Vape News Headlines:
Ireland Flavour Ban? – Vype Event Shut Down – Public School Kids Vape – 21 Vape Limit In USA – Kids Locked Out Of Loos! – PMI Start Life Insurance Business and JUUL Jewellery!
Irish Politician Calls For E-Liquid Flavour Ban
Billy Kelleher TD says the public needs to be protected from what he’s calling an ‘explosion’ of vaping in Ireland.
He says the current guidelines set by the EU don’t go far enough and he wants to see tougher regulations imposed.
He’s the Fianna Fáil spokesman on Business, Enterprise and Innovation and will be running in the upcoming EU elections.
In a quite angry attack on what is essentially a life saving and changing method of quitting smoking he claims the vaping industry is pretty much lying that vape products are only for those looking to quit!
Over the course of the last few years, the availability and use of e-cigs has exploded across our country. From the smallest village to every corner of our cities, citizens are bombarded with marketing and special offers on devices encouraging them to consume highly addictive nicotine.
While Europe has provided some guidance on the immediate dangers of these devices and fluids and has put in place rules around standards and warnings, it is not enough.
As a sector, vaping has successfully discouraged more aggressive regulation on the basis that their products are primarily a means for smokers to quit smoking. But it is increasingly clear that this is not a sustainable argument and is in fact deeply disingenuous.
And he really has it in for flavoured e-liquids saying the ‘exotic flavours’ was clear evidence the vaping industry was ‘luring in’ new users adding:
In the first instance, these products should be subject to the same restrictions as traditional non-pharmacy nicotine delivery products. This should include in-store restrictions and bans on advertising.
In addition, we should move to a ban on flavoured products, as we are starting to see elsewhere around the world as regulators work to protect young people.
Another day and another politician spouting utter BS about vaping…or in this case a definite Fail…
Health Canada Shuts Down Vape Event
The Vape police of Canada shut down a vaping pop-up show saying it contravened parts of the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act.
The event organized by Vype featured a tunnel promoting the company’s vape devices however Health Canada moved swiftly before the event held in Toronto even opened.
They say it fell foul of sections 30.2 & 30.21 of the tobacco act – namely:
- No person shall promote a vaping product, a vaping product-related brand element or a thing that displays a vaping product-related brand element by means of lifestyle advertising.
- No person shall promote a vaping product through a testimonial or an endorsement, however displayed or communicated, including by means of the packaging.
Vype hasn’t commented however a spokesman for Health Canada said:
The Vype Tunnel promotion at the Yonge-Dundas Square in downtown Toronto was deemed to be in contravention of the prohibition on lifestyle advertising of vaping products and the prohibition on the use of testimonials and endorsements to promote vaping products.
Health Canada will continue to monitor compliance with the promotion restrictions under the TVPA and will take appropriate enforcement action as and when needed.
I’ve said it before…there’s a definite anti-vape creep going on in Canada at the moment…
Public School Kids Vaping Not Smoking
When I say ‘public school’ I mean those posh fee paying places – and it seems the kids are quite savvy choosing safer vaping instead of killer cigarettes as their ‘rebellion’.
The news was tucked away behind a paywall on the Sunday Times however the Telegraph used the claim to beef up its attempted hit piece on JUUL’s UK expansion.
The headline suggested JUUL had flavours ‘loved by teens’ and used a quote from Shaun Fenton, chair of the Headmasters and Headmistresses’ Conference who said:
Children are not smoking – they are vaping instead.
They see online personalities blowing smoke rings, which were cool in the 1940s and are cool again now.
Kids are following them on social media.
Shock Horror!
And of course his claim goes against the grain of the latest findings shows there is NO teen vaping epidemic here in the UK.
A spokesman for JUUL said:
JUUL Lab’s mission is to improve the lives of the world’s one billion adult smokers by eliminating smoking, the leading cause of preventable death. We are adamant that no young person or non-smoker should ever try our product.
Since launching in the UK last year, we have implemented strict policies to prevent anyone underage accessing our product: exceeding legal and regulatory requirements.
I get the feeling you’ll be repeating that quite a bit over the next few months mate 😉
US Politicians Pushing For Age Limit Of 21 On Vape Products
Around 12 states have already raised the legal age of buying tobacco and vape products to 21 and now politicians are calling for the law to go nationwide.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will be bringing in legislation next week – however those serving in the military will be exempt…
The reason?
Yeah you’ve guessed it…the supposed ‘teen vape epidemic’…something McConnell had to mention:
Unfortunately, it’s reaching epidemic levels around the country.
No facts of course – just jumping on the anti-vaping media bandwagon…
He told the media he’d been told of an ‘unprecedented spike’ in teen vaping in his home state of Kentucky – famous for its tobacco growing.
Incidentally Kentucky recently rejected a statewide raise to 21.
School Toilets Locked To Stop Kids Vaping
A school in America is tackling its student vaping ‘problem’ by locking all bathrooms and imposing strict rules on toilet breaks.
Officials of Seymour High in Connecticut says they’ve been forced to take ‘drastic measures’ including:
- Locking all bathrooms at the high school, except one on the first floor
- No more than two students are allowed inside a bathroom while class is in session
- No more than four students are allowed inside a bathroom during “passing time” (time between one class to the next)
- Bathroom passes are required, which will help faculty track how many students are in bathrooms
The school says there will also be staff ‘smell patrols’ – checking for sweet fruity smells off vapes rather than bodily functions I’m assuming…
A letter to parents says:
The faculty members assigned to monitor the bathroom will be listening for loud noises and smelling for vaping/smoking odors coming from the bathroom.
It is very disappointing that we have to take these measures because of the lack of maturity and respect some members of the student body have for our school and community.
The move comes after a ‘mass-casualty response’ was triggered following a number of kids falling ill after apparently dabbing liquid marijuana.
The letter states:
This (the vaping incident) combined with large numbers of students hanging out in our bathrooms, vandalizing and vaping in our bathrooms has forced us to take drastic measures.
Parents have been invited to a talk around the ‘dangers of vaping’.
It’s not clear if the same attention is being paid to students that smoke cigarettes…
and finally…Phillip Morris Enters Life Insurance Business!
Those Marlboro Men have pretty much every angle covered when it comes to smokers it would seem!
After decades of pushing cancer giving lit tobacco products they moved into the much safer vape market and now want to offer life insurance here in the UK!
The only thing they appear to be missing off their checklist is undertakers…
The new life insurance company is called Reviti and smokers switching to what they are calling ‘to a less carcinogenic product’ – IQOS HNB? *coughs* will be given a discount – whilst smokers can just carry on smoking themselves to an early grave I assume…
CEO Andre Calantzopoulos said:
Obviously that makes sense for public health and the people who smoke themselves, but it also makes sense for our shareholders because financially, as these products are not cigarettes, they benefit from lower excise taxes and better margins, so it’s a win-win for everybody.
That’s why we all move in this direction, and the faster we move out of cigarettes the better for all of us.
Things that make you go ummm…
and finally part two…JUUL as Jewellery?
This meme made me chuckle…
I’m not sure JUUL will be too impressed given they’re hoping for a ‘choke hold’ on the world vape industry…
*Shuffles Papers*
More vape news on Sunday!
