"If the politicians won't come to us - we'll have to come to the politicians"
Denmark is banning flavors in e-juice. This became clear after the Danish parliament voted in favor of the government's proposal late last year. Now vejps in the country are raising their voices - by getting involved in politics.
The Danish Consumer Association for vejpare, DADAFO, is starting a political party. The reason is the upcoming ban on flavors in e-juice, which the parliament voted through late last year. DADAFO organized a demonstration outside the Royal Palace in Copenhagen, on the same day as the parties debated the bill.
"But nobody listened to us, the users. And yet we are the ones directly affected by the ban. Politicians didn't even try. And the media silenced all our attempts to reach out. We had no place in the debate at all," says Jeanett Bergfriedt Andersen, one of the initiators of the The steam batch and active in DADAFO.
The day after the Copenhagen demonstration, the decision came: all flavors in e-liquid except tobacco and menthol become illegal to sell in Denmark in the near future.
Already tough rules for e-cigs
Denmark has for some years now implemented the European Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) in their laws. This means that e-cigarettes are heavily regulated through marketing restrictions, bottle size requirements, a maximum nicotine content of 20 mg and product registration six months before sale. The country also has an age limit for purchase (18 years). But a flavor ban would hit the country's vejp shoppers harder than the EU law, says DADAFO. Shops' sales are largely made up of flavored e-juice, as is customer demand.
The current draft law will now reviewed and designed in several bodies, including the Legislative Council. It is a process that DADAFO and the newly formed Damp party hope to influence.
"The idea is not to become a party that runs in the next election, really. But it's an attempt to make our voices heard, through the attention it can bring" says Jeanett Bergfriedt Andersen
Tobacco companies and the pharmaceutical industry
DADAFO currently has 3000 members. In order for the party to stand in the next elections (2023), 20,180 signatures are required. So far, the Steam Party has collected 500.
"Now we hope that most of the vejpshoppers in Denmark will support us with information and help us to get members. But we are fighting against the propaganda of big tobacco and pharmaceutical companies. If our politicians don't talk and listen to us, things will not go well. It could mean that we won't have any vejpshoppers left in six months' time."
This spring, the Vapor Party will launch campaigns to get the message out that "Tobacco harm reduction should be a political priority". And that flavors in e-juice help smokers quit cigarettes for good.
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