Wars produce strange bedfellows but it makes me laugh that in the war on tobacco and nicotine anti-smoking campaigners are often embraced as allies by vaping advocates.
Take ASH. I understand why their (somewhat reluctant) endorsement of e-cigarettes as a less harmful alternative to combustible tobacco is welcomed by many vaping groups but, as I will never stop pointing out, everything ASH does is driven by the belief (which it shares, ironically, with Philip Morris) that the best thing any smoker can do is quit cigarettes and nicotine altogether.
I wasn’t surprised therefore when it was reported that ASH supports the introduction of an excise tax on disposal vapes that would almost double their cost. Plain packaging for e-cigarettes is also on the agenda, and has been for some time.
According to the Guardian on Saturday:
Vapes should be taxed and displayed in plain packaging behind the counter to reduce their popularity among children, health campaigners and councils have warned.
To tackle the rapidly growing popularity among children and young people, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) is calling on Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, to set out a £4 excise tax on single disposable vapes on top of the usual £4.99 price.
The Local Government Association (LGA) is also requesting action, urging ministers to tighten regulation on the display and marketing of vaping products to match tobacco.
Where to start?
Like tobacco (and alcohol) it is already illegal to sell e-cigarettes to anyone under 18 so if there is a problem with vapes, disposable or otherwise, target the seller not the consumer. After all, the overwhelming majority of vapers are adults who have quit or are trying to quit smoking.
If you’re genuinely interested in people’s health – rather than scaremongering about children taking up a habit that has considerably fewer risks than smoking – why put unnecessary obstacles in the way? Be honest, some teenagers will always rebel. Surely it’s better they do so by vaping rather than smoking?
Moreover the majority of adult smokers are in lower socio-economic groups so almost doubling the price of disposable vapes is hardly going to encourage them to switch even if it’s still cheaper than buying tobacco from legitimate retailers. (Illicit sources are another matter.)
Yes, there are other, non-disposable, e-cigarettes available but, as I have argued for years, many smokers will only switch to vaping if the device is as simple to use as a cigarette. (See: Convenience and competition are key for emerging products, March 2016.)
And that, surely, is the point of disposable vapes? As well as being relatively cheap compared to tobacco and even non-disposable vapes, they are very simple to use.
To this I would add that there is still very little evidence that never smokers are taking up vaping or switching from vaping to smoking in significant numbers, so what’s the problem?
The problem is anti-smoking groups like ASH calling for price hikes on a device that offers smokers an alternative to the far riskier combustible product they currently enjoy.
Worse, their counterparts in Scotland want to go further and ban disposable vapes, citing environmental issues. How long before campaigners in England do the same? And after that?
Regular readers will know that the path to prohibition – the eradication of all tobacco and nicotine products – is well mapped out yet many ‘pro-choice’ vaping advocacy groups seem wilfully blind to the very obvious direction of travel.
Sticking one’s head in the sand is rarely a good idea. But if they refuse to see what’s happening, more fool them.
Simon Clark – Taking Liberties – 2023-02-14.
Want More Investigative Content?
