Category: Featured

Van-Tull to Lead D.C. Bar Association

LieAnn Van-Tull (Photo: Keller and Heckman)
LieAnn Van-Tull, an associate with Keller and Heckman’s food and drug packaging and tobacco and e-vapor practice groups, was sworn in as president-elect of the Washington Bar Association (WBA) on June 1, 2022.
“I feel honored to have the opportunity to serve an organization that provides an avenue for attorneys to excel,” said Van-Tull. “I have enjoyed contributing to the WBA as secretary, former membership chair, and as an active committee member, and look forward to expanding my impact as president. In particular, I am eager to broaden the organization’s membership base, create new mentorship and leadership opportunities, and further its advocacy efforts for underrepresented members of the legal community.”
The WBA is the oldest and largest predominantly Black bar association in Washington, DC. Founded in 1925, the WBA consistent with the philosophy of Houstonian jurisprudence, is dedicated to improving and protecting the well-being of the legal profession and its members, advancing the science of jurisprudence and the administration of justice, and promoting diversity while preventing discrimination within the legal field.
“LieAnn exemplifies a commitment to legal excellence, community engagement and enhancing diversity in the legal profession,” said Cynthia Lieberman, the chair of Keller and Heckman’s diversity and inclusion committee. “We could not be more thrilled to see her elected to the Washington Bar Association’s executive leadership team.”
“LieAnn’s new position at the Washington Bar Association showcases her dedication to protecting equal justice under the law and inspires the firm in our own pursuit for increasing diversity in the workplace,” said Richard Mann, chair of Keller and Heckman’s management committee.
Van-Tull will assume the role of WBA president in June 2023 for the 2023-2024 bar year.
June 6, 2022
PMI Calls for Action Against Illicit Trade

Photo: promesaartstudio
Philip Morris International has called for action against the illicit cigarette trade in Saudi Arabia, reports Arab News. Illicit trade currently accounts for between 17 percent and 25 percent of the tobacco market in Saudi Arabia.
Philippe Van Gils, PMI’s regional head of illicit trade prevention for the Middle East, warned that the illegal tobacco trade poses a risk not only to government revenues, but also to public health.
“Billions are going into the pockets of illicit organizations instead of the governments where the latter could use the money for development and other purposes,” Van Gils said, adding that illicit traders also neglect sanitary standards in manufacturing or shipping
Van Gils stressed the importance of building awareness of the issue in the private sector and among consumers. He said that collaboration is crucial due to the magnitude of the problem. “No one can fix this issue alone; it requires a public-private partnership,” he said.
He further said that the private sector could address this issue using technology and better controls on its supply chain operations. “It’s about knowing your customers, monitoring the volume of products you sell to ensure it responds to legitimate demand and leveraging technology to track your product down the supply chain,” he said.
Governments, in turn, should not only enact effect regulation, but also enforce it. To help authorities distinguish illicit products from genuine ones, PMI has held several training sessions this year, including for the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property.
According to Van Gils the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated illicit trade on the dark web. He said the solution is to reduce illicit tobacco while promoting better alternatives, specifically heated tobacco products such as e-cigarettes.
“Our position is that if you don’t smoke, don’t start. But if you can’t quit, switch to better alternatives that are now available thanks to technological advancements,” added Van Gils.
June 6, 2022
Study: Malaysians Vape to Cut Smoking

Photo: gesrey
Nearly half (49 percent) of Malaysian smokers choose to vape to cut down on cigarette consumption or quit smoking completely, reports The New Straits Times, citing a 2021 survey of 500 people carried out by Kantar Group
“This appears consistent with mounting scientific evidence that smokers prefer vaping and is effective to help them kick the habit,” said Delon Human, president and CEO of Health Diplomats, a health, nutrition, and wellness consulting group.
“Available evidence so far shows that most smokers want to quit the habit. For example, in the United Kingdom, around two-thirds of smokers, regardless of their social group, want to stop smoking, and vaping has become the method of choice to quit smoking in that country,” Human said.
The survey also found that 52 percent of Malaysian smokers perceive vaping to be less harmful than smoking cigarettes. Eighty-six percent said that vaping should be made available to smokers as a less harmful product, and 90 percent believed that vaping should be actively promoted as a less harmful alternative to smoking cigarettes.

This study shows vaping in Malaysia has great potential to help the government reduce smoking prevalence as it is a popular tool used by smokers to cut down and quit smoking.
Delon Human, president and CEO, Health Diplomats
“Studies on the use of e-cigarettes have pointed to the fact that vaping is not risk-free but significantly less harmful than smoking cigarettes,” said Human. “Interestingly, the rate of Malaysian smokers understanding this fact is high compared to other countries,” he said.
In the U.K., by contrast, only 29 percent of smokers believe vaping was less harmful than smoking, despite the country’s adopting a harm reduction approach in encouraging cigarette smokers to switch to vaping, according to Human.
Malaysia is currently contemplating new rules for e-cigarettes.
Most of the Malaysians surveyed support regulations for e-cigarettes and believe they should be regulated as consumer products instead of medicinal products.
At the same time, 81 percent believe regulations must be put in place to ensure the products are not defective and meet product and quality standards and are not sold to minors or underage children.
“This study shows vaping in Malaysia has great potential to help the government reduce smoking prevalence as it is a popular tool used by smokers to cut down and quit smoking,” said Human.
June 6, 2022
Singapore: Smoking Prevalence Drops to 10 Percent

Photo: Noppasinw
The smoking prevalence in Singapore dropped to 10.1 percent in 2020 from 13.9 percent in 2010, reports The Straits Times, citing the city’s Ministry of Health (MOH).
The MOH attributes the decline to its multi-year, multi-pronged approach to reduce and discourage the use of tobacco products among Singaporeans. The ministry says it works with multiple partners to deliver public education to increase awareness of the harms of tobacco use, smoking cessation programs, legislative measures, taxation and enforcement.
Among other measures, the MOH raised the minimum legal age for smoking to 21, and banned emerging tobacco products, on the premise that these can be gateways to smoking.
The MOH is also studying the examples of New Zealand, Malaysia and Denmark, which recently announced plans to implement tobacco-free generation policies. The department says it will examine how these countries develop and enforce the bans, to determine if this can be similarly applied in Singapore.
June 6, 2022
Global THR Proponents Unite Ahead of COP10
A global audience, via multiple platforms, tuned into watch sCOPe’s two-day broadcast during the recent World Vape Day (WVD) and World No Tobacco day (WNTD).
“sCOPe22’s success was critical given delegates will be discussing and debating harm reduced products at next year’s COP10 [the 10th session of the Conference of the Parties to the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control]. sCOPe22 showed that consumer advocates worldwide are united and highly motivated to fight for millions of smokers’ lives,” said Nancy Loucas of the Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA).
Tobacco harm reduction (THR) consumer advocates livestreamed for eight hours on May 30 and May 31. The panel discussions and presentations included representatives from Asia Pacific, Africa, Europe, North America and Latin America.
sCOPe’s return on #WVD22 and #WNTD22 followed its five-day livestream last year during COP9—the ninth Conference of Parties to the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).
“Countries represented at COP10 need to fully understand that millions of lives depend on delegates’ substantive discussions and subsequent recommendations on safer nicotine products next year. The red light must turn green—It’s long overdue.
“Last year the FCTC kicked the subject for touch, but next year it’s all on. All eyes will be on COP10 to see if delegates start following the evidence not the emotion. THR works. Vaping bans don’t, and THR advocates are keener than ever to expose and change WHO’s fraught position,” said Loucas.

Countries represented at COP10 need to fully understand that millions of lives depend on delegates’ substantive discussions and subsequent recommendations on safer nicotine products next year.
Nancy Loucas, CAPHRA
sCOPe22 participants included the European Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates, Vaping Saved My Life South Africa, Association of Vapers India and CAPHRA.
The Americas were also well represented with Latin American-based ARDT Iberoamerica, Rights For Vapers Canada, the Tobacco Harm Reduction Association of Canada, and the U.S. Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association.
“sCOPe22 uncovered many powerful personal stories of ex-smokers whose lives have been saved by switching to 95 percent-less harmful vaping. Instead of demonizing safer nicotine products, WHO needs to embrace them. Outrageously, WHO’s misguided advice and bullying sees hundreds of millions of smokers still blocked from accessing these life-saving products,” said Loucas.
According to Loucas, THR advocates are buoyed by the fact that every year more and more countries are ignoring WHO’s anti-vaping campaign. Instead, they’re legalizing and regulating safer nicotine products.
“In the Asia Pacific region alone, The Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand are set to join nearly 70 countries worldwide which have wisely regulated vaping with dramatic declines in their overall smoking rates. If WHO wants to improve global health and save smokers’ lives, they’d promote a THR approach next year—at the latest,” she said.
June 6, 2022
Los Angeles Bans Sale of Flavored Tobacco

Photo: imagecatalog | Adobe Stock
The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to end the sale of nontobacco-flavored tobacco products—including flavored e-cigarettes, menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars.
The council’s action will make Los Angeles the largest city in the country to end the sale of flavored tobacco products, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (CTFK). Los Angeles joins over 120 California communities that have taken similar action.
The legislation will now move to Mayor Eric Garcetti, who is expected to sign it, according to Filter. If passed, the ban would go into effect in January 2023.
Mitch O’Farrell, the councilmember who introduced the legislation, tweeted after the vote went through, “We just took a huge step forward against Big Tobacco’s deadly agenda in Los Angeles. This morning, I led the City Council’s unanimous approval of a prohibition on the sale of flavored tobacco to everyone 21 and younger in LA, making us the largest city in California and the nation to take this kind of action against these products.”
The ban applies to people of any age, however, not just those 21 and younger.
The ordinance also applies to zero-nicotine vapor products, but it does not, however, apply to hookah. “Normally, proponents and supporters of flavor bans will object heavily to … exemptions for hookah tobacco and lounges,” said Stefan Didak, a California-based vape advocate. “More often than not, an attempt at passing a ban fails because they withdraw their support.”
“However, several of the major groups—including Annie Tegen, the vice president of state advocacy for CTFK—praised the council ahead of their vote on the amendments and congratulated them on doing the right thing,” Didak said. “Not a single word of dismay about the exemption for hookah lounges. I thought that was very much out of character.”
Hookah lounge owners and retailers protested the ban, stating that it would eliminate a cultural tradition. It’s also speculated that the CTFK may have overlooked the exception of hookah in order to gain what they see as a big win with the LA ban, especially after years of back and forth trying to pass said ban.
June 3, 2022
U.S. Health Groups Call off Menthol Lawsuit

Photo: eccolo
Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council (AATCLC), the American Medical Association (AMA) and the National Medical Association (NMA) are dismissing their joint lawsuit against the United States Food and Drug Administration. A rulemaking process to ban menthol as a characterizing flavor is in progress, and “we are grateful to be able to declare victory in this case,” the plaintiffs wrote in a joint statement.
The lawsuit followed the 2013 Citizen’s Petition, which called on the FDA to prohibit menthol in cigarettes.
“As African American physicians, we are thrilled with the FDA’s proposed rule to ban menthol in cigarettes and flavored cigars as a remedy to settle our lawsuit,” said Rachel Villanueva, president of the NMA. “This proposed rule will save lives and improve health within Black communities. This would not have been possible without the leadership and assistance of our co-plaintiffs and attorneys, whom we wish to sincerely thank.”
“We are encouraged by the FDA’s recent action to propose a ban on menthol-flavored cigarettes. We look forward to participating in the rulemaking process as we continue our collective push to ensure these harmful products are removed from the market once and for all,” said AMA President Gerald E. Harmon.
“The FDA has finally taken a major step forward to protect the health of Black Americans, but the work is far from done. We will not stop until no more Black lives are lost due to the predatory marketing of menthol cigarettes and flavored little cigars,” promised Phillip Gardiner, co-chair of the AATCLC.
“ASH’s goal is to use litigation as a tool to protect the right to health of all citizens against the harms of the tobacco industry,” said Kelsey Romeo-Stuppy, managing attorney at ASH. “We are proud to have been a co-plaintiff in this extraordinary demonstration of the power of proactive litigation.”
June 3, 2022
Singapore Cracks Down on Illegal Vape Products

Photo: nuttawutnuy
Singapore authorities destroyed an some 6,500 seized vape products with an estimated value of more than SGD1 million ($726,639) on May 31, reports Channel News Asia. Among the seized items incinerated on World No Tobacco Day were 6,500 e-vaporizers, 83,500 pods and 8,000 e-liquids. Together, they weighed more than a ton.
In Singapore, it is an offence to sell, possess for sale, import or distribute e-vaporizers and related components. Violators risk fines of up to SGD10,000 and jail up to six months.
The penalty for possessing and using a vape is a fine of up to SGC2,000.
Between 2017 and 2021, the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) caught 383 illegal e-vaporizer sellers. HSA, which works with the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority to enforce against vaping, noted that some illegal importers have started to change tactics to avoid detection, by concealing products in lighting fixtures, for example.
The agency says it has stepped up vigilance and enforcement actions.
Last year, authorities destroyed almost 12,300 e-vaporizers, about 4,500 e-liquids and nearly 175,000 pods and components, with an estimated street value of almost SGD2 million.

June 2, 2022
Dutch Mull ‘Australian’ Cigarette Prices

Photo: auremar
The Dutch government is considering increasing the price of cigarettes to between €30 ($31.96) and €47 per pack in 2040, reports the NL Times.
Inspired by the example of Australia, where a pack of cigarettes costs the equivalent of €24, Public Health Secretary Maarten van Ooijen hopes the high prices will deter people from smoking.
Currently a pack of cigarettes currently cost about €8 in the Netherlands. The government’s coalition agreement calls for an increase to €10 per pack.
Scientific research reveals that financial disincentives to smokers work only when prices are raised substantially. A recent study by Maastricht University showed, for example, that half of smokers will quit only once a pack costs €60 or more.
The proposed price hike is one step in the government’s plan to achieve a “smoke-free generation” by 2040, as set down in the National Prevention Agreement of 2018. The government wants only 5 percent of Dutch residents to smoke by 2040. Currently about 20 percent are smokers.
June 2, 2022
Mexico Outlaws E-Cigarettes

Photo: niroworld
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador signed a decree on May 31 outlawing the sale of e-cigarettes, reports AP.
Assistant Health Secretary Hugo López Gatell lashed out at industry claims that vaping is safer than smoking, calling it “a big lie.”
Mexico has aggressively legislated against vapor products. Imports of vaping devices have been prohibited since at least October. Before that, legislators used consumer protection and other laws to discourage sales.
Despite the most recent decree, many Mexicans import or buy vaping cartridges or fluid illicitly.
At least 5 million Mexicans have tried vaping at least once, according to government figures.
June 1, 2022