"Weighers are sent back to smoking"
"Go to your local vejphop and buy everything you can. Make sure they clear the shelves, because that's the only thing that can help them get through the economic disaster they are now facing. They helped you quit smoking. Now you have to help them survive"
So writes Jonathan, who runs an online store for vejp products in the US, in a plea to vejpers in New York. In two weeks, vejpshops in New York will no longer be allowed to sell flavored e-juice.
He doesn't operate in New York, but his statement via social media is indicative of the mood of the community that has formed around vejpning over the years: fear, anxiety and cohesion.
Wind in the sails for taste bans
The recent outbreak of lung diseases, caused by vejping illegal e-juice containing THC and the dangerous substance e acetate (according to the Food and Drug Administration, FDA), mayors in several US cities have taken the opportunity to push through decisions that, just a few months ago, were highly controversial.
First, the state of Michigan banned the sale of flavored e-juice. Preparations are underway in California, Utah and several other states. Yesterday it was New York State's turn: in two weeks, it will be a crime to sell flavored e-juice in one of the world's largest cities. Cigarette smokers can only watch as the products they have used for years to keep them from smoking cigarettes disappear from the shelves.
"These bureaucrats who passed the ban have blood on their hands," writes the American Vaping Association's president Greg Conley in a press release. They just looked down at their cell phones as their citizens testified how such a ban would have terrible consequences for their health, for public health in general. A taste ban will send a large proportion of users back to smoking, we can say that with certainty."
E-juice important for the industry
E-juice is also the hub of the multi-million dollar industry that e-cigarettes and vejping have become in the US. In New York alone, there are 700 vejp shops with around 3,000 employees. These are mainly small local shops, many of which are now going out of business.
"This decision is not about promoting public health. Quite the opposite. It's about securing a billion in cigarette sales tax revenue for New York," Conley wrote. "We will most certainly pursue legal action to overturn this outright illegal and harmful ban."
Andrew Coumo accuses the companies
But policymakers in New York have brushed off the criticism. According to Governor Andrew Coumo, the ban is about "protecting young people from potentially dangerous products". At the a press conference On Tuesday, the Governor was asked if he had thought about what the ban would mean for former smokers who chose e-cigarettes to improve their health and quit smoking.
"The technology may be safer than smoking, but what does it matter? Flavors in e-cigarettes attract young people and it is clear that flavors like Gum and Cotton Candy are targeting children" said Andrew Coumo.
The appeal of vejping to young people is confirmed by research. However, according to a large study of young people in the UK, only 0.2% of young people who vejp regularly are former non-smokers. 1.7% of young people under 18 use e-cigarettes at least once a week, but these are usually also regular smokers.
Not a gateway to smoking
In the US, the situation is slightly different. According to statistics, far more young people have tried e-cigarettes. In recent years, more young people have tried e-cigarettes here than in the UK and regular use is higher. But according to Linda Bauld, professor of health sciences and one of the researchers who conducted the UK study, there is no data, either in the UK or the US, to suggest that smoking of analog cigarettes is increasing because of young people trying e-cigarettes.
"E-cigarettes are not a gateway to smoking, not according to the data we have today. In particular, we do not see an increase in the number of smokers overall in society, which we should do if e-cigarettes were a gateway. However, we do see that those who try or use e-cigarettes are in most cases already smokers."
This is according to Professor Linda Bauld, who points out that the use of e-cigarettes among young people needs to be closely monitored in research.
