Anti-Vape Tax, Fake News, And a Drop in Smoking

The hot topic: all together against a European anti-e-cigarette tax

On June 29, 16 associations for the defense of the vape met to form a common front against the threat of a tax on a European scale. At the origin of this movement, the EU launched a public consultation on the taxation of tobacco and vaping products (again put in the same bag). “No punitive surcharge is justifiable against a consumer product which is not a tobacco product and which massively reduces the damage to health compared to smoked tobacco,” thus indicating these associations in a press release. They invite vapers to get involved massively by signing a petition and participating in the consultation.

More information on this action is on the website of the French association Sovape.

The French attribute the drop in smoking to the use of electronic cigarettes

At the end of May, the Minister of Health, Agnes Buzyn, announced the historic decline in smoking in France. 1 million smokers at least, a figure as round as it is exceptional. To explain it, the Minister highlighted the latest anti-tobacco measures (price increases, neutral packaging, etc.) without mentioning the impact of electronic cigarettes. However, the French are not fooled. In any case, this is what a survey carried out for Le Figaro reveals. Nearly 70% of those questioned believe that the development of electronic cigarettes has had an essential role in this spectacular decline. A general impression seems to be confirmed by the latest data from Public Health France, according to which the e-cigarette is currently the most popular means of quitting smoking.

The electronic cigarette is “clearly less toxic than tobacco,” according to Agnes Buzyn.

Very discreet about the e-cigarette when she announced the drop in the number of smokers, Agnes Buzyn was indeed obliged to approach it when she was asked the question live on Europe 1. “We promote everything that can help quit,” replied the Minister before continuing: “we don’t know very well its long-term toxicity, but it is less toxic than tobacco.” A timid encouragement that could translate into action, or rather, into a less refractory policy: “if we have to go through the electronic cigarette, we are not opposed to it,” assures Agnès Buzyn. A sufficient reason to consider that vaping products will one day be reimbursed by Social Security? “We are not there yet,” retorts the Minister with a dubious pout. Noted!

“Fake news”: Liberation denounces an article published on Facebook

The Liberation newspaper website reports a particularly misleading article published on Facebook through its “check news” tool. Entitled “electronic cigarette, here are the first diseases that have already appeared,” it echoes cases of obliterating bronchitis caused by e liquids containing diacetyl. The Liberation journalist dismantles false information: “At high doses, diacetyl has indeed caused obliterating bronchiolitis (…). But for now, there is no evidence that vaping has also caused it.” He recalls in passing that “no scientific study on humans has established a causality between vaping and any disease.”

Remember on our side that, as a precaution, the overwhelming majority of e-liquid manufacturers have removed diacetyl from their recipes. This is particularly the case for all e liquids made in France and respecting the Afnor standard.

Vaping to quit smoking without wanting to!

Now let’s talk about a much more serious British study carried out by researchers from the University of East Anglia, it demonstrates that the electronic cigarette is effective in quitting smoking and would also promote the chances of a non-smoker in the long term. More surprisingly, it reveals that among the vapers surveyed, 17% had no intention of quitting when they started vaping. Those responsible for the study also qualify them as “accidental vapers”; in other words, “people who just wanted to try the vaper (…) then realized later that it had an impact on their smoking cessation and no longer felt the need to smoke. Uplifting!