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Will “Heat-Not-Burn” E-Cigs Kill Off Vaping?

Jan 24th, 2017
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With a more cigarette-like experience, the next generation of electronic cigarettes could make vaping obsolete.

https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/01/24/will-heat-not-burn-e-cigs-kill-off-vaping.aspx

The future of cigarettes may be “smoke free,” as Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) says, but it is a new platform of electronic cigarettes using heat-not-burn technology that may also kill off vaping as we know it.

Not your father’s e-cig

Traditional e-cigs and personal vaping systems (PVS) heat a nicotine-infused liquid to create a vapor that is inhaled. Whether it’s a glowing point of light or a massive cloud of vapor being released that can make a user look as if he’s starring in a Cheech & Chong movie, the devices have been critiqued as falling short of being fully satisfying.

Users have complained of a chemical aftertaste from the heated e-liquid, while those nearby to someone vaping are annoyed by the billowing clouds in which they’re enveloped.

However, the new heat-not-burn technology promises to resolve both problems. By using real tobacco to deliver the flavor and nicotine hit users crave, these next-generation devices give a more cigarette-like experience to the user while emitting a vapor more confined to one’s personal space. And because they are more like combustible cigarettes than either traditional e-cigs or PVS, they may have the advantage of weaning more people off of smoking, which would be a societal gain in terms of cost and health (there are nicotine-free e-liquids available, too).

Philip Morris is even pursuing a “reduced risk” label in the U.S., which, with the help of the FDA, will give it a major competitive advantage over the competition. Yet with many of the global tobacco companies also pursuing heat-not-burn (HNB) alternatives, it’s worthwhile to look at the different products they will offer.

Philip Morris (iQOS)

For a company that produces some 850 billion combustible cigarettes annually, Philip Morris’ call for a “smoke free” future is a big deal. But since HNB products will use real tobacco, it (and the other manufacturers) aren’t really straying too far from home.

The iQOS is actually a two-part device, a tobacco-filled miniature cigarette and a heating unit. The cigarette, marketed with Altria (NYSE:MO) as Marlboro HeatSticks, is inserted into a device that looks something like a PVS, which is itself inserted into the iQOS heating device. The e-cig is heated to 350 degrees Celsius (662 degrees Fahrenheit), which differs from combustible cigarettes that burn tobacco at 800 degrees Celsius, or almost 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit. The whole device is then removed and “smoked” just as you would a combustible cigarette, and when it’s finished, the HeatStick is discarded.

British American Tobacco (iFuse glo)

Next to the iQOS, British American Tobacco’s (NYSEMKT:BTI) iFuse glo is arguably the next biggest HNB device that will be coming to market. Like the iQOS, a tobacco-filled cigarette, which it will market as NeoStiks under the Kent brand, is similarly inserted into a PVS-like device that is then inserted into the iFuse heating element.

BAT bills itself as the first international tobacco company a vapor product in the U.K., the Vype e-cig, and it followed that with an early iFuse HNB product that heated an e-liquid, but passed the resulting vapor through tobacco to give it real tobacco flavor. The glo is the next stage of development in e-cig technology, and it gives smokers a range of alternatives.

Reynolds American (Eclipse, Revo, Core)

Reynolds American (NYSE:RAI), which just agreed to be acquired by British American for $50 billion, was one of the pioneers in HNB technology with its Eclipse back in the early 1990s. It relaunched the product in 2014 as Revo, but it once again failed to gain much traction with consumers. Although it’s apparently still available in very limited quantities, Reynolds has been working on a new product called Core, which BAT was supposedly very interested in. It’s said that the delay in Reynolds agreeing to BAT’s takeover offer was related to the Core technology. Core, which is similar to Revo, recently completed the first phase of test marketing in Japan.

Japan Tobacco (Ploom Tech)

Despite Japan’s tobacco market falling dramatically over the years, heat-not-burn technology is more successful there than just about anywhere else. It is the first market manufacturers enter when launching their products. When Philip Morris introduced the iQOS there in early 2016, it quickly shot to the top, which had Japan Tobacco (NASDAQOTH:JAPAF) quickly following with its Ploom Tech HNB device. Its own products have been so successful that it has at times had to suspend taking orders for it because it couldn’t keep up. Ploom markets the cigarettes under its popular “Mevius” brand.

PAX Labs (PAX)

PAX Labs used to be Ploom Tech until Japan Tobacco bought the name and technology in 2015. Pax subsequently bought back its partner’s minority stake to focus on the PAX loose-leaf vaporizing product.

Unlike the other HNB technology, users of PAX fill the PAX device with loose-leaf tobacco and place it on a heating unit that plugs into your computer’s USB port. When the unit is hot enough, users attach a mouthpiece to it to draw in the vapor. There are three different devices — the Pax 1, 2, and 3 — that are all similar in function, plus the PAX Era, which is filled with oil. It may be one of the first purpose-built marijuana e-cigs, and it’s available in the U.S., but only in California and Colorado.

Up in smoke

Every tobacco company understands the combustible cigarette market is dying, which is why they’re broadening their horizons into electronic cigarettes and vaping products. The heat-not-burn technology, though, promises to vastly expand the manufacturers’ lifecycle as the use of real tobacco allows them to continue profiting from their primary cash crop. It might also serve to effectively snuff out any remaining vaping competition.

Cautious on heat-not-burn

Jan 23rd, 2017
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The European Commission is in favor of a cautious approach to heat-not-burn products because it believes that there is a lack of evidence relating to the short- and long-term health effects of using such devices.

This was part of the answer given by the Commission to questions raised by the Belgian MEP, Frédérique Ries.

In a preamble to her questions, Ries said that Philip Morris International had said that it intended to market its new ‘device for smoking’ in the UK, following its initial launch in Japan, Italy and Switzerland.

‘The distinctive feature of this new product, which has been named iQOS, is that it stands on the borderline between traditional cigarettes and electronic cigarettes,’ she said.

‘The major difference between iQOS and electronic cigarettes is that while the latter use a liquid transformed into vapor, IQOS heats the tobacco and keeps it burning [iQOS has been designed so as not to burn the tobacco it contains, only to heat it, as is implied in part of the Commission’s reply], which is very harmful to health.’

Ries asked whether the Commission concurred with health experts who claimed that marketing a hybrid tobacco product of this kind was a ploy to circumvent legislation in force and, in particular, all the requirements laid down in Article 19 of Directive 2014/40/EU concerning novel tobacco products.

‘What steps will the Commission take to thwart the strategies employed by cigarette manufacturers to sell alternative products that are still just as harmful to people’s health?’ she asked.

‘Will the Commission take this opportunity to alter its negative views on electronic cigarettes, which, as a growing number of cancer experts in the EU are now pointing out, do not contain any tobacco or tar and are helping many people to stop smoking?’

In reply, the Commission said it was closely monitoring the developments related to new tobacco products, including “heated not burned” tobacco products.

‘Currently, there is lack of evidence relating to short-term and long-term health effects and use patterns of these products,’ it said. ‘Therefore the Commission is in favour of a cautious approach.

‘At the same time, the Commission would like to underline that with regard to the sale, presentation and manufacturing of these products within the European Union, the relevant provisions of the Tobacco Products Directive apply and should be enforced. This includes the ban on misleading elements foreseen by Article 13 and notably any suggestions that a particular tobacco product is less harmful than others.

The Commission oversees whether member states fully and correctly apply the provisions of the directive.

‘With regard to e-cigarettes, given the lack of conclusive evidence relating to the long-term health effects, use patterns and potential to facilitate smoking cessation, Article  20 of the directive contains their regulation with an emphasis on safety, quality and consumer protection.

‘The rules for e-cigarettes nevertheless allow these products to remain widely available to consumers. A recent Commission report COM (2016) 269 underlines a number of  potential risks to public health relating to the use of ecigarettes, at the same time highlighting the need for further research.’

Legality of tobacco product in question

Jan 13th, 2017
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Two of the world’s largest tobacco companies are at odds over whether a new tobacco product being launched in New Zealand is illegal.

This comes after the identity of a mysterious tobacco product, which prompted concern on the part of a University of Otago academic, was revealed as a product called Iqos.

The Philip Morris product heats tobacco, rather than burning it. The Ministry of Health says it has contacted Philip Morris “in relation to activities relating to the Iqos product”.

A member of the public, who declined to be named, said they were at a launch party for the product in Auckland last month. There was free alcohol at the event, which he said was run by marketing agency Brand Spanking and another company. People were educated about how to use the product and given free samples.

After a story on the then-mystery product was published in the Otago Daily Times yesterday, British American Tobacco (BAT) head of legal and external affairs Saul Derber made contact to say it was not behind the product.

Derber confirmed the product was Iqos and said it was BAT’s belief it was illegal in New Zealand.

He pointed to the Ministry of Health website, which stated “heat not burn” products were considered tobacco products for oral use, and their sale was prohibited under the
Smoke-free Environments Act 1990.

BAT had a similar product on sale in Japan but did not have plans to launch it in New Zealand because it was not legal under New Zealand law, Derber said.

He questioned the way the product was launched and a job advertisement that stated it would be marketed throughout New Zealand. He would not be drawn over whether such activity breached rules banning tobacco advertising.

“All I can tell you is that we wouldn’t do that.”

He said the mystery product was not the “Voke Inhaler” mentioned as a possibility in yesterday’s ODT. It was not yet approved for sale in New Zealand and had recently been sold to a company not connected to BAT.

Philip Morris responded late yesterday, saying the section of the law referenced on the ministry’s website was put in place in the 1990s, to address American-style chewing tobacco.

“It has absolutely nothing to do with heated tobacco or e-cigarettes,” a spokesman said.

“Our product fully complies with all relevant legislation in New Zealand.”

The company was launching the product in New Zealand because of widespread interest in alternatives to conventional combustible tobacco products, the spokesman said.

Iqos could help the Government’s push to a smokefree 2025 goal, he said.

It was available in more than a dozen markets and in Japan alone, more than one million smokers had quit cigarettes and used Iqos. The man who was at the Auckland launch of Iqos, at The Wharf, said people were given the opportunity to try the product, which involved putting half-sized tobacco cigarettes in a device that heated but did not burn tobacco.

The man at the launch party likened the product to a cross between ecigarettes, which involve heating liquid often containing nicotine, and normal cigarettes and said there were mixed responses from those who tried it.

Ministry of Health tobacco control programme manager Jane Chambers said in an emailed statement the ministry was aware of the product launch.

“The ministry is concerned with any activity that actively promotes the sale or notifies the availability of any tobacco product.

“The ministry has contacted Philip Morris in relation to activities relating to the Iqos product.”

She said if the product contained tobacco, it was potentially illegal to market it at events and “educate” people about it.

The revelations come after a job advertisement sought 20 people to work for “experiential marketing” agency Brand Spanking and be trained regarding a new tobacco industry product.

Brand Spanking did not reply to follow-up questions yesterday. Director and creative strategist Mark Pickering said in an email on Wednesday night the agency “does not discuss client work with the media”.

– Otago Daily Times

Traditional cigarette sales remain on decline in December

Jan 12th, 2017
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http://www.journalnow.com/business/business_news/local/traditional-cigarette-sales-remain-on-decline-in-december/article_58d80fb5-09f0-571c-8495-f306118d437e.html

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.’s gain in Newport sales and increased pricing were not enough to help the company defy an overall industry sales decline during December.

Reynolds experienced a 2.4 percent drop-off during a four-week period that ended Dec. 31, slightly above the industry’s 1.9 percent decrease, according to Nielsen data released this week.

The Big Three U.S. manufacturers — Reynolds, Philip Morris USA and ITG Brands LLC — all raised their list prices in November by 8 cents a pack. The list price is what wholesalers pay manufacturers for their products. The increases typically are passed on to customers.

Newport, the top-selling menthol cigarette and No. 2 cigarette overall, had a 0.2 percent drop during the period. Sales are up 0.8 percent year over year.

Reynolds spent $29.25 billion in June 2015 to buy Greensboro rival Lorillard Inc., essentially to acquire Newport.

Since the completion of the deal, Reynolds has increased sharply the amount of marketing for Newport. By comparison, Lorillard was content with a status-quo market share of about 12 percent.

Wells Fargo Securities analyst Bonnie Herzog projects Newport increasing its market share to at least 15 percent.

Herzog said she projected overall industry sales to have declined by 2.5 percent during 2016. Her forecast for 2017 is a decline of 3.4 percent.

Sales of Top 10 super-premium cigarette Natural American Spirit were up 12.1 percent over the four-week period.

By comparison, Camel, the No. 3 traditional cigarette brand, was down 4.2 percent. Pall Mall, the No. 4 brand, fell by 9.6 percent, as more smokers have more disposable income to spend on higher-priced options.

Marlboro, the top-selling traditional cigarette brand, was off 2.4 percent. Its market share is at 46.8 percent.

Herzog said ITG Brands’ cigarette sales have stabilized in recent months, down 1.1 percent over the four-week period.

ITG’s market share was 7.5 percent, down from 10 percent in June 2015 when it acquired three Reynolds brands (Kool, Salem, Winston) and one Lorillard brand (Maverick) brand as part of parent company Imperial Brands Plc’s $7.1 billion purchase from Reynolds.

“Overall, Imperial continues to underperform the industry,” Herzog said.

Turning to sales of electronic cigarettes, Herzog said e-cig and vaporizer sales exceeded $4 billion in 2016. She is projecting growth of another $400 million in 2017.

Nielsen data tracks the e-cig mass channel and convenience store marketplace. Vaporizers, which typically are lower in price, are sold mostly in tobacco and vapor shops where Nielsen has limited tracking.

Tobacco products introduced into the marketplace after Feb. 15, 2007 — including almost every e-cig and vaporizer — have to retroactively go through additional Food and Drug Administration requirements to prove they don’t cause public harm. That includes providing more detail on liquid nicotine ingredients and manufacturing details.

Some smaller e-cig manufacturers have either gone out of business since the FDA regulations debuted Aug. 8, or are selling off inventory in anticipation of shutting down.

“Our outlook for 2017 is more cautious for the total vapor category given stifled innovation due to FDA regulations, as well as expected increased competition from iQOS given its superior heat-not-burn technology,” Herzog said.

In December, Philip Morris International has entered the FDA regulatory gauntlet to have its electronically heated cigarette, branded as Marlboro HeatStick, reviewed as a potential reduced-risk product.

“We continue to expect iQOS to be commercialized in the second half of 2017,” Herzog said. Reynolds recently completed a test market in Japan for Core, its latest heat-not-burn version.

Herzog said the top market share of R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co.’s Vuse brand dropped from 35.7 percent to 33.6 percent.

Blu eCigs, sold by ITG Brands, remained second at 17.4 percent, while the MarkTen XL product of Altria Group Inc. was third at 15.7 percent.

Future of BAT’s Planned Nicotine Inhaler in Question

Jan 3rd, 2017
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British American Tobacco ends the supplier deal for its long-delayed Voke inhaler

http://www.wsj.com/articles/british-american-tobacco-ends-voke-supply-deal-1483457898

British American Tobacco PLC terminated the supplier agreement for its long-delayed Voke nicotine inhaler, which the tobacco giant had promoted as setting it apart in the growing market for cigarette alternatives.

BAT in 2014 received a medicinal license for Voke from the U.K.’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, marking the first time a product from a major tobacco company had been licensed by a Western government.

Voke isn’t an electronic cigarette—it doesn’t heat liquid, use a battery or create vapor—meaning BAT expected it to be unaffected by regulations targeting such devices.

The product, meant to be sold as a cigarette-sized stick in a box containing 20 nicotine refills, was billed as a safer alternative to cigarettes—in the same way as nicotine gum or patches—and one that could be prescribed by doctors.

BAT, which licensed distribution, manufacturing and marketing rights to Voke from closely held patent developer Kind Consumer Ltd., had said it expected the product to be launched in the U.K. by the end of 2015. The London-based tobacco giant has delayed the launch several times, however.

On Tuesday, drug-delivery-device maker Consort Medical PLC said BAT was terminating its entire supply deal for Voke, effective immediately, which was a contractual right if the product hadn’t been commercially launched by the end of 2016.

The companies remain in “constructive dialogue” about the future of Voke, Consort said. A BAT spokeswoman declined to comment on whether the deal’s termination meant Voke was being permanently shelved. Kind Consumer also declined to comment.

In an interview in December, Kingsley Wheaton, BAT’s head of next-generation products, described Voke as “a very complex and challenging product to miniaturize at speed” and said the company was “still working through the many manufacturing challenges of Voke.”

Analysts hadn’t expected Voke to be a significant revenue driver for BAT, but they had seen the product as diversifying the Dunhill and Lucky Strike owner’s offerings within the market for cigarette alternatives.

Consort’s shares were down 3.3% in recent London trading, while BAT’s were down less than 0.1%. Consort said the termination didn’t materially affect its performance expectations for the fiscal year ending in April.

— Denise Roland contributed to this article.

mCig On Track For Best Quarter In Its History

Jan 2nd, 2017
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http://military-technologies.net/2017/01/02/mcig-on-track-for-best-quarter-in-its-history/

mCig Inc., (OTCQB: MCIG), a diversified company servicing the legal cannabis, hemp, and CBD markets announced today that it is on track to deliver the “best quarter on record” to its shareholders. In the recent shareholder conference call held December 19, 2016 the company covered many key points of the business operations culminating in the fact that MCIG has surpassed last quarter’s historical earnings statement, by exceeding the total revenue for the previous quarter half way through our current quarter. With January’s projected revenue numbers, MCIG is scheduled to deliver its best quarter in its history. Some of the key points made by management during the shareholder update call include:

– All three operating segments, construction, wholesale, and retail were profitable, self sustaining and projected to maintain upward trend.

– Construction/consulting division has become MCIG’s most profitable division, with expectations of a continued trend as Nevada Cultivators scale operations to meet recreational demand within the state.

– Our wholesale e-Cig and CBD segment is still robust, profitable and positioned exceptionally well in international & US markets.

– Established a new wholly owned subsidiary, Grow Contractors Inc., to oversee construction segment with Rob Kressa, a 10 year cannabis industry veteran appointed as the CEO of Grow Contractors Inc.

– MCIG in negotiations to acquire Medical Marijuana Establishment (“MME”) licenses in Nevada.

– MCIG currently has over $10 million in order/contract backlog

– MCIG, in joint venture with Sangreen International, to launch a new “Build your own greenhouse website” at www.growcontractors.org in the next few weeks, along with corresponding mobile app.

– MCIG model considers acquiring, growing, incubating, operations in the cannabis space, with the ultimate intention to spin-off as it did with VitaCig, now Omni Health, Inc.

– OMHE investment is currently valued at over $1.5 million, which MCIG expects to be an appreciating asset over time or as a read to use reserve for the company mandates.

– VitaCig e-Cig division continues its domination of the international e-Cig business. Its recently expanded operations in Europe with plans to penetrate South Africa, and South America.

About mCig, Inc.

Headquartered in Henderson, Nevada, mCig Inc. (OTCQB: MCIG) A diversified company servicing the legal cannabis, hemp and CBD markets via its lifestyle brands. MCIG has transitioned from a vaporizer manufacturer to industry leading large scale, full service cannabis cultivation construction company with its Scalable Solutions division currently operating in the rapidly expanding Nevada market. The company looks forward to growing its core competencies to service the Ancillary legal Cannabis, Hemp and CBD markets, with broader expansion to take place once federal laws change. For more information visit www.mcig.org.

Safe Harbor Statement

Any statements contained in this press release that do not describe historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any forward-looking statements contained herein are based on current expectations, but are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. The factors that could cause actual future results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties relating to the Company’s ability to develop, market and sell products based on its technology; the expected benefits and efficacy of the Company’s products and technology; the availability of substantial additional funding for the Company to continue its operations and to conduct research and development, and future product commercialization; and the Company’s business, research, product development, regulatory approval, marketing and distribution plans and strategies.

FDA denies Swedish Match request on tobacco warning label changes

Dec 14th, 2016
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In its first action on so-called modified-risk tobacco products, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday rejected a company’s request to remove some health warning labels from a smokeless product called snus.

http://www.richmond.com/business/local/article_c925fb0e-7932-5521-91ed-c08a6ba949ff.html

Swedish Match, a Swedish-based tobacco company with its North American headquarters in Richmond, applied to the FDA in 2014 to have its snus product designated as modified risk, meaning it could be less risky to health.

Snus (pronounced snoos), is a smokeless tobacco sold in small pouches that the user places between the cheek and gum.

It has been popular in Scandinavian countries for many years, and Swedish Match, which sells snus under the brand name General in the United States, argued in its application to the FDA that it is a less-risky alternative to cigarettes and other tobacco products.

The company said it submitted about 120,000 pages of documents to the FDA to back that claim, including scientific and consumer studies conducted over the past 30 years in Norway and Sweden.

The company wanted to remove mandatory, rotating warning labels on snus packages that say it can cause gum disease, tooth loss and mouth cancer.

It also wanted to change the wording on a warning label that says snus is “not a safe alternative to cigarettes.” The company wanted it to read: “No tobacco product is safe, but this product presents substantially lower risks to health than cigarettes.”

The company did not seek to change a warning that says smokeless tobacco is addictive.

The FDA said it denied the request to remove the gum disease and tooth loss warnings because, based on the scientific evidence, “the products can cause gum disease and tooth loss.”

However, the agency deferred a final decision on the mouth cancer warning and the wording change, giving Swedish Match up to two years to amend its application. The FDA said the application “could be amended to support issuance of modified-risk orders.”

Under a 2009 federal law that gave the FDA authority to regulate tobacco products, companies can apply to the agency to market novel products as modified risk if there is evidence they are less risky to health.

The FDA has not yet authorized any tobacco products as modified risk. In reviewing such requests, the agency has to consider a product’s potential impact on both individual users and the population as a whole.

“The lessons learned through these first applications provide key insights moving forward,” said Mitch Zeller, director for the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, in a statement. “For example, companies should carefully consider how they plan to present and substantiate a modified-risk claim.”

“While the FDA is not authorizing modified-risk orders for these products at this time, our guidance to the company will enable it to amend its applications if it chooses,” Zeller said.

Swedish Match called the FDA decision encouraging and noted that the agency previously found that snus contains “significantly lower levels of harmful constituents compared to over 97 percent of the smokeless products on the U.S. market.”

The FDA decision leaves open the possibility that other warning label changes could be approved for snus products eventually, or that Swedish Match could propose other ways of communicating the lower risks of the product, said Jim Solyst, Swedish Match’s vice president for federal regulatory affairs.

“I think there are various ways of looking at this decision,” Solyst said. “Certainly, there are positive elements to the correspondence we received from the FDA. They would like to continue the dialogue. They have given us more guidance as to what is possible.”

Some public health and tobacco-control groups opposed changing the warning labels on snus. For instance, during the FDA’s review of Swedish Match’s application, the American Dental Association urged the agency to make no changes to warning labels without more research on whether smokeless tobacco is “a gateway” to cigarette smoking.

The FDA is considering other applications for modified-risk tobacco products.

Earlier this month, tobacco company Philip Morris International said it submitted an application to the FDA to market a new type of cigarette that heats tobacco instead of burning it as potentially less harmful than conventional cigarettes.

If the product, called iQOS, gets clearance, Henrico County-based Altria Group Inc. — parent of top U.S. tobacco company Philip Morris USA — would have exclusive rights to sell it in the United States under a licensing agreement between the companies.

As pot becomes legal, head shops can drop the smoke screen

Dec 14th, 2016
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Of course it was for marijuana. All of it. The cheapo metal one-hitters that are supposed to look like a cigarette. The glass shelves lined with pocket vaporizers. The $175 Magic Butter machine. All of it.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/12/14/paraphernalia-shops-drop-smoke-screen/PrQgvhT4fBOoX18OoXJlzM/story.html

And at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday in Massachusetts, as recreational marijuana became legal, the shops that have been selling all this paraphernalia could finally end their long public wink, take down the “for tobacco use only” signs, and admit that their glass cases have always been filled with toys for getting high.

“I’m so sick of telling customers they can’t say bong, or marijuana. And I’ll be so glad to not have to say ‘tobacco’ anymore,” said Zelda Feinberg, throwing up huge, dramatic air quotes around the word “tobacco.” Feinberg is one of the cofounders of Buried Treasures, a “smoke shop” that has been pretending it had no idea what you were talking about with this weed stuff in various locations in Boston and Cambridge since 1983.

The “it’s for tobacco” deceit was a thin and often ludicrous charade carried out for decades by shops all over the state. With names like the Trippy Hippy, The Hempest, and Wild Side Smoke Shop, it’s unlikely anybody was fooled. But Massachusetts laws were clear — no sales of drug paraphernalia — and the penalties for violating them stiff, up to two years in prison or fines up to $5,000. So retailers strictly enforced the rules.

Customers who dared drop the “tobacco” ruse at her shop would usually get a warning, Feinberg said, and then the door. No talk of weed. And no using the “b word” — “bong just feels like a drug word,” Feinberg said. Customers were asked to call it a “water pipe” and pretend they were asking about the 4-foot, 4-inch chambered glass tower because they just weren’t getting enough out of their cigarettes.

“Now I don’t care what you call it. Call it a bong. Call it whatever you want,” said Feinberg, who said she stopped pretending about all of it after the ballot measure passed in November. For the first time in the shop’s 33-year history, they brought in apparel featuring the marijuana leaf. “Having that stuff in here feels like a big deal. We always had to be so careful.”

Upholding the “for tobacco use only” façade has always meant that it is somehow plausible that the product be usable for tobacco or some other legal pursuit. Could you use a glass pipe for tobacco? Most definitely. Could you eat a cookie made with tobacco butter? Technically, probably. Could you use the carbon-lined odor-absorbing messenger bag on sale at Buried Treasures for something other than transporting marijuana? Sure. Are there scenarios in which you’d want to disguise a cigarette by using a metal cigarette? Maybe so. And on and on. That has been the drill: Just pretend the items sold by the shop were for tobacco and everything was fine.

And now, well, it’s over. Right? Everyone can drop the act on Thursday? Just up the street from Buried Treasures in Allston, Richard Lamoretti, the owner of Fast Eddie’s Smoke Shop, still wasn’t ready to budge. “I’ve got a copy of the old laws around here somewhere,” he said, sifting through binders behind the counter. “The section on paraphernalia is like four pages long and whoever wrote it was good.”

He asked a Globe reporter to read him the new law, twice, which states that it is not a crime “for possessing, purchasing or otherwise obtaining or manufacturing marijuana accessories or for selling or otherwise transferring marijuana accessories to a person who is 21 years of age or older.”

His face continued to make clear that he was not sold.

“My current story is that this is all for tobacco use only,” he said.

On Thursday, would that change? Would he admit that nearly everything in his shop was for weed?

“You just told me that I can, right?” he asked, still with the suspicious face, triggering another assurance that no one here was a narc.

“I’ll tell you this, though,” he said finally. “We’re not going to have any huge jump in our business.”

And why is that?

“Because I don’t think we have many law-abiding citizens who have been sitting around waiting until it was legal to say the word bong.”

Philip Morris (PM) Seeks FDA Approval for IQOS Products

Dec 7th, 2016
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http://www.nasdaq.com/article/philip-morris-pm-seeks-fda-approval-for-iqos-products-cm718365

Tobacco giant Philip Morris International Inc. PM has filed an application with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its IQOS products (heatsticks that heat tobacco instead of burning it).

Once the Modified Risk Tobacco Product (MRTP) claim is approved by FDA, the company will be able to enjoy a significant marketing advantage over other reduced risk tobacco products that are being sold currently. The regulatory authority is expected to take a minimum of 60 days for completing an administrative review of the application.

The heatsticks are already available in several test markets. Philip Morris launched these products in fiscal 2015 in Japan and Italy where it became very popular. Further, there is a steady increase in the number of iQOS purchasers who have predominantly or fully converted to these reduced risk products.

Once these products get a go ahead from the FDA, Altria Group Inc. MO will also be able to sell these products in the U.S.

Altria and Philip Morris have been working on reduced risk tobacco products for quite some time. In 2015, the two companies had entered into a strategic agreement under which Philip Morris markets Altria’s MarkTen e-cigarettes internationally. Altria in turn distributes two of Philip Morris’ heated tobacco products in the U.S.

Further, the companies have decided to partner on a regulatory engagement related to the products. The joint venture has made excellent progress on branding and go-to-market strategies for non-conventional cigarettes in the U.S. market. Additionally, the two companies were working together on the above mentioned modified-risk tobacco product claim.

 

Doubt cast on ‘safer’ tobacco vaporiser

Dec 2nd, 2016
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Advocacy groups are casting doubt over claims a new kind of cigarette called Iqos is less harmful than traditional tobacco products.

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/health/doubt-cast-on-safer-tobacco-vaporiser-35261612.html

Big tobacco company Philip Morris has reportedly invested US$3bn (€2.8bn) on developing the technology.

It works like a vaporiser, by heating tobacco without burning it. The company claims the vapour still contains nicotine, but has 10pc less harmful ingredients.

But the Asthma Society of Ireland has pointed to claims made in the past by the tobacco industry, to raise concerns over these claims.

“Tobacco companies lied for years about the link between smoking and cancer.

“Now Marlboro manufacturer Philip Morris is making fresh health claims. We would be crazy to believe them without independent proof,” CEO of the organisation Averil Power said.

“Tobacco companies will do and say anything to sell their products,” she added.

Donal Buggy, head of services and advocacy at the Irish Cancer Society, backed the scepticism.

“There is no such thing as a safe cigarette. The only safe level of consumption of cigarettes is none whatsoever,” he said.

Irish Independent

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