The new National Plan for Tobacco Control has just been presented by the French Minister of Health, Aurélien Rousseau. In a country where smoking prevalence is one of the highest in Europe, and where tobacco is the 1st cause of avoidable death (75,000 deaths per year), the update of this plan has been eagerly awaited by the world of addictology, and especially by vaping professionals. The Fédération Interprofessionnelle de la Vape, independent of the tobacco industry and representing specialist vaping stores and e-liquid manufacturers, regrets this historic error and expresses its deep concern for the future of the fight against tobacco.
Blindness and short-sightedness: when it comes to tackling vaping and, more generally, harm reduction in the fight against tobacco, the Ministry and its new NTP are on the wrong track. The big losers: smokers. The big winner: the tobacco industry.
First of all, Fivape regrets that this document deals with vaping only to present it as a threat. This disregard is regrettable, even though vape products are the first choice of French smokers in their attempts to quit(1) and are the most effective nicotine substitutes(2). Vapour is conspicuous by its absence, even though it should have been voluntarily integrated into national tobacco control strategies. The new NTP should finally reconcile French tobacco use with national health strategies. This will not be the case.
Fivape expresses its deep concern at the announcement of the extension of the neutral packet to vape products. And, to be frank, French vaping professionals find it hard to believe, given that this measure contradicts the content of the preparatory meetings for the PNLT in which Fivape took part. Yet it has been proven for 10 years that vaping is mobilized, and that its diversity contributes to the denormalization of tobacco.
We are urgently seeking clarification, as this measure would put at risk the active weaning process to which 4 million of our fellow citizens are committed. Their impetus would be disavowed by a ban which, conceptually and visually, would equate the poison with the remedy, while at the same time making it invisible. It's a disgrace.
Finally, Fivape denounces the interference of the tobacco industry, ACT, CNCT and tobacconists in the construction of the NTP.
We now live in a world where :
- Young people's access to vaping products is more shocking than their access to tobacco cigarettes. Let's not forget that the average age at which young people start smoking is between 13 and 16, and that it has been proven that the majority of purchases are made from tobacconists, who are agents of the state.
- The government, parliamentarians, the media and public opinion are convinced that vaping is a gateway to smoking. This is in defiance of the scientific evidence that debunks this so-called "gateway effect"(3).
This runs the risk of sending vapoteurs back to cigarettes, where 88% of the 40,000 respondents to the vape.fr survey said it was the diversity of flavors that turned them away from smoking.
- The proposals of certain "anti-tobacco" associations and major tobacco companies are the same: ban "attractive" flavors and impose the neutral pack for the former, to prevent teenagers from buying a product that no professional has been allowed to sell them since 2016. Ban "flavors" for the latter, and make vape a tobacco product like any other in order to limit its effectiveness and keep smokers addicted to tobacco for as long as possible.
- The tobacconists are pushing the government to include pro-tobacco industry measures in a public health document, by making the fight against cross-border cigarette smuggling and the black market health issues, rather than economic, tax and customs issues.
Finally, while the Prime Minister is vaping in the Chamber, showing the world the tool that keeps her away from tobacco, the executive is announcing profoundly anti-vape measures in the name of the fight against tobacco. Vaping professionals are calling on the political class as a whole, and the government in particular, to take action to put an end to this schizophrenic attitude towards vaping as soon as possible.
With this PNLT, the government is abandoning its commitment to defend this ground-breaking innovation from civil society, and is instead protecting the interests of the tobacco industry, to the detriment of public health and scientific truth. Fivape announces that it will mobilize strongly at all forthcoming elections to influence the outcome, backed by the support of the millions of vapoteur.euses that the industry meets every month.
The Fédération Interprofessionnelle de la Vape (FIVAPE) brings together the entire vaping industry in France, from manufacturers to distributors. The federation's 800 members are independent of the tobacco industry, and account for 70% of the sector's French business. FIVAPE's public health work, characterized by its members' fight against smoking, makes it a specialist in harm reduction, and one of France's leading public health players in this field.
1 "The main aids used were electronic cigarettes (26.9%) and nicotine substitutes (18.3%)", Santé Publique France, Tentatives d'arrêt du tabac au dernier trimestre 2016 et lien avec Mois sans tabac : premiers résultats observés dans le Baromètre santé 2017
3 "Systematic Review and Critical Analysis of Longitudinal Studies Assessing Effect of E-Cigarettes on Cigarette Initiation among Adolescent Never-Smokers " https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37887674/
4 Survey summary available here: https: //fivape.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/SYNTHESE-enquete-Merci-la-vape-2311.pdf