EU’s Misguided Attacks
The EU Commissions' misguided attacks on vaping continue, says the Director of the World Vapers’ Alliance
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by Dave Cross
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Michael Landl, Director of the World Vapers’ Alliance, commented: “It is shocking that the EU Commission still peddles these worn-out and debunked theories. The Commission systematically ignores the wealth of scientific evidence pointing to the benefits of vaping, not to mention the first-hand experience of millions of vapers. Vaping is 95% less harmful than smoking and a more effective method to quit smoking than traditional therapies such as gum and patches. The Commission's approach to vaping will do nothing but cost lives.”
The statement is a written response to a question asked by MEP Sara Skyttedal regarding the future treatment of vaping and snus, and how the Commission plans to deal with them in light of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan.
The EU Commission keeps refusing to compare vaping to smoking. If they did so, it would become clear that the current approach is wrong. Professor Jacob George (University of Dundee) found that smokers who switch to vaping “demonstrate significant improvement in vascular health”. Instead of recommending smokers to switch to vaping or other less harmful alternatives, Commissioner Kyriakides refuses to listen to science, experts, and consumers.
“The statement shows that the EU Commission intends to further crackdown on vaping. This is not a good sign regarding the upcoming Tobacco Products Directive update. This strengthens our conviction that consumers need to raise their voices. We need to convince our representatives in the European Parliament to push back on the Commission's hostility towards harm reduction,” added Michael Landl.
The upcoming update of the EU's Tobacco Products Directive will determine the future of vaping, possibly threatening the most successful smoking cessation aid and public health. Currently, the EU is discussing the next Tobacco Products Directive update and how to include new nicotine alternatives. Unfortunately, the EU aims to continue its hostile and anti-scientific attack on vaping and other harm reducing products.
The World Vapers’ Alliance says it amplifies the voice of vapers worldwide and empowers them to make a difference in their communities. It states that its members are vapers associations and individual vapers from all over the world.
References:
- The World Vapers’ Alliance - www.worldvapersalliance.com
Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous start-ups to develop content for their websites.
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