LEADER. The European Commission wants to start taxing nicotine-free e-liquid - the same product that is currently key for hundreds of thousands of Europeans who want to leave cigarettes behind. The proposal makes it more expensive to go nicotine-free. And the worst part is that this is the very purpose of the policy.

The way out of cigarettes

Most people who start vaping do so to quit smoking. The way out of cigarettes is often through a gradual reduction of nicotine. You mix nicotine-containing liquids with nicotine-free liquids until, at best, you don't need nicotine at all. That's how the method works - and that's why nicotine-free liquid is key.

Expensive nicotine-free alternatives

But Brussels will make it nicotine-free e-liquid more expensive. Much more expensive. The tax can raise the price by ten kroner per millilitre. This means that a standard 50ml bottle - currently the best-selling product in Danish and Swedish vape shops - will be almost as expensive as disposable models with maximum nicotine strength. And what do you think happens then?

Yes, consumers are increasingly opting out of nicotine-free alternatives. Manufacturers stop making them. What's left are disposable models and high-dose liquids. The result? More people are stuck with nicotine, fewer are finding their way out of addiction.

Politics on the terms of cigarettes

And the worst part is that this is not an unfortunate side effect. It's the whole point. The EU wants to 'harmonise' taxes across nicotine products so that it no longer pays to choose the less harmful alternatives to cigarettes. This applies to nicotine pouches, e-cigarettes and e-liquid. It's a policy that benefits cigarette sales - at the expense of public health.

Defend damage reduction

Nicotine use is a complex societal challenge where we need to balance market forces, consumer choice and demand against a reasonable level of protection for young people when regulating. Countries such as United Kingdom, USA, New Zealand and especially Sweden and Norway have shown that harm reduction works well in this market. E-cigarettes, snus and nicotine pouches have probably saved thousands of lives. Now we need to defend vaping in the same way. Because in the end, it's not about bottles and taxes. It's about thousands of people getting a real chance to leave cigarettes behind - and at their own pace become free of the addiction. If they want to.

Stefan Mathisson
Editor-in-Chief and Publisher-in-Chief
Vejpkollen.se and VapeTjek.dk