Slovenia’s Bad Flavour Ban
The flavour ban in Slovenia will jeopardise the smoking cessation potential and have negative implications for public health.
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by Dave Cross
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Liza Katsiashvili, Operations Director at the World Vapers’ Alliance, told Planet of the Vapes: “During the committee session, certain statements from experts were deemed alarming and, to a considerable extent, misleading. For instance, it was claimed there is no disparity in harmfulness between conventional tobacco smoking and vaping. Contrary to this assertion, scientific evidence suggests that vaping is significantly less harmful than smoking. In fact, according to Public Health England, vaping is 95% less harmful.
“The pivotal role flavours play in smoking cessation cannot be overstated. Research indicates that adults who use vaping flavours to cease smoking are 230% more likely to quit successfully. Unfortunately, the Slovenian government's failure to acknowledge this scientific evidence distorts the potential for smoking cessation in the country, thereby jeopardising public health overall.”
The consumer organisation in Slovenia also expressed criticism towards the amendments: “The new legislation is deemed harmful, unethical, immoral, and discriminatory. Its sole consequence is the limitation of access to vaping for those who need it the most - former smokers and individuals attempting to quit. Meanwhile, smoking rates in Slovenia persist at a staggering 20%.”
Slaven Kalebic, President of the Slovenian Vapers Association, remarked: “If the government aims to deter youth from vaping, prohibiting it for adults and inadvertently encouraging the growth of the black market will not yield favourable results.”
The World Vapers’ Alliance said: “We urge policymakers in Slovenia to reassess the proposed vaping restrictions, acknowledge the potential public health benefits vaping can offer, and adopt a progressive harm reduction approach for adult smokers grappling with cessation efforts and at risk of smoking-related illnesses.”
The World Vapers' Alliance says that it “amplifies the voices 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.”
The Slovenian Vapers’ Association (ZVS) says it “provides ample resources and information on vaping, aiming to equip the community and the government with the necessary knowledge to consider enacting vaping-related legislation.”
References:
- More information about the Slovenian Vapers’ Association - https://zv-slo.si/en/
- More information about the World Vapers’ Alliance - www.worldvapersalliance.com
Photo Credit:
Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash, resized
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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