A new Kansas Bill could raise the tobacco age and ban flavours
Known officially as HB 2563, this statewide bill would raise the age to purchase tobacco products from 18 to 21, while also banning the sale of all flavoured e-cigarette products. While the US government has already instituted a federal ban on flavoured pods, this statewide bill would apply to all vaping products.
It should be noted that the bill’s author did state that he is open to the consideration that flavours could be allowed for open tank device. This would make the bill fall more in line with federal regulations, but the decision to make this change has yet to be announced.
The Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association (CASAA) has already learned that industry stakeholders are already meeting with supporters of HB 2563 with the aim of including language that would enable the state to enforce the May 12 premarket tobacco application (PMTA) deadline on all vaping products.
If the state were to enforce the PMTA, any vaping product that has not received market permission from the FDA could be pulled off the shelves by the state of Kansas.
A major vaping study is being retracted over concerns of unreliability
Published last June by the American Heart Association, this major paper claimed that vaping and e-cigarettes would increase the likelihood of having a heart attack. The paper was quickly disseminated across the media and was referenced by major news organizations, including CNN, Yahoo News, and USA Today.
However, this week, editors from the Journal of the American Heart Association (JAHA) expressed worry that the study may have been based on misleading data. JAHA ultimately decided to pull the paper after Brad Rodu, a tobacco control expert at the University of Louisville, noted that many of the vapers included in the study were also current or former smokers. Because of this, Rodu argued that there was a possibility that the subject’s use of cigarettes is what made them more likely to suffer heart attacks.
Rodu’s criticisms were brought to JAHA’s attention after several scholars at public-health schools sent a letter to JAHA. Some of these health schools included New York University, Yale, and King’s College London.
A substance abuse center has found a unique method to educate people on vaping
The Center for Alcohol and Drug Services in Davenport, Iowa has found a new way to educate parents, children, teachers and others about vaping, by using the popular escape room format. Known as the “E-Scape the Vape” escape room, this room simulates a teenager’s bedroom and establishes the character of Joe, a teen who wants to quit vaping. Visitors to the “E-Scape the Vape” room are tasked with helping Joe in his quest to quit vaping, while also learning important facts and statistics about vaping.
Developed by Substance Abuse Prevention Specialists Kennon Neal and Jason Otten, the unique escape room was built as a metaphor to the youth vaping crisis and how we need to come together to exchange information to solve the issue.
The FlySense is a new device that can detect vaping byproducts
First displayed at the National Conference on Education, the FlySense is an innovative new machine that can determine if is a person is smoking, vaping, or using cannabis, based on byproducts in the air. Developed and manufactured by Soter Technologies, FlySense is being marketed primarily to schools, in the hopes of combating youth vaping.
Once the device detects the presence of vaping or smoking, FlySense will send an alert to the cell phones of nearby teachers and administrators so they are able to take action. According to Soter Technologies’ CEO Derek Peterson, 7,000 FlySense devices are already around the country, 1,000 of which are located in California.
*https://www.vapingpost.com/2020/02/18/flysense-a-new-technology-which-can-detect-vaping/*
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