{"id":6058,"date":"2025-02-25T08:19:53","date_gmt":"2025-02-25T13:19:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/?p=6058"},"modified":"2025-02-25T08:19:53","modified_gmt":"2025-02-25T13:19:53","slug":"bulgarias-vape-ban-a-gift-to-the-black-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/en_gb\/bulgarias-vape-ban-a-gift-to-the-black-market\/","title":{"rendered":"Bulgaria\u2019s Vape Ban: A Gift to the Black Market"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sofia, 25. February 2025 \u2013 The World Vapers\u2019 Alliance (WVA) strongly condemns the Bulgarian Parliament\u2019s reckless decision to ban<\/a> all vaping products. This misguided policy, sparked by a tragic incident involving a black-market THC vape, will only exacerbate the real problem: the unregulated black market for dangerous products.<\/p>\n

Bulgaria already has the highest smoking rate in the EU at 37%, 50% higher than the EU average. Despite this alarming statistic, lawmakers have chosen to eliminate a proven harm-reduction tool that helps smokers quit. Instead of addressing the root cause\u2014illegal and unregulated products\u2014the government has opted for a policy that will push adult vapers back to smoking or into the hands of black market dealers.<\/p>\n

Michael Landl, Director of the World Vapers\u2019 Alliance, stated:<\/p>\n

“<\/em>This ban is not just irrational; it\u2019s dangerous. Banning regulated vaping products will not solve the issue of illegal vapes\u2014it will make it worse. <\/em><\/strong>The tragic death of a teenager in Pleven was caused by a black-market THC vape, not by legal nicotine products. <\/em>By banning legal alternatives, Bulgaria is opening the floodgates for more unsafe products to flood the market.<\/em><\/strong>\u201d
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

E-cigarettes are not the enemy\u2014they are the most effective tool many of us have found to quit smoking. Only 3% of Bulgarians currently use e-cigarettes, yet they are already the most popular method for quitting smoking in our country. Countries like Sweden, New Zealand and the UK, which embrace harm reduction policies, are on track to achieve the smoke-free goal (<5% smoking rate). At its current trajectory, Bulgaria will never meet this target.<\/p>\n

In an open letter,<\/strong><\/a> the WVA calls on Bulgarian lawmakers to reconsider this disastrous policy. Evidence-based regulations that promote safer alternatives rather than outright bans are essential to reducing smoking rates and protecting public health. The final vote is expected at the beginning of March.<\/p>\n

“<\/em>This ban is a gift to black market criminals and a death sentence for smokers looking for less harmful alternatives<\/em><\/strong>,”<\/em> Landl added. “Bulgaria deserves better than policies driven by panic instead of evidence.”<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sofia, 25. February 2025 \u2013 The World Vapers\u2019 Alliance (WVA) strongly condemns the Bulgarian Parliament\u2019s reckless decision to ban all vaping products. This misguided policy, sparked by a tragic incident involving a black-market THC vape, will only exacerbate the real problem: the unregulated black market for dangerous products. Bulgaria already has the highest smoking rate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":3245,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-releases"],"yoast_head":"\nBulgaria\u2019s Vape Ban: A Gift to the Black Market - World Vapers' Alliance<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/en_gb\/bulgarias-vape-ban-a-gift-to-the-black-market\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bulgaria\u2019s Vape Ban: A Gift to the Black Market - World Vapers' Alliance\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sofia, 25. February 2025 \u2013 The World Vapers\u2019 Alliance (WVA) strongly condemns the Bulgarian Parliament\u2019s reckless decision to ban all vaping products. This misguided policy, sparked by a tragic incident involving a black-market THC vape, will only exacerbate the real problem: the unregulated black market for dangerous products. Bulgaria already has the highest smoking rate […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/en_gb\/bulgarias-vape-ban-a-gift-to-the-black-market\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"World Vapers' Alliance\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-02-25T13:19:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/WVA_Press-Release_Cover-new.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"4162\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"3840\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"World Vapers' Alliance\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"World Vapers' Alliance\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/bulgarias-vape-ban-a-gift-to-the-black-market\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/bulgarias-vape-ban-a-gift-to-the-black-market\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"World Vapers' Alliance\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/18484a6f20bcc6f70a2419c8babe017d\"},\"headline\":\"Bulgaria\u2019s Vape Ban: A Gift to the Black Market\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-25T13:19:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/bulgarias-vape-ban-a-gift-to-the-black-market\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":345,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/bulgarias-vape-ban-a-gift-to-the-black-market\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/10\\\/WVA_Press-Release_Cover-new.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Press Releases\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/bulgarias-vape-ban-a-gift-to-the-black-market\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/bulgarias-vape-ban-a-gift-to-the-black-market\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/bulgarias-vape-ban-a-gift-to-the-black-market\\\/\",\"name\":\"Bulgaria\u2019s Vape Ban: A Gift to the Black Market - World Vapers' Alliance\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/bulgarias-vape-ban-a-gift-to-the-black-market\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/bulgarias-vape-ban-a-gift-to-the-black-market\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/10\\\/WVA_Press-Release_Cover-new.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-25T13:19:53+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/bulgarias-vape-ban-a-gift-to-the-black-market\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/bulgarias-vape-ban-a-gift-to-the-black-market\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/10\\\/WVA_Press-Release_Cover-new.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/10\\\/WVA_Press-Release_Cover-new.png\",\"width\":4162,\"height\":3840},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"World Vapers' Alliance\",\"description\":\"The largest community of vapers\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"World Vapers' Alliance\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/WVA_RB_Fist_G.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/WVA_RB_Fist_G.png\",\"width\":985,\"height\":1177,\"caption\":\"World Vapers' Alliance\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/18484a6f20bcc6f70a2419c8babe017d\",\"name\":\"World Vapers' Alliance\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/456bf795c7a47c9ac527a94da4bff150aa49e48726d69bee9937f8383cffa246?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/456bf795c7a47c9ac527a94da4bff150aa49e48726d69bee9937f8383cffa246?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/456bf795c7a47c9ac527a94da4bff150aa49e48726d69bee9937f8383cffa246?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"World Vapers' Alliance\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/en_gb\\\/author\\\/wva\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Bulgaria\u2019s Vape Ban: A Gift to the Black Market - World Vapers' Alliance","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/en_gb\/bulgarias-vape-ban-a-gift-to-the-black-market\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Bulgaria\u2019s Vape Ban: A Gift to the Black Market - World Vapers' Alliance","og_description":"Sofia, 25. February 2025 \u2013 The World Vapers\u2019 Alliance (WVA) strongly condemns the Bulgarian Parliament\u2019s reckless decision to ban all vaping products. This misguided policy, sparked by a tragic incident involving a black-market THC vape, will only exacerbate the real problem: the unregulated black market for dangerous products. Bulgaria already has the highest smoking rate […]","og_url":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/en_gb\/bulgarias-vape-ban-a-gift-to-the-black-market\/","og_site_name":"World Vapers' Alliance","article_published_time":"2025-02-25T13:19:53+00:00","og_image":[{"width":4162,"height":3840,"url":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/WVA_Press-Release_Cover-new.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"World Vapers' Alliance","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"World Vapers' Alliance","Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/bulgarias-vape-ban-a-gift-to-the-black-market\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/bulgarias-vape-ban-a-gift-to-the-black-market\/"},"author":{"name":"World Vapers' Alliance","@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/#\/schema\/person\/18484a6f20bcc6f70a2419c8babe017d"},"headline":"Bulgaria\u2019s Vape Ban: A Gift to the Black Market","datePublished":"2025-02-25T13:19:53+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/bulgarias-vape-ban-a-gift-to-the-black-market\/"},"wordCount":345,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/bulgarias-vape-ban-a-gift-to-the-black-market\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/WVA_Press-Release_Cover-new.png","articleSection":["Press Releases"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/bulgarias-vape-ban-a-gift-to-the-black-market\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/bulgarias-vape-ban-a-gift-to-the-black-market\/","url":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/bulgarias-vape-ban-a-gift-to-the-black-market\/","name":"Bulgaria\u2019s Vape Ban: A Gift to the Black Market - World Vapers' Alliance","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/bulgarias-vape-ban-a-gift-to-the-black-market\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/bulgarias-vape-ban-a-gift-to-the-black-market\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/WVA_Press-Release_Cover-new.png","datePublished":"2025-02-25T13:19:53+00:00","inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/bulgarias-vape-ban-a-gift-to-the-black-market\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/bulgarias-vape-ban-a-gift-to-the-black-market\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/WVA_Press-Release_Cover-new.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/WVA_Press-Release_Cover-new.png","width":4162,"height":3840},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/","name":"World Vapers' Alliance","description":"The largest community of vapers","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/#organization","name":"World Vapers' Alliance","url":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/WVA_RB_Fist_G.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/WVA_RB_Fist_G.png","width":985,"height":1177,"caption":"World Vapers' Alliance"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/#\/schema\/person\/18484a6f20bcc6f70a2419c8babe017d","name":"World Vapers' Alliance","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/456bf795c7a47c9ac527a94da4bff150aa49e48726d69bee9937f8383cffa246?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/456bf795c7a47c9ac527a94da4bff150aa49e48726d69bee9937f8383cffa246?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/456bf795c7a47c9ac527a94da4bff150aa49e48726d69bee9937f8383cffa246?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"World Vapers' Alliance"},"url":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/en_gb\/author\/wva\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6058"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6058\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}