The French directory of specialty vape shops that are independent of the tobacco industry
Kindness, slander, resistance!
Drawing on his 50 years of clinical experience, Professor Bertrand Dautzenberg has just published a new book , “Let’s Quit Smoking,” a powerful plea against the demonization of non-smoked nicotine and in favor of its use as a tool to help people quit smoking.
Compassion: Let's Quit Smoking Without Suffering
Pragmatic and educational, the professor advocates a supportive approach to quitting smoking painlessly through a“nicotine feast.” He guides his patients by giving them a choice: nicotine replacement therapy, vaping, or a combination of vaping and nicotine replacement therapy.
“This book is also intended for health authorities.” Thus, in addition to his advice on supporting smokers who are quitting, Professor Dautzenberg expresses a clear intention: “My hope is that health authorities and all those who issue official recommendations or regulations will read this book, which is the result of 50 years of my clinical practice in smoking cessation and reflects the voices of thousands of patients who smoke and the experience of thousands of successful quit attempts.”
The demonization of non-smoked nicotine is becoming a real public health problem.
And Professor Dautzenberg isn’t the only one concerned about this. In its latest press release on the web Mois Sans Tabac, the Fédération Addiction also expresses concern: “Smoking kills: let’s not make nicotine the main enemy.”
This is because nicotine is the most popular and effective way to quit smoking. A new study by OpinionWay reveals that, since 2010, 80% of people who quit smoking with assistance used nicotine: one-third used nicotine replacement therapy, and two-thirds used e-cigarettes.
Yet, according to several surveys, 80% of French people still mistakenly believe that nicotine is carcinogenic. The level of misinformation is astronomical, reaching a level unprecedented and unique in the history of public health…
In light of this lack of awareness and the lack of information from public authorities, FIVAPE conducted a series of interviews Vaping and Nicotine with Jacques Le Houezec, a scientist and tobacco specialist who has been studying nicotine for over 40 years: explanations about the molecule, how it works, and its effects, and, of course, its use to quit smoking through vaping and tailored support at specialty stores.
Slander Against the Independent Tobacco Industry Sector
According to the OpinionWay survey, more than 4 million French people have quit smoking thanks to vaping. Since its arrival in France in the 2010s, vaping has become the most popular tool for quitting smoking. And it was the independent sector of the tobacco industry that developed it: first through e-commerce, then thanks to French e-liquid manufacturers supported by a network of more than 3,500 specialty shops. Today, more than 20,000 people support this sector, which has helped millions of smokers quit and enables them, every day, to stay away from cigarettes.
We do not sell tobacco. Our products do not contain tobacco, and we are at the forefront of the fight against smoking. In fact, we are major players in public health, and we are very proud of our results!
However, in a document published just before the “ Mois Sans Tabac,” the organization Contre Feu launches a despicable attack against the independent industry—and against FIVAPE in particular. According to its statements, we are supposedly nothing more than a lobby group equivalent to those of the tobacco industry and tobacco retailers. In other words, we are supposedly just as “harmful” as cigarette sellers when we ask that the number one tool for helping people quit smoking not be subject to an additional tax (there is already a 20% VAT) and when we defend the professions and products that have enabled millions of people to break free from a deadly addiction!
Given that we are, objectively speaking, the tobacco industry’s worst enemies, this senseless conflation is despicable and insulting.
Let us reiterate that, although they are neither health agencies, nor learned societies, nor grassroots organizations, these anti-tobacco groups that are fighting against vaping in France are ultimately calling for the same measures as the tobacco industry: taxing e-cigarettes, restricting flavors, banning online sales, implementing plain packaging, and subjecting specialty retailers to discretionary licensing requirements.
Resistance: Defending the French Exception
Professor Dautzenberg notes in his book, on p. 74, that the French tobacco-independent vaping industry is an“exception worldwide.”
We have been standing up to the tobacco industry for 15 years, thanks to professionals in the field, public health advocates, and nonprofit organizations, and we are determined not to give in to it. We will continue tirelessly to engage with policymakers and the media to defend vaping and our industries, protect our unique business model, and highlight our fundamental difference from cigarette sellers—the only products that actually “kill.”
This year, the budget bill proposed by the government contains no measures regarding vaping. Nevertheless, we must fight against amendments influenced by the tobacco industry and anti-smoking groups, which are united in calling for similar measures against vaping. And we are hopeful that this bill, once passed, will spare us—once again…
But we are well aware that any “lull,” if it occurs, will be only very relative. In fact, the tobacco industry lobby now appears to be counting on Europe to extend throughout the entire European Union the taxes, flavor bans, and regulations that have already led, in many European countries, to the complete elimination of independent suppliers in favor of the tobacco industry.
Thanks to the growing number of members and the increasing support from professionals in the independent sector, FIVAPE now has greater resources to take action at the European level to defend the “French exception.”
We're already hard at work!
Jean MOIROUD
President of FIVAPE
