Read articles from Europe

January 29, 2024 by bbc.com

The number of illegal vapes seized at the border quadrupled last year as UK authorities wrestle with unlicensed imports amid a surge in youth vaping. More than 4.5m vapes weighing nearly ten tonnes were seized over the last 12 months, four times more than 2022. The figures were released to the BBC after a Freedom of Information (FOI) request. The government is soon to announce new rules for the industry, including a possible ban on disposable vapes.

January 23, 2024 by planetofthevapes.co.uk

Bengt Wiberg is a man on a mission and that task is to change opinions about tobacco-free nicotine pouches. Through the ‘EU for snus’ initiative, Wiberg is attempting to challenge the European Union’s “unscientific” approach to snus that “favours politics over science”. It is a fight being replicated in Canada by retired anaesthesiologist John Oyston.

January 19, 2024 by theguardian.com

People trying to buy illicit synthetic opioids and sedatives online to treat pain, anxiety and insomnia increasingly risk taking a different drug that has caused dozens of deaths among heroin users, a leading expert has warned. Nitazenes – synthetic and extremely powerful drugs implicated in fatalities of chronic powdered heroin users in Birmingham, Bristol and London in recent months – have been detected in illicit supplies of tablets being sold as diazepam and codeine that appeal to a wider market.

January 18, 2024 by news-medical.net

A new analysis of trial data on pregnant smokers, led by researchers at Queen Mary University of London, finds that the regular use of nicotine replacement products during pregnancy is not associated with adverse pregnancy events or poor pregnancy outcomes. The PREP 2 study used data collected from over 1100 pregnant smokers attending 23 hospitals in England and 1 stop-smoking service in Scotland to compare pregnancy outcomes in women who did or did not use nicotine in the form of e-cigarettes (EC) or nicotine patches regularly during their pregnancy. [...]

January 17, 2024 by gfn.tv

Consumers recently took the fight for safer products to the European Parliament with their contributions to an event titled “Harm Reduction: The Road to a Smoke Free Europe." Tom Gleeson of NNA joins us to analyse the arguments brought by consumers to MEPs at this event, and whether this means attitudes to THR could be changing in Europe.

January 16, 2024 by filtermag.org

People who vape in the United Kingdom are expected to be hit with a substantial new tax. Tobacco harm reduction advocates see it as a backward step, reducing the incentive to purchase safer products instead of cigarettes, in a country known for years of progressive vape policies. Vaping is a key part of the national smoking cessation strategy. In April 2023, the UK’s governing Conservative Party pledged to give free vape starter kits to 1 million people who smoke. But later in the year, the government divided opinion with “smoke-free generation” plans including not only a ban on cigarette sales to anyone born after 2008, but a raft of potential vape restrictions, subject to a public consultation.

January 12, 2024 by westmeathexaminer.ie

January is a popular time for people to try to stop smoking. Many try to quit alone without supports and therapies that can give the best chance of quitting, such as stop smoking medications. The HSE is here to help you quit by providing free nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) along with other tried and tested supports. Dr Paul Kavanagh, HSE Public Health Medicine Consultant Lead with the Tobacco Free Ireland Programme, explains how NRT is safe and effective: “NRT are tightly regulated medicinal products which are overseen by the Health Products Regulatory Agency (HPRA) in Ireland.

January 09, 2024 by politico.eu

Europe is building up a head of steam to wage the next war on Big Tobacco. And this time, it’s not over deadly cigarettes but a product that contains no tobacco at all — the seemingly innocuous nicotine pouch. Still somewhat of an anomaly outside of Sweden, nicotine pouches are little bags of nicotine, flavoring and plant-based fibers that are placed under the lip to release a hit. Their popularity is growing: Analysis indicates that the market for nicotine pouches doubled between 2020 and 2021 in Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Slovakia and the United Kingdom. 

January 09, 2024 by planetofthevapes.co.uk

The Irish Minister for Finance Michael McGrath has postponed the implementation of a vaping tax over concerns that it would discourage smokers who use e-cigarettes to quit smoking. Officials from the Department of Finance announced the step back in a pre-budget submission, noting that “a delicate balance needed to be struck”. Chris Macey, Director of Advocacy at the Irish Heart Foundation originally celebrated news of a potential tax on vapes back in 2023, saying: “Nicotine is one of the most addictive substances on the planet and there has been an explosion in youth use of e-cigarettes that has been further fuelled by the advent of disposable vapes. We can’t afford to wait a moment longer than necessary to impose this tax.

January 04, 2024 by independent.co.uk

The number of independent vape shops has jumped again across the UK over the last year, amid plans to create a “smoke-free generation” by limiting their sale to children. Another 233 independent vape shops opened in 2023, a significant jump from 2022’s next increase of 61 and 2021’s net fall of 23, according to the Local Data Company (LDC), which carries out detailed surveys of all retail areas. The country now has a total of 3,573 specialist vape shops, according to the LDC.