Consumer Champions
The Consumer Choice Centre (CCC) nominated INNCO, the International Network of Nicotine Consumer Organisations, for the 2018 EU Health Award.
CCC’s Jeff Stier said: “INNCO has been spearheading the European debate on harm reduction for years. Their members realised early on that allowing harm reduction can save millions of lives. Harm reduction knows no borders.”
“While INNCO does not meet the formal criteria as it is based in Switzerland and not the EU, we still think that it is deserving of the prize. We need a stronger dialogue on the benefits of harm reduction.”
INNCO is a collective, representing twenty-seven nicotine consumer organisations in twenty-five countries. UK members include the New Nicotine Alliance, Vapers.org and Vapers in Power.
Moscow Lies
“Vaping is common in Moscow schools,” claims a twenty-five year old police officer. This isn’t Russian state propaganda; these are the words of a school liaison person in Idaho.
Since September, Officer Fosberg has swapped from tracking down actual criminals to running about issuing $74 fines to vaping teens – and it would appear that hyping up a crisis is just the kind of thing to keep her in her cushy new role.
Smokers Not Switching
The Centre for Substance Use Research’s (CSUR) Neil McKeganey and Tiffany Dickson have been looking at why the numbers of smokers switching to vaping has tailed off.
While some, legitimately, actually enjoy smoking and cited that as a reason to continue with tobacco products, others displayed a depressing level of ignorance (not helped by the likes of Officer Fosberg).
Three standout quotes include:
- “Worse than normal cigarettes. Normal smoking has been around for so long. You know where you are with normal traditional smoking. E-cigarettes have not been tried and tested enough to be flooding the market as they are. I predict there will be campaigns about e-cigarettes in the future. Breathing fluid into your lungs.” - 72 years old female smoker
- “They are awful and nothing like having a real cigarette or roll up and in a few years they will find some new detrimental health condition that e-cigarettes have caused probably worse than the effects of smoking tobacco” - 58 years old female smoker
- “E-cigarettes are extremely toxic, not natural and far more dangerous than organic tobacco” - 55 years old female smoker
Vapes Reclassified
In light of the ridiculous lies being spread across North America, and the confusion they sow in the minds of smokers, Alaska should be applauded for finally adopting some common sense.
According to Churnmag, the Alaskan House Rules Committee recently voted to remove vaping products from a bill that classified them as tobacco products. The magazine writes: “When the committee went back and looked at the evidence for themselves, they concluded that there is legitimate value to vaping as a smoking cessation tool.”
United Kingdom
Trading Standards officers have discovered that two-thirds of retailers in Moray, in the north of Scotland, failed to bother asking for proof of age when young people attempted to purchase vape products. Fines and warnings have been given out to combat the shoddy behaviour.
Public Health Minister Aileen Campbell has said: “We know e-cigarettes are almost certainly safer than cigarettes and have a role to help people quit smoking, but we don’t believe children should have access to them.”
Not even being 95% safer than cigarette smoking helped one Yorkshire vaper. He failed to follow simple instructions and left his device charging inappropriately. Then found himself being given oxygen by some Keighley and Bingley fire-fighters while their colleagues put out his blazing carpet.
A fire service spokesperson said: “We would recommend people not to leave vapes charging unattended and certainly not overnight while you are asleep. Make sure you use a dedicated charger for the device.”
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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Australia Burns
Australia is providing a shocking vision of how things could be in the UK if it continues down a prohibitionist road for vaping and vape products with violence and firebombings
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by Dave Cross
VTA Releases New Poll Findings
The American public is being grossly misinformed about benefits of e-cigarette use to smokers and low risk of vaping, according to the Vapor Technology Association
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by Dave Cross
Cutting Through the Smoke
The Independent British Vape Trade Association has responded to growing fears about the spread of misinformation about vaping by launching a major public information campaign
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by Dave Cross
Dr Kayat: Back With More Nonsense
Planet of the Vapes reported Dr Sara Kayat to the General Medical Council for her popcorn lung claims – but she’s back on television claiming that vapes are “more addictive” than cigarettes
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by Dave Cross
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