BRUSSELS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–European vaping advocates today launched the Vaping
is NOT Tobacco campaign to lobby for smarter, evidence-based
regulation of vaping products that takes account of public health
differences between vaping and smoking.
The campaign has two pillars:
-
The European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) “Let’s demand smarter
vaping regulation”. An online petition, the ECI was launched by a
Citizens Committee representing individuals from Germany, France,
Italy, Belgium, Ireland, the Czech Republic, the UK and Romania. More
supporters are expected to join the committee during the course of the
initiative. -
A grassroots tool to make it easier for European citizens to contact
their respective candidates running for European elections. It targets
both Europe’s estimated 17 million active vapers as well as any other
European Union citizens, including non-smokers, who support
evidence-based decision-making and helping smokers switch to vaping.
The campaign was born out of the ECI Citizens Committee members’ shared
concern with current EU and national rules, some of which treat vaping
products—which do not contain any tobacco—in ways similar to combustible
tobacco products. The campaign aims to achieve evidence-based,
standalone European rules for vaping products rather than including them
in the EU Tobacco Products Directive or in a pharmaceutical directive.
“With this petition we call on all vapers, and anyone believing that
vaping can assist people on their journey from smoking, to support
smarter rules for vaping,” said Dustin Dahlmann, spokesperson of the Vaping
is NOT Tobacco Citizens Committee. “Our aim is to raise awareness
of the important distinction between vaping products and tobacco. With
everyone’s help we hope this initiative will lead to a reform of EU
legislation, which currently fails to recognise vaping’s potential value
in helping people switch to less harmful alternatives. In short, we have
given citizens the opportunity to democratically contribute to this very
necessary debate.”
Recent, authoritative research shows that vaping is significantly less
harmful to human health than smoking and thus offers significant public
health benefits if people switch. The United Kingdom’s Royal College of
Physicians and Public Health England, for example, have concluded that vaping
is at least 95% less harmful than smoking, and a French government
advisory group, the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (CESE),
said earlier this year that current rules on vaping products that treat
them as if they were tobacco products “represents a prudence on the part
of the public authorities that is probably excessive” and “slows their
use as a tool for smoking cessation.”
———
For more detail on the initiative and instructions on how to sign it
please visit the dedicated website https://vapingisNOTtobacco.eu/
Links:
Campaign site: https://vapingisNOTtobacco.eu
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/VapingisNOTtobacco
Twitter: https://twitter.com/VapeNOTtobacco
#VapingIsNOTtobacco
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Contacts
Instinctif Partners:
Brandon Mitchener – 0032-2-896-9151
Denitsa
Marchevska – 0032-2-626-9573
