May 16th – VOOPOO, a world-famous e-cigarette brand, issued a new product, which is another new product in the high-end series of Argus after Argus GT II. Different from Argus GT II, the new product released this time is a pod with exquisite and compact appearance.
Essential for Business Elites
Following the classic metal leather combined process of ARGUS, the ARGUS POD perfectly integrates industrial strength and the comfortable grip. It is light and portable, anti-falling and durable, it meets the suction needs of different scenes of daily office, home, in car and outdoor leisure.
The upgraded hidden magnetic cartridge can easily meet the user’s needs of oil filling and bomb replacement while looking beautiful. At the same time, the right magnetic suction strength ensures that the cartridge will not fall easily.
In addition, to solve the common oil leakage problem, ARGUS POD is equipped with multiple air-tight silicone sealing layers and four-hole structure to firmly lock condensate and insufficient atomized e-liquid to easily achieve efficient leak proof. And there is no need to worry about oil leakage and take it with you.
The Argus pod is not only the best partner in daily life, but also the embodiment of unique taste. It is a necessary high texture portable pod for business elites.
Pleasant MTL Experience
As one of VOOPOO’s high-end products, ARGUS POD team has made great efforts in taste.
The ergonomically designed suction nozzle is strategically customized to perfectly fit the lip line and achieve a comfortable taste; Using VOOPOO’s original ITO professional taste atomization technology, equipped with four inlet ports at the bottom determined by thousands of tests, make every effort to ensure its fine atomization effect and extremely smooth taste.
Equipped with newly upgraded high-end chip GENE AI 1.2, ARGUS POD efficiently realizes the automatic matching of power according to different organizations of cartridge, so that users can easily experience different suction effects; There is also step-less air regulation, which can adjust the suction taste at will.
A NEW law in a US city has made vaping in vape stores illegal.
The ban introduced earlier this week in Milwaukee has seen some store owners worried trade will now be affected, as customers are no longer able to try before they buy.
City chiefs extended the same rules for smoking cigarettes to vaping on Tuesday (July 10th), meaning it is now forbidden in restaurants, bars, shops and businesses.
Any violators will face fines starting at $100.
Worried they could see a drop in business, vape shop owners are now asking Milwaukee’s common council for special in-store vaping permits so customers can continue to try out flavors, e-cigarettes and devices before buying.
Wisco Vapes manager Jody Courchaine, who believes the new law will hurt local businesses, said: “Nobody wants to come in here and take a wild guess at a flavor.”
Matthew Murphy, owner of Lakeview Vapor echoed his concerns, adding: “There should be some sort of permitting that we should be able to apply for. If you can have a cigar bar or a hookah bar we should be allowed to vape in our vape stores.”
Vaper Todd Hagenkord admitted the new rule could have an affect on how he buys vape juice in the city’s stores.
He explained: “It’s nice that you can taste it because you drop X amount of dollars on a bottle of juice and you go home to taste it and once you crack that seal and it tastes terrible — guess what you’re out of money.”
Alderman Michael Murphy, who proposed the change, said: “I think it will improve the overall health in the community”, explaining it was unfair for non-smokers and vapers to breathe in second-hand smoke.
Australia’s new regulations are causing wide-spread confusion across the petrol and convenience (P&C) channel.
As of October 1st, vapers in Australia are only able to purchase vaping products from pharmacies via prescription. While retailers in neighbouring New Zealand and most other countries are able to responsibly sell nicotine products over the counter, anyone caught violating Australia’s harsh regulations will face steep fines, and in some cases even imprisonment.
The National Drug Strategy Household Survey has recently reported that while over 2.5 million Australians still smoke, the number of vapers was 240,000 in 2016 and 520,000 in 2019. If the number of Australians vaping has been increasing at this rate, as many as 600,000 may be vaping now.
The AACS is pointing out that these new regulations are causing wide-spread confusion across the petrol and convenience (P&C) channel. “Retailers are expecting to see some confused customers in the coming weeks and months. We have been left in the dark on how this impacts convenience stores around the country. We are still unaware of what we can communicate to consumers on the new regulations and whether that violates the tobacco act in some states. We need information to share with our members urgently.”
The AACS is against the sales of vapes in pharmacies
The Pharmacy Guild of Australia has previously been on the record as stating that it is against selling the vaping products, “The Guild is opposed to having these products in any schedule that would allow for sale in a pharmacy. The Guild does not support the sale of personal vaporizers in pharmacies, regardless of whether or not they contain nicotine”.
While the AACS’ believes that nicotine products should still be available at existing licensed tobacco retailers. “We stand ready as responsible tobacco retailers who are trusted by our consumers to give smokers seeking a less harmful alternative and supply that to them. What the Federal Government is doing is locking smokers out of a far less harmful product, denying Australians who smoke the opportunity to reduce cigarette consumption or quit smoking altogether.”
Anti-vaping spammers posted more than a quarter of a million comments on the FDA’s public flavor ban consultation in one weekend last month.
It is reported that the online public forum was flooded with 255,000 fake comments in a single weekend, with almost every spam comment asking the FDA to ban e-liquid flavors.
FDA sources described these fraudulent comments as “extraordinary” and “unprecedented”, according to Regulator Watch.
Internet bots entered the quarter million comments between June 8 and June 11, before the FDA finally located the source of the comments and blocked four IP addresses used by the spammers.
Most of the comments were posted without a first or last name and used similar anti-vaping comments including ‘I am a concerned citizen who thinks tobacco flavored products should be banned’ and ‘Please ban JUUL flavored tobacco products.’
The suspicious comments used the same words and phrases over and over again, indicating that they were false.
Some of the same language used in the comments has been used by the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, an anti-tobacco interest group.
It is unclear who is behind the spam submissions, but Regulator Watch suggests that the spam could slow down or even derail the FDA’s consultation.
Each comment must be read and approved by FDA staff. There are currently more than 500,000 submissions waiting to be reviewed.
Regulator Watch also suggested that the spam comments had a slow-down effect on FDA servers, making it harder for genuine posters to comment before and after the attack.
The FDA is reportedly investigating the fraudulent submissions, but has not reached a decision on whether they will be included in the final write-up.
The deadline for making public comments is July 19. Vapers can make sure their voices are heard by submitting an online comment via regulations.gov.
The War on Vape Juice Flavors
The FDA launched a public consultation on its proposed regulation of flavors in tobacco products in March.
The proposed rule change, which would include flavored vape juice as well as flavored cigarettes and cigarillos, could result in a nationwide flavor ban.
Launching the consultation, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said: “We must also consider how best to address flavors in non-combustible products like e-cigarettes – given both their clear appeal to youth but also the potential role certain flavors may play in helping some adult smokers transition to potentially less harmful tobacco products.”
Other city-wide and state-wide bans are already coming into force.
Other cities and states appear to be following suit, with San Francisco’s neighbor San Mateo County also voting for a ban and Chicago lawmakers filing similar proposals.
Legislators in the state of New York are also looking at whether they should ban flavored e-liquids.
Health officials and some legislatures seem hell-bent on large scale flavor bans despite new evidence which shows that flavored e-liquids play a part in helping adult smokers ditch tobacco.
With a court-ordered report due next Monday on its progress reviewing marketing applications for the most popular vape products, the FDA has authorized yet more products that few people use.
The agency issued Marketing Granted Orders to Reynolds American (RAI) for its Vuse Vibe and Ciro e-cigarettes, along with tobacco-flavored refills. Vuse is the brand name used by RAI—formerly known as RJ Reynolds (and now a subsidiary of British American Tobacco)—for all of its vapor products.
The Vuse Vibe is an eGo-style vape pen that uses two-milliliter capacity, non-refillable tanks. Vibe refills are available only in 3.0 percent (30 mg/mL) nicotine strength. The Vuse Ciro is a cigalike style vape that uses small 0.9 mL tank-style refill cartridges (rather than the typical cartomizers) in 1.5 percent (15 mg/mL) nicotine strength. Both products use nicotine salt-based e-liquid.
Menthol-flavored Vice and Ciro refills remain under review, while the FDA wrestles with how to handle menthol vapes in light of its plan to ban menthol cigarettes. The agency issued Marketing Denial Orders (MDOs) for other Vuse flavors, as it has for previously authorized vape products. The FDA hasn’t authorized any products in flavors other than tobacco. Last August, the agency announced a new standard for flavored products—nearly a year after the deadline for submitting PMTAs.
The FDA has still not acted on Premarket Tobacco Applications (PMTAs) submitted by RAI for the Vuse Alto, a pod-based device nearly as popular as Juul Labs’ JUUL. Combined, the Alto and JUUL currently make up about 70 percent of the convenience store/gas station segment of the vape product market.
The FDA has been ordered by a federal judge to produce status reports on its progress reviewing PMTAs for the most popular brands of vaping products, including Vuse. The first report is due next Monday, and there had been some speculation that the agency would announce decisions on some of the best-selling products before that deadline. The Vuse Vibe and Ciro, however, are not popular products.
American Vapor Manufacturers Association (AVM) President Amanda Wheeler said in a statement that “small and mid-sized businesses are being willfully strangled out of the market by FDA’s neo-prohibition policy.”
Over one-third of smokers who try to quit using cigarettes opt for e-cigarettes, highlighted Siobhain Brophy from the Tobacco & Alcohol Control Unit. The new Public Health (Tobacco and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill, would ban the sales of tobacco products from temporary premises, at events or locations intended for children and also forbid the sales of tobacco or nicotine inhaling products by people under 18.
Moreover, retail outlets selling vapes and tobacco products, will be required to register annually, whereas presently they are only required to register once, making it harder to track of licenses.
Claire Gordan, from the Tobacco & Alcohol Control Unit, presented data showing one out of three young people develop a smoking habit after only three or four cigarettes, adding that figures also showed 5% of school-aged children are current smokers.
Increase in cigarette prices
In 2021, an increase in cigarette prices equating to an extra 50c per packet was announced as part of the country’s budget for 2022. The Journal highlighted that this is the sixth year in a row that the duty on a packet of 20 cigarettes has increased by that amount, and this latest increase will equate to a pack now costing a staggering €15.
Ireland’s Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe said that this price increase aims to discourage smoking and therefore support local public health policy goals. However, the Irish Heart Foundation had argued that the increase falls short of tackling tobacco use among young adults. The group had previously suggested a price increase of up to €20 by 2025, while with regards to vaping products they suggested an excise tax of 6c on e-liquids.
Michael Landl is the author and he did a brief experiment. Michael is the director of the WVA and a passionate vape advocate.
He set a Google alert to let him know when articles about vaping appeared during the week 23/4/22 to 1/5/22.
He then rated them as being Negative, Positive or Neutral towards vaping. Note these articles are from around the world.
It is pretty shocking to see that 40% of the articles were Negative and only 29% Neutral and 29% positive.
41 articles were found and used in this experiment and you can see a pie chart of the findings above.
There were 4 articles from the UK and 3 of those were Positive and one Neutral.
I am hoping to try to monitor UK media stories regarding vaping and will be back with the results at some point in the future!
Vaping Supplier Tour – Bring UK & China Closer
The UKVIA (UK Vaping Industry Association) along with the ECCC (E-cigarette Professional Committee of China Electronics Chamber of Commerce) and 2FIRSTS (media and consulting partner to ECCC) have created an event to bring together Chinese suppliers and UK brands and distributors.
UKVIA is working with the ECCC, to bring the two countries closer together with a supplier showcase to increase manufacturer transparency and communication between distributors and suppliers
You can register for free here – ICCPP Vaping Supplier Tour and the event will be held online on 17th May 2022 at 9-10am.
The event aims to try and bridge the gaps between the Chinese vaping industry and suppliers / brands in the UK.
The UK has always been a huge contributor to the Chinese vaping industry but due to the Covid epidemic obstacles were created which made this process more difficult.
A total of 50 participants will take part and there will be presentations, chat room question and answer (Q&A) sessions and also live streamed Q&A.
World Vape Day!
The WVA (World Vapers Alliance) are holding a global “World Vape Day” on May 30th 2022.
The date has been chosen as it is the day before the WHO (World Health Organisation) “World No Tobacco Day” to showcase vaping.
There will be a program of live streams on Facebook and YouTube or you can view them on the WVA website – World Vape Day.
Here is the schedule – note the times are in CET (Central European Time) which is 1 hour ahead of British Summer Time. If you visit the website you can click on the program to view it during or after it has been broadcast.
As you can see Michael Landl (Director of WVA) and Dr Colin Mendelsohn (MB BS Hons) are two of the speakers.
Wipe Out Smoking With Vaping!
A lovely article in the Express Online newspaper by Jonathan Walker discusses how Vaping could be the answer to making England “Smoke Free” by 2030.
A review by the Department of Health is expected to recommend smokers switch to vaping and promote how vaping is less harmful than smoking.
Javed Khan is leading the “Levelling up” Tobacco control review.
He said:
“In my review I have considered a range of critical interventions that will make the most difference. For example, I’ve looked at the promotion of vaping as a less harmful alternative; a greater role for the NHS in ending smoking and the need to tackle illicit tobacco sales”
So everything crossed – it does appear the government is taking vaping seriously as a way to meet the Smoke Free 2030 goal!
On the Government website it says the review will report back in April 2022 – so perhaps this is what this Tweet means?
Javed said when the review was launched:
“I am very pleased to be leading this review into such an important area of public health. My independent findings will help highlight key interventions which can help the government achieve its ambitions to be smoke-free by 2030 and tackle health disparities”
As reported in my previous news articles he is very pro-vaping!
I am looking forward to seeing how this pans out!
Social Housing Associations Can Help Smokers Quit!
The NCSCT (National Centre for Smoking Cessation and Training) has teamed up with ASH (Action on Smoking and Health) to produce guidelines to help those in social housing access stop smoking support.
Some excellent examples of partnership-working, where vapes were given to social housing tenants to help them stop smoking. This is really important public health work 👏👏👏 https://t.co/9rGw5rm1OI
This is to try and reduce inequalities in health care and target those who might need help the most. The rate of smoking prevalence of those in Local Authority or Housing Association homes were a lot higher.
The smoking rates in this type of housing are declining slower than in other sectors of the population so the possibility of support being offered by the housing providers could make a huge difference.
This is quite an in depth document but does cite one case study of the “Swap to Stop” scheme in Salford where the local housing associations and Salford City council joined forces.
In the Swap to stop scheme participants were provided with a free e-cigarette kit plus a standard stop smoking program.
The scheme was highly successful with over 1,022 people taking part and 614 returned for the follow up visit 4 weeks after starting. 62% of these were still off the cigarettes (37% of the original total).
Also this offer encouraged 4 times more people to take part!
Sadly due to the lack of funding this service was not continued – but it does show how such schemes could help those who need this assistance.
And it also promoted the fact that vaping does help smokers quit! Win Win I say!
— Tobaccoharmreduction.net (@Tobaccoharmred1) May 10, 2022
Clicking the link to the THR website they refer to an article in the Sunday Times. Sadly when I click on this link it requires a subscription.
The THR website says this:
“He will announce plans to address the root causes when he unveils his health disparities white paper this spring. It is understood this will include a “vaping revolution” that will allow GPs to prescribe e-cigarettes on the NHS.”
This also ties in with a campaign from Cancer Research UK for a 10 year cancer plan to help tackle cancer. The campaign believes we should be able to diagnose it earlier, improve research and prevent inequalities in treatment around the UK.
PMI Grabs Snus
An article on the Reuters website is discussing the news that PMI (Philip Morris International – Big tobacco who make Marlboro and many others) is in talks to buy a small company.
The company in question is Swedish Match who make Snus, Chewing Tobacco, Zyn, Cigars, Swan Matches and Cricket Lighters.
Zyn tobacco pouches are available in supermarkets and many independent stores in the UK.
The company Bronte Capital which own 15.1 million shares in Swedish Match think that the PMI offer is way too low and undervalue the company.
World’s Biggest Vape Graffiti
Voopoo have been busy – they have apparently released a song using their slogan “Spark your life” and now have commissioned a huge vape mural by well-known London based graffiti artist Woskerski.
The mural features the new Argus GT 2 and is located in the Leake Street Tunnel in London.
Ald Goes Eco!
The vape manufacturers ald have apparently created a 90% recyclable Disposable Vape.
This will be launched in mid 2023 and at the moment is named “EBVS” (Eco friendly Biodegradable Vape Solution) – not very catchy but I suppose it is only in the early stages.
Apparently the packaging, plastic shell, circuit board, mouthpiece and battery are all recyclable.
Photo Credit – Timothy Donahue
Eric Ding the founder and president of the ald group says…
“The innovative factor is that our extensive research showed that in the e-cigarette sector there was currently no ready-made solution for the application of biodegradable materials.”
“During development, we screened dozens of materials, repeatedly verified product performance and, finally, determined the seven best mixes of materials. Our processes included the verification of material strength, chemical resistance, extractability and degradability.”
Scottish Government – Killjoys!
An article in the Scottish Daily Express remarks on how the strict proposals to ban all vape advertising could have a detrimental effect on reducing the number of smokers.
It would basically make vaping invisible unless you purposely walked into a vape shop or had information from friends or online.
The Scottish government are proposing a ban on in store promotions, billboards, hoarding ads and any sponsorship.
Mark Oates the vape advocate and director of We Vape said this is really a bad idea…
“If Nicola Sturgeon has her way, Scotland will have the strictest laws on vaping in Europe and its chances of hitting the country’s smoke free target of 2034 will be doomed.”
“A planned ban on advertising e-cigarettes serves only to limit information to the public that could stop them dying from a preventable disease.”
“We know there is a mass of misinformation out there, perpetuated by critics who choose to ignore science and every report that states vaping is a fantastic harm reduction tool.”
“Banning in-store promotions and other advertising mechanisms would also reduce access to vaping products, which are a growing category for retailers and are widely considered to be an important smoking cessation tool.”
Also the Scottish Grocers Foundation (SGF) spoke up against the bans and called them “unjustified” and that they risked hampering efforts to encourage people to stop smoking.
This was published in the AHA (American Heart Association) Journal, but the way the results were interpreted were questionable.
They focused on the fact that dual use (smoking and vaping) would increase CVD (Cardiovascular disease) risks over a 6 period.
However the results were actually very favourable to vaping – which seems to be hidden.
This is what was concluded about vaping…
“After adjusting for covariates participants exclusively using e-cigarettes had risk of developing any CVD condition that did not differ from non users and higher, albeit non significant, risk of the MI, HF, or stroke outcome … Compared with smoking, e-cigarette use was associated with 30% to 40% lower CVD risk, although this association was only significant for the any CVD outcome.”
Basically Vapers had no extra risk of CVD developments compared to non-smokers. There was a non-significant risk of MI (Myocardial Infarction), HF (Heart Failure) and Stroke risk being slightly higher. But otherwise vaping compared with smoking had 30-40% lower risk for CVD.
The paper continues…
“We did not find a significant difference in the cardiovascular risk of exclusive e-cigarette use compared with non-use of cigarettes and e-cigarettes, although analyses were limited by a small number of CVD events in e-cigarette users.”
Again backing up the fact that their findings in vapers matched those of non-smokers/vapers. That is if you can get through the total word salad they are spewing out.
Convenient that they hid the Pro-Vaping data isn’t it – the AHA is always campaigning against vaping – ooops!
Cigarettes & Asthma
This article is quite interesting for me – as I was diagnosed with Asthma and told to stop smoking many years ago. Then the quest of Patches, Lozenges, Inhalators and the Champix / Zyban medications kicked off. None of them worked.
Health Implications of Smoking with Asthma
I finally totally quit smoking in June 2019 by Vaping. Having been a dual user (smoking and vaping) for many years, the introduction of Nic Salts was the innovation that worked for me.
I have regular Asthma checks at my local surgery and my peak flow readings were gradually improving since stopping smoking. They are not far off what a non-smoker my age would expect to see now. So vaping does work – whenever I have an Asthma check they are always very pleased to see the difference it has made.
Anyway enough of my life story – a paper on the Science Direct website discusses Cigarettes and Asthma and I quote…
“A tailored approach to the smoking cessation of the smokers with asthma has been described previously. While the preferred goal is abstinence, this is not always achievable and substitution of conventional cigarettes with alternatives that do not require combustion to deliver nicotine such as E-cigarettes may be an alternative for those smokers with asthma who do not wish to stop smoking.”
The rest of the paper is like a biology lesson so I had to skim through a lot of it, but at least it is recognises that vaping is much more preferable to smoking for people with Asthma.
I know personally the difference it has made to my lungs and will always be grateful I found vaping!
Wow that was a massive news dump – hope you enjoyed reading – sorry it was a bit late I have quite distressing real life stuff to deal with at the moment.
The American Cancer Society (ACS) has admitted the American public has been misinformed about the dangers of vaping – and is now going to promote it as an alternative to smoking.
The leading health organization has set out in a public statement that it is tobacco, not nicotine, which contains the cancer-causing chemicals and carcinogens and states there’s an “urgent need” for consumer education about the risks posed by different tobacco products
While the ACS had already confirmed vaping was a safer alternative to smoking cigarettes in a report earlier this year, its tougher stance on eradicating the current smoking epidemic through actively promoting e-cigarettes and other cessation tools, is being seen as a positive step by vaping advocacy groups and public health experts.
It said in the statement: “Although many Electronic Nicotine Device Systems [such as e-cigarettes] deliver nicotine, flavor additives, and other chemicals, they do not burn tobacco, a process that yields an estimated 7000 chemicals, including at least 70 carcinogens. Thus, public misunderstanding underscores the urgent need for consumer education about the absolute and relative risks posed by different tobacco products and to reinvigorate smokers’ understanding of the importance of quitting combustible tobacco.”
Shining a spotlight on the swathe of misinformation being fed to the public by action groups and amongst smokers themselves, it explained: “Many consumers are misinformed about the harms of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS). Many adults believe, erroneously, that ENDS are as harmful as combustible tobacco products, and the level of public understanding has deteriorated over time.
“In 2012, only 11.5% of respondents to a national survey held this view. By 2015, 35.7% of respondents mistakenly believed that the harm associated with electronic cigarettes was ‘about the same’ as that of smoking conventional cigarettes. At the same time, the Monitoring the Future study reports that, as of 2017, ‘e-cigarettes have one of the lowest levels of perceived risk for regular use of all drugs, including alcohol among adolescents.’
“Whereas complete information on all the potential risks and benefits of ENDS is not yet available, there is sufficient to allow ACS to act now with a clear focus on the primary goal of ending deadly combustible tobacco use, which is responsible for approximately a one-half million deaths per year and 30% of all cancer deaths in the United States.”
Talking about how it hopes to help eradicate tobacco smoking, one of its key strategies, amongst others, is to educate consumers on alternatives and communicate that “although the long-term effects of ENDS are not known, current-generation ENDS are markedly less harmful than combustible tobacco products”.
Earlier this year a study by pharmaceutical development company Pinney Associates indicated that while most adults are aware that nicotine is the addictive factor in cigarettes, most also wrongly assume that it causes cancer.
Additionally, the compiled data of 1,736 adults pointed out that smokers tend to be more misinformed than non-smokers, with 52.5 per cent of smokers vs 14.6 per cent of non-smokers, linked nicotine to cancer.
SMOKERS believe more advertising showing the public health and cost benefits of vaping compared to cigarettes is key in helping them quit, new research reveals.
Both smokers and industry experts now want to see a change in advertising rules on TV, radio and print media so information on e-cigarettes can reach those who would benefit most from making the switch.
The study published this week by Consumer Intelligence on behalf of the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) reveals that:
• 68% felt that changing current advertising restrictions imposed by the Advertising Standards Agency to allow public health messages to be promoted by the vaping industry would help more smokers make the switch.
• nearly 2 in every 3 smokers (63%) interviewed felt that information from their GP, pharmacist or a healthcare professional would influence their decision to make the change.
• 61% said that visible information in a healthcare environment would be beneficial.
• nearly half (48%) called for more educational advertising by public health organisations or the government in the media.
• some two thirds (61%) agreed that Public Health England’s recent recommendation for hospitals to allow vaping on their premises and to sell e-cigarettes and e-liquids on site would convince more of them to take up vaping.
John Dunne, a director at UKVIA said of the findings: “This highlights the critical role that accurate advertising has to play in realizing the public health prize that vaping represents. This isn’t coming from the industry but from smokers who could be convinced to break their habits.
“More education all round is needed to get smokers to make the switch and to realise the full public health potential of vaping.
“There needs to be a strong and cohesive message from government, public health and the vaping industry to make switching from smoking to vaping an obvious choice.”
The research, which surveyed more than 1,000 smokers, also revealed that the vaping industry, despite its fast rate of growth, was in danger of not fulfilling its full potential.
It showed that many still consider vaping to be as harmful or more so than conventional cigarettes. A significant number also wrongly believe vaping to be more expensive than smoking and are confused by the array of vaping devices on the market.
• Some 40% of smokers interviewed still didn’t think or don’t know that conventional cigarettes are more harmful than e-cigarettes, despite Public Health England (PHE) recently reinforcing its stance that vaping is likely to be at least 95% less harmful than smoking. This notably correlates with PHE’s recent finding that 40% of the UK’s 7m smokers still haven’t even tried vaping.
• Nearly half of those surveyed still did not think or did not know that smoking was more expensive than vaping. A calculation by Cancer Research UK last year showed that a smoker could be looking at a £840 saving per annum on average through a full switch to vaping.
The survey also revealed 24% of smokers are confused by the number of products on the market with one in five believing it was inconvenient to buy equipment.
The Consumer Intelligence study also looked at smokers’ experiences of and attitudes to using e-cigarettes to identify what was most likely to help them make the switch to vaping. It revealed:
• Odour of conventional cigarettes (62% of respondents), vaping being cheaper (60%) and favourable insurance premiums for vapers (50%) were viewed by smokers as being key influences in making the switch from smoking to vaping;
• 46% of smokers said media coverage of vaping hasn’t encouraged them to consider a switch to vaping, this is likely due to the significant number of conflicting or confusing stories;
• Over 55s are the least likely group to have tried vaping and are proving to be the hardest group to reach with vaping communications, with 73% claiming not to have seen any form of information from the media and health bodies. Given this age group’s proportionate consumption of TV, radio and print media, advertising restrictions on vaping will only exacerbate the lack of awareness.
Dunne added: “The research reveals that there is an appetite for better information, including clear benefits in terms of assured health implications and the cost savings that can be made by consumers.
“Current advertising restrictions inevitably make it very difficult to reach smokers on the potential health benefits.
“This is particularly concerning when considering smokers over 55, who are most likely to suffer the ill effects of smoking. We currently have few ways to let them know that a switch to vaping could dramatically improve their health.”
Innokin Technology has announced the launch of a new arrival to their industry-leading lineup of vaporizers. Introducing Lota: Innokin’s all-new sub-brand pushing the boundaries of performance, reliability, and innovation within the entry-level vaping sector.
Innokin’s Lota is set to shake up the vaping space by combining Innokin’s decade plus of industry-leading innovation expertise with Aquios Labs: a new technology firm that enables water-based e-liquid.
The partnership offers Lota an innovative new technology and approach to closed vaping systems. Aquios Labs’ first generation of water-based vape juice, AQ30, supports 30% water content. Water-based vaping delivers smoother vapour and faster satisfaction compared to traditional vaping systems, which also reduces the dehydrating qualities of vapour. In addition, water-based vapes operate at a lower temperature compared to their traditional counterparts, which allows for greatly increased chemical stability during the vaping process.
Water-based technology and e-liquids result in a vaping experience that no other device can replicate, with no leakage, enhanced flavour clarity and faster nicotine satisfaction. These strengths paired with Innokin’s manufacturing experience catapult Lota into the spotlight of the disposable vape sector.
Lota will initially launch with a portfolio of three water-based devices, each with their own position for specific global markets and consumer needs: the Lota Enviro, F600, and Prefilled Pod Kit.
The Lota Enviro is a disposable device with a clear mission to reduce the carbon footprint of typical disposable vapes. Enviro achieves this with a unique paper shell design using recyclable materials and user-recyclable components. After the Enviro has been fully depleted, the device can be disassembled by the end user, and every component aside from the e-liquid reservoir can be fully recycled. The Enviro launches with 10 flavours and provides a 600-puff lifespan with 2ml e-liquid capacity for TPD markets.
The Lota F600 is Lota’s flagship disposable vaporizer, targeted for TPD markets. Offering stylish, comfortable soft-touch surfaces and lightweight simplicity, it represents the ideal entry to vaping for transitioning smokers. The F600 features a 600-puff lifespan and delivers constant 3.6V output, which means consistent performance from the first puff to the last.
Rounding off Lota’s launch is the Lota Prefilled Pod. The Lota Prefilled Pod Kit integrates revolutionary Aquios water-based vaping technology into a closed pod system with a rechargeable battery. Each 2ml pod is designed to last for 600 puffs and the battery provides constant 3.6V output for a consistent vaping experience throughout each charge cycle.
Commenting on the launch, Innokin Technology Co-Founder George Xia said: “Innokin has always believed in embracing new technology. When first introduced to Aquios Labs, our product development team was impressed with the unique advantages of water-based vaping. Through this exciting partnership, Innokin is proud to launch the Lota brand, offering high performance water-based vaping in our continued quest of tobacco harm reduction across the globe.” You can find out more about Lota at innokin.com.
For further information and enquiring about collaborating with Innokin, please contact marketing[at]innokin.com.
