In a statement released yesterday, Helvetic Vape, the Swiss association of users of personal vaporizers denounces the unnecessary prohibitions of federal officials on vaping products containing CBD and / or THC <1%.
THE HELVETIC VAPE PRESS RELEASE
Last February the 27, the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH), the Federal Office for Food Safety and Veterinary Affairs (FSVO), the Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG) and Swissmedic published their Recommendations products containing Cannabidiol (CBD). The Helvetic Vape Association notes with regret that the federal administration is pursuing its strategy of prohibiting products that allow consumers to consume substances that are less risky and that are exempted by the Parliament from the tobacco tax in 2012.
As with nicotine, the administration shamelessly uses art. 61 of the new Ordinance on foodstuffs and everyday objects (ODAlOUs), which incorporates art. 37 of the old ordinance valid until April 30, 2017, to prohibit the professional importation and sale of vaping liquids, untaxed, containing CBD and / or THC <1%. But on the other hand, it duly authorizes products intended to be smoked, the riskiest mode of consumption, by taxing them as tobacco substitutes.
Missed opportunity
The federal government could have, it should have, made its life easier by adapting the ODAlOUs at the time of its recent overhaul to allow the marketing of harm reduction and harm reduction products and thus act in the direction of public health, its own national strategy Addiction and the will of Parliament. The administration also recognizes half-word in its recommendations its problem of categorization of products induced by the content of the ODAlOUS which has yet knowingly refused to correct: “It is impossible to classify raw materials containing CBD without knowing the dosage or the end product and its intended use. The situation is comparable to that of caffeine or nicotine: although they have a pharmacological effect, these substances are also used in products belonging to different categories. Some raw materials can, for example, also be legally used to make fragrance oils. "
The prohibition of vaping products on the simple basis of a pharmacological effect prohibited by the administration for the usual objects coming into contact with the mucous membranes in order to protect the interests of the pharmaceutical industry, is not adapted to the evolutions of the society. Today, millions of people around the world have chosen to benefit from the effects of substances, such as CBD or nicotine, at lower risk by taking the decision to avoid smoking, which is extremely toxic to health. . Artificially blocking this major health advance, initiated by the user population, is unworthy of the authorities. Especially since many products on the market, coming into contact with the mucous membranes and which could be described as usual objects, contain substances having a pharmacological effect. For example, a can of caffeinated soda comes into contact with the mucous membranes. A cigarette, containing a very large number of substances having a pharmacological effect, comes into contact with the mucous membranes. An essential oil intended to be used in an evaporator finally comes into contact with the mucous membranes when it is breathed, etc.
The use of ODIlOUs article 61 to prevent lower risk products from being placed on the market on the basis of fuzzy interpretation is therefore highly questionable. This purely administrative qualification of vaping liquids, confusing content and container, is more the pretext than the reality of use and public health concerns. This is a serious problem that will eventually require a complete rethinking of the regulation of all legal and illegal psychoactive substances and their consumption patterns as part of the National Addictions and Noncommunicable Disease (NCD) strategies. In the short term, the Federal Commission on Addiction Issues must play its full role and steer the federal administration towards a rapid legalization of the sale of harm reduction and harm reduction products.
Bypass administrative fads
In the meantime, as with liquids containing nicotine, professionals in the sector must refuse to implement these arbitrary recommendations to force the administration to make a questionable administrative decision before the Federal Administrative Court (FAT). Among others, the Federal Law on Technical Barriers to Trade (LETC) can be invoked. As a reminder, two procedures are still pending before the TAF concerning vaping liquids containing nicotine.
For individuals, the Federal Law on Foodstuffs and Usual Objects (LDAl) allows imports for personal use of products that do not meet Swiss regulations. As with vaping liquids containing nicotine, users can therefore legally import vaping liquids from abroad containing CBD and / or THC <1%. This safety valve therefore allows consumers to bypass administrative whims but at the cost of unnecessary complication and an unfair increase in access to non-taxed and less risky products. For the moment, the administration has not published limits on private imports for these products. Will they be set as arbitrarily and without scientific basis as for vaping liquids containing nicotine?
Risk reduction is fundamental
Vaping is a risk and harm reduction tool. This risk reduction information, flouted by the federal administration, is fundamental for the public in the context of the prevention of non-communicable diseases and the discussions underway on the legalization of cannabis. The combustion of any plant produces many toxic substances for health such as carbon dioxide, tars, fine solid particles, etc ... Vaping being without combustion, it is, in all cases, preferable to vape a substance than smoking a substance. This is true for nicotine and it is also true for CBD and THC. According to a study, published in 2016 in the journal Nature, by a team from the Vaudois University Hospital (CHUV), led by Dr Varlet, “cannavaping” appears to be an effective method of consumption, very much less toxic than consumption. smoked cannabis and can adapt more flexibly to the different needs of users.
Source : Helvetic Vape
