The fight against smoking is not just a fight against the tobacco industry - it is just as much a fight against lobbying organizations that want to prevent the development of products that can reduce the harm of cigarettes. This is the view of Atakan Befrits, an activist and key figure behind several organizations fighting for a smoke-free world.
PROFILE: It all started when Atakan Befrits, a crayfish trader from Stockholm, was kicked out of the Turkish Import and Foreign Trade Authority. Atakan Befrits had a business idea: what if the snuff that had helped his whole family quit smoking could work the same wonders in his old home country of Turiket, where nearly 40% of men smoke? All he had to do was get a formal permit and then get to work saving lives.
But things didn't go quite as he had planned.
"I was thrown out of the import authority feet first, told that snus was "worse than drugs and porn combined". I was stunned and thought it was a big misunderstanding. But it turned out that some Swedish institution had spread a lot of untruths about snus with Turkish authorities. I was boiling with anger. And wanted to change it." says Atakan Befrits.
Snus, e-cigs and harm reduction
It has been 14 years since then. It has been a long journey. Atakan Befrits is now a seasoned activist at the global level, behind the founding of several local and international campaigning organizations - all involved in a war where harm reduction products hover between acceptance and total ban.
"14 years ago, this was a non-issue. Snus was available in Sweden. It helped people to stop smoking. But it was never officially recognized. Swedish Match used the concept of harm minimization in their marketing and that was it. It was only when e-cigarettes appeared on the market that harm reduction became a hot potato," says Atakan Befrits to Vejpkollen.
A human right
He believes that tobacco harm reduction, access to nicotine in a less dangerous form than cigarettes, is a human right. And that vejpning, like snus, has highlighted the poor state of human rights in many countries.
"It's about the right to a healthier life, no matter what bad choices you made in the past. We have a climate where human rights only apply to those who don't smoke. It's becoming a moral issue - and that's perfectly acceptable. It's been going on for a long time, but nowadays that attitude is completely open" says Atakan Befrits.
Moral prohibitions
And he doesn't think much of the Swedish model of tobacco prevention. Where others may see prevention, he sees Atakan Befrits a systematic approach using bans, stigmatization and scaremongering as the main tools. But scare tactics don't work for smokers who find it very difficult to quit, he says. "It doesn't matter how many freedoms are lost.
"We don't really see a problem with being against personal freedom in Sweden. It opens the door to prohibitionism and moral prohibitions. Unfortunately, this attitude has been influential in the debate on e-cigarettes and other smokeless nicotine products worldwide. The Swedish influence on the issue of harm reduction is great and it has unfortunately destroyed more than it has built" says Atakan Befrits.
Consumers' voices
Today he is most active in INCCO - an international organization he co-founded. INNCO is an umbrella organization for independent consumer-driven associations around the world. Its goal is to promote harm reduction as a method to reduce the harmful effects of smoking.
"We are ONE voice for 1.4 billion nicotine users. INNCO represents those who have swapped cigarettes for something better, but also a voice for those who don't even get the chance to do so. Quite simply, a lot of us are affected by this policy. Nicotine users are generally never allowed to participate in the debate on the same terms as the "established" anti-smoking organizations. We are deliberately excluded, with a kind of pejorative justification that we are "doing the bidding of the tobacco companies". Atakan Befrits.
Those who want to ban nicotine
"It's not easy to be seen, let alone to gain influence," he says. The organization is basically banned from all official conferences and hearings on e-cigarettes and snus in the world. This is also true in Sweden, where organizations such as Tobaksfakta and Vi som inte röker (VISIR) actively port both international and local representatives of user associations to both their own and others' conferences.
"It's often the same people who work in these networks. They share a prohibitionist mentality and have moral values that stem from the temperance movement. They believe that nicotine should be classified as a drug, in principle. Those of us who think differently are not allowed to have our say, and if we do, they'll make sure that someone smacks us on the nose quickly. Their "tobacco endgame" is really the same as banning nicotine altogether. It's not like some stupid and uncivilized user is going to argue."
E-cigarettes are an open target
In Sweden, we have snus, a tobacco product for which research shows few harms compared to cigarettes. With almost a million users and a well-developed industry, it's a product that few politicians want to take on. Atakan Befrits.
"E-cigarettes, on the other hand, are open season. The antagonists can say whatever they want, really, without counterattack. They are not interested in any relative measurements in the debate. Nicotine is the demon and harm reduction is the devil himself. How big is the risk compared to nothing? That's always going to be more important to them, when they run their campaigns." says Atakan Befrits.
New partnerships for harm reduction
Still, he hopes that the idea of harm reduction can spread, despite the resistance. Researchers from all over the world, together with universities and health organizations, want to, and can, change the situation, he says. If only through unofficial cooperation across national borders.
"New international platforms are slowly emerging to promote good and credible science on tobacco harm reduction. Researchers helping each other. This can involve contributing to, but also co-authoring, studies through different universities around the world. Involving many people increases the interest of both doctors and authorities. It also increases interest in listening to what the research actually shows." says Atakan Befrits.
"E-cigar without taste"
The future of e-cigarettes in Sweden is somewhat uncertain. A lot can happen in the next few years. It all depends on how the authorities choose to act, says Atakan Befrits.
"In the worst case scenario, we will only have unflavored e-cigs in 10 years. Not just in Sweden but throughout the EU. Snus will probably remain as it is. At best, our health authorities have found a way to combine both snus and e-cigs in the smoking cessation market. But that might be hoping for too much."
First nicotine - then chocolate and soft drinks
And according to the former crayfish trader, the stakes are high. Not least for the billion people who actually smoke in the world. "Smoking has an incredible impact on individual health and our ecology. If the prohibition policy, with excise duties and restrictions on products that have the potential to minimize harm, continues, worse things are waiting around the corner, he says.
"I'm not just working for safer tobacco products. I feel like a secret agent for all the industries that are next in line. Alcohol, chocolate, soft drinks, candy. It may be hard to see it, but this lobbying has shown that people can be pushed into all sorts of weirdness. If they just decide to do it. Of course, it inspires others to go after anything that ordinary people find funny"
I remembered that Nils Bejerot, the father of Swedish drug policy, was a Maoist, i.e. a supporter of a totalitarian ideology. It would be interesting to check out the figures in the Swedish anti-nicotine lobby, if they possibly have links to shady movements, totalitarian ideologies, free churches, etc. If I remember correctly, there were people with Nazi sympathies in IOGT-NTO.