WVA Attacks Irish Plans
Vapers oppose Irish plans to ban flavours and implement plain packaging
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by Dave Cross
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Vaping advocacy groups express their disagreement with the proposed report. Michael Landl, Director of World Vapers’ Alliance, commented: “Banning flavours would spell disaster for smokers who want to quit, current vapers, and public health because flavours help former smokers stay away from cigarettes forever. Scientific data shows that vapers who use flavours are twice as likely to quit smoking as those who use tobacco flavours. A flavour ban could push 115,000 Irish vapers back to smoking. Therefore, we urge policymakers to listen to science and treat vaping accordingly.”
Currently, it seems like the Department of Health of Ireland continues to oppose flavours and believes that plain packaging should be discussed within the framework of EU legislation. The World Vapers’ Alliance strongly supports this opposition to such plans.
“Advertisement restrictions and plain packaging for vaping prevent crucial information from reaching consumers about the relative risks of different products. As a result, many smokers are unaware of the lower risk of vaping compared to smoking. Adult consumers must have access to accurate information; thus, advertisement restrictions and warnings must be differentiated according to the relative risk,” added Landl.
Cigarettes and non-combustible tobacco products like vaping should not be put in the same regulatory category. They are not the same. Vaping has been recognised as being 95% less harmful than cigarettes, helping millions of smokers in Europe and worldwide to quit. Consumers deserve to know.
World Vapers’ Alliance is running a Europe-wide campaign to raise awareness about the positive effects of flavours on smoking cessation.
The World Vapers’ Alliance says it “amplifies the voice of vapers worldwide and empowers them to make a difference in their communities. Our members are vapers associations and individual vapers from all over the world.”
Michael Landl is the director of the World Vapers’ Alliance. He is from Austria and is 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 the German Parliament.
References:
- Pre-Legislative Scrutiny report - https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/committee/dail/33/joint_committee_on_health/reports/2022/2022-07-15_report-on-pre-legislative-scrutiny-of-the-public-health-tobacco-and-nicotine-inhaling-products-bill-2019_en.pdf
Smoking cessation awareness campaign - https://worldvapersalliance.com/flavours-matter/
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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