Vape Business Ireland marks World No Tobacco Day (31 May) with calls for sensible regulation of vaping to protect Ireland’s most effective smoking cessation tool

With 1 in 4 Irish smokers successfully quitting cigarettes with the help of vapes, Vape Business Ireland (VBI), the nation’s largest trade association for vaping retailers, is marking World No Tobacco Day (31 May) with a renewed calls for sensible regulation of the vaping sector in Ireland.  

According to the Department of Health’s annual Healthy Ireland survey, 25% of successful quitters in 2023 used vapes to help them move away from cigarettes, compared to 19% of successful quitters who used Nicotine Replacement Therapies (NRT) such as lozenges and gum.  

Paul Malone, National Spokesperson of VBI said, “On World No Tobacco Day, we would like to highlight the fact that vapes are Ireland’s most effective smoking cessation tool – and this is based on the Department of Health’s own research. The HSE National Service Plan 2024 proposes providing intensive cessation support to 20,648 people in 2024, which is about 20% fewer than the number of smokers who quit with the help of vapes in 2023. The HSE only proposes using NRT as supports here, even though in the UK, our nearest neighbours, the NHS actually gives free vape starter kits to high-risk smokers in its ‘Swap to Stop’ scheme” 

Flavours are key to helping smokers to successfully quit, with research finding that ex-smokers will return to smoking if flavoured vapes are banned. A 2020 study by the European Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates – with 37,000 respondents – found that over 95% of vapers prefer non-tobacco flavours. A recent survey by Red C/Respect Vapers found that 20% of Irish vapers would return to smoking if flavours were banned. The risk of increasedsmoking due to flavour bans is supported by international research and examples. In Denmark, a ban on flavoured vapes resulted in an increase in the percentage of young people smoking and a decrease in the percentage of vapers who were quitting smoking. Similarly, a ban in San Francisco resulted in rising teenage smoking rates for the first time in decades. A 2017 study in the U.S. found that a ban on flavoured vaping products would lead to an increase in smoking cigarettes, while a 2020 study found that over 17% of vapers in Canada, England, and the U.S. would stop vaping in favour of smoking if flavours were banned.

Last month, VBI launched a report on vaping entitled Supporting local retailers, helping smokers quit – a blueprint for sensible vaping regulation in Ireland. It has called for the Department of Health to protect the sale of flavoured vapes in Ireland and recognise that they have helped thousands of Irish people quit smoking. Speaking on this, Mr. Malone added, “The role of flavours in vaping is crucial for smoking cessation. These flavours help quitters disassociate nicotine from the taste and smell of tobacco, making it easier to avoid returning to smoking. However, a ban on flavoured vapes could force many users to revert to tobacco-flavoured vapes, potentially leading them back to smoking. It is essential that policy makers see the bigger picture and focus on the goal we all share of reducing the harm from tobacco. We urge policy makers to support evidence-based regulations to support harm reduction”. 

For more information on Vape Business Ireland, visit: https://vapebusinessireland.ie/