Category: News This Week

  • Avail splits company

    Avail splits company

    Avail Vapor has divided its operations into three separate businesses. Each company has its own management team and will be headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, USA.

    The three companies are Avail Vapor, a leading vapor retailer; Blackbriar Regulatory Services, which consists of contract manufacturing, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) consulting and laboratory services; and Blackship Technologies, comprising research and development services.

    In related news, Blackbriar Regulatory Services has signed agreements with Charlie’s Chalk Dust, one of the largest international e-liquid brands, to manufacture a range of its nicotine products and take the lead in submitting a number of those products for the FDA’s premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) process by the May 2020 deadline.

    James Xu, former CEO of Avail Vapor, is now the chairman of the three entities.

  • THC products launched

    THC products launched

    Figr Brands has launched a line of THC vapor products in Canada. The line includes a vapor device and pods designed exclusively for the device.

    The launch of the product line follows the phase two implementation of Canada’s recreational cannabis legalization process, frequently referenced as Cannabis 2.0.

    “The Canadian government’s green light for derivative cannabis products, including vape, presents the opportunity for Figr to progress its product diversification in order to meet the growing demand for high-quality, adult-use cannabis products,” said Pieter Sikkel, president, CEO and chairman of Figr’s parent company, Pyxus International.

    “The launch of Figr’s new products is particularly timely as the company continues to expand its footprint across Canada.”

    The production of Figr’s vape pods is tracked from seed to sale by Sentri, Pyxus International’s proprietary track-and-trace platform. Data collected in the platform documents the product’s supply chain journey and can be shared with the consumer, helping to elevate transparency and ensure quality.

    Figr’s THC vapor products will be available for sale through e-commerce channels and select Canadian retail locations, initially launching in Ontario followed by additional provinces as regulation and distribution permits.

  • Lawmakers want filter ban

    Lawmakers want filter ban

    A group of state lawmakers want New York to outlaw the sale of single-use filters, citing environmental concerns.

    The measure, called the Tobacco Product Waste Reduction Act, would also prohibit the sale of cigarettes with attachable single-use filters and single-use electronic cigarettes.

    The lawmakers contend that filters do not make cigarettes any safer and damage the environment. They noted that single-use e-cigarettes contain lithium-ion batteries and dangerous liquid nicotine.

    State officials said studies have shown that cigarette butts are the most collected item internationally in beach and waterway cleanup programs, with estimates that 845,000 tons of cigarette butts end up as litter annually worldwide.

    Nearly all cigarette filters are made of cellulose acetate, which is not biodegradable.

    The single-use items would still be legal to smoke in New York but illegal to sell. Unfiltered cigarettes or roll-your-own unfiltered smokes could still be purchased.

    If enacted, the measure would take effect Jan. 1, 2022.

  • ’95-percent’ claim stands

    ’95-percent’ claim stands

    Contrary to its claim, a recent critique does not debunk the statements made by Public Health England (PHE) and the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) that vaping is at least 95 percent less risky than smoking, according to Clive Bates, director of Counterfactual Consulting.

    Writing on his blog, Bates examined the authors’ propositions and found them wanting.

    “Not a single word of their paper addresses the supposed foundation of their critique—that PHE/RCP are wrong, and the risks of vaping are likely to exceed 5 percent of those of smoking,” Bates wrote.

    While the paper contains several baseless assertions that are irrelevant to the “at least 95 percent lower” relative risk claim (gateway effects, smoking cessation efficacy and secondhand aerosol exposure), it says nothing about the relative magnitude of smoking and vaping risks, according to Bates.

    “No analysis, no data, no evidence—nothing that discusses relative risk and why PHE/RCP are supposedly wrong. Niente. Nada. Rien. Nichts. Nothing,” he wrote.

  • ‘Harm reduction at risk’

    ‘Harm reduction at risk’

    The historical opportunity offered by smoke-free alternatives to reduce the health impact of smoking is in jeopardy due to misinformation and calls for prohibition, according to Andre Calantzopoulos, CEO of Philip Morris International (PMI).

    Writing in Fortune, Calantzopoulos said that thanks to rapid advances in science and technology, better alternatives now exist for adults who would otherwise continue to smoke.

    However, the opportunity for trajectory-shifting progress in public health is endangered by public confusion and prohibitionist legislation.

    Calantzopoulos pointed to the U.S. where recent incidents of lung illness attributed to black market THC products have been conflated with the use of unadulterated legal e-cigarettes. At the same time, media have been widely reporting on the valid concerns around the use of e-cigarettes by youth, he said.

    “This combined coverage has left many men and women who smoke confused about smoke-free alternatives,” Calantzopoulos wrote.

    Compounding the issue, he added, a handful of tobacco control NGOs in several countries have seized the opportunity to call for legislation that either prohibits some or all smoke-free alternatives or severely restricts smokers’ access to and ability to learn about these products.

    “If regulators respond to these calls by choosing a prohibitionist route over a science-based approach, the opportunity for progress in public health may be lost,” Calantzopoulos cautioned.

  • Prices up

    Prices up

    British American Tobacco (BAT) Kenya has raised the prices of nearly all its cigarettes by up to KES15 ($0.15) per pack. The company said these changes are meant to pass increased taxes to consumers.

    Excise duty on cigarettes was raised by 14.1 percent effective November 2019.

    The higher taxes have made cigarettes in Kenya more expensive, driving cigarette smuggling up. “These new prices have been largely driven by the enactment of the Finance Act 2019, which has further increased the excise differential for tobacco products between Kenya and Uganda,” BAT said. “We are now seeing significant volumes of illicit cigarette products coming across the Ugandan border.”

    Sportsman King Size rose to KES190 per pack from KES175, Rothsman Blue rose to KES190 per pack from KES175, Embassy brands rose to KES260 per pack and Rooster, the low-end brand, rose to KES130 per pack from KES5.

    BAT says the new prices are only guides, and consumers may see even higher prices in stores.

    The changes in price come a few months after BAT reported a 25.5 percent rise in net earnings in its 2019 half-year to KES2.53 billion, buoyed by a 10 percent increase in gross revenue to KES19.2 billion.

    The company attributed the revenue increase to excise-led pricing impact in Kenya and Somalia coupled with growth in cut-rag sales to Sudan.

  • Flavors removed

    Flavors removed

    Juul Labs will stop selling fruit-flavored pods in Canada.

    Existing supplies will be pulled from store shelves, but the products may be reintroduced under guidance from Canadian health regulators. Juul Labs will stop producing mango, vanilla, fruit and cucumber pods, but tobacco and mint flavors will remain.

    Previously, the company removed fruit, dessert and mint flavors from the U.S. market.

  • PMI recognized

    PMI recognized

    Philip Morris International (PMI) is being recognized as one of 50 global sustainability leaders from the international business community in a documentary project called 50 Sustainability and Climate Leaders.

    PMI’s inclusion in the film is recognition of how the company is using sustainability to transform the business.

    The 50 Sustainability and Climate Leaders project demonstrates the private sector’s leadership capability and will to take action in the fight against climate change in six subject areas: energy transition, climate finance and carbon pricing, industry transition, nature-based solutions, cities and local action, and resilience.

  • Big in Japan

    Big in Japan

    Heated-tobacco product use is rising in Japan, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare’s 2018 National Health and Nutrition Survey.

    The survey asked smokers what tobacco products they used, and 30.6 percent of men and 23.6 percent of women responded that they use heated-tobacco products. These products were popular with those between the ages of 20 to 40. The 2018 survey was the first to ask about heated-tobacco products.

    The largest number of responding smokers said they smoke only paper-rolled cigarettes—68.1 percent of men and 76.1 percent of women—but more than 50 percent of men in their 20s and 30s said they use heated-tobacco products.

    The proportion of men who smoke was down to 29 percent, the survey showed. This is the lowest rate since 1986 when the survey began. Only 8.1 percent of women said they smoke.

    The rate of nonsmokers encountering secondhand smoke at home, work or restaurants has declined since questions about secondhand smoke first appeared on the survey in 2003.

  • Vote against flavors

    Vote against flavors

    New Jersey lawmakers voted on Monday to ban flavored vapor products in an effort to reduce youth tobacco use. The bill now awaits approval from Governor Phil Murray.

    The legislation also prohibits the use of coupons or discounts to purchase tobacco or vapor products, and it would bar menthol-flavored products, as well as fruit and candy flavors, but would allow tobacco flavors.

    If approved, New Jersey would follow Massachusetts as the only other state with a statewide ban on flavors, though other states have enacted emergency regulations on the sales of flavored products.

    Murray has not indicated whether he will sign the legislation into law.