Analysis of critical issues and trending industry topics

Keeping track of the disposables scene: how will it weather the regulatory storm?

Written by Barnaby Page | 5th October 2023

We estimate that disposables now account for nearly 40% of the global vape market. But the growth rate that led disposables to their current success also seems to be leading them into a perfect storm...

Regulating e-cig sales: are FDA warning letters just a drop of ink in the ocean?

Written by Antonia Di Lorenzo | 21st September 2023

The US FDA recently notified more online retailers and manufacturers of significant violations related to the sale of e-cigarettes. But are these regular warning letters really enough to reassert the FDA’s control over the market...

TikTok comes under fire with the UK ASA once again for vape product advertising

Written by Freddie Dawson | 14th September 2023

The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has once again been policing the marketing of vaping products on the social media platform TikTok ...

Looking into nicotine – a tobacco-related poison or a food-derived health aid?

Written by ECigIntelligence | 7th September 2023

Despite increasing interest in synthetic nicotine, most nicotine still comes from tobacco. But could other plants also be a commercially viable source? ...

The FDA is worried about misperceptions – but what’s it doing to combat them?

Written by Tiziana Cauli | 30th August 2023

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seems to be looking for the right words to educate smokers about the reduced risks associated with vaping ...

The pollution problem – the newest culprits, who’s to blame and is it solvable?

Written by Barnaby Page | 18th August 2023

The vast volumes of waste and litter attributable to vaping have become a major issue in recent months, and even if some of the media coverage seems biased, the underlying problem is real enough ...

A blogger’s farewell – who knows all the known unknowns on e-cigs and health?

Written by Aidan Semmens | 10th August 2023

It was cannabis joints that lured me into smoking. Once tipped out into the world of work, the cannabis was easy enough to give up. The tobacco not so much. Ultimately, it’s all about the...

Sustainability versus waste and pollution – it’s the major, growing issue we all face

Written by Aidan Semmens | 3rd August 2023

While no industry, from aviation to mining, farming to fishing, can pretend to be uninvolved in the major growing issue of the environment, the e-cigarette industry is just as inescapably bound up in the debate...

Brighter later? Were gloomy forecasts for global e-cig regulation too negative?

Written by Barnaby Page | 21st July 2023

There are several reasons to be cautiously negative about the direction regulation of novel nicotine products will follow, globally – but does that make up a fair picture? ...

Disposable truth – throwaway vapes are bad for everyone’s environmental health

Written by Aidan Semmens | 19th July 2023

There are growing calls on both sides of the Atlantic for disposable e-cigarettes to be banned, partly on “save the children” grounds, but mostly and more plausibly on account of environmental concerns ...

Is it time to remove the ‘cigarette’ from ‘e-cigarette’? (The ‘e-’ is a bit old hat too)

Written by Barnaby Page | 13th July 2023

What’s in a name? Where the novel nicotine products sector is concerned, what’s more significant may be what’s not in the names of its categories – specifically, the word “nicotine” ...

Talking rot – attention-seeking headings that fail to meet any standards of reality

Written by Aidan Semmens | 6th July 2023

“Disposable vapes that do not meet UK standards should be banned”...“Urgent vape warning as deadly ‘flesh-rotting’ drug discovered in e-cigarettes” – what on Earth is going on here? ...

When it comes to the argument over vaping, who are the real men in black?

Written by Aidan Semmens | 22nd June 2023

A number of social media campaigns are dedicated to rubbishing the World Health Organization over its opposition to vaping. But who are the real “men in dark suits”? ...

Can vaping legal framework be built on more than just slipshod bills, please?

Written by Freddie Dawson | 15th June 2023

It’s surprising the loopholes lawmakers can miss when writing, debating and passing bills. Or is it? With allegations that politicians don’t even read bills they vote on and of proposals copying vested interest submissions verbatim...

The epidemic’s metaphorical, but the problem of cute disposables is all too real

Written by Aidan Semmens | 8th June 2023

“There is absolutely no reason that these cheap, readily available, brightly coloured, recreational products should be single use,” said Mike Kean, vice president of the UK’s Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health ...

School for scandal – how metal detectors highlighted a troubling youth trend

Written by Aidan Semmens | 29th May 2023

The first item on the BBC’s morning news round-up was about vaping – and of course, as you expect even in e-cig-loving Britain, the news wasn’t good ...

The land where it’s courting trouble even to debate the pros and cons of vaping

Written by Barnaby Page | 25th May 2023

India is far from unique in the high level of misperception about nicotine among its doctors and its politicians. But sometimes the famously fussy bureaucracy can become positively farcical ...

New vapes for old – a possible, partial solution to a disposable problem?

Written by Aidan Semmens | 18th May 2023

For a still relatively young industry, the e-cigarette business isn’t what it was – not that it’s withering away, but it’s definitely changing, and not in ways everyone in it would want ...

Would it be healthier for regulators to work with the industry, not against it?

Written by Barnaby Page | 15th May 2023

The World Health Organization (WHO) insists on keeping the tobacco industry and tobacco regulators as far apart as possible, for sound historical reasons. But is it time this policy was reconsidered? ...

Food or vape? The battle of Hämeenlinna puts the question of flavours on the table

Written by Aidan Semmens | 11th May 2023

Would you flavour your food – your fairy-cake, say, or your soup – with drops of something called Ultimate Ragnarok out of a little bottle bearing a picture of a horned god wielding a battleaxe?...

Australian government ready to get tougher still on tobacco e-cigarettes

Written by Aidan Semmens | 4th May 2023

Health minister Mark Butler wasn’t mincing his words. “Australia needs to reclaim its position as a world leader on tobacco control,” he said as he announced a plan to toughen up... on e-cigarettes ...

Good COP, bad COP? What to look out for in Panama – and what not to expect

Written by Barnaby Page | 25th April 2023

Tobacco control’s catchiest acronym is back later this year, with the next WHO FCTC COP (World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Conference of the Parties) due to be held in Panama in November...

Not flag-waving but drowning – has UK been hit by a ‘tidal wave’ of dodgy vapes?

Written by Aidan Semmens | 20th April 2023

Trading Standards officers across vape-friendly Britain complain they are being “overwhelmed by the volume of non-compliant vapes being sold by retailers” ...

Study suggests heated tobacco could be a real rival for vaping in smoking cessation

Written by Barnaby Page | 13th April 2023

Heated tobacco has never attracted the same level of scientific attention as vaping – but the surprising results of a new study may change that ...

How the same figures can be made to tell a bad news or good news story on vaping

Written by Aidan Semmens | 6th April 2023

While statistics are vital to understanding our world, they are often misunderstood – and that can be important when it comes to forming opinions and laws on controversial issues such as e-cigarettes ...

Our disposable environment – from one discarded vape to a world of regulation

Written by Aidan Semmens | 22nd March 2023

While not specifically related to e-cigarettes or tobacco products, moves in both the EU and the US towards environmental regulations are likely to have a major impact on those sectors. And this is why ...

US FDA rewrites the rule book at length – but does it really change anything?

Written by Barnaby Page | 16th March 2023

What can the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s proposed new rule on manufacturing practices tell us about the agency’s vision for future regulation of tobacco and e-cigarette products? ...

Tamarind Intelligence – analysis and data trusted by governments and beyond

Written by ECigIntelligence | 8th March 2023

Tamarind Intelligence data continues to be an invaluable tool used by governments and NGOs around the world, contributing to a wide number of government and supra-national projects ...

Altruistic Altria, or why an anti-tobacco activist has taken up the giants’ cause

Written by Aidan Semmens | 1st March 2023

Is Dave Dobbins’s switch from COO of the Truth Initiative to a role with a tobacco company a case of gamekeeper turned poacher – or is there another interpretation we can put on it? ...

Legislative differences between US states reveal a lot about attitudes and approach

Written by Barnaby Page | 16th February 2023

So much attention is given to the edicts of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that it’s easy to forget individual states – not to mention cities – can also have a big impact...

Waste not, want not – battle lines are drawn over the field of disposable vapes

Written by Aidan Semmens | 9th February 2023

While e-cigs may or may not be on balance a good thing for humans, it’s hard to see the boom in disposables as anything other than a sore point for the planet ...

How the FDA’s assault on flavours, even menthol, could give real tobacco an edge

Written by Barnaby Page | 2nd February 2023

Flavours continue to be the main target of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the US when it comes to novel nicotine products, it seems – which could give heated tobacco an advantage over...

While growth in e-cigarettes slows, other tobacco alternatives are catching up fast

Written by Freddie Dawson | 18th January 2023

ECigIntelligence predicted a year ago that increasing restrictions and taxes on vaping products would drive more users to other tobacco alternatives in 2022. And it does appear that this has been the case ...

Health warning: ‘scientific research’ so bad it should never have been published

Written by Barnaby Page | 11th January 2023

There remains a worryingly large amount of research on vaping which makes casual, almost always negative, assumptions...and the occasional item which is so faulty it should never have been published at all ...

As cigarette smoking declines, cannabis rises – but where does vaping fit in?

Written by Aidan Semmens | 5th January 2023

Recent figures show young US adults are smoking less tobacco and using more cannabis – but is this cause-and-effect, and if so, where does vaping fit into the picture? ...

What is the true significance of New Zealand's generational tobacco ban?

Written by Barnaby Page | 22nd December 2022

New Zealand’s ban on cigarette sales to people born after 1st January 2009 may look like a dry run for complete prohibition. But there’s a crucial difference, really ...

E-cigs and ethics – why the pros and the antis need to find some common ground

Written by Barnaby Page | 13th December 2022

Some countries, and millions of users are making headway in replacing combustible tobacco with safer alternatives…but what’s holding back the others? Are the products themselves the problem, or is it a matter of perception? ...

The family doctor who gives cigarettes to his 14-year-old son to stop him vaping

Written by Aidan Semmens | 6th December 2022

Should e-cigarettes be prescribed to help smokers quit? One Australian family doctor has bizarrely turned the question on its head, asking: Should cigarettes be prescribed to help vapers quit? ...

Vaping 'within five minutes of waking' – the truth behind the click-bait headlines

Written by Aidan Semmens | 23rd November 2022

The magazine headline said: “More Teens Are Vaping Within 5 Minutes of Waking”. So where does that attention-grabbing line come from, what does it really reveal – and whose line is it anyway? ...

How will the EU's proposed new rules on batteries affect the vaping industry?

Written by Dmytro Korchahin | 17th November 2022

The upcoming revision of the regulation of batteries in the EU may well have a profound effect the e-cigarette industry, with safety, sustainability and the environment all coming under the lawmakers' microscope ...

PMI ‘sinners’ talk a greener talk than some at climate summit will walk

Written by Aidan Semmens | 9th November 2022

In a recent interview, Jennifer Motles urged companies of all kinds to use ESG (environmental, social and governance) impact reporting as a tool to transform business models which have negative impacts ...

Risk reduction in Japan – a seldom told good news for alternatives to smoking

Written by Barnaby Page | 3rd November 2022

Heated tobacco has played a major role in eliminating smoking in Japan – not just nibbling away at the edges of smoking prevalence but severely reducing the presence of the combustible cigarette ...

The taxation of e-cigs and other nicotine products – the WHO, the why and the how

Written by Tiziana Cauli | 19th October 2022

While nobody seriously argues that combustibles shouldn’t be taxed, the taxation of novel nicotine products has always been a controversial issue ...

E-cigs and weed – gateway to confusion between correlation and causation

Written by ECigIntelligence | 13th October 2022

Another study has confused correlation and causation when it comes to youth vaping and the supposed gateway effect – this time linking vaping and later cannabis use ...

Why 'wellness' vapes just might be less healthy than the wicked nicotine kind

Written by Aidan Semmens | 6th October 2022

In demonising nicotine, have many of vaping’s bitterest opponents across the globe got their sights trained on the wrong enemy? ...

Is there a further shift in MEPs' attitudes towards the risk-reduction argument?

Written by Barnaby Page | 22nd September 2022

Is there any connection between people’s knowledge of reduced-risk products and their attitudes toward them? Our third survey of European Parliament members' views will show how any such connection may have altered ...

The disposable truth: what you see on the label may not always be what you get

Written by Aidan Semmens | 21st September 2022

Scientists studying nicotine levels in disposable e-cigs found claims weren't always backed up by facts. In fact, if their sample is truly representative and their methods accurate, vapers may be getting sold short ...

Sweet sighs in Sweden as election brings a probable switch in policy on vaping

Written by Barnaby Page | 15th September 2022

After the victory of right-wing parties in Sweden’s very close election, the country’s vaping sector – and its customers – may well be breathing a sigh of relief; perhaps a peppermint- or caramel- or blueberry-scented...

New Zealand anti-smoking group offers a less strident approach to vape flavours

Written by Aidan Semmens | 15th September 2022

It’s refreshing to encounter a campaigning health charity making a clear argument that retailers should be permitted to sell e-liquids in fruit and other sweet flavours, and not be limited to tobacco, mint and menthol...

Court rulings focus on process, leaving the key question on vaping unaddressed

Written by Barnaby Page | 8th September 2022

Another day, another judgement in the saga of the US vapour industry’s cases against the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over its handling of the premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) process ...

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