"Correct me if I'm wrong now. But did ANY of us start with normal cigarettes for the taste? No, we didn't. But it was the flavours in the e-cigarettes that made me finally throw the cigarette away," writes Mathias Norman.
This is a debating article. The opinions are those of the named writer. Comment or contact editorial staff if you want to answer!
The discussion about the flavours of e-cigarettes, and their merits or demerits, has now reached the corridors of power. And with that, an old bat comes to the fore. It is a weapon that is now extremely worm-eaten but unfortunately does as much damage as before with the intimidation it brings with it.
I am of course talking about the bat "corrupting youth".
Lena Emilsson (s) stands and chants that it is the flavours that attract young people more than anything else. Correct me if I'm wrong now, but did ANY of us start with normal cigarettes for the taste? Hand on heart, I have to say a hard "no" myself. However, it was the taste of e-cigarettes that made me finally throw away my cigarettes 4 years ago.
"Tobacco tastes like shit"
Young people are trying e-cigarettes for exactly the same reason I started smoking cigarettes. Because I could. It was part of my own revolt growing up, a revolt that in other people's cases goes to greater extremes. But I'm pretty sure it wasn't the taste that got me there, because in plain Swedish, tobacco tastes like shit. It was only with habituation and addiction that it kept me there. But it held me in an iron grip.
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Ridiculous arguments against flavours
I think Ms Emilsson, in her attempt to attract more contributions to her party's coffers, is shouting herself hoarse with misinformation. Has ANYONE in the decision-making bodies actually looked at the research coming out of the UK? I'm pretty sure that's not the case. Michael Anefur even becomes laughable and ridiculous in his assertion. He argues that smokers should be able to settle for fewer flavours to stay away from cigarettes.
"Those who switch from regular smoking to e-cigs should in most cases like the tobacco flavour," Michael Anefur tells Vejpkollen.
Restaurant without spice
By the same logic, all spiced alcohol should be removed from the shelves, because ethicists are satisfied with pure alcohol flavour without spice. Welcome to Michael Anefur's new pub. Can anyone actually check the available research, to justify their positions with facts instead of taking a stand according to the idea of who screams the loudest?
Mathias Norman
Flavours are important for 2 reasons.
Firstly, it helps smokers to distance themselves from the taste of tobacco. It doesn't take long before the road back to something that tastes like an ashtray is closed off for good.
The second reason is to create a barrier so that "puffing" young people (unfortunately an unavoidable problem, as young people have always tested the adult world) do not go on to smoke. Banning flavours other than tobacco would mean training young people to accept the taste of smoking.
Is it even a problem if young people vape?
Would smoking be a problem if nicotine-free tobacco was available?
I would say that very few people would smoke if it wasn't addictive. Looking tough with a cigarette in your mouth quickly loses its charm, but by then it's usually too late because the addiction has set in.
It is more important to actively keep nicotine away from 'beginners'.
As a former smoker and now a road user, it was important to get nicotine in a way that resembled cigarettes because that's how I was used to it. I have tried both patches and chewing gum but it did not give the same "feeling".
I can't see any problem with a fifteen-year-old tough guy puffing on an e-cig as long as it doesn't contain nicotine. All the serious research I've seen indicates that it's largely harmless and the novelty will wear off pretty quickly.
Many young people chew gum without switching to nicotine products, even though they are available in both mint and fruit flavours.
Turn it around.
Had tobacco been a problem for society, its flavour would have made people start brewing tea with it instead of smoking it.
No, probably not. In the cafes there had been a choice of coffee, tea or tobacco and no one had ever questioned it.
Nicotine has an undeservedly bad reputation, due to the toxicity of its carrier, tobacco smoke.
Let's not forget that nicotine and caffeine are very closely related. Plants produce it for the same reason, as a defence against insects, and it affects the body in an identical way.
First things first: e-cigarettes do not come with a "natural" flavour, so "tobacco" is a flavour just as much as chocolate, kiwi or candy cane. So creating a tobacco flavour is just as much a flavouring as a candy or fruit flavour.
Also: e-cigarettes are *not" tobacco. No matter how much some people try to lobby for it. And never will be.
A major argument in this embarrassing soup of lies is the absurdity that e-juice suppliers should be forced to produce tobacco flavours when their business is based on a non-tobacco alternative. Wrong, crazy and shameful.
One thing we should NOT forget is "what is tobacco flavour?"
ALL tobacco sold on the market has LOTS of flavourings added, to create an individual taste for the manufacturer.
Some of the added substances are also unhealthy. For example, most cigs contain Diacetyl. The substance that can cause popcorn lung and which e-cigs were accused of containing. Well, the cigarette contained just as much Diacetyl and no smoker has, ironically, ever got popcorn lung.
So the consequence of politicians' simplistic decision to ban everything except tobacco flavours must mean that all flavours added to tobacco can also be used in e-cigs.