New member- a retired toxicologist & tobacco harm reduction proponent

[BULLDOG1964]

and to the planet.

 

[vapervince]

@vapervince - I salute the UK government for breaking away from the EU's 'Precautionary Principle' thinking that has caused them so many common-sense regulatory problems in many areas. Our US FDA tobacco regulatory authority has explicitly stated that their regulatory oversight will be based on sound scientific evidence & not on the default presumptions of the 'Precautionary Principle.' I think this is the proper approach to advance the public health.

I also salute the UK for thinking creatively to accomplish the primary Tobacco Harm Reduction goal - getting smokers to abandon cigarette smoking by any means necessary in the near term, and to adopt a far less harmful means to use nicotine in a manner that is familiar enough to them to facilitate their transition to vaping as a short term or long term strategy to leave cigarettes behind. Surely some issues with the 'swap to stop' initiative will emerge, but those criticisms can be dealt with as they present themselves.
I am hopeful that a new era is now within reach- an era when cigarette smoking is a rare, antiquated habit. An era when nicotine consumers do not have any substantive health risks arising from their use of this 'social alkaloid', just as they do from their daily use of caffeine. Credit to the UK for embracing this novel approach toward retiring smoking to the status of an historical oddity that will no longer present such an enormous public health burden.

Pretty much my thoughts too, although I think the scheme will be devalued some if there are no monitoring or follow up plans. Properly administered this scheme could become an important peer reviewed piece of work without a hint of the suspected bias that has blighted many of the past exercises.

If this scheme helps to relegate tobacco smoking to the realms of where snuff taking or chewing tobacco are today, it will be a good thing.

 

[Netvaper]

Welcome to potv @JonathanD

If I understand it correctly an 'open system' is any device that is refillable, if not ignore the rest of this post.
If it is then imo the FDA went down the wrong route, whether BT were involved in it or not, and I don't know what sound scientific evidence that is supposedly based on. Open systems are certainly more environmentally friendly and thankfully are readily available in the UK.

 

[Tazz]

I've just joined the Forum to keep up with what's new in the vaping & tobacco/nicotine harm reduction space. My story is a bit different than most others here. I am a Ph.D. Pharmacologist and Board Certified Toxicologist [DABT], retired now to consulting on toxicology, flavorings, nicotine, & harm reduction topics. I have almost 40 years of work experience in the industry sector in these & related USA regulatory areas. I served a 4-year appointment [2010-2014] on the US FDA's first Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee [TPSAC], representing the interests of the regulated tobacco/nicotine industry in a non-voting capacity. I received the 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award from the US Tobacco Science Research Conference for my career work to advance less harmful nicotine options for smokers, and was selected by peer recognition to become a Fellow of the US Academy of Toxicological Sciences [ATS] in 2012. I have a lot of catching up to do by exploring the diverse threads & topics discussed here, and am looking forward to learning from that.

I read your intro. But I may have missed a bit. Have you ever Smoked, and do you vape?

 

[DMAN]

I read your intro. But I may have missed a bit. Have you ever Smoked, and do you vape?

Yeah, what is your vape?

 

[Tazz]

Yeah, what is your vape?

I think I'm missing something here. Bed time......

 

[JonathanD]

Welcome to potv @JonathanD

If I understand it correctly an 'open system' is any device that is refillable, if not ignore the rest of this post.
If it is then imo the FDA went down the wrong route, whether BT were involved in it or not, and I don't know what sound scientific evidence that is supposedly based on. Open systems are certainly more environmentally friendly and thankfully are readily available in the UK.

Yes, I was referring to the refillable devices [AKA Open Systems] that are still widely available and much preferred by most all serious vapers here in the USA as well. FDA is in a bind with tens or hundreds of thousands of such devices in current use, but their position that each device and a single e-liquid combination = a unique product is entirely unworkable. I hope they will rethink that posture & develop regulation that will address the realities of contemporary vaping so that the benefits to the public health of current smokers can be fully realised.

 

[JonathanD]

I read your intro. But I may have missed a bit. Have you ever Smoked, and do you vape?

@Tazz - No, I have never smoked and am not a vaper. I use a nicotine pouch product nowadays. I do strongly endorse any & all alternatives to combustible cigarettes that help smokers transition away from smoking.

 

[MrDJ]

Hi @JonathanD and welcome to the planet.

great to see you getting involved straight away.

I have one question as you're from America. what do you think of the majority of crap research that comes out of the mouth of Stanton Glantz

 

[JonathanD]

Hello @JonathanD and welcome to POTV!

@hack400 - Thanks. I'm looking forward to learning whatever I can about vaping in the UK- with what seems to be a rather enlightened regulatory perspective on the value & utility of vaping as an effective way for smokers to quit.