"The WHO campaign against e-cigarettes has become a global spectacle. This year's World No Tobacco Day campaign has degenerated into a farce of prohibitionist ideology and scaremongering to protect the cigarette trade"
This is according to Michael Landl, World Vapers Alliance, ahead of Tobacco Free Day and World Vape Day.
He is supported by the organisation Svenska Vejpare, which believes that the anti-tobacco movement seems to be becoming increasingly desperate.
"They lose their funding when smoking disappears", says Karl-Åke Johansson.
On Saturday 31 May, the World Health Organization will launch its annual World No Tobacco Day. But the day before, vejparians and other user organisations gather to celebrate World Vape Day. The conflict between harm reduction and 'quit or die' ideologies has probably never been clearer. On social media, messages are being pumped out at breakneck speed - from stories of popcorn lung and brain damage to the reality of vejp shops being forced out of business and users finding it increasingly difficult to make their voices heard.
"We are seeing more and more campaigns from advocacy organisations, within the EU and from the WHO, to push for tougher legislation, and often outright bans. This is happening at a time when millions of people around the world are quitting smoking with the help of smokeless nicotine products such as e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches" says Michael Landl from the activist organisation World Vapers Alliance.
Going after the tobacco industry
In Sweden, it is mostly interest groups such as Tobaksfakta, the Swedish Cancer Society and Non Smoking Generation that appear in the feeds for World No Tobacco Day, or Tobacco Free Day as it is called in Swedish. However, the focus is not on tobacco, but on nicotine use. Messages about "nicotine-free school hours" are interspersed with reports of "new" nicotine use among young people.
"This year's theme is "Unmasking the appeal", which aims to reveal the strategies used by the tobacco industry to make tobacco and nicotine more appealing to young people. The industry is constantly looking for new ways to make their products more attractive, for example through trendy snus can designs, candy-like flavours and lifestyle advertising on social media." writes the advocacy organisation Non Smoking Generation on its website
"A desperate movement"
Karl-Åke Johansson, spokesperson for the user organisation Svenska vejpare, says that the strategy of the anti-tobacco movement in Sweden is quite clear.
"Smoking has almost disappeared in Sweden and the financial means to fund organisations like the Non-Smoking-Generation are shrinking along with it. They're a bit desperate now, and it's clear that they need to change to justify their existence. So now they're digging in their heels to find new 'risks' and dangers of nicotine, whether it's vejpning or nicotine pouches - even though there's really no scientific evidence for what's being claimed in these campaigns," he tells Vejpkollen.
"The disappearance of cigarettes is inevitable"
According to Karl-Åke Johansson, it is inevitable that cigarettes will be marginalised in the vast majority of shops in the fairly near future. And with that, public health will improve over time, regardless of what various interest groups say.
"However, it is important that legislation and restrictions are balanced to ensure that products are as safe as possible, without making them unattractive. The last thing we want is overly strict legislation, such as that favoured by the Non Smoking Generation. This would create an even bigger black market, where young people can pick and choose among uncontrolled products, without lawmakers being able to do anything about it." he says.
Strong criticism of the campaigns
In the international context, things look a little different for World Vape Day and Tobacco Free Day. The messages are basically the same, but taken to a completely different level. In social media, e-cigarettes are often portrayed as downright deadly products and nicotine pouches as pure poison with a candy flavour. Michael Landl from the World Vapers Alliance, an advocacy organisation working internationally on harm reduction in the nicotine market, argues that it is rather the messages spread through the campaigns that are directly harmful.
"The consequences of smokers believing that vejping is as dangerous as smoking will be that fewer will choose to switch from cigarettes to e-cigarettes. The price will be more deaths, more illness and more unnecessary suffering. You also protect the cigarette trade" writes Michael Landl on X.
Favours smoking
He also refers to a series of statements by senior EU politicians who, before their respective chambers, have claimed that the "risks of vejpning" outweigh the risks of smoking. Both the Dutch climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra and the Commissioner for Health Olivér Várhelyi gets a whack from the ladle.
"Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi told the Environment Committee that vejpning "has created entirely new health risks comparable to - or even greater than - smoking itself", and referred to the "popcorn lung" myth as some kind of "proof". It doesn't seem to be about ignorance - rather, it appears to be misdirection, designed to scare people away from safer alternatives and keep them stuck in a deadly cigarette addiction." he says.
"A farce of prohibitionist ideology"
The WHO Secretary-General also Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is severely criticised by Michael Landl.
"The World Health Organisation recently claimed that "tobacco kills no matter how it is packaged" - a deliberate way of confusing vejping with smoking by ignoring the extensive scientific evidence that shows vejping is significantly less harmful. The WHO's relentless campaign against e-cigarettes has become a global spectacle. In line with this, this year's World No Tobacco Day campaign has degenerated into a farce of prohibitionist ideology and scaremongering about 'industry tricks'. WHO completely ignores products used for harm reduction. It pushes for outright bans, high taxes, and spreads the myth that vejpning is a threat to public health. They completely ignore the consequences for users," writes Michael Landl in a press release.
Calls for better regulation
World Vape Day takes place on Friday 30 May and the campaign continues into the WHO World No Tobacco Day on 31 May.
"While the WHO and the European Commission are busy attacking harm reduction, World Vape Day celebrates 20 years of innovation, science and real success stories. Millions of people have quit smoking thanks to vaping. The evidence for this is overwhelming: vejpning works and e-cigarettes save lives. We want to see good regulation and no bans. This is what can finally put an end to the smoking epidemic.
