The World Vapers’ Alliance (WVA) strongly opposes the recent bill adopted by the Polish Council of Ministers, which aims to impose an excise duty on nicotine pouches and other nicotine products, including vapes. This misguided policy, proposed by the Minister of Finance, threatens to undermine public health efforts by making less harmful alternatives to smoking more expensive and less accessible.

Michael Landl, Director of the World Vapers’ Alliance, stated:

“By increasing the price of safer nicotine alternatives, the Polish government is effectively pushing people back towards deadly cigarettes. This short-sighted tax grab will have dire consequences for public health.”

The government’s own admission that these regulations will “limit the availability of previously untaxed substitutes for traditional tobacco products”reveals a blatant disregard for harm reduction principles. This approach contradicts overwhelming evidence supporting the role of alternative nicotine products in helping smokers quit.

Research consistently shows that increasing the cost of vaping products can lead to unintended negative outcomes:

• Cross-price elasticity: Studies have found positive cross-price elasticities between e-cigarettes and traditional cigarettes, indicating that as vaping becomes more expensive, some users switch back to smoking.
• Youth impact: In the United States, higher taxes on Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) have been associated with decreased ENDS use but increased cigarette smoking among 18- to 25-year-olds.
• Public health setback: The potential public health gains from reduced vaping are expected to be outweighed by the negative effects of increased smoking rates.

The World Vapers’ Alliance urges the Polish government to reconsider this harmful proposal and instead embrace evidence-based policies that support harm reduction and improve public health outcomes.