Vaping products today stand as one of the most promising alternatives to tobacco. Many studies show that not only are vaping products more effective in helping smokers quit than other techniques, they are also increasing the number of smokers who try and quit. In addition, scientific evidence so far shows that they have significantly reduced levels of key toxicants compared to traditional tobacco products, with average levels of exposure falling well below the thresholds for concern.
Nevertheless, vaping products have been subjected to an unfair regulation by the European institutions that consider them as traditional tobacco products despite the fact that they do not contain any tobacco and only in some cases contain nicotine.
By discouraging smokers from ways to quit, and placing regulations on vaping, the EU is decreasing the number of smokers who may successfully quit tobacco products. This problem doesn’t just affect the smokers and ‘vapers’ but also the general public through the effects of second-hand smoke – another area where vaping drastically reduces risk as proved by various scientific researches.
Moreover, it does not meet the public health systems objectives to reduce the consumption of tobacco-based products.
Keeping tobacco and vaping under the same regulation is nonsensical, illogical and diminishes consumers’ freedom of choice. European citizens need a new regulation supported by scientific evidence and correct information.
Current legislation on vaping is negatively affecting:
- Consumers. According to scientific studies and empirical researches, vaping products have been found to be far less harmful than traditional tobacco cigarettes. Consumers should be free to choose alternatives to traditional tobacco products without any regulatory barrier or unfair taxation;
- Innovation. A fragmented and disadvantageous regulation on vaping products penalizes the innovation processes and discourage investments. Private companies are investing enormous resources in reduced-risk products with remarkable achievements. European institutions should acknowledge this effort and support the innovation process to protect consumers’ health.
THE PLEDGE
The vaping community is growing rapidly, and now, we are looking for European Candidates to vote for that support vaping.
We are calling the candidates, running for the European Parliament, to sign the following pledge for the Liberty of European Citizens:
I, ______________, pledge to:
- Promote the access of European citizens to better alternatives to cigarettes, such as vaping, free from unnecessary regulation and unfair taxation;
- Change the current legislation with a new regulation that is scientific and evidence-based, and that distinguishes vaping products from tobacco & pharmaceutical products.
FOR CANDIDATES: DOWNLOAD THE FULL VERSION OF THE PLEDGE HERE
SCIENTIFIC SOURCES
Vaping needs a new evidence-based regulation to let the citizens make free and informed choices for their health. We provide here the most relevant and recent scientific studies and researches on vaping and Tobacco Harm Reduction:
- New England Journal of Medicine 2019
https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMoa1808779
- Cancer Research UK 2019
- Public Health England 2018
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/phe-publishes-independent-expert-e-cigarettes-evidence-review
- British Medical Association 2018
- American Cancer Society 2018
https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-causes/tobacco-and-cancer/e-cigarettes.html
- UK Royal College of Physicians 2016:
https://www.rcplondon.ac.uk/news/promote-e-cigarettes-widely-substitute-smoking-says-new-rcp-report
- Cochrane Review 2016:
https://uk.cochrane.org/news/conclusions-about-effects-electronic-cigarettes-remain-same
- Public Health England 2015:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/e-cigarettes-an-evidence-update
- Nicotine & Tobacco Research 2014
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4565991/
For Free Choice
For Free Choice aims to promote scientific information and method in public discourse. For Free Choice also defends consumers’ choice rights against the smear and demonizing campaigns which aim to confuse them and benefit specific interests.