Consumer Group Urges Liberal Tobacco Policies

The liberalization of vaping has considerable potential to help millions of people switch from traditional tobacco smoking to vaping, according to the Consumer Choice Center (CCC). Vaping is widely believed to be a less harmful way of consuming nicotine than smoking.

The CCC examined 61 countries and assessed how “smart” tobacco harm reduction policies could make the switch easier.

“We looked at 61 countries (including the U.K.) around the world and compared the current rate of daily and occasional vapers,” said Fred Roeder, health economist and managing director of the CCC. “We used the United Kingdom’s progressive tobacco harm reduction policies as a reference point and estimated how many current smokers could be helped to switch to vaping by having a more permissive vaping framework.”

“More liberal rules on advertising to smokers, displaying products at the point of sale for cigarettes, lower taxation, and public health bodies endorsing the evidence of vaping being at least 95 percent less harmful than traditional smoking can help smokers to switch to vaping.”

The CCC estimates that nearly 200 million adults in the analyzed 60 countries could switch to vaping and urges public health bodies and regulators to endorse tobacco harm reduction