NEWS
A R U N D OW N
O F T H E L AT E ST
VA P E N E WS
AND RESEARCH
FROM AROUND
T H E WO R L D
10 | VM20
DECADE OLD DECREE
The Belgian Vaping Union is appealing
to the nation’s government to abandon
a 2009 royal decree which opposes the
development of a Belgian vape industry.
At the time, the decision proved unpopular
among the Belgian vape community. It is
hoped these measures will help Belgian
officials to recognise the benefits of
vaping to public health and the economy.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Maggie de
Block has announced the introduction
of a new, neutral cigarette pack which is
said to be rolled out in the near future.
KENT HOSPITAL
CELEBRATES TWO
YEARS SMOKE-FREE
Medway NHS Foundation Trust in
Kent recently marked two years as a
smoke-free site. A spokesperson said
this success, in which employees were
helped on their mission to quit, is mainly
down to some excellent collaboration
between the partners, including Medway
Foundation Trust and Medway council
among many. “Medway Council’s Stop
Smoking Service is an e-cigarette friendly
service and acknowledges the role these
devices have played in supporting people
to quit in recent years.”
UNICORNS & DECACORNS
JUUL Labs has become the fastest
start-up in history to reach a $10 billion
valuation and did so four times quicker
than previous record holder Facebook.
It took just seven months after its first
venture-capital raise to smash through
the decacorn valuation. JUUL also
got there almost five times faster than
Snapchat and 11 times faster than
Dropbox. According to data obtained by
Yahoo Finance, JUUL, which is currently
valued at $15 billion, accounts for 73
percent of all e-cigarette sales in the
US. Unicorns are companies that quickly
achieve a billion-dollar valuation while a
decacorn is a company that achieves a
$10 billion valuation.
NEW YEAR, NEW TAX
Polish vapers will notice a rise in the
cost of vaping from January 1 as Poland
introduces a 0.12c tax on e-liquids. The
amendment to the Excise Tax Act was
passed by 254 votes to 177 with one
abstention.