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IEVA chairman, Dustin Dahlmann. Photo credit: IEVA
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Ride4Vape 2022: Umberto Roccatti, IEVA vice chairman and president of the Italian vaping association ANAFE, cycled 700km from Italy to the European Parliament in Strasbourg to demonstrate the harm reduction potential of vaping compared to combustible tobacco. Photo credit: IEVA
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IEVA’s board at InterTabac 2022; from left to right: Ciprian Boboi, treasurer and co-founder; Dustin Dahlmann, chairman; Umberto Roccatti, vice chairman. Photo credit: IEVA
The reduced risk benefits of vaping are put in jeopardy by countries around the world adopting vape bans and e-flavor restrictions.
E-smoking – or rather, vaping, as it is preferably called nowadays – was originally hailed as the perfect reduced-risk solution to reduce tobacco consumption rates. As smoking prevalence statistics from around the globe suggest, it has worked to an admirable degree, too. More and more tobacco smokers are switching to vapes to either quit for good or at least cut down on their expensive tobacco habit. But, in a world dominated by zealously regulation-happy authorities, vaping also is becoming subject to increasingly restrictive laws, some of them quite drastic.
Restrictions and bans everywhere
For example, while reportedly designed to protect teenagers from picking up vaping, bans on certain e-flavors in some European countries and the US are of course not only affecting youngsters but responsible adult consumers as well, denying them their right of choice. China relatively recently banned fruity e-flavors domestically – while still allowing their manufacture for export. Australia is contemplating a new set of legislation that will outlaw recreational vaping altogether. If passed into law, vaping devices and e-liquids can then only be bought from pharmacies against medical prescription. Additionally, flavors and other ingredients, including the nicotine content, will be restricted to “increase the minimum quality standards” for vapes. Malaysia, Hungary, and a few other nations are currently pondering similar laws. In most of Southeast Asia vaping is already completely illegal. All of that begs the question whether vaping eventually is going to become “the next big demon” in the same manner as tobacco is slowly but surely being “regulated away.”
Vaping would be nothing without flavors
However, the sheer variety of flavors available to consumers has of course always been one of the most attractive and important characteristics of vaping – and a major cause for its phenomenal success. A Eurobarometer market study in 2021 revealed that around 48% of adult consumers in Europe chose fruity notes as their favorite vape flavors. But, it is exactly those fruit flavors which are being targeted by pending flavor bans… because they also are what teens allegedly enjoy the most.
It’s quite the conundrum, because according to Dustin Dahlmann, chairman of the Independent European Vape Alliance Association (IEVA), “research on the impact of flavor bans also shows that many vapers return to [tobacco] smoking as a result [of the ban], or they purchase their favorite flavors illegally in the unregulated black market.” “That is a very bad development, as it achieves the opposite of what legislators wanted to achieve.”
“No over-regulation for no reason”
Dahlmann pointed out that EU authorities certainly cannot be oblivious to that impact either because these research data are freely available to them, too. A general ban on flavors in the EU would be a big mistake, in Dahlmann’s opinion. “[IEVA’s] engagement is largely focused on communicating the facts about e-cigarettes, and that includes the consequences of misregulation,” he told Tobacco Asia, adding that, luckily, IEVA sees “a good chance that EU-wide flavor bans will be prevented.” Dahlmann’s message leaves no margin for misinterpretation: “The product must not be over-regulated for no reason.”
Existing youth protection laws should be sufficient
Still, one actually is tempted to wonder why an outright ban appears to be the only option regulators have if the aim truly is to prevent youths from engaging in an unhealthy habit. As far as tobacco and vaping products are concerned, there already exist laws that bar underage people from purchasing them. Why doesn’t that suffice? After all, it seems to work reasonably well for alcohol, pornography, medications, and so on. “One thing is very clear: young people or non-smokers should neither smoke nor vape,” Dahlmann pointed out correctly. “The e-cigarette is an alternative for adult smokers to achieve tobacco cessation… while countries’ youth protection acts prohibit the sale of e-cigarettes to young people. Any retailer who disregards these regulations is liable to prosecution.”
But, therein lies the rub. Youth protection laws are often not enforced vigilantly enough – or penalties for offenders are so ridiculously lenient that the deterrent effect is almost nil. To illustrate that, Dahlmann offered a real-life example from the recent past: “A retailer in northern Germany who was proven to have sold e-cigarettes to young people only received a warning and was ‘threatened’ with a fine of €75.”
Educating those who make our laws
Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for laws to be hammered out by politicians and career bureaucrats who are explicitly not experts on the subject matter at hand. Therefore, a very important part of IEVA’s commitment is aimed at educating politicians about the importance of e-flavors for adult users. The whole debate about vaping should be focusing on scientific facts, and almost all scientific studies have shown that vaping is far less harmful than smoking, argued Dahlmann.
“Political decision makers need to know the harm reduction facts and the potential of [vapes] for [improving] public health in order to enable differentiated regulation,” he said. Historically, blanket prohibitions have rarely worked; and vaping bans are no different. Whether it’s alcohol, drugs, tobacco, or vapes, the main drivers why teenagers try out something they are not supposed to do are curiosity, peer pressure, family influence, “influencer” role models, social protest, stress relief, or all of these in one constellation or another.
The young always will find a way
But, if vapes or e-flavors are banned, youngsters who want to try it out will still find ways to lay their hands on them. In other words, an impossible-to-control black market similar to what we have seen for tobacco products is bound to develop. In addition, many current vapers who had previously switched from tobacco products simply will return to smoking.
“All e-cigarette bans so far have had no impact on youth consumption,” claimed Dustin Dahlmann. Quite the contrary seems to be the case. “In Denmark,” Dahlmann said, “the rate of youth vaping has even increased after the flavor ban, because users now get their products on the illegal market.” Over that entire debate about bans and prohibitions one crucial aspect is drowned out completely. “Figures show that the vast majority of e-cigarette users are adult smokers seeking an alternative to tobacco cigarettes,” according to Dahlmann. “The political recognition of the potential of e-cigarettes and the public promotion of the product in countries such as the UK and New Zealand has contributed to a significant decline in smoking rates there in recent years.”
It’s foolish to ban an entire product group that’s supposed to bring tobacco users away from smoking and at the same time expect smoking rates to drop! That is unless nanny state lawmakers have already made up their minds and intentionally want to create “the next big demon.” If that isn’t an Orwellian scenario… what is?