Danish roadside vendors are demonstrating today against a new law that could make all non-tobacco flavoured e-juices illegal in Denmark.
"Politicians don't know what they're doing. In the worst case scenario, even nicotine shots have to taste like tobacco to be sold," says Mikkel Schmidt, one of the organisers of the demonstration.
"All flavours except tobacco should be banned in e-cigarettes"
Danish Health Minister Magnus Heunicke (S) tells the newspaper Politics. He is now presenting a proposal for new tobacco legislation that includes e-cigarettes, and he has the support of almost all parties in the Danish parliament. The Minister of Health believes that e-cigarettes are "a route to smoking" for young people and that the flavours are "the main reason why young people try e-cigarettes".
Mikkel Schmidt from the consumer organisation Dansk Damper Forening (DADAFO) points out that around 40,000 Danish vapers will lose access to the varying flavours. They now risk returning to smoking.
"Regular road users who don't engage much in this debate - those who are just trying to quit smoking - are the hardest hit by this. They also make up the majority of all road users and are the group that we as a consumer organisation have difficulty reaching." Mikkel Schmidt says to Road hill.
The law will also affect 35 vape shops, many of which operate one or more physical stores around the country. According to Mikkel Schmidt, 90 % of their sales consist of non-tobacco flavours.
"If this goes through, things look bleak. With taxes and bans on popular flavours, it will be almost more expensive to weigh than to smoke. And the vape pen will taste like an ashtray. At the same time, it will be hard to find anything better than simple starter kits, because there won't be many shops left that sell anything else." says Mikkel Schmidt.
According to him, the bill is very unclear. In short, it means that all flavours of e-juice, except tobacco, will be banned in stores. Even neutral nicotine shots don't seem to be exempt.
"It's a general ban, as far as I understand it. The politicians don't seem to know what they're doing. They've only listened to extreme health experts and haven't thought this through at all. In the worst case scenario, nicotine shots have to taste like tobacco in order to be sold." says Mikkel Schmidt.
According to Politics there is broad political support for the proposal. However, there are opposition parties who want a less drastic regulation.
"We didn't want flavours in e-cigarettes to be part of the new tobacco law. We will be disappointed if it passes anyway." Liselott Blixt, health policy spokesperson for the Danish People's Party, which has negotiated with the government on the matter, said to Politics.
The Danish People's Party shares this position with two other liberal opposition parties in the Danish Parliament.
"Three out of five liberal parties support us - mostly for freedom reasons. But they only have 24 out of 174 votes in the Danish parliament, so unfortunately that doesn't mean much." says Mikkel Schmidt.
He believes that many politicians do not base their decisions on facts. For example, the Danish National Board of Health has not provided correct information about the lung injuries that affected roadside workers in the US this summer and autumn.
"Many politicians still believe that regular e-cigarettes with nicotine were the cause of the deaths in the US. The Danish Health Authority has not clearly stated that the diseases were caused by illegally sold THC juices with vitamin E acetate. Frankly, I think many politicians have no idea what they are doing."
The bill will now be debated in the Danish Parliament. If passed, a longer process will begin where the law must be finalised and passed at least three times before it finally comes into force.
"We're not giving up. But the only thing we can do is shout even louder." says Mikkel Schmidt. "We will continue to send emails and messages to politicians and actively confront the misinformation spreading about vaping in the media. We hope that the government will allocate research funds to study what happens if flavours are banned. How will it affect smoking in the country? That should at least prove that we have been right," Mikkel Schmidt says to Road hill.
The demonstration takes place today, Tuesday, in Copenhagen. Follow it via Facebook.
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