Fivape press release
Fivape regrets that the government is justifying the forthcoming ban on puffs on the grounds of fear and unsupported by facts and scientific data, while passing up the opportunity to educate people about vaping, the most effective and popular way to quit smoking.
This proposed ban on puffs has been the subject of debate for months, and French vaping professionals independent of Big Tobacco, represented by Fivape, are prepared for it. In reality, it will have very little impact on our industry: these products are designed in China, and most of their value is generated abroad.
We regret the way in which the controversial Alliance Contre le Tabac report has influenced the government's position. The situation is more complex and nuanced, because these disposable devices, as disturbing and polluting as they are, have two effects:
- Firstly, they enable some smokers who are not technophiles to start vaping as a way of quitting smoking, making it easier for them to switch to refillable equipment;
- secondly, contrary to the messages widely disseminated over the past year, puffs seem to be "blocking" smoking among young people, by satisfying the need for experimentation that many have during adolescence, without them becoming long-term users, let alone smokers.
In the United States, for example, the consumption of this type of product has had a historic impact in keeping young people away from tobacco: smoking among high-school students fell from 12% to 2% (!!!) between 2012 and 2022, an unprecedented level.
This technical and statistical information was provided to the government before the summer, but the decision was taken to justify the puff ban by invoking an alleged risk of a "bridging effect" from vaping to smoking. A bridging effect that doesn't exist, but rather preys on parents' legitimate fears.
We conclude that the government prefers to opt for an easy announcement effect, reassuring smokers that the price of tobacco will not rise during a period of inflation, while giving the impression of adopting a healthy precautionary principle to protect young people, rather than taking a strong and useful public health measure that would consist of including vape in the national tobacco control strategy.
Yet it would have been enough to ban puffs for environmental reasons, which are seen as a priority in today's world, while educating the public about vaping and risk reduction. This is a missed opportunity that will allow smoking to continue among the youngest members of society, and contribute to a further decline in the general public's knowledge of vaping...