France's resident Macron does. So does French Prime Minister Elisabeth Born. Now it has also emerged that left-wing party leader Nooshi Dagdostar uses e-cigarettes.
It was during a light-hearted hearing of Nooshi Dadgostar (v) radio channel P3 that the issue of smoking came up. According to sources at P3 the leader of the Left Party had smoked the occasional cigarette, especially in connection with the fall of the then Prime Minister Stefan Löfven's government in a vote of no confidence in the autumn of 2021. Nooshi Dagdostar would neither confirm nor deny the information. The presenters then speculated whether Nooshi Dagdostar might have vejpade instead? Something that made the left-wing party leader give in. She quickly showed her e-cig and cheers erupted. Then the interview began in earnest.
"Actually quite big"
"It may seem a bit trivial and silly. But it's actually quite big. Even very big" says Karl Åke Johansson, chairman of NNA Sweden, the Swedish electronic cigarette user association.
When the government wanted to crack down on e-cigarettes in the form of a flavor ban, the Left Party, along with the Green Party, was one of the parties that supported the proposal. If the flavor ban had gone through, neither Nooshi Dagdostar, nor anyone else, would be able to use an e-cig to quit smoking in the future, says Karl Åke Johansson. This did not happen, but the proposal voted down by the opposition.
"But we sensed that the Left Party had changed its mind on the issue, actually. They weren't as judgmental as before and even acknowledged that e-cigarettes are actually used by adults who want to quit smoking" says Karl Åke Johansson.
Vejpande minister criticized
When the French Prime Minister Elisabeth Born vejpaken openly at a public gathering, both the press and political activists reacted, demanding everything from resignation to apologies to fines. However, nothing similar has happened since Nooshi Dagdostar's revelation on Sweden's largest radio station.
"But apparently the center leader thinks Annie Lööv (c) that Nooshi Dagdostar's smoking is quite annoying. "They share an elevator in the Parliament building and it smells when you've been out smoking. It would be great if she could switch to e-cigarettes - both for her health and the environment." Karl Åke Johansson.
"More people understand what e-cigs are all about"
Karl Åke Johansson believes that the more public figures who vejpare openly, the better for public health overall.
"It's about more people understanding what vejpning is about and accepting it. Then we might avoid a one-sided debate about young people who steal vejpar. Nooshi is obviously trying to quit smoking and she deserves all the credit for that. Now we who are involved must support her as much as we can," says Karl Åke Johansson.
