The European Commission said it has drawn up the European citizens’ resolution called “A call for a smoke-free environment and the first European smoke-free generation by 2030” which should have reached one million signatures within six months of its publication of and from 7 different countries to be taken into account for the pre-formulation of policy by the European Union. The content of the resolution, among other things, calls for the establishment of a variable age limit for the purchase of tobacco and nicotine products for those born before 2010, while the resolution was reportedly organized by a Spanish non-governmental organization (NGO).
World Vaping Association (WVA) president Michael Landl said about the corresponding electronic products that “This initiative shows the widespread misinformation about various nicotine products. We cannot have a one-size-fits-all approach to very different products. Almost all the harm from smoking comes from the thousands of other chemicals in cigarette smoke, not nicotine. Alternatives such as vaping are substantially less harmful and are proven effective smoking cessation methods. The ban will do nothing but cost lives.”
Regarding tobacco products and the variable age limit for their purchase, the president of the global vaping coalition Michael Landl responded that “How should this work in practice? In a few years, stores should be checking the IDs of 50-year-olds. This won’t work. These rules will be ignored or create a huge black market. Both outcomes are detrimental to public health. Besides being impractical, generational bans may be illegal in Europe as they go against the equal and fair treatment of EU citizens – a pillar of the Lisbon Treaty. Furthermore, it is morally wrong to deny harm reduction to younger generations. Instead of stigmatizing smokers, we need to give everyone opportunities to quit smoking once and for all.”
Micael Landl went on to say of the citizens’ resolution that “The registration of this initiative shows that pressure from damage reduction groups on EU institutions is increasing. This does not bode well for the upcoming update of the Tobacco Products Directive. Future regulation must be based on science and the experience of millions of consumers. Less harmful products should be treated differently than cigarettes. Prohibition has never worked and will never work. It simply creates massive unintended consequences and harms public health. The exact opposite of what we all want.”
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