Stories

A recent study conducted by National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) suggests that e-cigarettes are not a gateway to smoking. In another survey, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) & the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) revealed that e-cigarette usage among high school students in the US has fallen from 14% in 2022 to 10% in 2023, while the youth smoking rates are at an all-time low of 1.6%. The stagnant smoking rates in the US are not in line with the theory that ENDS are a gateway to cigarettes but are helping flatten the trend.

A vaping literacy problem may lie at the heart of India's hardline approach to vaping. Could improved tobacco harm reduction education amongst medical professionals and policy makers help shift India away from the WHO's prohibitionist anti-vaping stance? Samrat Chowdhery joins us to discuss this and more!

A UK public health expert is today visiting Dublin to warn legislators and regulators that extreme measures to ban flavoured vapes will have detrimental effects on tobacco-free ambitions. Clive Bates is the Director of Counterfactual and former Director of Action on Smoking and Health (UK) and joined Ciara this morning on the show.

Javier Milei’s unexpected triumph in Argentina’s presidential run-off marks a paradigm shift in the country’s political landscape. His commitment to classical liberalism, with an emphasis on the fundamental rights of life, liberty, and property, opens up new possibilities for policy reforms that align with individual freedom and economic growth. One area that demands attention is tobacco control, where embracing harm reduction can not only improve public health, and subsequently public finances, but also demonstrate a pragmatic approach consistent with Milei’s vision for a more prosperous Argentina.

In a controversial move that has left public health advocates and consumers in a cloud of disbelief, the Australian Government has decided to effectively ban vapes, a decision that flies in the face of harm reduction evidence and the rights of smokers seeking safer alternatives. “While the details of the new regulations are shrouded in smoke, reports suggest that Australians may now face up to $150 for a prescription to access vaping products,” said Nancy Loucas, a public health policy expert and passionate advocate for tobacco harm reduction and executive coordinator of CAPHRA.

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.

With rates of smoking declining globally, some of the world’s biggest tobacco companies have pledged to work toward a future without cigarettes. But there’s still plenty of money to be made in other ways by satisfying people’s hankering for nicotine, the addictive stimulant found in tobacco. Globally, sales of “smoke-free” nicotine products increasingly eat into those of cigarettes and other combustibles. Meanwhile, health officials are divided as to whether they should condone products that, while less deadly than cigarettes, can hook users just as easily and may also have harmful effects.

The FDA [...] took a major step toward banning open-system vaping hardware sold without e-liquid. Open-system products are refillable, allowing consumers to use them with bottled e-liquid from any manufacturer—including e-liquid that contains no nicotine, or non-nicotine ingredients like CBD. The FDA issued marketing denial orders (MDOs) for six SMOK-brand vaping devices, and 14 pods and replacement coils used in the prohibited devices. [...]

Selling electronic cigarettes, shisha or any associated accessories will incur fines of up to OMR2,000 ($5,208) in Oman, according to a new circular. The sale and marketing of e-cigarettes have been banned in Oman since 2015 by the country’s Consumer Protection Authority. However, the use and possession of e-cigarettes in Oman are legal, according to the Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction.

Mr Dandiar Rosli used to burn through a pack of cigarettes a day. In an effort to kick the habit a few years ago, he turned to electronic vapourisers, commonly known as vapes, believing they were a healthier choice that would wean him off cigarettes. Two months into vaping, however, he started waking up in the middle of the night with coughing fits that produced yellowish-green phlegm. Mr Dandiar, who was 34 back then, was also constantly breathless and panting even while sitting or lying down.