s corporate brand identity in conveying the company’s purpose, mission and vision to reflect its guiding principles and strategic goals.
Under Miller’s leadership, Swisher has doubled the size of its field sales force, tripled the size of its national accounts team and has recognized Swisher’s talented employees by awarding more than 175 promotions throughout the organization.
Miller has guided Swisher’s strategic vision as the company has worked to establish programs to adapt and innovate, meeting the needs of trade partners and its millions of adult consumers across the country. In support of the company evolution, Miller announced the creation of a chief growth officer function in late 2020 and expanded the innovation team to realize its diversification goals into new product categories and to accelerate expansion beyond its core tobacco portfolio.
March 2, 2021
THR Groups Worried About ENDS Advice

Photo: Vaperesso
Vapor advocates have expressed concern about recent recommendations made by the World Health Organization (WHO) study group on Tobacco Product Regulations to prohibit electronic nicotine and non-nicotine delivery systems where the user can control device features and liquid ingredients. The WHO has also called for a ban on vaping systems that have a higher “abuse liability” than conventional cigarettes, for example by controlling the emission rate or flux of nicotine.
Clive Bates
Clive Bates, a tobacco harm expert and former director of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), called the advice irresponsible and bizarre. “If governments take it seriously, they will be protecting the cigarette trade, encouraging smoking and adding to a huge toll of cancer, heart and lung disease,” he said.
The U.K. Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) said the WHO is out of touch with growing evidence on the public health potential of vaping. “Certain WHO positions are now so out of date, and so thoroughly refuted by the experts, that they may as well be saying the earth is flat,” said John Dunne, director general at the UKVIA, in a statement. “They deviate dramatically from leading experts, including Public Health England and Action on Smoking and Health.”
Dunne cited the WHO’s assertion that there is “little evidence” for vaping’s role in helping people quit smoking. As early as 2019, clinical trials were finding vaping to be almost twice as effective as nicotine-replacement therapy, he noted.
This month, Public Health England (PHE) found in its Vaping Evidence Review 2021 that smoking quit rates involving a vaping product were higher than with any other method in every single English region.
John Dunne
“For the WHO to hold such contrary views is either bad science or bad faith. Both risk it becoming an enemy of harm reduction,” said Dunne.
“Vaping’s success as an industry, and its potential for public health improvements, is built on empowering personal choice,” he added. “Different systems, styles and flavors give consumers the options they need to leave combustible cigarettes behind. I would urge the WHO to engage with vapers, to hear their stories and discover the life-changing decisions they’ve made in their lives. Prohibition is simply not the answer.”
The WHO is scheduled to hold a summit on vaping, during the Conference of Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (COP9) in The Hague in November 2021. Following its exit from the European Union, the U.K. will send a national delegation to the meeting. The UKVIA was among expert guests invited by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Vaping to advise on the COP9 delegation’s approach.
“The U.K. has a genuine opportunity to promote harm reduction as a valid, progressive strategy for public health on the world stage,” said Dunne. “We must not allow misinformation to undermine this potential, irrespective of the source.”
March 2, 2021