Monthly Archives: January 2022

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In its continued efforts to protect the public, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is strengthening its warning to consumers to stop using vaping products containing THC amid more than 1,000 reports of lung injuriesincluding some resulting in deathsfollowing the use of vaping products. The FDA is working closely with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as well as state and local public health partners to investigate these illnesses as quickly as possible.

While the work by federal and state health officials to identify more information about the products used, where they were obtained, and what substances they contain is ongoing, the FDA is providing members of the public with additional information to help protect themselves.

A majority of the samples tested by the states or by the FDA related to this investigation have been identified as vaping products containing THC. Through this investigation, we have also found most of the patients impacted by these illnesses reported using THC-containing products, suggesting THC vaping products play a role in the outbreak.

More information is needed to better understand whether there is a relationship between any specific products or substances and the reported illnesses. To help gather and analyze as much information as possible, the FDA is working closely with federal and state partners to identify the products or substances that may be causing the illnesses.

The FDAs Forensic Chemistry Center is using state-of-the-art technology to analyze hundreds of samples submitted by a number of states for the presence of a broad range of chemicals, including nicotine, THC, other cannabinoids, and opioids along with cutting agents/diluents and other additives, pesticides, poisons, heavy metals and toxins.

No one substance has been identified in all of the samples tested. Importantly, identifying any compounds that are present in the samples will be one piece of the puzzle but will not necessarily answer questions about what is causing these illnesses.

Federal and state partners are following any potential leads. The FDA is committed to taking appropriate actions as the facts emerge and keeping the public informed as we have more information to share.

CDC and the FDA encourage the public to provide detailed information related to any unexpected tobacco- or e-cigarette-related health or product issues to the FDA via the online Safety Reporting Portal.

10/04/2019

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Vaping Illness Update: FDA Warns Public to Stop Using ...

Adult smokers who say that they dont plan to quit smoking but who start using e-cigarettes are more likely quit than those who dont start vaping, according to a new study. People who say theyre not trying to quit often arent included in studies of the potential benefits of e-cigarettes for adult smokers, and the new data shows that the group should be considered during that type of analysis.

In the new study, published Tuesday in JAMA Network Open, researchers evaluated data from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study, which is run by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Participants were interviewed about their tobacco use four times between 2014 and 2019.

Of the study group, 1,600 people said in initial interviews that they didnt use e-cigarettes and didnt plan to ever quit smoking cigarettes. By the next set of interviews, around 6 percent of that group had stopped smoking traditional cigarettes. Participants whod started using e-cigarettes daily during that time were much more likely to be in that 6 percent than participants who hadnt 28 percent of the group using e-cigarettes had stopped smoking cigarettes, compared to just under 6 percent of the group not using e-cigarettes.

The relationship might be because smokers who start using e-cigarettes tend to shift toward planning to quit smoking, the authors suggest, a pattern seen in previous research from the PATH Study and in other experiments. The new analysis didnt untangle whether peoples decisions to quit came after they started smoking e-cigarettes, so it cant pinpoint the cause of the change. The switch, though, is likely beneficial some research shows e-cigarettes are less harmful than traditional cigarettes, even if theyre not harmless.

The study was released while the FDA is still reviewing some e-cigarette related products, including those made by Juul. The agency has blown past its September deadline to evaluate applications from e-cigarette companies after a yearlong period without enforcement, companies now need authorization before they can market their products. The only e-cigarettes the FDA has authorized so far are tobacco-flavored e-cigarettes from the RJ Reynolds Vapor Company. At the end of December, it had rejected 260 applications.

The FDA says its focus is on figuring out whether a vaping or e-cigarette product has benefits to adult smokers that outweigh the risks to kids and teenagers, who started vaping in huge numbers in 2018 and tend to be attracted to flavored products. The new research indicates that smokers who say they dont plan to quit should be included in those risk-benefit calculations, the study authors note.

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Committed adult smokers who start vaping more likely to drop cigarettes - The Verge

Jan 02, 2022, 2:16amUpdated 15h ago

By: News 12 Staff

A new year means new laws are now in effect. In Scarsdale, a new law now bans smoking on public property.

The law went into effect on Jan. 1. It bans lit cigarettes, pipes and vaping systems at all village facilities, recreation spaces, business districts and on public streets and sidewalks. This includes tobacco and marijuana.

Some Scarsdale residents say that they are happy about the new law.

I am thrilled that it is going through. The less smoking the children can see people doing in public, the less of a chance that theyll start smoking, says one resident. It will lead to a healthier environment.

The village is allowing a 60-day transition period. Police will only be issuing warnings during this period. After the transition, violators could be fined $100.

Here is the original post:

New law in Scarsdale bans smoking and vaping on public property - News 12 Westchester

Tuesday, December 28, 2021

On January 1, 2022, two new state laws will become effective in Illinois and Oregon and could cause significant disruption to the vapor industry. We provide background on the legislation and discuss the potential implications for the sales of vapor products in the respective states.

On January 1, 2022, SB 0512,The Preventing Youth Vaping Act, will take effect in Illinois.

Under this new law, anelectronic cigaretteis broadly defined as

any device that employs a battery or other mechanism to heat a solution or substance to produce a vapor or aerosol intended for inhalation;

any cartridge or container of a solution or substance intended to be used with or in the device or to refill the device; or

any solution or substance, whether or not it contains nicotine, intended for use in the device

Critically, SB 0512 considers an electronic cigarette to be adulterated (and prohibited for sale) if, it is required by 21 U.S.C. 387j(a) to have premarket review and does not have an order in effect under 21 U.S.C. 387j(c)(1)(A)(i) or is in violation of an order under 21 U.S.C. 387j(c)(1)(A). In other words, if an e-cigarette is required by the federal Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (21 U.S.C. 387j(a)) to have premarket authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and does not have a Premarket Tobacco Product Application (PMTA) order in effect (or is in violation of such an order), it would be considered adulterated under the Illinois law.[i]

Although the law exempts e-cigarettes first sold prior to August 8, 2016 and for which a premarket tobacco product application was submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration by September 9, 2020 from the adulteration definition, products that are subject to timely submitted PMTAs that FDA has either refused-to-accept, refused-to-file, or have received marketing denial orders from FDA would likely still be considered adulterated by the state (as well as FDA).

However, because this part of the state adulteration provision only applies to e-cigarettes that are required to have PMTA authorization, it would appearnotto apply to e-cigarettes that are not tobacco products under the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act i.e., e-cigarettes that do not contain tobacco-derived ingredients and that do not fall within the meaning of components and parts of tobacco products. In other words, e-cigarettes that utilize synthetic (tobacco-free) nicotine or CBD-containing e-cigarettes, for example, that arguably arenot tobacco productsunder federal law, would not be considered adulterated in Illinois for not having authorized PMTAs.

Any distributor, secondary distributor, retailer, or person who violates the Illinois law shall be guilty of a Class 4 felony, which carries a 1-to-3-year prison sentence and fines of up to $25,000 if convicted.

On January 1, 2022,HB 2261, will take effect in Oregon.

The legislation prohibits the shipment of inhalant delivery systems to any person in Oregon other than a distributor or a retailer (ORS 180.441(1)(A)). Thus, the legislation effectively prohibits direct-to-consumer (DTC) sales (including online sales) of the vast majority of vapor products in Oregon.

Inhalant delivery systems are defined in the legislation as a device that can be used to deliver nicotine in the form of a vapor or aerosol to a person inhaling from the device; or a component of a device described in this paragraph or a substance in any form sold for the purpose of being vaporized or aerosolized by a device described in this paragraph, whether the component or substance is sold separately or is not sold separately.

As such, the legislation would appear to prohibit the DTC sale of most types of vapor products, but likely wouldnotcover non-nicotine closed-system products:

[i]An e-cigarette is also considered adulterated if (A) it consists in whole or in part of any filthy, putrid, or decomposed substance, or is otherwise contaminated by any added poisonous or deleterious substance that may render the product injurious to health; or (B) it is held or packaged in containers composed, in whole or in part, of any poisonous or deleterious substance that may render the contents injurious to health. See section 15(a)(4) of SB 0512.

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Illinois and Oregon Introduce New Laws Around Vaping Industry - The National Law Review

Shannon DArcy (20), from Palmerstown, Co Dublin, started smoking when she was 17. I was with my friends and I just said, Ill have one, and it just went on from there.

She is standing with some other smokers on St Andrews Street, in Dublin city centre. School might have been a contributory factor in her developing a nicotine addiction, DArcy says.

I started stress smoking. Wed go out for a break [from school] and have a smoke. Then I started working and getting my own money, and buying my own smokes, and it got even worse then.

She smokes about 20 a day and says all of her female friends are smokers too. I know it is bad for you but once you are addicted to it, it is hard to stop. I just cant stop. I dont know why.

She doesnt touch e-cigarettes or vapes which work by heating up a flavoured liquid, usually containing tobacco, and inhaling the vapour. She doesnt know anyone who does.

Over on South William Street Adam Ellis (19), from Donnybrook, Dublin 4 is pulling on a vape as he walks along with three male friends.

I dont smoke any more, I only vape, Ellis says. I started smoking at 17. I was just out drinking and my mate was smoking and he gave it to me and I started smoking when I was drinking.

Soon, on days when he wasnt drinking, he was smoking the cigarettes that he had left over from the night before. Thats how I started.

A few months ago Ellis started vaping in an effort to quit cigarettes. Cigarettes are expensive, he doesnt like the taste and sometimes they make him sick. The day he spoke to The Irish Times he was inhaling from a pineapple grapefruit ice flavoured vape.

The percentage of Irish 15 and 16 year-olds who were smoking fell steadily from the mid-1990s to 2015, according to data collected by the Europe-wide ESPAD youth surveys, which are carried out every four years.

However, the steady downward trend had come to an end by the time of the 2019 survey, which showed that the prevalence of teenage smoking had begun to edge upwards again.

One of the largest drop-offs in teenage smoking in 1995-2015 was in the years preceding the 2004 ban on smoking in the workplace, a measure that, by definition, did not directly affect young people.

It was an unintended consequence, said Prof Luke Clancy, a consultant respiratory physician and founder of the Tobacco Free Research Institute, Ireland.

By and large, if you want to get children not to start smoking, initiatives aimed at them alone are not really that successful. The reasons for this are complex, but they include the fact that teenagers want to be grown-ups.

The widespread public discussion at the time of the workplace ban about the dangers of smoking and the desirability of not being addicted to cigarettes, made an impression on teenagers.

The public policies that drive down smoking rates include price increases, age restrictions on sales, and bans on advertising, said Clancy. If you want young people to stop smoking, then what works for everyone else, also works for them.

The overall rate for smoking in Ireland is 18 per cent, according to the Healthy Ireland Survey 2021. The 2019 ESPAD survey found the rate was 14 per cent for those aged 15-16. Ireland has a strategy of trying to reduce smoking prevalence overall to 5 per cent by 2025, and up to 2019 it had looked possible that this would be achieved for teenagers, though not for older smokers.

To find that the only group that were likely to meet that target, that they are not going to meet it either, is very disappointing, said Clancy.

In a recent paper, called Increased Smoking and E-cigarette use among Irish Teenagers: A new threat to Tobacco Free Ireland 2025, Clancy and two others outlined how in the period between 1995 and 2015, teen smoking (cigarettes, not e-cigarettes) fell 41 per cent to 13.1 per cent; only for the 2019 survey to find that smoking among the teenagers had increased to 14.4 per cent.

The paper analysed how e-cigarette use had increased significantly in the four years to 2019, with the percentage of those who had ever used the addictive nicotine product going from 23 per cent to 37.2 per cent, while current use went from 10 per cent to 18 per cent.

The study found an association between smoking cigarettes and e-cigarette use. Teenagers who experimented with e-cigarettes were at an increased risk of becoming cigarette smokers and seeing their lifespans shorten by between 10 and 15 years as a result.

Smoking kills approximately 6,000 people in Ireland every year, more than Covid in its worst year, but unlike Covid there is an industry driving [smoking], says Clancy. Their opportunity is anything they can see, and e-cigarettes are one of the things they see.

Social media, flavours, and packaging are among the factors being used to target the young, Clancy believes. Flavours are used to entice the young, and the industry know this, he said. They are a delivery mechanism.

One out of three teenagers who starts smoking will end up dying from smoking, said Chris Macey, director of advocacy with the Irish Heart Foundation.

You cant prove that e-cigarettes are the cause of the change in the trend for teenage smoking, but the change in the trend coincides with e-cigarettes.

This view is shared by Clancy and his co-authors of the recent study, who noted that other factors linked to teenage smoking did not change during the 2015-2019 period.

We suggest that our findings highlight the negative impact that increased youth e-cigarette use had on current teenage cigarette smoking, they concluded.

Joe Dunne, who owns a vape retailing business, and is the spokesman for the lobbying group Respect Vapers, has a different position on vaping and cigarette smoking.

There are 250,000 people in Ireland who have managed to stop smoking cigarettes by replacing their habit with vaping, he said, adding that studies have shown that vaping is at least 95 per cent less harmful than smoking. The often-made suggestion that e-cigarette companies are owned by the tobacco companies couldnt be further from the truth, he said.

Dunne was formerly a spokesman for Vape Business Ireland, a lobbying group that says its membership is open to any business involved in the manufacture, supply, distribution or sale of vaping products. He told The Irish Times that he left his role with Vape Business Ireland and set up Respect Vapers to represent those who use vaping products to help them quit smoking.

Both vaping organisations have a position on the Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill, which would ban the sale of e-cigarettes to those aged under 18 years, and was recently before the Oireachtas health committee for pre-legislative scrutiny.

On its website, Vape Business Ireland says it has been calling for the 18 years-of-age threshold for a long time but adds that other elements of the proposed law that might restrict choice of vaping products could result in consumers moving back towards smoking after making the switch to vaping. A request for an interview with someone from Vape Business Ireland was met with no response.

Dunne is in favour of people having to be over 18 to buy vapes, and wouldnt be against the age threshold being raised to 21, but he is against vape flavours other than tobacco being banned.

When people give up smoking, they get their tastebuds back, and they dont like the taste of tobacco. Flavours are not there to target teenagers and vapes are not a gateway to cigarette smoking. If flavours go tomorrow, 62 per cent of vape users will go back to smoking.

The Bill that is before the Oireachtas does not include a ban on all flavours bar tobacco. Macey thinks it should, because he believes the huge range of flavours that currently exist are being used to target young people.

When asked, Dunne confirmed that Respect Vapers is funded by the Wexford-based entity, the Edmund Burke Institute. Dunne said he did not know much about the Washington DC-based foundation, the Atlas Network, which provides funding to the Edmund Burke Institute.

The Atlas Network, which funds and supports hundreds of partner organisations around the world, promotes anti-regulation libertarian political views. It has been shown to have links with the tobacco sector, the billionaire Koch brothers, the oil industry, and think tanks that support libertarian and anti-regulation attitudes.

A 2017 study published in the International Journal of Health Planning and Management said the Atlas Network was a strategic ally of the tobacco industry and that there was a coherent strategy by the tobacco industry to work with Atlas to influence public health policies from multiple directions.

The Vape Business Ireland website shows that current members include Vuse, a subsidiary of British American Tobacco, IQOS, a subsidiary of Altria (previously Philip Morris), and Juul Labs, which is 35 per cent owned by Altria.

Vape Business Ireland is run by an international public affairs consultancy called Instinctif Partners, which has its headquarters in London and offices around the world, including on Merrion Square, Dublin. According to the University of Bath-based organisation, Tobacco Tactics, Instinctif Partners worked for Imperial Tobacco on an EU campaign for smarter vaping regulations.

During an appearance before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health in November, Macey argued that four measures were needed to help resume the downward direction of smoking prevalence among the young. These were to: increase the legal age for the sale of cigarettes and e-cigarettes to 21; outlaw all e-cigarette flavours bar tobacco; ban all e-cigarette advertising; and introduce mandatory plain packaging for e-cigarettes.

We risk losing the hard-won gains of the past 25 years, as the worlds big tobacco firms that now control much of Irelands vaping market, seek to addict a new generation of young people to nicotine, he told the politicians.

The vaping sectors marketing tools are almost 100 per cent directed at young people, he said, because if young people are not addicted, there is no business model.

E-cigarettes are allowing tobacco companies introduce a whole new generation to nicotine addiction, Macey said.

Would Malboro manufacturer Altria have paid 12.8 billion for a 35 per cent stake in [vape business] Juul Labs just to help long-term smokers quit, ultimately putting itself out of business. Of course not.

More:

For 20 years teenage smoking fell steadily in Ireland. Then along came vaping and it all changed - The Irish Times

Smoking comes with a host of negative effects on the body. This includes increasing the risk of cancer and other deadly illnesses.

Vaping is when, instead of inhaling smoke, users inhale a vapour.

This vapour is created when a liquid is heated up in a device known as a vape.

Vapes heat up vaping liquid, creating an aerosol users breath in.

Vaping liquids can include nicotine, but also CBD oil and marijuana.

The liquids are often flavoured too, usually with fruity, sweet flavours.

Joanna said: "There are two potential avenues for cravings: chemical (nicotine) and behavioural (the act of smoking)."

She explained it may be the action of smoking you miss. To help with this Joanna said: "You could try keeping your mouth busy with crunchy vegetables.

"Try to take yourself away from triggering situations or to a place where you cannot smoke.

"Consider phoning or texting a friend and practising deep breathing."

More here:

Stop smoking: 'Slowly wean yourself from the drug' with a vape - Express

A leading vaping industry expert is working with Oldham City Council in Manchester to help tackle counterfeit and non-compliant products on behalf of Geek Bar.

Billy Rahman is the managing director at vape manufacturer iBreathe and has been appointed to act as a consultant for Geek Bar. He hopes to help stop the flow of illegal vape products in a campaign which has already resulted in the seizure of thousands of pounds worth of items in the UK.

I have operated in the vaping industry for 12 years and the issues facing Geek Bar with counterfeit and non-compliant products are the same as those my business faces, explains Rahman.

These products originate almost exclusively from China and at least 11 large-scale manufacturers have been closed down there in recent months.

He has established a primary authority arrangement with his local council, Oldham in Greater Manchester, in which trading standards officers there will co-ordinate operations with their counterparts around the country.

Rahman is also working alongside compliance company Arcus Compliance, which represents some of the largest brands in the vaping industry, to ensure that all CLP (classification, labelling and packaging) requirements for Geek Bar products being sold around the UK are met.

Working with Oldham as the primary authority, this partnership has already produced results, with the confiscation of numerous illegal products in North Lanarkshire. Meanwhile we have also identified several counterfeit re-sellers operating in Southall in west London, and in parts of Manchester, Rahman continued.

The popularity of Geek Bars products means that unfortunately, some people are willing to take illegal steps to get them to market. However, through this partnership we are working hard to ensure that counterfeit re-sellers are properly policed and sending out the message that it is only a matter of time before these operators are identified, and that ultimately this kind of activity can lead to a prison sentence.

Trading standards officers recently carried out the biggest single raid so far in the UK, seizing non-compliant disposable vaping products those which may meet standards in other countries but fail to do so in the UK worth around 190,000 from a former takeaway premises in Newcastle.

Items have also been seized in raids in recent weeks in Aberdeen, North Lanarkshire, South Ayrshire, Stockton, Halton, Walsall, Cherwell in Oxfordshire, Cheltenham, Cirencester and Kent.

Geek Bar has created a list of approved distributors, published on the Geek Bar website. Retailers and distributors can also report suspected counterfeit and non-compliant products at legal@geekbar.com and the company is incentivising retailers to report counterfeits or products that do not comply with UK regulations.

View post:

Vaping expert partners with Oldham City Council & Geek Bar to tackle counterfeit products - Convenience Store

A woman has complained after her visit to the cinema was ruined by a group of aggressive children who had "no thought for anyone else".

The woman visited The Light Cinema in New Brighton yesterday afternoon and was disappointed after the group of five, which consisted of three boys and two girls, sat in front of her and were disruptive from the get-go.

Before the film even began, the Wirral woman said three different adults had to have words with the kids, which was met with a reaction she said 'people would expect from such a group'.

READ MORE:State pension could be paid early for 20 million people

During the showing of the PG rated, Clifford the Big Red Dog, the woman said the children, who she presumed were about ten or possibly a little older but not much, acted disruptively in ways such as vaping [...], swearing, talking at full volume, messing about, up and down and stamping down the corridor with no thought for anyone else.

Eventually, this went too far and the woman complained to a member of staff about the group who were soon removed from the screen.

The three boys of the group returned shortly after to "look for something" when a member of the audience intervened and saw to it the boys left after already causing so much trouble for other cinemagoers.

The man, who people have described as brave, attempted to usher the group out but they continued to act in a way the woman described as duly indignant.

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Left disappointed by her experience, the woman took to a community Facebook page to inform others about the behaviour of the five kids.

She wrote: At the The Light cinema this afternoon to watch Clifford The Big Red Dog. Charming film if interested.

"The three boys and two girls sat in front of us were less so I am sorry to say.

"Three different adults had to have words with them before the film started. You can imagine the reaction.

"During the film, vaping.....although the four did tell the one to stop it, swearing, talking at full volume, messing about, up and down, stamping down the corridor, with no thought for anyone else..

"I eventually complained to the staff. They were asked to leave, tried to resist but the staff were fabulous and insisted.

"They left, noisily, then the boys came back looking for something. A chap in the audience removed them - brave or reckless I don't know.

"From what I saw, he did not put his hands on anyone, he simply got in their way and kept moving them along. They were duly indignant.

"My point is that these children, and they were children were about ten, possibly a little older but not much, they were there watching a kids film - totally too old for the film.

"The level of aggression against an adult from these children was shocking.

"So if your child came home unexpectedly early from the pics this afternoon, you might want to have a word.

In the comment section, another women who was present for yesterdays scene replied and said she and her daughter knew what was in store as soon as the group entered the screen.

She said: I was there with my 11-year-old daughter.

Unfortunately I was sitting in the same row as them, I was at the end and they passed me several times on their way in and out!

Their language was disgusting. On their way back in, I stood up and had a very polite and quiet word with them.

I explained that the cinema was full of children and that they should behave accordingly.

The woman seconded that staff were brilliant in handling the situation and said she overheard one of the boys say thats twice weve been thrown out of here this week as they left.

She added: As soon as they walked in and sat on the same row, my daughter looked at me and said oh no, theyre going to spoil it. I assured her that I wouldnt let them spoil it for her!

Others filled the comment section with their shock and "disgust", with one person even saying this is the reason they wont go to the New Brighton cinema anymore.

One person said: Some teens/kids need pulling into line, if mine came home told me all that, I would say they obviously deserved to get out cinema - and next time have respect or you will never go again, simples.

Another said: Why can't these ferals be barred from the cinema?

A third said: There's far too many groups of youngsters going out in groups of three and four plus unsupervised, and they show off massively.

"The parents are to blame here, they either don't care what they are doing or just assume they are well behaved. Under 12s shouldn't be having so much freedom, in my opinion far too immature to behave appropriately.

Jamie Atherton, operations manager for The Light Cinemas told the ECHO: We pride ourselves on trying to ensure everyone has a great trip the cinema when they visit one of our venues.

"I can confirm our team at New Brighton did remove several children from one of our showings yesterday due to bad behaviour.

"Incidents of this nature at New Brighton are uncommon, that said our teams are trained in conflict management to help them manage these difficult situations. Having spoken with the management at site I am satisfied this was dealt with promptly and professionally."

Go here to read the rest:

'Aggressive' kids thrown out of cinema for 'vaping, and swearing' - Liverpool Echo