[Dublin, 21 September 2023] — Today, the Irish Health Minister Stephen Donnelly announced his intention to tighten regulation on vaping – including a ban of disposable vapes and a potential flavour ban. The World Vapers’ Alliance (WVA) urges policymakers to reconsider the far-reaching consequences this move would have on public health and harm reduction. Such bans contradict successful harm reduction approaches seen in other countries such as Sweden.

Michael Landl, director de la WVA, afirma:, “La prohibición no funciona. Nunca lo ha hecho y nunca lo hará. Prohibir los vapeadores desechables no eliminará la demanda, sino que la trasladará de los mercados regulados al mercado negro, lo que generará consecuencias negativas e imprevistas para la salud pública.”

La prohibición de los vapeadores desechables es contraproducente para la reducción de daños, afirma la Alianza Mundial de Vapeadores. “Los cigarrillos electrónicos desechables pueden ser un paso crucial para los fumadores que buscan dejar de fumar”,” comments Landl. “They offer an easy entry point, and many consumers eventually transition to open systems. Making that path from smoking to vaping as frictionless as possible is essential for public health. While cigarettes, known to be extremely harmful, remain readily available, banning a 95% less harmful alternative defies logic.”

Vaping flavours are widely used by adult vapers to move away from cigarettes, and research shows that their use can Aumentar las probabilidades de dejar de fumar en 230%. Restricting flavours will just drive many vapers to the black market or back to smoking. For example, Estonia banned flavours in 2020, but there is evidence that a majority of vapers kept using them, either by making their own liquids or by turning to the black market.

Michael Landl, Director of the World Vapers’ Alliance, emphasised flavours’ pivotal role in aiding smokers in their journey to quit. “Banning flavours would spell disaster for smokers who want to quit, current vapers, and public health. It’s essential to offer a variety of flavours for smokers to successfully transition. Banning flavours would steer countless Irish consumers back to smoking. This would be an unnecessary roadblock on the way to a smoke-free Ireland.”

Meanwhile, the United Kingdom has widely acknowledged vaping as a smoking cessation tool through its “Swap-to-Stop” program, committed to further reducing smoking rates and embracing vaping as a harm reduction tool.

Landl adds, “Countries with an open harm reduction approach, like Sweden, which recently reduced taxes on snus, and the UK have successfully reduced smoking rates with openness towards less harmful alternatives. Instead, Minister Donnelly is ignoring science and the experience of other countries. With these policies, he risks guiding Ireland further along the counterproductive path of prohibition, failing to effectively address the most harmful form of nicotine intake—smoking.”