The Dutch flavour ban on e-cigarettes is driving adult vejp users to buy their products abroad - and contributing to a greater return to smoking. This is according to the consumer organisation Acvoda Foundation, which conducted a survey among 900 members.
Consumer organisation Acvoda says that the flavour ban on e-cigarettes in the Netherlands has had the opposite effect than the authorities hoped for. According to the organisation's survey, consisting of 907 respondents to a survey, an overwhelming majority of adult users are circumventing the ban by simply buying their flavoured vejps abroad or online, from countries where the rules are not as strict. According to ACVODA, this is a clear sign that the ban is counterproductive and is hurting rather than helping those who want to use e-cigarettes as a less harmful alternative to smoking.
Flavour ban forces consumers to buy abroad
According to the survey, which included adult e-cigarette users with an average age of 52, 80 per cent of vejps in the country still buy their preferred products, despite the ban. 50% travel abroad to buy, while 30% continue to order via the internet and social media. Both online sales and flavoured e-cigarettes are banned in the Netherlands.
Only a small proportion of users, 2%, have switched to the legally permitted tobacco flavour, which is the only flavour allowed in the country. Instead, almost 10 per cent of respondents have gone back to smoking regular cigarettes. For those people, the ban has meant that they no longer have an appealing alternative to smoking, says Acvoda.
"For me, it was the flavours that allowed me to stop smoking. Without them, I have no choice but to go back to cigarettes", explains one of the respondents who went back to smoking.
The government's misguided measures
The Dutch Institute of Public Health (RIVM) and consumer organisations warned even before the ban came into force about the potential negative consequences of a flavour ban. Despite these warnings, the government implemented the restrictions anyway, arguing that it would protect young people from taking up e-cigarettes. The ban means that only 16 ingredients may be used in the production of e-cigarettes in the Netherlands, which has further reduced the availability of the products favoured by many adult vejp users.
The Vejpshoppers are disappearing
Specialised shops selling e-cigarettes have disappeared almost completely from the Netherlands, and with them easily accessible information for both existing and potential consumers. According to Acvoda, many adult users now feel out of options, as they can no longer access their preferred products on the legal market.
In the presentation of the survey, the consumer organisation also states that one of the major reasons why adult vejp users prefer flavoured e-cigarettes is that the flavours help them stay away from regular cigarettes.
"When the flavours disappeared, I immediately felt the urge to start smoking again," writes one of the survey participants. "The tobacco flavour is dangerous for me - it reminds me too much of cigarettes," they continue.
Few want to quit e-cigarettes
The survey shows that the willingness to quit e-cigarettes is low among adult users. Only 2.5% of respondents said they have plans to quit in the next year, while as many as 46% said they have no plans to quit at all. Many people consider e-cigarettes to be a proven and effective tool for quitting smoking and feel that the government's measures make it unnecessarily difficult to use a less harmful alternative to cigarettes.
"I quit smoking because I could use e-cigarettes, and now they want to take that option away from me," writes another vejp user.
"The government is making it impossible to buy a legal and safe product that will help me stay away from cigarettes," writes another.
"Been a lifesaver"
There is also a frustration among many Dutch vejpers about how inaccurately they feel e-cigarettes are reported on in the media. Many feel that it focuses too much on the risks and too little on the potential health benefits for former smokers.
"We have informed ourselves about the risks and benefits, and for us e-cigarettes have been a lifesaver," said one respondent.
"After years of smoking, I finally got my life back thanks to e-cigarettes. Now the government wants to take it away from me."
Calls for a review of the flavour ban
Acvodas says its research clearly shows that the flavour ban is not working as intended. Instead of reducing the use of e-cigarettes, it has driven adult consumers into illicit trade or back to cigarettes.
"The ban has missed its target and instead penalises adults who try to make a healthier choice," writes an Acvoda spokesperson on their website.
"The government needs to rethink its policy and find a solution that actually helps people quit smoking, rather than pushing them back to cigarettes."
