Art Installation for Brussels
Vaping advocacy group launches an art installation in Brussels to tell policymakers that flavours matter
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by Dave Cross
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The World Vapers’ Alliance says it “amplifies the voice of vapers around the world and empowers them to make a difference for their communities. Our members are vapers associations as well as individual vapers from all over the world”.
This marks the third event of WVA’s Europe-wide campaign #FlavoursMatter. The campaign was launched with one aim: to show policymakers in Europe and across the world that vape flavours are instrumental for smoking cessation. The group hosted demonstrations in Stockholm, Sweden and the Hague, Netherlands in March 2022.
Shortly after the demonstration, a postponement of the Dutch vape flavour ban by six months was announced in the Netherlands.
“Flavours play a crucial role in helping consumers quit smoking – millions of Europeans have already stopped by switching to vaping. The variety of flavours is one of the most important reasons many people switch to e-cigarettes and never go back to smoking. We have already seen that vaping works! It helped millions of people change their lives and now, we need policies to catch up. Therefore, we are delighted that some MEPs are with us and help to defend vaping flavours,” says Michael Landl, director of World Vapers' Alliance.
Michael Landl is from Austria and based in Vienna. He is an experienced policy professional and passionate vaper. He studied at the University of St. Gallen and worked for several public policy outlets and as well in the German Parliament.
The installation was attended by Member of the European Parliament Pietro Fiocchi.
“We all agree that not smoking is the best choice, but we also know very well that tax increases and limitations are not working solutions! I do strongly believe that alternative systems to traditional smoking are the biggest instrument to greatly reduce the percentage of lung diseases and cancer! Any ideological approach against such systems is negative and against any scientific data!,” said Fiocchi.
The World Vapers' Alliance says consumers from across Europe can join the campaign to make their voices heard and also contact their political representatives via WVA’s action centres and share their vaping stories to convince policymakers to avoid flavour bans: https://worldvapersalliance.com/flavours-matter/
“We need to raise our voice and tell policymakers about all the positive effects flavours play in helping smokers quit. The data shows that adults who vape flavoured e-cigarettes are 230% more likely to quit smoking than those who use unflavoured e-cigarettes, and we have to make sure that this is taken into account when the next regulations are drafted. That is why we are here in Brussels with one simple message: flavours matter!” added Landl.
Photo Credit:
Photo by Adam Bartoszewicz on Unsplash
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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