Vaping News Headlines:
Menthol Tobacco Ban Good For Vape Companies | Vape Ban At NHS Hospital | Thailand Seizes Vape Gear and Mormons Say No To E-Cigarettes
Menthol Tobacco Ban A Boost For Vaping
The European wide ban on all menthol flavoured tobacco comes into force next year and could give vaping and e-liquid companies a massive boost in sales.
From May 2020 all menthol cigarettes will be banned from sale and industry insiders reckon this will mean many turning to menthol flavoured vapes rather than un-flavoured tobacco.
Menthol tobacco sales count for around 15% of all lit cigarettes sales and Big Tobacco companies currently making vape device are gearing up to cash in.
The ban also includes the so called ‘crushball’ cigarettes – the ones users click the filter to release the menthol – and one shopkeeper reckons this will have a significant impact on his sales.
Jai Singh, owner of a Go Local Extra in Sheffield, told trade magazine Convenience Store UK he was also expecting ‘trouble’ from customers unaware of the new legislation:
I’m actually pretty miffed about the impending ban on menthol.The popularity of crushball products among adult smokers has increased massively in recent years, which means that a significant chunk of my sales could potentially be wiped out overnight.
Packaging legislation, format restrictions and display bans are one thing, but this is the first time that a whole product category has actually been banned, which is pretty significant.
What makes it worse is that I think consumer awareness of the new law is really low.
Once again it will be down to retailers like me to explain the changes to shoppers, and it will be us dealing with their anger and frustration at the front end.
Chris Street, head of trade marketing at Blu UK, reckons stores should now begin stocking menthol e-liquids and pod kits and says this is a:
…significant opportunity for retailers, as consumers continue to seek out similar flavours from other alternatives.
Retailers should stock up on menthol e-liquids and Liquidpods, especially those including nic salts such as Myblu Intense, and be aware of the forthcoming changes to legislation, in order to be well-positioned to help smokers switch to something better.
As the old saying goes – very cloud has a silver lining!
UK Hospital Decides To Ban Smoking AND Vaping!
An NHS Trust that pioneered vape vouchers has decided to lump vaping in with smoking and ban it from all its hospital sites.
Hampshire Hospital NHS Foundation Trust says the vape ban hammer will come down from October 1st.
Chief executive Alex Whitfield told local media:
It will protect people, particularly vulnerable patients such as newborn babies and people with respiratory problems, from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke on the way into and out of our hospitals.
As a major employer and provider of hospital services to people across Hampshire, we have a responsibility to help reduce smoking and, in turn, the serious illnesses related to it.
We will be providing lots of additional support to help people stop smoking as part of the programme, so we hope that this initiative will also help to reduce smoking.
The move goes against the grain of the Royal College of Physicians current thinking and suggested policy as I reported in the article: All NHS Sites Should Become Vape Friendly.
It is also the same NHS trust that backed the superb ‘vape voucher’ scheme that I wrote about in the piece: Quit4Life Vape Program .
Add to that vape stores opening up in NHS hospitals, and whilst we have a lot of forward thinking NHS trusts, some are shall we say a little out of step.
Source – Hampshire Smoking Policy
Smuggled E-Cigarettes Seized in Thailand
Customs officials have seized $358,890 worth of vaping gear in a raid on a warehouse in north east Thailand.
The haul is thought to be the biggest seizure since the country banned the import and sale of all vape products back in 2014.
A total of 21,533 items stored in large wooden crates were found including vape devices – e-liquids and other vaping paraphernalia.
Under the current laws banning vaping, those found guilty face huge fines and up to 10 years in prison!
Mormons Told To Say NO To Vaping
The Church of Jesus Christ the Latter Day Saints has said vaping is forbidden according to its doctrine.
Better known as the Mormon church, up till now the religion hasn’t really had an opinion on e-cigarettes with many of the younger congregation admitting to vaping.
However an article in the publication New Era makes it very clear the use of e-cigarettes is a no no:
Electronic vaporizers or e-cigarettes are devices people use to inhale mist, usually with various flavors.
One study showed that nearly two-thirds of teen e-cigarette users thought that the pods they were vaping contained only flavoring.
That’s way, way far from the truth. Most vaping pods contain nicotine, which is highly addictive, and all of them contain harmful chemicals.
Vaping is clearly against the Word of Wisdom.
Hardly words of wisdom, but hey I guess that’s blasphemy lol.
A spokesman for the church confirmed the ban:
Church magazines are official publications and do represent the views of the Church.
I actually ran into a lovely group of Mormon lads quite recently and found them funny, thoughtful and engaging and they were intrigued by my vape device.
As you can see from the photo they urged me to contact them if I wanted to know what happened after I die…
Sadly the more blinkered thinking about vaping and the fact is more smokers will see their maker sooner…
Vaping is considerably safer than smoking and that’s my words of wisdom 😉
Another quiet few days on the vape news front! More on Sunday 🙂
