Stories

The government set a “smoke-free” goal to reduce smoking to below 5% by 2030. This is a good idea. It would always be a challenge and require an acceleration of progress for the remainder of the decade. But it would inevitably rely heavily on smokers switching to safer alternatives to smoking, such as vaping, nicotine pouches and smoke-free tobacco products. Instead of going all-in on promoting switching, the government has instead introduced a pointless but controversial headline measure on smoking and a range of policies that will suppress the uptake of vaping by smokers.

The European Union is currently deliberating its regulatory approach to safer nicotine products as it reviews its Tobacco Products Directive. In a bid to ensure consumer voices are not lost amongst these discussions, the World Vapers' Alliance is bringing a petition before the European Parliament to reaffirm the need for proportionate regulation of safer products. In this episode of GFN News, the WVA's Director Michael Landl fills us in on these efforts to boost the consumer voice in Europe.

Hundreds of thousands of Americans die each year from substance-related harms. While people can reduce these risks by avoiding cigarette smoking or opioid use, some individuals who consume substances may not want to quit, and even those who do have abstinence as a goal may not yet be ready or able to achieve it. Recognizing this, many lawmakers who want to save lives and improve well-being at the population level are now looking to evidence-based harm reduction policies as a solution.

Rishi Sunak has vowed to “stop our kids getting hooked on nicotine” – as a study has found for the first time that vaping damages mouth cells in the same way as cigarettes. Changes in the make-up of the cells in the cheek lining, which have been linked to cancer, are the same for those using vapes as cigarettes, scientists have discovered. The revelation comes as the Prime Minister is set to introduce a landmark ban on smoking and new restrictions on vapes to Parliament on Wednesday.

Millions of smokers want to quit, but cannot due to an addiction to nicotine that started at a young age. It is an addiction they know could well kill them, but is now trapping them. Over 80% of smokers start before the age of 20, many as children, after persistent marketing. Starting smoking feels easy- stopping it later once nicotine has got its grip is really hard with the great majority of people who smoke wishing they had never started. For too many smoking becomes a lifelong, life limiting, deeply regretted addiction. To be pro individual choice should mean being against deliberate addiction of children, young people and young adults to something that will harm them, potentially fatally.

Cannabis vape liquids contain toxic heavy metals that do not come from the device itself. In both legal and illegal products, the concentration of nano-sized metal particles exceeds the safe limits for metal intake. Vaping is touted as a healthier alternative to smoking because heating a drug into an inhalable vapour, rather than burning it, releases lower levels of toxic chemicals. However, vaping liquid does contain other dangerous additives such as benzene, a carcinogen also found in car exhaust. [...]

Cigarette smoking has been considered a major public health concern due to its serious impact on health. However, smokers intending to quit may find long-term abstinence challenging. When smoking an electronic cigarette (EC), users can experience a sensation and taste similar to that of smoking a combustible cigarette. Therefore, manufacturers promote these products as a viable substitute for combustible cigarettes. However, several researchers report the serious health impacts experienced by EC users. Therefore, this review aims to examine the health impacts of EC use.

Despite the overwhelming evidence indicating that safer nicotine products are significantly less harmful than smoking, vaping misinformation has stoked mistrust of safer products, most notably seen in fears surrounding EVALI and youth vaping. In this episode, Will Godfrey looks at a recent study tracking the decreasing trust in vapes amongst the general public, and the real-world consequences that vaping misinformation has on public health.

Vapes have taken JK on a remarkable journey. From smoking multiple packs of cigarettes a day, he switched suddenly and entirely. He helped pioneer India’s first organized vapers group. In reaction to the country’s prohibitionist stance, he became a licensed online vendor, then an e-liquid connoisseur. And amid the country’s ban on sales and possession of vapes, he continues to preach their harm reduction efficacy with evangelical zeal.

In January, Democratic New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, called on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to investigate a product called “Zyn,” due to supposed concerns about marketing and health effects. Despite recent data from the FDA and CDC indicating that nicotine pouch use among youth is “exceptionally low,” anti-smokers are already raising the specter of youth use in their attempt to create a similar moral panic to the one they created about vaping products.