Ban all non-tobacco flavors in e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches. And hide all tobacco products in shops. This is what the Left Party is proposing ahead of the upcoming debate on alcohol, tobacco and drugs in Parliament.
"In order for electronic cigarettes to provide an alternative for users of smoking tobacco, the sale of tobacco-flavored liquids should continue to be allowed. However, the use of flavor additives that make electronic cigarettes attractive to children, young people and non-smokers should not be allowed."
Several members of parliament from The Left Party in a motion to Parliament.
Flavor ban for nicotine pouches
The Left Party refers to a proposal put forward by the Social Democratic government in spring 2021, where the majority of all flavorings in e-liquid would be banned. The Left Party supported the proposal together with the Green Party - but a majority in Parliament voted against it. The proposal at the time only addressed flavorings in e-cigarettes and e-liquid. Now the party wants to go even further. So-called white snus should not be allowed to taste like anything other than tobacco.
"The Left Party believes that it should be investigated whether tobacco-free snus should not be made available to consumers on the market if it contains additives that lead to a clearly noticeable smell or taste of something other than tobacco, similar to the previous proposal regarding the liquids in electronic cigarettes." write several MEPs from the (v) group in a motion.
Rotting hay in the bag
Tobacco flavors in tobacco-free products have long been a controversial issue among both politicians and industry operators. Even countries that actively ban vejp products "with a taste and smell other than tobacco" have not clearly defined what a tobacco flavor actually is. The exception is the Netherlands which only allows 12 different flavor ingredients in the e-liquid. According to a study commissioned by the authorities, these ingredients should only contain substances that are bitter and pungent, taste of earth or fermented hay and contain some form of smoke essence (similar to the artificial flavors that can be found in spice mixes and bacon, among others).
Want to hide tobacco
In addition to taste bans, the Left Party also proposes a ban on the display of tobacco products in shops. This is to prevent minors from becoming curious about the products. However, the proposal also refers to adults.
"Visible tobacco products are also a problem for adult smokers and ex-smokers. For people trying to quit smoking, cigarette packs can be an irresistible lure. The exposure risks leading to impulse purchases for customers. Hidden sales of tobacco would thus help to reduce the recruitment of new tobacco users." Writes the Left Party.
Tobacco policy and a future strategy on alcohol, drugs, tobacco, doping and gambling will be debated in Swedish Parliament on March 21, 2024.
So very stupid... there is an 18 year limit on it and we are well adult enough to be able to decide for ourselves what we want to put in us? Now the government and the EU will have to focus on the important issues instead with all the shootings, gang crime, the heavy drugs
Don't they have more important problems to deal with than snus and e-cigs? Is not democracy for people to decide for themselves what they want to eat, snuff or smoke. Soon they may ban sugar, for example, it is also not good for the body: -)
Adult beings should not be banned just because democracy is to decide for yourself.
The red wine left does it again. Smoking deadly cigarettes causes the premature death of about 8 million people every year according to the WHO. Snus, white snus and ecigs have never been proven to kill anyone in the history of the world.
Nicotine, by itself, does not cause cancer or any other serious disease. Anyone who does not believe me can Google the question and get the same answer from, among others, the US FDA and cancer organizations and published scientific data. Why then do (v) and (mp) want to hunt down snuffers and vejpers? These parties must be Sweden's absolute most boring, soon they will want to snatch the coffee cup out of the hands of the citizens as well but then they have lost their very last vote in this country.
I remember November 2022, when it was rumored that the European Commission would ban white snus. Quickly, Nooshi Dadgostar joined the defense of snus with a snus can on her desk on her Twitter account. When Annie Lööf complained that Nooshi smelled smoke in the elevator of the Swedish Parliament, she admitted that she vejpade. Was she possibly breathing in tobacco flavor?
It's okay Nooshi, vejpake whatever flavor you want but don't give us the other 1.5 million former smokers who have quit for good with the help of these significantly less harmful products!
Bengt Wiberg - Founder of EUforsnus with members from 100 countries and inventor of Stingfreesnus.se, a Swedish patented innovation that includes gum protection for snus users.
I don't care if people smoke, snuff, vejpar or whatever they do, but to say that nicotine isn't harmful is a complete lie. It IS harmful, and that's something you have to accept and own if you want to use it. Nicotine is a neurotoxin that affects all sorts of parts of the body such as the brain, heart, reproductive system, lungs etc.
A list of things nicotine actually does to the body:
- Causes an adrenaline rush, which leads to increased blood pressure, among other things
- Causes blood vessels to constrict
- Creates hardening of the arterial cell walls (leads to impaired heart function and increased risk of heart attack)
- Activates the sympathetic nervous system - can lead to increased feelings of anxiety and even panic attacks (the sympathetic nervous system manages the body's fight or flight so activating it in a threatening situation is not positive).
- Causes the brain to secrete dopamine - leads to the brain's natural dopamine secretion being destroyed as it learns to rely on the nicotine instead, plus a tolerance builds up which means you need more and more dopamine (and therefore nicotine) to feel something.
Reply to Anders Hansson:
Thank you for commenting! It is important that all sides are heard in a debate.
Nor is anyone saying that nicotine does not affect the body, or that there are no risks from nicotine itself. On the other hand, there are very different opinions about how big the risks really are when the use is done without any combustion involved (smoking is really dangerous, whether nicotine is part of it or not). The examples you give present the risks of nicotine without quantifying them in any way. That is a poor starting point for a discussion.
So why is it important? Well, because if we make a comparison: exactly the same description can be made for another, very common, drug (which is also a poison) and is used daily in different forms by billions of people.
It's all about caffeine.
Compared to each other (without quantifying anything):
Caffeine produces an adrenaline rush, causes blood vessels to constrict, stiffens blood vessels (a symptom of calcification, but not necessarily chronic), activates the sympathetic nervous system (anxiety, panic, etc.), causes the brain to secrete dopamine, builds tolerance and leads to addiction. And so on.
In other words, using caffeine comes with a lot of risks. If you don't believe me, there are some good studies to read below 😉
I'm not saying that caffeine use and nicotine use are the same thing. However, it can be good to have a little perspective when discussing addictions and their risks. I think the world will be a little better then 🙂
Yours sincerely
Stefan Mathisson
responsible publisher
Vejpkollen
Some interesting studies on caffeine:
https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/01.hyp.38.2.227#:~:text=Caffeine%20acutely%20increases%20blood%20pressure,artery%20properties%20are%20largely%20unknown
https://www.health.com/condition/anxiety/how-coffee-increases-anxiety#:~:text=More%20than%20400%20milligrams%20of,the%20U.S.%20Food%20%26%20Drug%20Administration
https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/01.hyp.38.2.227#:~:text=Caffeine%20acutely%20increases%20blood%20pressure,artery%20properties%20are%20largely%20unknown.
I find it very unlikely that Nooshi's vape would smell like tobacco.
I have vejpat lots of different "tobacco flavors" and not a single one smells like tobacco, not even my friends or colleagues think it smells like tobacco, but more like something vanilla-like... There is also no vejp that tastes like tobacco... If it tasted like tobacco, I would have stopped immediately because I hate tobacco taste and smell now after 12 years of vaping.
No, free for all tastes and strengths, I think. It is nonsense with all these laws for us.