The observation is edifying and the image of the vape is now collapsing in the minds of the French. In a recent press release, France Vapotage denounces the mistrust of the French towards the electronic cigarette, the probable result of massive misinformation on the subject for years.
TOBACCO AND VAPING, THE SAME AS THE SAME?
This is the distressing result of the attacks against vaping and the absence of a clear position from the public authorities with regard to this product: 52,9% of French people consider electronic cigarettes to be as or more harmful than traditional cigarette ! A majority of French people thus put on an equal footing a scourge (tobacco: first risk of avoidable cancers) and the most used and most effective tool to get out of it.
The fight against smoking in France has run out of steam
With 31,9% of smokers, France has regained its 2017 smoking prevalence rate, and is permanently one of the worst students in the European Union despite the deployment of strong and ambitious public health policies.
How then to achieve the objectives of the Ten-Year Strategy for the Fight Against Cancer (2021-2031) and in particular achieve a tobacco-free generation in 2030?
Time is running out, but for that, France would have to rely genuinely on all the existing levers, and in particular the plurality of solutions offered to smokers, medicinal or not, of which vaping is one.
Really give vaping every chance
Vaping is the most used tool and is considered the most effective to quit smoking. Contrary to the majority perception noted in this Barometer, the electronic cigarette contains 95% less harmful substances than the traditional tobacco cigarette. In particular, it is tobacco-free and combustion-free (main cause of cancer in traditional tobacco cigarettes).
Recognizing the interest of vaping is the choice made by the United Kingdom which, in less than 10 years, has greatly reduced its smoking prevalence rate, today 3 times lower than that of France (13,3, XNUMX%).
For France to take the same path, it would be necessary that:
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Public authorities communicate clearly and factually around vaping, based on scientific studies,
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the vaping sector finally has a regulatory framework adapted to its products and its issues to support the responsible development of the sector.
But we leave:
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maintain self-regulation, which is necessarily imperfect, instead of dedicated regulations, legitimately expected by a sector that has been in existence for more than 10 years;
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set up marketing and sales practices targeting minors and non-smokers, whereas this product is intended exclusively for adult smokers.
Result: the French are wary of the electronic cigarette and among them, many consumers from disadvantaged socio-professional categories, particularly concerned by tobacco consumption.
Tobacco is the number one preventable risk factor for cancer. It is high time to promote the electronic cigarette to adult smokers, a tool whose effectiveness is recognized in stopping smoking.
And if the justification is the lack of scientific studies conducted in France, in line with the sociological context of smoking in our country, then it is just as urgent to launch such studies without delay.
To view the press release in full, meet here.
