Vape News
Some of the current talking points from the world of vape
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by Dave Cross
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Colin Mendelsohn must be doing something right because long-time opponent to vaping Simon Chapman has resorted attacking him by waving a laughable “study” by Stanton Glantz.
Chapman refuses to engage in debate or answer questions, it probably isn’t worth asking him why he throws his weight behind a discredited study.
Down Under Prof On Top Of Vaping
Professor Mendelsohn’s latest study, published in the Internal Medicine Journal of the Royal Australian College of Physicians, says that doctors should recommend vape kit for patients who have struggled to quit smoking tobacco through traditional routes.
“Medical practitioners have a duty of care to provide the best possible management at each encounter. Withholding a legitimate treatment option that could prevent a life-threatening illness is a breach of that obligation.”
“For patients who have repeatedly failed to quit smoking with conventional strategies an e-cigarette is a legitimate, evidence-based option for reducing harm. Their use could lead to substantial improvements in public health in Australia.”
“In Australia between 2013 and 2016, the smoking rate has not declined significantly for the first time in decades, despite very high cigarette prices, plain packaging and strict tobacco control laws. However, in countries where which support vaping, smoking rates are continuing to fall, faster than ever, in some cases.”
Behaviour by the likes of Chapman has led The Spectator to write that the opponents to vaping are running out of steam. It follows the failure of the country’s traditional approach to tobacco control, smoking rates for men increased 3.1 per cent from 2015 to 2016.
It writes: “But while some people manage complete abstinence, other addicted drug users can never quite get there. Given this reality we should make it much easier for smokers to switch to e-cigarettes. Australians should thank those brave dissenting MPs – Trent Zimmerman, Tim Wilson and Andrew Laming – for their valiant attempt to save smokers’ lives and prevent needless misery.”
Heavy football challenge
Misery is something fans of Rangers Football Club have experienced a lot over the recent past – and now it continues with problems relating to their latest sponsor.
Recently, we wrote about how the club was delighted to have the vape firm Vapourized on board, and how fans were going to be allowed to vape in the club’s stadium. Plans are now up in the air as it transpires Vapourized are being sued for trademark infringement and Rangers face having to remove the firm’s name from their shirts.
Vape competitor Vapouriz said: “The names are very alike and people get confused. We’ve got a raft of evidence. We are both successful companies, so it’s quite a big deal. The case going through the courts, which is expensive, but we are unlikely to back down and neither are they.”
“If it does go to court and we win, they won’t be able to use that branding on the Rangers shirts.”
Last year a judge adjudicated that Vapourized’s trademark was “invalid”, and a second judge dismissed the company’s application to appeal the decision.
Vapouriz continued: “We’ve had our trademark since 2012. They registered theirs two years later. It shouldn’t have been given in the first place. It would have saved everyone a lot of hassle. But they’re still infringing on our brand and we’re still proceeding to court. Basically, they don’t have a trademark and we do.”
Vapourized had planned to release a range of Rangers FC flavours – this is now on hold.
Kid Danger Overhyped
Food and Drug Administration boss Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNN: "No kid should be using any tobacco product. We're going to be taking some enforcement actions very soon to target companies that we think are marketing products in ways that they're deliberately appealing to kids."
The news organisation was questioning him after it was whipped up by last week’s daft report from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. American Vaping Association President Greg Conley responded to the furore: “Our main concern is adults having the tools that they need to quit smoking. Young adults, if they are not smokers, they absolutely should not start using a nicotine product."
Conley continued: “Spend some time in a vape shop and see the customers that come in for these wildly named products. They are adults. They are over 25 years old, and they are the same type that watches 'Family Guy' on Sunday nights. It's something that is a little lurid, appeals to adults. We're not a country of serious, uptight people that just want straightforward products.”
Feral Thieves Soaked
Frustrated Joe Chesworth runs the Just Vapours shop in Hyde, Greater Manchester. He has been victim to, what he describes as “feral teens” attempting to steal from his store. He opened Just Vapours five years ago, but the problem has grown over the last six months.
“On Tuesday they were trying to take things again and so I got the super soaker out,” Joe said. "They were in shock when it happened. I can’t do anything to hurt them obviously so I thought the only deterrent I could use was the water pistol.”
“Since I bought the water gun they haven’t really come near the shop again, but I think they are slowly starting to creep back. I don’t want to hurt them at all; I just want to deter them from stealing. I think the kids are quite shocked when I use the water pistol but most of the time they run away from it and laugh at whoever got wet."
Inspector Terry Finn responded politically: “The number of incidents reported to us about anti-social behaviour in Hyde has more than halved since January this year.”
Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous start-ups to develop content for their websites.
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