Vaping Product Bill is Just Political Theater & More @ Vape-Deals

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Politicians scaremongering over “school supply” vapes. Smoking rates are still low despite the rise in vaping. “Stop & Swap” program in UK helps nurse switch to vaping. Supreme Court mulling FDA lawsuit and more!

Scroll to the bottom of this post for a link to the audio/video versions of this post!

CALLS TO ACTION

⚠️UPDATE⚠️

There was already a committee meeting on July 31st, so please contact your lawmakers ASAP!

Vapor products are currently taxed at a rate of just 5¢ per milliliter for products with less than 3 mL of liquid, and wholesalers pay only 10% of the purchase price for products containing over 3 mL of liquid. LB 1 would raise the tax on ALL vapor products to 30% of the wholesale cost! To put this in perspective, a 3 mL vape that once cost a consumer just 15¢ in tax could now have a wholesale tax of $3 or more added onto the purchase price.

TAKE ACTION: Nebraska: Stop a Tax Hike on Vaping!

CALLS TO ACTION:  GET INVOLVED: Calls to Action By State

LEGISLATION

Vaping Product Bill is Just Political Theater

Illinois Senate Bill 2662 will “prohibit the advertising, marketing or promoting of an electronic cigarette in a manner that is likely to cause a person to mistake it for an object that is anything other than what it is, a tobacco product.”

As if the unethical businesses that would sell that kind of thing would care about yet another law? Also, the reporter apparently couldn’t find #vaping products collected by school officials that actually “look like school supplies such as highlighters, erasers and pencil sharpeners” to photograph for the article. Why would that be?

Bills (and news articles) like this popping up around the US seem more like political theater designed to get votes and scare parents and teachers.

READ MORE: Illinois law to protect kids from damaging effects of nicotine

 

TOBACCO CONTROL

They Can’t See the Forest Through the Trees

So why are some companies turning to nicotine analogs with appealing flavors? Because FDA’s authorization of vaping products has been “arbitrary and capricious,” failing to authorize any of the non-tobacco or menthol products that most consumers prefer.

Bottom Line: If Public Health wants consumers to only buy regulated products, then the FDA has to authorize products that consumers actually want to buy.

READ MORE: Vaping: Unregulated Chemical in New E-cigs May Alter Brain Development

 

RESEARCH

Smoking Still Low Despite Rise in Vaping

According to Gallup polling, in 2003, 35% of adults under 30 smoked. Today, 18% of that age group vapes and only 6% smoke.

In 2003, 28% of adults 30 – 49 years old smoked. Today, only 8% of that age group vapes and 13% still smoke.

It’s interesting how public health officials and tobacco control groups can look at those facts and still claim vaping has nothing to do with the reduction of adult smoking rates.

It’s also funny how the article states, “While vaping presents fewer health risks than tobacco smoking, public health officials would still prefer that U.S. adults not do either.”

Well, adults who vape would prefer that public health officials would mind their own business about what we as adults choose to do, but we’re not holding our breath.

READ MORE: Cigarette Smoking Rate in U.S. Ties 80-Year Low

Sticking to ‘Gateway Theory’ Despite Evidence

Yet another study using the “gateway theory” to blame vaping for causing smoking and drug use without considering “common liability to addiction” as a possibility.

The gateway theory relies on the observation that people will use one substance and then go on to use other substances, but the catch is that the order can often be swapped. For example, researchers often cite tobacco use as leading to marijuana and alcohol use, but it’s also been observed that people who use marijuana or alcohol are more likely to later start smoking tobacco. Proponents claim that tobacco, alcohol and marijuana are all gateway substances, yet they can offer no explanation for why someone would go from using one substance to the other.

On the other hand, common liability to addiction looks at overall risk of substance use in the individual.  For decades — long before vaping existed — we’ve known that some demographics are at greater risk for smoking, alcohol and drug addiction. This includes being a veteran, low income, LGBT+ and having mental health disorders. The substance use is thought by many experts to be a form of “self medicating.” This would better explain why people who use one substance would be far more likely than non-users to try other substances.

The bad news for these gateway proponents is that we have clear evidence contradicting a causal link between vaping and the initiation of smoking. If vaping was leading to smoking, then it would be reasonable to expect to see smoking rates rise as vaping rates rose. One look at this chart shows that simply hasn’t happened even in the highest smoking risk age groups.

READ MORE: Vaping linked to smoking cigarettes, marijuana, other drug use

 

TOBACCO HARM REDUCTION

‘Swap & Stop’ Program Helped Nurse Quit

UK senior research nurse on taking part in a hospital project called “Swap and Stop” and switching to #vaping after smoking for 30+ years:

“I feel tons better and healthier within myself, as for the last 10-15 years, I had concurrent chest infections of bronchitis, and colds, but for the last two years, I’ve had no issues with this.

“In terms of trying to stop before, it has always been the negative language around wanting to quit.

“You were sort of doomed to fail before you started, because it was hard, you were going to get cravings, it would be horrible and you were just not going to succeed.

“This time I felt the language was all changed, so I felt this is more about preparing you to change to healthier habits and options, so I was doing everything I would do with a cigarette, but without the added toxicity that comes with smoking.”

READ MORE: Nurse hails hospital quit scheme after vape switch

 

FDA

Much is Riding on Supreme Court PMTA Decision

CASAA director Jim McDonald explains in this article for Vaping360 just how much is riding on the Supreme Court ruling next year in the FDA’s challenge to the Triton decision:

“The Supreme Court has not yet decided whether to hear the FDA’s venue petition. If it does not accept the case—or if it rules against the FDA—the Fifth Circuit could conceivably continue to accept MDO appeals from manufacturers across the country.

“If the high court finds the FDA improperly denied hundreds of thousands of premarket tobacco applications (PMTAs), FDA regulation of vaping products might have to go back to square one—or even be completely revamped. And if the Supreme Court justices rule the FDA’s PMTA review practices were proper, finding a venue for appeal will be the least of the vaping industry’s problems.”

 

READ MORE: Fifth Circuit Court Accepts MDO Appeals from Across the Country

Real people. Real Stories.

“Anecdote” #13,544:

Without access to the vaping options that worked for her—such as pleasant flavors and non-nicotine liquids—Patricia would likely still be smoking today. Adults who smoke depend on these products. What happens if those products are then banned?

SHARE YOUR SUCCESS STORY:  CASAA Testimonial Project

CASAA IN ACTION // CASAA Live

On this week’s episode, join Alex and Logan as they discuss hot topics in Tobacco Harm Reduction, including the recent authorization of menthol vaping products, the Supreme Court Chevron decision and the anti-nicotine “end game.”

CASAA Live will return this fall!

TAKE ACTION // CASAA State Facebook Groups

Have you joined your CASAA State Facebook group yet? Check it out now! Click the link below, click on your state on the map, then click the “Join Now” button to go to your state’s group page. It’s as easy as that to stay updated on local happenings, meet local advocates and never miss a Call to Action in your state!

Don’t forget to also follow our official Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/CASAAmedia

FIND YOUR GROUP: CASAA State Locator

CASAA STORE // Apparel and More

Show your support by shopping our store! Our president (and brilliant website/swag designer) Danielle has added some awesome new designs to CASAA’s apparel shop!

VISIT: CASAA Apparel and Swag Store

CASAA MEDIA // Spotify

CASAA’s podcast is on Spotify! Please give us a follow here:

CASAA MEDIA // Podcast

Catch up on past tobacco harm reduction news with Alex and Logan on the CASAA podcasts on SoundCloud every Monday and now live on YouTube and Facebook every Saturday at 3:30 PM.

SoundCloud:

 



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