WHO – Finnish Off Vaping
The World Health Organization idiotically celebrates “strong legislation” that “helps defeat e-cigarettes in Finland”
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by Dave Cross
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Finland, according to the WHO, has struck a blow against the tobacco industry by preventing smokers from switching to vaping. This is a good thing according to those who know better than you or experts because the use of e-cigarettes is “an issue which has become a public health dilemma for the tobacco control community in recent years.”
“Many countries across the European Region have struggled to contain the rising popularity of these products.”
As Europe was working in tandem with WHO on the production of the latest iteration of the Tobacco Products Directive until current events forced a delay to the proceedings. The attitude demonstrated above ought to strike fear into the hearts of vapers across Europe.
The WHO has been criticised in the past for ignoring drug dumping, inflating AIDS figures, among other things, and currently faces a raft of allegations that it has mishandled the COVID-19 pandemic. Vapers have seen it ignore sound evidence on ecigs and tobacco harm reduction, slander good scientists, and ban the public from viewing the workings of its tobacco control conference.
It’s position on vaping is nonsensical – bordering on full-blown lunacy. Applauding the work of the Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health in clamping down on e-cigarettes defies all logic.
Dr Meri Paavola, a member of the team behind the action, is quoted by the WHO saying: “Legislation is a very important way of protecting vulnerable groups from e-cigarettes. For example, candy flavours in e-cigarettes clearly target children and adolescents.”
Muddling the vape with the tobacco industry suits the WHO’s agenda. “There has been pushback against the new measures from the e-cigarette industry, with several appeals lodged in 2018 and 2019 against the flavour ban on products in vape shops,” she said.
After wibbling about nicotine poisoning, she went on to add that “several studies have also suggested that certain flavours themselves are harmful to health, proving the need for putting flavour bans at the core of any new regulations”.
The WHO might attempt to claim there is “a growing body of evidence” about toxic substances, second-hand vape, and heart disease, it all comes from limited sources that have demonstrated failure in methodology or fraudulent practise.
For example, saying “nicotine is highly addictive and … exposure to nicotine of children and adolescents can have long-lasting, damaging effects on brain development” is ridiculous when you are relying on poor quality, extreme case mouse studies.
If the World Health Organization cared about the health of tobacco users it would abide by Article 1(d): “‘tobacco control’ means a range of supply, demand and harm reduction strategies that aim to improve the health of a population by eliminating or reducing their consumption of tobacco products and exposure to tobacco smoke”.
Any organisation demanding strong legislation to “defeat e-cigarettes” isn’t fit for purpose.
Related:
- The World Health Organization’s position on Electronic Cigarettes – [link]
- The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control – [link]
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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