Lithuania – The Next Country To Fall
Lithuanian politicians have taken the decision to make it the next nation in line to reject science and ban e-liquid flavours
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by Dave Cross
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The proposed law will ban all e-liquid flavours except tobacco and applies to nicotine-free juices too.
The amendment to Article 9(2) states:
“It shall be prohibited to place on the market electronic cigarettes and fillers containing liquids designed for filling electronic cigarettes, if the liquid contains the following additives:
- vitamins or other additives that create the impression of the electronic cigarette or electronic cigarette refill having a health benefit or presenting reduced health risks;
- caffeine or taurine, or other additives and stimulative compounds that are associated with energy and vitality;
- additives colouring the emissions;
- additives that in unburned form have CMR properties; 5) flavourings other than tobacco flavours.”
It goes on to add: “The Government of the Republic of Lithuania, or an institution authorised by it, shall enact executive legal instruments in respect of this law by 30 June 2022 and shall enter into force on 1 July 2022.”
The government justifies its evidence-free, anti-science approach saying: ““reduce the attractiveness and demand of electronic cigarettes and electronic cigarette fillers (especially for young people who are particularly attracted to flavoured smoking products).”
Consumer group The European Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (ETHRA) has commented: “The clear and obvious problem with this is that non-tobacco flavoured e-liquids are the preference of the majority of adult vapers who have completely switched from smoking to vaping.
“Removing these products from the market would be disastrous for ex-smokers who rely on flavoured e-liquid to remain smoke free, driving many vapers back to smoking or to the black market to source products.
“As vaping is the most popular and effective method of smoking cessation, a flavour ban would have an extremely negative affect on future cessation efforts. This is especially relevant for Lithuania where smoking prevalence is 5 percentage points higher than the EU average, at 28%.”
ETHRA is encouraging vapers and tobacco harm reduction advocates to get involved with the European Commission’s consultation exercise. It writes: “Please take the time to make a submission and explain the importance of flavoured e-cigarettes in smoking cessation. You can contribute as an individual or on behalf of your association. Submissions can be in any official EU language.
“Lithuania doesn’t have a consumer association, so we are calling on all vapers and associations to make a submission to the TRIS notification, and outline why this legislation will be harmful to public health. It is of the utmost importance that we oppose flavour bans at every opportunity as we could soon see the same issues arising in other EU Member States.”
References:
- The European Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates - https://ethra.co/
- Link for submitting a contribution - https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/tris/en/search/?trisaction=search.detail&year=2021&num=434
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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