Vape News In Brief: September 26, 2017 Edition

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Time again for our weekly(ish) look around the news world, where we report what others are reporting and opining when it comes to vape trends, laws, and science…

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We'll start with an interesting look at the state of the various tobacco alternatives being promoted by Big Tobacco. The usual cigalikes and 'heat, not burn' devices that use actual tobacco are nothing new for those who've been paying attention, but some new and odd ideas include Philip Morris products that let users directly inhale nicotine salts and are cited as innovative for their 'mesh' atomizers instead of coils (early vapers will remember these 'bridgeless' attys as pre-2010 old hat), and another company that has a device that creates nicotine-free vapor from e-liquid, then passes it through loose tobacco before it reaches the user. Not sure how well any of these will catch on…

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Just as a reminder that vaporizers aren't the only portable electronics that require quality batteries, mobile phone giant Samsung just announced another round of recalls.

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Filed under 'things could be worse.' While several high-profile vape meets have gone wrong over the last year stateside, problems have usually related to permitting and overcrowding issues. That's mild compared to a recent event in Istanbul, Turkey where 800 attendees were arrested and/or ticketed for 'smoking' in an enclosed area. Turkey makes no distinction between vaping and smoking in its national laws.

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If you're seeking a one-stop-shop for examples of everything that's wrong with vapor product reporting all rolled up into one misleading post, look no further. First off, this article claims to be reporting on a host of 'new studies,' but we've covered them all in depth months ago. The first finds that nicotine causes constriction of the blood vessels – this has been known for decades, and while it's not new that arterial harm (from stiffening of the vessels due to repeated and prolonged nicotine use) is a risk, left out is the fact that the damage is far less than as compared to smoking. Next, a survey of vapers in Sweden finds that many of them still smoke – study authors point to this as proof that vaping doesn't help people quit smoking. Not mentioned: due to the evolution of Swedish snus, a popular smokeless tobacco product, Sweden had one of the lowest smoking rates in the EU *before* vaping was even a thing – dual using (continuing to smoke while partially converting to vaping) is definitely a risky long-term behavior, but this population is a poor example of an average dual-use community. Finally, there's the new terror e-liquid ingredient: diacetyl (which we covered a year ago). The piece rounds out with an attack on flavored e-liquids, with an argument that these exist for the sake of marketing to children (also widely debunked). The conclusion flies in the face of nearly all 'new science' that's actually *new* - there are indeed health concerns when it comes to vaping, particularly liquids that contain nicotine, but the widespread and growing consensus is that vapor products are far, far preferable to continuing to smoke.

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Quite a few stories this week have been focused on the alleged link between vaping and youth smoking (again, that's been debunked). This piece does a good job of explaining why some of those others may not be finding the link they allege exists.

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Here's an editorial criticizing the US government and military for telling service members looking to quit smoking that the only acceptable alternatives to cigarettes are the ones offered by the pharmaceutical industry. The source, of course, is suspect, and it promotes the use of smokeless tobacco, but there are some worthwhile arguments made as well.

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Next up, an op-ed out of New Mexico arguing that promoting vaping as an alternative to smoking could save the state in excess of $200 million annually on Medicaid expenditures alone. That's significant nationally, because the federal budget covers about $5 billion of New Mexico's annual $6 billion Medicaid expense.

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Never mind the rehashed 'new findings' of the conference discussed above, the BBC is reporting that 20 health organizations, led by NHS Health Scotland (the country's primary health care provider), have issued a consensus statement declaring that vapor products are 'definitely' less harmful than smoking. Instead of discouraging vaping, public health officials in the UK have consistently promoted e-cigarettes as a preferable alternative to tobacco, and they differentiate between the two disparate objects.

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Going hand in hand with that last piece, the University College of London says that smokers that make quit attempts are more likely than ever to succeed, with success defined as having stayed completely off tobacco cigarettes for a full year. Vaping is credited in the study as the number one cessation aid chosen by successful quitters.

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Good news on the horizon? The FDA says it will soon unveil new guidelines for the management of tobacco products, including e-cigarettes. Look for action alerts from your favorite vape advocacy group(s) when the comment period opens.

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We'll sign off with that for now, but we promise to check back in soon with more good, some bad, and hopefully not much that's truly ugly…