SFS Slams the Tax
Smoke Free Sweden has also come out and condemned the Polish Government’s decision to implement a “perverse” vape tax hike
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by Dave Cross
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Smoke Free Sweden (SFS) has joined the World Vapers' Alliance in expressing its serious concerns about Poland’s newly approved plan to tax nicotine pouches and vaping devices at similar rates that are applied to traditional tobacco cigarettes. The Council of Ministers endorsed a draft law that could, starting this July and August, impose steep excise duty on reduced-harm alternatives, and SFS says this will undermine efforts to lower the country’s smoking rates.
Commenting on these developments, Dr Delon Human, leader of Smoke Free Sweden, said: “Misguided policymakers are yet again neglecting real-world evidence. When safer alternatives are taxed as heavily as cigarettes, people revert to smoking. It’s a perverse incentive, and the public pays the price in lives and health.”
The organisation says that both the US and Sweden have provided textbook examples of how risk-proportionate policies can improve public health over the last two months.
“By making safer nicotine alternatives affordable and accessible, Sweden has seen its smoking rates plummet to just 5.3% of its population – the lowest in Europe. This approach has delivered tangible public health benefits: smoking-related diseases, including cancer, occur at dramatically lower rates in Sweden than in other EU nations,” Smoke Free Sweden states.
Meanwhile, it continues, the US, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s endorsement and market authorisation of nicotine pouches “reflects a growing recognition of harm reduction’s potential to save lives”.
Smoke Free Sweden continues: “In Poland, by contrast, one in four adults is a regular smoker, nearly five times more than Sweden. Each year, tobacco use costs Poland over PLN 30 billion in healthcare expenses and productivity losses. These figures highlight the urgent need for policies that encourage smoking cessation, not regression.
“That is why Poland’s proposed tax policy undermines progress. At rates of PLN 150/kg in 2025, rising to PLN 250/kg by 2027[1], nicotine pouches and vaping products will become unaffordable for many smokers trying to quit. The likely result? A resurgence of cigarette use. For context, smoking still kills over 80,000[2] people annually in Poland, out of its 8 million consumers.[3]”
Dr Human concluded: “Polish lawmakers should be encouraged to reconsider this misguided policy. By implementing a risk-proportionate tax structure that reflects the lower harm profile of vapes, and nicotine pouches, Poland can incentivise smokers to switch and prioritise public health over ideology.”
Smoke Free Sweden is a movement which encourages other countries to follow the Swedish model when it comes to Tobacco Harm Reduction. Sweden’s smoke free success can be attributed to its open attitude towards regulated alternative nicotine products.
References
- https://www.gov.pl/web/finanse/rada-ministrow-przyjela-projekt-ustawy-o-zmianie-ustawy-o-podatku-akcyzowym-ustawy-o-zdrowiu-publicznym-oraz-niektorych-innych-ustaw-przedlozony-przez-ministra-finansow
- https://www.wum.edu.pl/en/node/16606?
- https://globalactiontoendsmoking.org/research/tobacco-around-the-world/poland/?utm
- Smoke Free Sweden - www.smokefreesweden.org
Photo Credit:
Photo by Lukasz Radziejewski on Unsplash, resized and cropped
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.
