How E-cigarette Health Warning Labels Could Be Benefitting Big Tobacco

I mean just look at that..
 

I'm a 45yo New Zealander, and I have absolutely no axe to grind, except one:

I smoked for 25 years. Therefore the tobacco companies have had more than their fair share of my money, and more importantly my health.

Thanks to vaping, using RBAs and mods, and diying my own ejuices - I've been smoke-free for 20 months.

One company that looks like winning, with all the fake news and hysteria being dredged up in USA over vaping is Phillip Morris International. And I'm not talking about their cigarette products - but rather their IQOS product.

A Device That Heats Tobacco, But Doesn't Burn It, Can Now Be Sold in the U.S. Here's What to Know About IQOS

The FDA have already approved this product for sale in USA. And how does the IQOS work?

the FDA says the pen-like IQOS device heats, but does not burn, “tobacco-filled sticks” wrapped in paper, creating an aerosol that contains nicotine. Marlboro, an Altria brand, will make the tobacco sticks used inside the cartridge, which will come in menthol and unflavored versions.
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It's pretty much a cigarette, that goes into a device which 'heats' the tobacco, so you can inhale it.

Here's Why IQOS Could Completely Own the U.S. E-Cig Market | The Motley Fool

And how safe is it?

Comparison of Chemicals in Mainstream Smoke in Heat-not-burn Tobacco and Combustion Cigarettes. - PubMed - NCBI

There is little scientific data, however, of the hazards and toxicity of iQOS. In this study, we evaluated several harmful compounds (nicotine, tar, carbon monoxide (CO) and tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs)) in the mainstream smoke and fillers of iQOS, and compared their concentrations with those from conventional combustion cigarettes.

The concentrations of nicotine in tobacco fillers and the mainstream smoke of iQOS were almost the same as those of conventional combustion cigarettes, while the concentration of TSNAs was one fifth and CO was one hundredth of those of conventional combustion cigarettes. These toxic compounds are not completely removed from the mainstream smoke of iQOS, making it necessary to consider the health effects and regulation of iQOS.
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iQOS may not be as harm-free as claimed, study finds

The University of California study found that, since the device could only be used for six-minutes before it needed to be recharged, it may cause some people to shorten the interval between puffs in order to make sure they did not waste any of the tobacco stick which could increase the possible toxic exposure.

But of greater concern was that the polymer filter melted slightly during use and released formaldehyde cyanohydrin, a toxic substance which could be fatal to humans. The compound is metabolised in the liver and broken down into formaldehyde and cyanide.

"This study has shown that the iQOS system may not be as harm-free as claimed and also emphasises the urgent need for further safety testing as the popularity and user base of this product is growing rapidly," the study concluded.

University of Otago public health and marketing Professor Janet Hoek said the findings led her to question whether it really was a "reduced harm" product as claimed by the manufacturers.

If users inhaled more frequently as it was suggested, it was likely they would "increase their nicotine intake and exposure to harmful compounds present in the inhaled aerosol", she said.

She said those who had tried unsuccessfully to quit smoking were better off considering e-cigarettes.
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Just my

 

Vaping companies are required by the FDA to provide a Premarket Tobacco Product Application (PMTA), which will include scientific data to show a product is appropriate for public consumption. Manufacturers have until Sept. 9 to submit their application, failing which their products will be pulled from the market. Once an application is submitted, companies can keep selling their products for a year from the date of deadline, without official approval, or until a negative action is taken by the FDA.

It seems juul has applied, any other brands？  

So I have been coming on here and reading posts from people like say, in Washington State who are desperately trying to come up with something vapable after the flavor bans came crashing down, and I went on a pretty serious letter writing campaign in response. Here is the answer I got:

"Thank you for writing me regarding your thoughts on banning smoke-free alternatives to combustible tobacco. I appreciate you taking the time to share your concerns.

The Trump Administration recently announced plans to ban the sale of most flavored e-cigarettes as officials in Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continue to investigate more than 450 health cases, including six deaths, related to e-cigarette use. According to HHS Secretary Alex Azar, the FDA intends to introduce a policy that will remove the sale of all flavored e-cigarette flavors except tobacco, until otherwise specified.

I understand that this is an important issue for parents and consumers of e-cigarettes in our district. As your Representative, I will continue to monitor this situation as it develops and will keep your thoughts in mind if any legislative action is taken on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Again, thank you for contacting my office about this important issue. If you would like to receive regular updates on this and other matters, please visit my website (www.demings.house.gov/) to sign up for my e-newsletter.

Sincerely,

Val Butler Demings
Member of Congress"

The part that instantly grabbed my attention was this:

FDA intends to introduce a policy that will remove the sale of all flavored e-cigarette flavors except tobacco, until otherwise specified.

Is this going to happen ahead of the deeming regulations? Is the FDA going to come up behind us and slip this over our heads while we aren't looking? And while vaping is coming under a full frontal assault, tobacco companies are laughing as they continue to kill 1200 people a day - because the spotlight ain't on them anymore.  

THERE ARE ONLY 116 COMMENTS POSTED ABOUT THE PMTA ON THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE

Here is the link: Premarket Tobacco Product Applications and Recordkeeping Requirementsv

and here is the post I made to the FDA:

Smoking costs millions and millions of lives across the globe annually, and people suffer through their addiction to cigarette tobacco, pipe tobacco and chewing tobacco. They suffer hideously disabling and disfiguring diseases and even still, many smokers are stuck chained to the yoke of that addiction until the day they die, and sometimes they unwittingly take loved ones and even their pets with them through continuous exposure to second hand smoke and the residues it leaves behind for children to play on. It was a horrible, horrible thought to realize that anyone in close proximity to MY cigarette was being exposed to toxic waste.

I discovered vaping after I had exhausted every other avenue that I could find in my efforts to quit smoking for good. I was determined. I gave my word to my father as he was dying of lung cancer. That is what he asked me to do the last time I saw him alive. He was a wonderful, witty man who enjoyed cross-country skiing and horseback riding and had never been sick a day in his life until he was diagnosed with lung cancer.

The day my father passed away I was taking Wellbutrin, and I was suffering hideous side effects from the drug. Wellbutrin was one of many, many medications and products that I had tried, and failed, to quit with. Of course, big tobacco companies were banking on that, which is why they invested so much of their marketing strategy on enticing people when they were very, very young.

This device that I have in my hand right now is what saved me from carrying on with that relentless cycle of failure that I had become so used to. It is the device itself and the flavored juices that I use with it which made that possible and made cigarettes obsolete. I can do things with my vape that I could never do with a cigarette, and because my device is so vastly superior to fire at the end of a stick which tastes like rotten sewage mixed with car exhaust when inhaled, quitting was actually quite enjoyable. I control the temperature of my vapor and the strength of the nicotine I inhale. I can decide if I want to feel the vapor in my throat, or not.

Nothing soothed my irritated throat and lungs the way vape did when I first quit. It also soothed my nerves because while I did still had access to nicotine, I was also withdrawing from the many other alkaloids that these tobacco companies had incorporated into their products which enhanced the addicting effects of the nicotine. But cigarettes had finally met their match with this wonderful device because I simply woke up one day and realized that I hadn't smoked in quite some time and furthermore, I had no desire to whatsoever. Wow. Just wow.

It gave me back the control that I had been denied for over three decades of my life, and I am no longer a slave to an outrageously priced killer bent on decimating my wallet while inflicting a very long and slow death sentence on me.

But now I and thousands and perhaps millions of others are faced with these sweeping and draconian PMTA regulations and flavor bans because you want to take that control away, demolish the entire vaping industry and hand the wreckage of what's left over back to big tobacco so they they can reconstitute 'vaping' into a cigarette styled device filled with cigarette flavored liquid because they're addicts - they will have to take what we force-feed them.

By doing this, you will be destroying the lives of all of those people who put their heart and souls into creating and developing and producing these devices and the juices that we buy. You are taking away my right to read the safety data sheets that many of these companies freely provide because they are well aware that a lot of us want to know exactly what we are buying and putting into our bodies. We have trust issues, you see.

You are depriving people who have not yet made the switch the opportunity to do so, and you are trying to take the very thing that saved, not only my life, by my sense of self and self worth right out of my hands and the hands of everybody else who successfully QUIT their deadly addiction to toxic smoke, while telling us that what is good for us is to have a dubious fluid produced by even more dubious companies inserted into a cigarette like device that tastes like cigarettes. And let's face it, that will cause thousands of people to go back to the habit they thought they had given up for good -- or turn to a black market source in order to continue doing what they were doing before their supply was cut off.

That would be an unbelievable tragedy and all the more tragic because an agency of the government is what would force them to do it. These regulations are a slap in the face to any logical argument about the safety of inhaling my flavored vapor as opposed to smoke. I am happy and proud that I was finally able to accomplish the promise that I made to a dying man. What was your promise?  

This is the face of our enemy...
Rampant Antismoking Signifies Grave Danger
Every smoker is a promoter of other smokers. The practice ought to be an enclosed one, not to be endured by the non-smoker in ordinary social intercourse; and no one should be allowed to use advertisement or any indirect means to suggest otherwise.
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If we start with the view that we can begin to get rid of cigarette smoking from many communal occasions and that we can and should make it more and more difficult for the individual to smoke cigarettes in public...
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A longer-term target would make cigarette smoking an undesirable and private activity within ten years after that.
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Programs aimed at creating a social environment in which smoking is unacceptable .
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Therefore, it is recommended that as a part of national health policy the use of tobacco should be viewed as behavior that is destructive to self and to others and to implement this aspect of policy by appropriate legislation, regulation, and voluntary action,
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We ourselves cannot take the political action but we can make life so uncomfortable for the politicians that they feel compelled to act.
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The key to reversing this trend is to change the social norm . Nonsmoking should be regarded as normal social behavior . Only when people see smoking as socially abnormal will political pressure be felt .
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The simple answer is that our goal will not be obtained unless politicians and the general public all over the world are mobilized on our side.
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Nevertheless, "passive" smoking will continue to be stressed, not only in connection with lung cancer, heart disease, effects on children, etc., but also as a major source of annoyance and irritation for nonsmokers. The "passive" smoking theme will be used even more strongly, particularly in the political-legislative arena. It is something that people generally find easy to believe.
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WHO's position is ... that measures like legislation to control advertising, taxation, health education and public information systems have already proved effective to some extent in developed countries. These activities should be more vigorously pursued.
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Many of the suggestions to be made could be described as radical, confrontational and ‘uncivilised’. No apology is made for this or for the lack of any deliberately reformist/gradualist orientation to dealing with the tobacco industry.
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Remember that people are presented daily with a mass of news items, all potentially pressing for attention . It is largely up to you to develop a 'sense' for angles or emphases that are headline-grabbing, and to exploit these angles in your news releases and appearances on the media.
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Polysyllabic chemical names should be checked through a reference book that lists common usages and toxicological data for chemicals . Look for usages that will connote revulsion or concern . For example, well known chemicals found in tobacco include cadmium (as in car batteries), ammonia (as in toilet cleaners), cyanides, formaldehyde and so on ……”
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We've also seen the achievements of some superb campaigners in this issue, and I think it's a very real tribute to their success that only yesterday, Stanton Glantz, who has done so much to promote the rights of the non smoker in the United States, only yesterday Stan was complaining to me that he is no longer seen as a radical, terrible fate! Indeed . I've always seen Stan as a very conservative figure but I'm glad he confirmed that. (Laughter)
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Copied from another group.
With permission

I am the owner of Sapphyre Nicotine. I have been in the e-cig and vape business since 2009. This post is a little long but hopefully it is informative for some.

In 2009 the FDA started seizing shipments of electronic cigarettes under the claim that they were drug delivery devices and therefore need to pass FDA approval prior to being marketed and sold in the USA. The industry was just starting out and this was a big blow. Shipments of product were not allowed to enter the USA. Credit card companies were not allowing ecig companies to work with them. It was not looking good for ecigs. A company called Smoking Everywhere sued the FDA and made the argument that ecigs should be regulated as a tobacco product since they contained nicotine which is derived from Tobacco. Njoy joined the litigation and eventually took over when Smoking Everywhere went out of business. In 2010 Njoy won the litigation and ecigs ended up being regulated as tobacco products. This was the best outcome of two evils. The FDA appealed the decision and lost that as well. That’s when the ecig industry really started taking off. Bigger players got into the market and eventually RJR, Altria/Philip Morris, BAT and other big tobacco companies came out with ecig products. They quickly became the dominant sellers in c-stores. The tobacco companies were happy selling tobacco and menthol flavors only. That’s what they knew and that’s what they were good at.

A few years later eliquids and open systems started getting popular. These products were not very popular in c-stores. That is when vape stores started opening up. They were mainly concentrating on open system (eliquids, mods and great tasting flavors). For a short time c-stores tried to sell eliquids, but they didn’t have the know how or the time to educate customers. C-stores were good at selling closed systems and vape stores were good at open systems.

To the uninformed public we are all lumped in as one industry --- electronic cigarettes.

In reality there are 2 different industries that are somewhat related.

A) The ecig/closed system industry: In the USA as of Sep 2019 is a $6.4 billion industry. It is controlled mostly by big tobacco companies. Juul (Altria/PM), Blu (Imperial Tobacco), Vuse (British Tobacco, formerly RJR), Njoy (only independent supplier), Logic (Japan International). 75% of ecigs are sold in C-Stores, drug stores and food stores. As a comparison, regular cigarette sales in the USA are around $80 billion dollars and about 75% comes from c-stores.

While ecigs sales increased at a 40% year over year rate, regular cigarette sales dropped by 7% year over year. That is a large number that is troubling to big tobacco.

The closed system industry sells primarily tobacco and menthol/mint flavors. If flavors were banned it would not impact the industry very much. The companies selling closed systems are not going to join our fight to save flavors. They have no monetary incentive to do so. In addition all of these companies are going to apply for PMTA. They are not going to sue the FDA and risk getting PMTA approval unless it greatly impacts their business.

The vapor/open system industry: In the USA as of sep 2019 is a $2.6 billion industry. It is NOT controlled by a few large companies. There are a lot of hardware and ejuice suppliers. It is mostly sold at adult only vape stores. $1.7 Billion sold at vape stores, $350 million in c-stores and $550 million online. Lots of suppliers, distributors, small businesses are part of this industry. They mostly sell flavored eliquid as opposed to tobacco and menthol flavors.

Having been involved with both the ecig business and the vape business, I can say that they are completely different. The vape industry is getting punished for crimes committed by the ecig industry. Unfortunately we are being lumped in as one. We are the easier one to target. We need to do a much better job getting this message out.

I would also like to make a point regarding zero nicotine flavors being regulated by the FDA. The reason our industry is regulated by the FDA as a tobacco product is because the eliquid contains nicotine. This is the only reason the FDA has authority over these products. Because zero nicotine ejuice does not contain nicotine, it is no longer a tobacco product. While the FDA is going to try and enforce regulation of zero nicotine ejuice as a tobacco product by using the “intent to use” rationale, that argument is simply not valid. The FDA will also not be able to regulate zero nicotine ejuice as a drug/drug device combination either. Ejuice with no nicotine does not cause a change in the body and therefore will not be classified as a drug. This is only my educated opinion. I am not an attorney and am not making any legal claims.

I hope this was somewhat informative to people that have not been involved with ecigs and vapes as long as I have. Feel free to add, correct if you have information that I missed.

Feel free to share  

I assume the largest would have the best chance. Seems they want to consolidate the industry so as not to have to regulate 10,000 companies, a bummer since innovation will likely be quenched 100 fold.

Will flavored ejuice really go the way of the dodo bird?  

This video does a very good job of briefing us on what we need to know about the India ban. 42 million vapers (compared to about 10 million in the US) have been huge customers for the same Chinese products we buy. This hurts those companies and will effect us.
 

I've just received a notice that Paypal is changing its terms and conditions, and buried deep inside the changes I found this.
PayPal said:
The Acceptable Use Policy currently prohibits use of PayPal for activities that violate applicable law or industry regulations regarding the sale of tobacco products or prescription drugs and devices. We're replacing that prohibition with new policy language covering these types of items, as well as e-cigarettes. Under the new language, use of PayPal for cigarette transactions will be prohibited. In addition, merchants will be permitted to use PayPal for sales of non-cigarette tobacco products, e-cigarettes, and prescription drugs and devices only with PayPal’s pre-approval.

...


The relevant parts of the chart under Activities Requiring Approval will be revised to read as follows: “PayPal requires pre-approval to accept payments for certain services as detailed in the chart below. [TABLE="width: 552"]
[TR]
[TD] Service Requiring Pre-Approval​
[/TD]
[TD] Contact Information​
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD] … selling … non-cigarette tobacco products, e-cigarettes or prescription drugs/devices.[/TD]
[TD] Please send contact information, business website URL and brief business summary to aup@paypal.com[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
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Let's hope that this doesn't involve you telling them and them freezing your account while they sit on your application for months. But it seems like they might at least be warming to the idea that e-cigs are not the root of all evil.