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The European Union seems set on ignoring scientific evidence and data from its own member states indicating the effectivity of vaping products for smoking cessation. And while it insists on wanting to eradicate smoking and related diseases, it plans to further restrict one of the main products which is known to acheive this goal.
The European Commission (EC) is recommending extending smoking bans to additional outdoor areas such as children’s play areas, outdoor pools, amusement parks, and terraces. Sadly this ban includes vaping, with the proposal aiming to update the current regulations from 2009, which primarily targeted traditional tobacco products. The EC is alleging that this measure is crucial for the protection of bystanders against second-hand emissions from heated tobacco products and vapes in indoor workplaces, public places, and transport, as well as in designated outdoor recreational areas where children are present.
The revised rules also aim to impose further restrictions on vaping products, both nicotine-contining and nicotine-free, with the aim of reducing their appeal and use among young people. And while the recommendations are non-binding, since EU health policies are the responsibility of individual countries, they highlight the EC’s insistence on fighting smoking in a non-productive manner.
The European Plan to Beat Cancer aims for a “Tobacco Free Generation” by 2040, targeting fewer than 5% of the population using tobacco, while currently 26% of EU residents and 29% of those aged 15-24 use tobacco. Meanwhile, the only country which is close to achieving this sought-after rate (at 6% and counting) is Sweden, where these impressive results where acheived by endorsing the use of safer alternatives such as snus and vapes for smoking cessation – the very same products that the EU is obsessed with banning.
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