The government wants to ban our flavors. They don't want e-cigarettes to taste good. They want it to taste only like 'tobacco smoke'. What is the issue?
This is a debating article. The opinions are those of the named writer. Comment or contact editors if you want to reply!
The debate on the taste ban is ongoing in Parliament. The government has clearly shown that e-cigarettes are not desirable in Sweden and that we as vejpar are not worth protecting. On May 24, we are speaking out. We want to show what e-cigarettes mean to us, that choice matters, that our flavors matter, that our lives matter. We want to tell you why different flavors are essential for a vejp, an e-cigarette, to replace cigarettes. Show why ONE flavor is not enough. All are needed, whether it's fruit, candy OR tobacco. It is the flavors that keep us smoke-free.
We are now meeting to demonstrate at Mynttorget in Stockholm at 1830 on Tuesday, May 24.
Why are the flavors in e-cigarettes so important?
The answer is: Because they work! 85% of Swedes who quit smoking with e-cigs choose flavors other than "tobacco".
We demand that all smokers have the right to effective harm reduction, access to safer nicotine. That is exactly what vejpning is about. And as long as deadly cigarettes are available in every other convenience store, nicotine users should have at least as much access to less harmful alternatives as e-cigarettes (and snus, nicotine patches, sprays, pouches - whatever the smoker prefers!) The fact that alternatives taste good, and thus compete with cigarettes in an almost natural way, is something the government should cherish - not destroy.
There are better ways to protect young people
The government should also protect the interests of those of us who actually benefit from e-cigarettes. The government should not be allowed to kick down the road unchecked to make an example or otherwise show that they are "protecting young people" from products that can actually save lives.
Age limits, marketing restrictions and drug bans are more appropriate and effective regulatory frameworks to tackle youth consumption - not taste laws.
Thanks to politicians who get it
But we have also seen that the government is actually facing opposition in Parliament. At present, ALMOST the entire opposition is on the side of the vejps. This is very promising - it could lead to the government's proposals being voted down.
We would therefore like to thank all the politicians, from different parties, who have listened to reason here. Those who actually stand up and protect the flavors of e-cigs and e-liquid.
We therefore say: Yes to flavors AND thank you to all those fighting for a sensible and humane policy to make Sweden smoke-free.
Regards to Sweden's vejpare, nearly 200,000 e-cigarette users via Stefan Mathisson, editor-in-chief and responsible publisher of Vejpkollen (independent platform for news and reports on vejpning in Sweden)
I also don't understand this hysteria about "protecting young people" when it comes to alternative nicotine products like e-cigs. Alcohol and cannabis are much more problematic. Nicotine is more like caffeine. This also seems to be largely a US import, this moral panic around nicotine and vejpning "looking like smoking". It has gone from trying to prevent people from contracting serious life-threatening diseases in middle and upper-middle age to some kind of puritanical view that it is immoral to use a mild drug comparable to, for example, caffeine. It also seems to be a view held almost exclusively by the fanatical lobby organizations, none of whom I know think that vejpning or snus for that matter is any real problem.