Vape News: No News On US Flavour Ban – Yet! and “Light Up the White House Switchboard” Campaign + More

Vaping News Headlines

US Flavour Ban Latest | E-Cigs NOT A Gateway To Smoking | Vape Taxes Means More Smokers | Clive Bates Nails It Yet Again and the #WeVapeWeVote Campaign Claims First Political Scalp!

US Vapers Face Anxious Wait For News On Flavour Ban

American vapers and the vaping industry are still waiting anxiously for the Trump administration and the FDA to announce a total ban on all flavoured e-liquids and pods.

The news was expected to break yesterday – and insiders are saying it could be any day – even as I’m writing this!

Rumors have been rife the ban will include mint and menthol leaving just tobacco flavours and this say USA advocacy groups would be a disaster.

Of greater concern – and adding fuel to the speculation fire – is all meetings planned by advocacy groups with the powerful Office of Management and Budget [OBM] were cancelled at the last minute.

Meetings with Big Tobacco companies who produce e-cigarettes and pod kits went ahead – which is alarming to say the least.

As vapers in the US wait with bated flavoured breath – the planned pro-vaping protest to be held in Washington DC is now more important than ever and organizers hope vapers in their thousands will attend.

The protest rally has been organized by the United Vapers Alliance and will feature a number of speakers including SMM’s Matt Culley and Tristan from the Vaping Legion.

Not only that, The Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association [CASAA] is running a protest titled: Light Up the White House Switchboard.

It’s urging vapers to literally ring the White House in mass numbers therefore blocking the phone lines.

Not only that organizers are urging vapers to fill out a message on the site which will also be sent direct to the President’s office.

One thing is clear IF or when a total flavour ban is announced – it won’t necessarily mean the end of flavours immediately.

Expect plenty of litigation and lawsuits flying around that could see the ban put on hold for weeks – months or even [hopefully] – years.

It goes with out saying we shall be keeping a close eye on developments and keeping you all updated.

Pro Vaping Advocate Clive Bates On the ‘Flavour Ban’

He’s one of the most vociferous vape advocates in the world and Clive Bates‘ latest blog post is an absolute MUST read.

Titled: The US vaping flavour ban: twenty things you should know – it’s probably the most comprehensive argument to NOT ban flavours you’re ever likely to read.

Clive opens with a dire warning including the ticking time-bomb of the PMTA’s :

American vapers and vaping businesses will shortly enter a period of chaos and existentially threatening regulation.

First will be a ban on almost all flavours – everything except tobacco flavour and possibly menthol and mint.

That is likely to shut down nearly every vape shop and e-liquid company that isn’t part of a tobacco company. Then by 12 May next year, any surviving vaping companies and will have to comply with the hugely burdensome, opaque and unpredictable pre-market tobacco application process.

Going into 2020, the industry will be in crisis and vapers and smokers will be in danger of losing one of the most important innovations of the century.

The blog breaks down all the arguments in favour of a flavour ban and literally blows them out of the water.

Please share his blog post far and wide!

US Study Shows E-Cigs NOT A Gateway To Smoking

It’s a bit late but the US mainstream media is reporting on a new study that shows the kids in America do try vaping but do NOT move on to smoking.

The current threat to vaping in the USA – see above – stems from the so called ‘teen vaping epidemic’ fuelled in part by JUUL.

However scientists say this was probably a ‘fad’ among the kids and that was on the wane.

Dr. Nicholas Chadi, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Montreal, said:

This is a very important study using an innovative methodology.

[JUUL] was just starting to become popular on a larger scale at that time, so it’s possible that the same study conducted today would show different results.

Lead author Arielle Selya, from Sanford Health in South Dakota, said the current rash of ant-vape legislation was nothing short of a knee jerk reaction and could push kids back to smoking adding:

…standard statistics, which are used in most studies out there, are biased when it comes to looking at the effects of e-cigarettes.

We have to ask what the effect of regulating e-cigarettes would be, at a minimum, existing policies should be continuously re-evaluated as more research comes out.

Absolutely.

Source

A National Vape Tax Will Increase Number Of Smokers

A US study shows that any large tax increase on vape products would result in a higher number of smokers.

I’m guessing this particular set of data would translate across most countries – should a large vape tax be added.

Michael Pesko is an economist at Georgia State University and after crunching the numbers says:

Our results suggest that while cigarette taxes reduce cigarette use, and e-cigarette taxes reduce e-cigarette use, they also have important interactions on each other.

E-cigarettes and cigarettes are economic substitutes.

So, if you raise the tax on one product, you will increase use of the other product.

It’s not rocket science – but as always the powers that be do like ‘experts’ with data – not that many over in the US seem to listen!

Pesko said his study concluded:

Despite the recent news about vaping deaths, e-cigarettes are thought to be only five percent as harmful as cigarettes for non-pregnant adults.

Adopting a national e-cigarette tax proportional to the cigarette tax could harm public health by pushing people to use a more dangerous product—cigarettes.

It’s all so obvious – and one has to ask why on earth are some Governments – especially in America – so anti-vaping?

Answers on a postcard or in the comments below 😉

Source

Vaping Tweet of the Week – Trump Voters Vape

The #WeVapeWeVote campaign is still gathering momentum and this tweet from tax expert Paul Blair shows what states could be swung away from Trump in the 2020 presidential elections.

Trump and his campaigners really need to read through this long thread as it identifies 17 states Trump needs to win and where vapers hold the key:

Given vapers are now also joining in on the #DumpTrump2020 campaign too, it seems the first pro-vape scalp has been taken with a shock swing in Kentucky from the incumbent Republican Matt Bevin, to the Democrat candidate for governor – Andy Beshear.

Hundreds of pro-vape protestors turned out to ‘welcome’ Trump to the state as the president arrived for a last minute pro Bevin rally.

More vaping news on Sunday!