Vejpkollen takes the step across the strait. For the past month, a Danish edition of the magazine has been live, publishing news about vejpning and other smokeless nicotine use from a user perspective.
"Just like in Sweden, but in a completely different context. The idea is that it will be a voice for those most affected by the Danish debate and policy on smoke-free nicotine." says editor-in-chief Stefan Mathisson.
In Sweden, the online magazine "Vejpkollen" has blossomed into a fairly unique platform for journalistic coverage of vejpning, snus, nicotine pouches, harm reduction and the politics and debate that characterise the field. But it started on a small scale. Owner, founder and editor-in-chief Stefan Mathisson simply dug in where he stood - and started covering the topic closest to his heart.
"I've been a vejper for ten years and stopped smoking myself with the help of e-cigarettes. Before that I smoked a pack a day and had been doing so since I was about 14 years old", says Stefan about the start of his vejp commitment.
"I started looking at what vejpning was all about pretty soon after that - particularly the harm minimisation part, and looked at the politics around the technology. I became very curious about why this is so hugely infected in both the scientific and political worlds."
Journalist turned vejp activist
Stefan Mathisson has a background in journalism, and has spent most of his professional life working in newspapers. But his passion for vejpning was so strong that he embarked on a new career path a few years ago.
"I simply changed careers and got behind the counter of a newly opened gun shop. I wanted to help people quit smoking. It felt better than sitting around writing about something that didn't mean much to you personally. It wasn't the best career decision in the world. Not at the time, anyway", Stefan laughs.
Misleading reporting
But relatively soon, he found a way to merge journalism and vejppassion. First in the form of a blog.
"I was standing there in the vejp shop, trying to help people quit smoking and improving my own knowledge of vejpning. But in 2019, quite a lot was happening in the vejp world. That's when the so-called EVALI scandal happened in the US, where people started dying because they had vejped e-liquids that contained THC. It later turned out that it wasn't the THC's fault either, but that the liquids were mixed with e-acetate. They were not water-soluble and vejpaking such liquids can in the worst case suffer from so-called lipid pneumonia. This can become dangerous very quickly - if you don't get proper treatment. But as I said, this doesn't happen if you use regular e-cigarettes."
Lack of control among journalists
The reporting in the main stream media had completely missed that bit, it turned out.
"The reporting on this in Sweden was very sparse and very unbiased. The journalists could not distinguish between controlled nicotine products and uncontrolled cannabis products. It was all very confusing and it was noticeable among everyone I spoke to in the shop. Many people were simply afraid they were going to die - because of the vejping. "
Stefan found himself spending countless hours on social forums trying to explain what had actually happened, what the relevant research said about it, and how much misinformation was out there.
"I spent more or less 24 hours a day answering questions. Either from customers in the vejpshop or on social media in my spare time. There was a huge lack of knowledge about what e-cigarettes were all about. Somewhere along the line, I realised that I was cutting and pasting answers that I wrote, over and over again: that e-cigarettes are not the problem and that there is good research showing that the outbreak in the US was linked to other things. So at that point I realised that this is stupid that I sit and write about everything all the time. So I started a blog and I started linking to it instead."
A blog turned into a newspaper
So Vejpkollen was born, in Stefan's eagerness to explain to others the knowledge he had acquired himself. He read pretty much all the research he could get his hands on, followed media coverage from both mainstream channels and industry press, interviewed researchers and people in the industry and his keyboard glowed with all the articles and posts he posted.
Six months later, the blog had evolved more towards an online magazine and Stefan had a platform where he published things almost daily, after doing his regular hours in the vejpshop.
"At that point, by chance, I wanted to go and report on a conference that was about e-cigarettes, in Poland. The organisers of the conference gave the opportunity to apply for a scholarship to learn about harm reduction in general. So I applied and got a scholarship. And suddenly I was working half-time on the magazine."
Prohibitionist country Denmark
Another year or so later, "Vejpkollen" started to have an impact - and other writing jobs from various associations and organisations within vejpning started to arrive. These ranged from training programmes to consultation responses and similar consulting assignments.
"So then I started freelancing as a writer, and at the same time financed the magazine with that money. So suddenly I wasn't working at the vejp shop anymore, I was running a newspaper."
Now you intend to copy the concept and do the same in Denmark?
”Jag har under alla år egentligen bevakat hela norden. Det vejpas ju ganska mycket i Norge, Danmark, Finland. Under åren har det blivit naturligt att titta mer och mer på andra rökfria nikotinprodukter, som nikotinpåsar och snus också. Debatten liknar den som pågått i över ett decennium kring e-cigaretter. I princip porträtteras två ”sidor” – en ”ond” och en ”god” – en industri som vill sälja ett beroende vs ”de som vill skydda barnen”. Och det ger debatten en uppenbar slagsida, där det inte finns plats för nyansering överhuvudtaget. Resultatet bli en politiserad debatt där användare, som oftast använder produkterna för att minska riskerna med sitt nikotinbroende, marginaliseras, och att rapporteringen, med våra mediers goda minne, styrs av intressen som använder ungdomsbruk backat av forskning kring förhållandevis små risker, för att driva fram hårdare lagstiftning. Det är enormt politiserat.” säger Stefan Mathisson.
But why Denmark?
Denmark often comes up in the debates, and I've noticed that they have a completely different policy to Sweden, for example. I've written a lot about Denmark in the past, and I know both users and people in the industry there too. So I thought: why not create a platform for them too?
Different game plans
In Denmark, it is common to refer to Sweden as "prohibition Sweden" and to say that there is a lack of legislation south of the border. But ironically, it is Denmark that has the most bans and laws on vejp products compared to Sweden. This makes it quite a different playing field to monitor the subject in the different countries.
”Vejpmarknaden i Danmark är annorlunda. Själva vejpshopskulturen ser däremot likadan ut som i Sverige. Men skillnaderna är lika många: I Sverige är det fritt fram att sälja det mesta och det finns inga större begränsningar på produktenna. Danmark har ett smakförbud och ”plain-package system” och så där. Det är inte lika färgglatt som i Sverige. Samtidigt så är ju det här jag vill göra – att skriva och publicera artiklar om hur verkligheten för vejpare ser ut. Hur är det att driva en vejpshop i Danmark? Hur ser politiken runt det ut? För att inte tala om nikotinpåsar – en vanlig produkt i Sverige men som i danska medier beskrivs som ett superfarligt gift som dödar hundar. Bara det, liksom. Så det finns mycket att skriva om ur ett danskt perspektiv, men även ur ett nordiskt perspektiv.”
You will bring in some domestic help on site too?
"Yes, to the extent that I can find writers. I've been working round the clock to find writers here in Sweden who can write about these issues in a way that I think works. And it's not easy... So finding someone who can write in Denmark is probably my first priority. Right now, it's a lot of me and freelancers here in Sweden finding things to cover and write about - then we get help to translate the texts in a good way. But the goal is to find writers in Denmark too."
"Vejpkollen" has become "Vejptjek" in Denmark. Why is that?
"Because everyone I've asked in Denmark looks like a question mark when I mention "Vejpkollen". It simply doesn't work in Danish. So in the end I did the absolute worst thing you can do and put "Vejpkollen" into ChatGPT, and out came "Vapetjek". Then I asked some vejp speaking Danes if they understood what it meant, and they said "yes, approximately". Then it is "taken" I thought.
Different nicotine cultures historically
Much of the material will be double-published in both Swedish and Danish, while others will only concern one of the countries and will only be published there. Vejptjek.dk is already publishing articles daily. Much comes from Stefan's own network as "vejpaktivist". There are plenty of forums and user organisations to draw from.
"In this way, you get a lot of contacts with those who are involved and know the political side in Denmark. So it's very valuable. There is a built-up system to throw yourself into."
Child debate and activism
Other differences between the two countries, and therefore the publications, are the culture and history of alternative nicotine products.
"In Sweden, we have always had alternatives in the form of snus and later nicotine pouches. In Denmark it has not been available to the same extent. But vejpning has therefore become an important symbol for alternative ways of using nicotine. Especially as a harm minimisation intervention. And in recent years, nicotine pouches have also made their way into shops. I think it's very important to highlight this development from a user perspective - something we don't usually see in the mainstream media. They mostly talk about underage use, attractive flavours or activist research.
