Covid-19, nicotine taxes and vejpshops. You like to read about that. At least if the statistics from Google and Facebook are anything to go by. Vejpkollen thanks you for an eventful 2020 and hopes for an equally exciting 2021. With that said, here is a kind of top list of articles and topics that have interested you, dear readers, over the past year.
It would be ridiculous to call 2020 a normal year. With a global pandemic and huge societal upheaval to prevent the spread of infection, the year for e-cigarettes has been turbulent to say the least. And it shows in the way interest in Vejpkollen articles is spreading online.
Nicotine and Covid-19
At the very top are articles to COVID-19 and nicotine. Can nicotine affect the onset, symptoms and dangerousness of a Covid-19 infection? Yes, that is the question. It started with an article in the Daily Mail, The Guardian and later Aftonbladet. Smokers were less likely to suffer from Covid-19 than they should. Vejpkollen wanted to go deeper and added comments from some relevant voices in nicotine and e-cigarette research. As well as some words from our Swedish industry association, BELC. Almost 4000 readers found the article in 2020. The news got some follow-ups with local researchers, among others Louise Adermark from the University of Gothenburg and interest in the issue has been constant throughout the year. When further research showed the same results as the French study, it raised interest again. These items are Vejpkollen's most googled in 2020.
But why such a huge interest in nicotine and COVID-19? Perhaps because smokers and other nicotine users were in the spotlight? In a positive light, too? Has that EVER happened before? Answer: no. Suddenly, nicotine was something that was maybe a bit GOOD? Nicotine opponents raged and tried to wave it away. They succeeded reasonably well. They have great resources, good media contacts, and it was easy to "spin" the news to be just about tobacco companies and financial interests. At least in more general media.
Neither vaccine nor medicine
But research is research. And those with an interest in nicotine know that there is a wealth of data to support the view that nicotine itself is a fairly harmless substance - addictive, perhaps - but not fatal. Whether nicotine reduces the risk of COVID-19 is not yet known. And IF that turns out to be the case, then, as Anders Tegnell and other epidemiologists would say, it is something that matters most at the population level and not for individuals. Nicotine is neither a vaccine nor a medicine.
You don´t know nicotine
At the same time, we know that nicotine is business at a high level. The market includes tobacco companies, pharmaceutical companies and, more recently, small independent players dealing in e-cigarettes. The fact that nicotine is not without controversy is the theme of the documentary "You don´t know nicotine" which had its streaming premiere a la Covid-19 in the fall. Great movie! Watch it!
New store attracted many readers
As number two on the list we find an article that actually appeared at the end of 2019. It is about a closure - and a new start. True Gentlemen's was born when Vapor Store, which had six stores in five cities, went bankrupt. Two employees took over the business in Landskrona and Helsingborg. Nearly 2000 people found the article via Google and social media during the year.
Shops selling e-cigarettes popular
News about vejpshoppers is one of the most read articles in Vejpkollen overall. When Cigoteket changed owners many were curious about what had happened. When Ecocig got into trouble due to alleged violations of the Marketing Practices Act, the vejps woke up wondering how things really are with Swedish legislation. Roadside shoppers were also in focus when the Covid pandemic required new ways to managing sales in a contagion-proof way. When Circle K started sell simpler e-cigs it attracted both emotions and discussion. And so, in the middle of the pandemic, a new vejpshop in the heart of Gothenburg. Vejpkollen was of course there. In total, you readers have clicked through more than 3000 times to articles about vejpshoppar. Hoping for more of the same in 2021.
Nicotine tax, nicotine tax and more tax
The reality for our Swedish vejp shoppers has changed in recent years. If it's not pandemics, it's confused reporting on health risks with e-cigarettes or new laws and taxes that shake the market.
The new nicotine tax"A death blow for vejpning in Sweden", it is called by people in the industry. "An effective way to reduce nicotine consumption" says the Ministry of Finance, which nevertheless expects million revenue with the new tax on highly concentrated nicotine. The proposal was made in February and articles have been attracting readers throughout 2020. Overall, articles on the nicotine tax have actually attracted by far the most readers throughout the year - although interest varies depending on the article. Whatever you think of the tax, it has comes as no surprise for Vejpkollen readers.
And so they want to remove the flavors...
What did come as a surprise was the taste ban in Denmark. Not because it was unknown, the proposal came in December 2019, but because it contravenes EU laws. Something that both the Danish government and Danish vejp companies are well aware of. We have not seen the end of this, and expect protests, at least at EU level.
Tougher laws for e-cigarettes in 2021
And speaking of the EU. The new tobacco directive, also known as TPD 3, is being hammered out and 2021 will be the year of peak negotiations. On the table is the regulation of flavorings and tax directives. Consumer organization ETHRA represents e-cigarette users in the EU and will have its hands full this year, believe me. Vejpkollen will of course be following developments.
Important for how e-cigarettes are regulated are the research. And that will be the focus of the next article on e-cigarettes, vejpning and the world in 2020.
