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Tag: vaping

  • Imperial Launches Vaping Campaign

    Imperial Launches Vaping Campaign

    Photo: Tobacco Reporter archive

    Imperial Tobacco Canada has launched a campaign called Let’s Clear the Smoke with the goal of educating Canadian adults on the facts about vapor products and the role these products can play in reducing risks compared to cigarettes, according to BAT.

    Let’s Clear the Smoke provides information about the latest in vapor product science and aims to allow Canadian adults to take a more informed view when considering their stance on vaping products and other less risky alternatives to smoking.

    This campaign is driven by a combination of mass out of home media placements and digital ads to drive awareness and website traffic. The campaign lasts for 10 weeks and will be the first of a range of initiatives to drive the acceptance of tobacco harm reduction in Canada.

    “There is a lack of understanding out there about vapor products, especially when it comes to the positive role they can play in tobacco harm reduction,” said Ralf Wittenberg, president and CEO of Imperial Tobacco Canada. “I think this misunderstanding is due to the fact that the vast majority of people don’t have access to accurate, credible and independent information.

    “The purpose of this campaign is to educate Canadian adults on the facts about vapor products by providing access to credible, factual and independent information.”

  • Australia Urged to Include Vaping in Smoking Strategy

    Australia Urged to Include Vaping in Smoking Strategy

    Photo: Zerophoto | Adobe Stock

    Australia is lagging well behind many other countries in the Asia-Pacific region when it comes to successfully tackling smoking through vaping, says the Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA).  

    The CAPHRA’s observation comes as Australia’s Department of Health seeks feedback on its Draft National Smoking Strategy 2022–2030, with public submissions closing on March 24.

    “We encourage vapers and supporters of a progressive tobacco harm reduction (THR) approach to have their say. Australians desperate to quit smoking and those keen to stay off deadly cigarettes need all the help they can get,” says Nancy Loucas, executive coordinator of the CAPHRA.

    On Oct. 1, 2021, Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration expanded its prescription-only model with customs clamping down at the border on personal imports of nicotine vaping liquids from overseas websites.

    Not only does Australia’s draft strategy ignore the potential of safer nicotine products, it also lacks ambition, according to Loucas. The strategy aims for a smoking rate of 10 percent or less by 2025 while New Zealand is pursuing a 5 percent smoke-free goal and looks on target to achieve it. “Instead of banning vaping, New Zealand has regulated it, making it tough for minors to access but available to all adults keen to keep off the cancer sticks. New Zealand is seeing its overall smoking rate tumble, yet the Australian government fails to accept that the most effective smoking cessation tool available is staring it in the face,” says Loucas.

    “Australia is well down the world rankings when it comes to adopting effective THR policies and is light-years behind the U.S. and U.K. Subsequently, Australia’s overall smoking rate has fallen very little over the past decade, and without reasonable access to vaping, Australia will struggle to even achieve its 10 percent smoking goal,” says Loucas. 

  • South Africa Proposes New Vaping Tax

    South Africa Proposes New Vaping Tax

    Photo: Adrian | Adobe Stock

    The South African government will propose a new tax on vaping products to take effect in 2023, according to Vaping360.

    The move follows the government’s announcement last year that it intended to tax e-liquids.

    South African Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana outlined the new tax proposal as part of a package of new and increased excise taxes on tobacco, alcohol and high-sugar products. The vaping tax will appear in the 2022 Taxation Laws Amendment Bill, though it could be changed by Parliament before the bill is finalized. It is expected to be in place by Jan. 1, 2023, according to Godongwana.

    The new tax would apply to all e-liquid products, regardless of whether they include nicotine, and it would be “at least” ZAR2.90 ($0.19) per mL, essentially doubling the price of retail e-liquid. The taxation rate is supposed to be equivalent to 40 percent of the most popular brand’s retail price.

    South Africa currently has no specific governance on vaping products but is working to regulate the products under its tobacco laws.

  • Study Claims Patches Better Than Vapes

    Study Claims Patches Better Than Vapes

    Credit: kues1

    A new study claims that those using e-cigarettes to quit smoking found them to be less helpful than more traditional smoking cessations aids such as patches and gum.

    The study, published Monday in the journal BMJ, analyzed the latest 2017 to 2019 data from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study, which follows tobacco use among Americans over time.

    “This is the first time we found e-cigarettes to be less popular than FDA-approved pharmaceutical aids, such as medications or the use of patches, gum, or lozenges,” said John Pierce, the director for population sciences at the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego, according to CNN.

    A three-month randomized trial in the United Kingdom, published in 2019, found e-cigarettes, along with behavioral interventions, did help smokers quit tobacco cigarettes. In guidance published in late 2021, the UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence decided to recommend that smokers use e-cigarettes to help them quit.

    Another recent study, published in JAMA Network Open, found adult smokers with no plans to quit are more likely to stop smoking if they switch to daily vaping, according to new research led by Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center.

    The Roswell Park study also used data collected from 2014 to 2019 as part of the PATH study. 

  • Broad Support for Philippine Vape Bill

    Broad Support for Philippine Vape Bill

    Photo: Rawpixel.com

    Nine out of 10 smokers in the Philippines support the country’s proposed vaping bill, according to a study, reports the Manila Times. A majority of respondents said the government should enact policies to encourage adult smokers to switch to less harmful alternatives while also ensuring these products are not used by minors.

    In 2021, the Senate and House of Representatives approved their respective versions of the measure. The bills must be reconciled by a bicameral conference committee and ratified by the two chambers. If President Rodrigo Duterte then signs the bill into law, the Vaporized Nicotine Products Bill will regulate e-cigarettes, heated-tobacco products and other vaporized nicotine products while ensuring that they contribute to government revenues.

    The study was conducted by Acorn Marketing and Research Consultants and commissioned by consumer advocacy group Vapers PH in August 2021. The survey sampled 2,000 legal-age smokers.