1/26/14 BREAKING - 1st (?) US city considers TOTAL BAN; anti-THR paper; minor sale ban 'morphs'; Forbes hit job; UK + US states: NY, VA, IL, OK, TX, N

[Roger_Lafayette]

Total sales ban in La Mesa CA - resolution sponsored by the mayor to be voted on tonight (first in the country since the FDA tried a ban in '09, I think ... and you were worried about indoor vaping bans??). City does allow analog sales and has no plans to prohibit them. Ada, OK proposed ordinance to ban sale to minors morphs into a general resolution that equates vaping with smoking for all purposes and passes (surprise, surprise). Anti-THR paper will provide more fodder for hit jobs. One UK story + US states covered: NY, VA, IL, OK, TX, NM & CA. [All links except those from this site and related sources broken.]

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Latest outrage by Stanton Glantz www . tobacco . ucsf.edu/blogs/sglantz cites this paper tobaccocontrol . bmj . com/content/early/2014/01/22/tobaccocontrol-2013-051502.full ... new ANTZ argument is that harm reduction is a tool cynically developed by Big Tobacco (with the implicit premise that THR is a bad idea, any bets on how long it will take for the mainstream media to pick up this one? There isn't a shred of science in this paper as far as I can tell, it's all "guilt-by-association." You know, like saying Hitler was a vegetarian - ergo vegetarianism is bad.)

This paper details how TTCs [i.e. big tobacco] intended to harness those opportunities and suggests that TTCs’ harm reduction discourse should be seen as opportunistic tactical adaptation to policy change rather than a genuine commitment to harm reduction. While our analysis strongly suggests that BAT's and PMI's main interests in harm reduction were access and reputation, we cannot rule out the possibility of a genuine commitment to harm reduction. We note, however, that there was very little evidence of this relative to the evidence of reputational and access benefits.

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(Telegraph, London) www . telegraph . co.uk/men/thinking-man/10565406/Why-it-would-be-crazy-to-ban-e-cigarettes.html (diatribe against possible EU ban on PVDs, written by militant non-smoker - zero junk content)

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(Forbes, US nat'l) www . forbes .com/sites/robwaters/2014/01/27/e-cigarette-makers-give-public-the-finger/ [another "vaping = smoking" article, which attempts to demonize vaping by associating it with big tobacco - not one whiff of science, just a straight-ahead appeal to emotion via guilt-by-assocation]

Couldn't resist quoting this zinger:

We can’t wait years for scientists to conduct new studies on the health risks of vaping before we take action. We know better than to trust the tobacco industry’s health claims about their products - or to trust the industry with our children’s future.

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(WSJ Int'l business) online . wsj .com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304337404579210180309728764 [about Phillip Morris' entry into PVD business, also mentions PMI's new technology to create a tobacco cig. that heats instead of burns, c.f. article in The Econ. a few days ago - no junk]

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(HuffPo, US nat'l) www . huffingtonpost . com/gregory-t-angelo/smoke-and-mirrors_1_b_4639160.html [editorial by Gregory Angelo, Exec. Dir. of Log Cabin Republicans - a GOP gay org. - opposes restrictions on PVDs, no junk]

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(PSFK, site for advertising/design industry based in NYC) www . psfk .com/2014/01/ecigarette-health-report-app.html ["Dubbed as the first connected electronic cigarette, Smokio is an app-connected device that tracks every puff and monitors the user’s vitals and recovery after they quit smoking tobacco."]

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(Web Pro News, IT proffessionals site based in ? St. Kitts)www . webpronews . com/quit-smoking-cold-turkey-better-than-e-cig-2014-01 [cessation article full of junk, apparently written to discourage people from using PVDs for cessation]

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(The Take Away, NYC Public Radio) www . thetakeaway . org/story/look-e-cigarettes-whos-using-and-where/ [discussion of the $19M GSU grant to Micheal Erikson, also see: magazine . gsu .edu/article/when-the-smoke-clears/ ... or post here: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...create-14-centers-do-tobacco-research-ap.html ]

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(Newsday, Long Island NY S) www . newsday . com/news/health/school-districts-banning-e-cigarettes-1.6882602 [about L.I. school districts banning vaping (for adults too) on the grounds that vaping = smoking, dangers to children, etc. full of junk despite at least a minimal effort to quote someone from a vaper's assn.]

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(Chatham Star-Tribune, Hampton Rds area VA US) www . chathamstartribune .com/news/article_ac9d976a-8756-11e3-a5a1-0019bb2963f4.html [covers legis. pending in the VA st. legis. involving bans on sales to minors and more general bills that require vaping to be equated with tobacco burning for all purposes in st. law. No state-wide CASAA alert for VA yet.]

I was surprised to see:

... Philip Morris USA (Altria), Reynolds American (RJR), and Lorillard, want to see e-cigs taxed the same way as cigarettes.

(really?)

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(DePaul U. Chicago IL US campus paper) www . depauliaonline . com/opinions/e-cig-restrictions-a-prudent-move-for-public-health-1.3132830#.UuaPUfso5pg [junk-filled fear-mongering hit job piece advocating regulation]

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(Vidette, campus 'zine for ISU in Normal IL US) www . videtteonline . com/index.php/2014/01/26/extinguishing-e-cigarettes-on-campus/ [student-written editorial favors ban on indoor vaping, opposes "vape-free" campus, no junk]

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(Watchdog.org, ind. website, Ada OK US) watchdog . org/112435/e-cigarettes-public-property/ [city of Ada OK ban on sales to minors morphs into generic ordinance that equates vaping with tobacco use and bans it on all city property. CASAA has issued a statewide alert for OK.]

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(Dallas News, Dallas TX US area website) www . dallasnews . com /news/community-news/lewisville-flower-mound/headlines/20140127-ban-on-e-cigarette-sales-to-minors-is-on-lewisville-city-council-agenda.ece [Lewisville City Council considers ban on sales to minors, simple announcement w/ no junk]

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(U. Star, student paper at TX St. U. in San Marcos TX US) star . txstate . edu/node/669 [student editorial advocating that vaping not be subject to campus-wide smoke-free policy, minimal junk]

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(Daily Times, paper in San Juan Co. NM US) www . daily-times . com/four_corners-news/ci_24998629/e-cigarette-businesses-abundant-san-juan-county [a surprisingly pro-vaping article, free of junk as far as I can tell - note nonspecific comment on possible upcoming NM legislation]

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(La Mesa Courier paper in SD CA US suburb) scoopsandiego . com/la_mesa_courier/la-mesa-to-mull-e-cigarette-ban/article_8f455faa-8705-11e3-828e-001a4bcf6878.html [city council considers complete ban on PVDs, but tobacco cigg. sales are still allowed: resolution sponsored by mayor to protect children; usual CDC junk in article]

 

[Vocalek]

I was surprised to see:
... Philip Morris USA (Altria), Reynolds American (RJR), and Lorillard, want to see e-cigs taxed the same way as cigarettes.
(really?)

Not.

RJR is in favor of getting some low taxation in place for e-cigarettes supposedly as a preventive measure.

Lorillard does not favor taxation at all.

I don't know the views of Phillip Morris.

 

[Uma]

I heard tell that Njoy is seeking medical blessings in NZ & AUSTRAILIA.

 

[Roger_Lafayette]

I heard tell that Njoy is seeking medical blessings in NZ & AUSTRAILIA.

Haven't heard that, but I have heard that PVs will be regulated as smoking cessation aids in EU by '16. The date's a long way off, so it may get pushed back like our FDA's.