NNA Writes To Government
The New Nicotine Alliance has written to the Government about its levelling up agenda and pointing out how reduced harm products can help it capitalise on Brexit
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by Dave Cross
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The letter and accompanying document (2) have been sent to:
- Jo Churchill MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Health and Social Care
- Munira Mirza, Director of the No.10 Policy Unit
- Jonathan Marron, Director General, Public Health, Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)
- Mark Davies, Director Population Health, DHSC
- Hugh Harris, Director of Ministers, Accountability and Strategy, DHSC
- Allan Nixon, Special Adviser, DHSC
- Emma Dean, Special Adviser, DHSC
- William Warr, Health Adviser, No 10 Policy Unit
- Sheridan Westlake, Special Adviser to the Prime Minister
- John Newton, Director of Health Improvement, Public Health England
The letter states:
“We are writing to follow up our letter of 29 October 2020, setting out why and how Brexit could help achieve the government’s Smoke-free 2030 goal and contribute to levelling up. Thank you for the reply of 6 November 2020, which we appreciate. We understand a new Tobacco Control Plan will be announced later this year. We believe this will of necessity go beyond the scope of the recent consultation on the implementation of tobacco regulations and raises questions of strategy that we would like to address. This letter and attached submission are to provide a more comprehensive set of proposals and should be read in conjunction with the evidence set out in our October letter.
“The New Nicotine Alliance represents consumers of low-risk alternatives to cigarettes such as vaping products, smokeless and heated tobacco products. As consumers, we have a direct interest in the regulation of these products and the personal and public health consequences of policy choices made by the government.
“If it is to succeed, the plan to achieve the Smoke-free 2030 goal will inevitably have a significant effect on England’s 5.7 million adult smokers and 2.5 million vapers, with knock-on effects elsewhere in the UK. For the policy to be successful, both politically and as a public health measure, we firmly believe this goal must be achieved by consent and consumer choice, not by force of law, punitive taxation and coercive restrictions. The government should approach citizens as an ally in their struggles, not as though it is policing and punishing their behaviour.
“With that in mind, we have set out a more complete set of proposed measures building on the Brexit-related proposals we made in October. We start from the premise that a range of smoke-free products (vaping, heated tobacco, snus and oral nicotine products) will work as effective alternatives to smoking products if they are promoted and marketed appropriately to smokers. No one using nicotine has to be exposed to outsized risks of cancer, COPD or heart disease. The alternatives are available: we just need a policy framework that encourages the widespread transition from smoking to smoke-free alternatives for continuing nicotine users.”
Vapers can help the work of the New Nicotine Alliance by signing up as a supporter for free (3) or making a voluntary donation (4).
References:
- The New Nicotine Alliance – https://nnalliance.org/
- Letter and supporting document - https://nnalliance.org/images/documents/Letter_re_tobacco_policy_May_2021.pdf
- Support the NNA - https://nnalliance.org/supporters/supporters-sign-up
- Donate to the NNA - https://nnalliance.org/supporters/donate
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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