Dansk version nederst / Danish version below





Att. The European Commission



Regarding notification: 2020/0228/DK - S00S / Bill amending the act on the ban on tobacco advertising etc., act on tobacco products etc., act on electronic cigarettes etc. and various other acts (Implementation of the national action plan against smoking by children and young people)

SMOKE-IT would first and foremost like to thank you for the opportunity to be able to contribute to the process, with our thoughts and views on the matter at hand.



We are NOT "Big Tobacco"

Neither users, manufacturers or dealers/vape shops has been asked for advice in relation to the making of the agreement or the bill. The reason for this given, has been that Denmark is obliged to comply with the WHO framework convention for tobacco control, FCTC. However, e-cigarettes is NOT a part of the FCTC, and as such it would appear, that the Danish Ministry of health and Elderly has grossly misunderstood the actual EU-law regarding e-cigarettes, which is in fact a separate law, and as such it is NOT subject to the strict regulations that apply to the tobacco industry.

E-cigarettes help smokers quit, and as such the e-cigarette industry is selling products that help smokers escape the claws of the tobacco industry. In recent years we have seen the tobacco industry gain an elevated interest in tobacco harm reduction (THR), including e-cigarettes. This has had the unfortunate effect, that it has become much easier for "the tobacco control" to wrongly place the e-cigarette industry in the same box as the tobacco industry. Furthermore, this approach has had the unfortunate effect, that more and more smokers erroneously believe, that e-cigarettes are just as harmful as traditional tobacco products.

We have become victims to the foul play of this tobacco control, yet we are NOT the tobacco industry. On the contrary. We are former smokers, who have succeeded in running a business, selling e-cigarettes to aid ADULTS in their struggle to quit smoking - and it is solely done on a basis of personal experience and user interaction, yet with relevant science and research behind it. So why would we have any interest in keeping smokers in the grasp of the tobacco industry?

Denmark is leading the battle against the smoking habits of children and young people, and SMOKE-IT applauds and welcomes the majority of actions and regulations of the law, which outlines the effort to restrict and limit smoking among the children and the young.

We believe that NO-ONE, neither children, young or non-smoking adults, should ever begin a nicotine-usage, regardless of which product it might be. But the e-cigarette industry has become caught between a rock and a hard place - and it does appear as if we have become a bargaining chip in a negotiation, where the government, in consideration of the socially vulnerable, did not opt for the much higher cigarette prices.

Let's get this straight: E-cigarettes are for smokers, who wish to quit smoking. They are NOT products for new, potential nicotine users, and as such the products MUST be seen as an aid in conjunction with smoking cessation.

The number of young users of e-cigarettes, has seen a steadily decline since 2014.

With the statement "more young people are using nicotine products", the National Health Board has successfully convinced the Danish Government, that more and more kids and young also use e-cigarettes, despite the fact that ALL reports, including a.o. HBSC 2014 compared to HBSC 2018, showing the direct opposite, and that the amount of young users of e-cigarettes, has dropped significantly since 2014 - and is STILL decreasing.

Resulting numbers from the annual report, "Danish people's smoking habits", supports this fact, showing a significant decrease in the amount of e-cigarette users in general, and in particularly among the youth, since 2018.

Young people constantly seek out new trends - and have always done so.

In the light of this it is also worth noting, that more and more surveys show, that the youth no longer finds e-cigarettes trendy, but on the contrary believe that e-cigarettes are "lame" and only meant for people who wish to quit smoking.

E-cigarettes was a craze, just like the fidget spinners.

The concern for the children and youth e-cigarette usage in Denmark, has it's origin in the so-called "epidemic" from the USA, where more and more young people began using e-cigarettes - and especially one brand kept gaining the media's attention - Juul.

Juul took the criticism upon their shoulders, and decided to remove all sweet and fruit flavors from retail businesses, leaving only flavors that were tobacco and mint. A survey later showed that the sweet and fruit flavors were in fact NOT the reason why the youth purchased Juul, but more so it was the stylish design and especially the massive amount of nicotine content sold with the product. So by removing the fruit flavors, the youth simply turned to whatever flavors were available to them - being tobacco and mint.

Juul is not available in Denmark, and most likely never will be, since the product does not conform to the restrictions on child proofing of e-cigarettes, as issued by the Danish Safety Board.

The politicians have been misinformed

Most Danish politicians have not yet opened their eyes the potential of the e-cigarette as a smoking cessation product - which is quite understandable. Through recent years the tobacco control has been quite successful, in hand picking specific data from various surveys and research. Unfortunately neither the media nor the politicians themselves, have implemented an ample, critical approach to the data they have been presented, and as such no relevant questions have been asked, whether or not the conclusions are representative of the data from which they were derived, or if they are in fact painting an unnuanced and factually wrong picture.

It is deeply concerning when politicians subsidize the sorting of relevant and important information and data to civil services and appointed officials, as it often shows that especially relevant data and information is left out of the conclusions presented to the politicians.

When users and dealers/vape shops addresses government officials and politicians, they're met with reports and standard responses from the Danish Health Board. In general the response is usually the same, rehearsed - but factually wrong - conclusions, while avoiding the questions asked, rather than engage in a reasonable dialogue.

But we also know and read the reports - we have access to the very same data, used to shape these inaccurate conclusions - and when the reports misrepresents and excludes some of the most important data, it is pivotal for us to alert the politicians to this.

The utmost important task for elected politicians, is to rule and make laws on an enlightened, thought through and well documented foundation - NOT from emotions and carefully selected statements, which in THIS particular matter, potentially only serves as the fatal deconstruction of an industry, that basically has the same goal as that of the Board of Health: to help smokers quit smoking .

The concern for children and youth nicotine usage should not revolve around e-cigarette flavors, but instead focus on marketing and availability.

We understand the concern, but availability in particular is the issue, rather than flavorings, and we strongly believe that THIS is the issue to address, rather than to regulate the e-cigarette market so dramatically, when it is already so very well regulated.

Every dealer/vape shop only wishes for their business to survive, and to be able to continually help smokers quit, but the current implementation of TPD has already made this quite difficult, and even though the Danish Safety Board regularly performs unannounced spot checks and general control with the shops, they have yet to find any violation of the age control. The current regulations are functioning as they were intended.



We are more than willing to cooperate and work WITH the authorities, but we do believe that the proposed actions to the draft of the bill, are crossing the line.



The Danish Government does not believe that any other actions, will have a significant impact as the proposed actions - but they're simultaneously unwilling to be monitoring the effect for future reference - how is that in any way considered due diligence?

We hoped for an open and reasonable dialogue during the negotiations, as we do believe we have proper solutions to keeping e-cigarettes out of the hands of our children and youth.

We wish to submit a suggestion, that limits the sale of e-cigarettes to specialized shops only - where the age control is much better implemented, than in convenient stores, gas stations and kiosks.



We are aware of the big responsibility, but it is a responsibility that we are willing to impose on ourselves, and invest in. It matters greatly to us, to convince the government that we run a serious and responsible business, that do NOT deal e-cigarette products to non-adults, under the legal age of 18 years.

Thank you.



_________________



Jens N. Andersen

CEO

Jens@smoke-it.dk

SMOKE-IT ApS

Erhvervsparken Klank 3

DK-8464 Galten

CVR 32 33 72 60

Til Den Europæiske Kommission

Vedr. notification: 2020/0228/DK - S00S / Bill amending the act on the ban on tobacco advertising etc., act on tobacco products etc., act on electronic cigarettes etc. and various other acts (Implementation of the national action plan against smoking by children and young people)

SMOKE-IT ønsker først og fremmest takke for muligheden for, at få lov til at bidrage med vores synspunkter i forbindelse med det nye lovforslag.

Vi er IKKE Tobaksindustrien, tværtimod.

Hverken forbrugere, producenter eller forhandlere er blevet spurgt til råds i forbindelse med udfærdigelsen af aftalen eller lovforslaget, begrundelsen herfor har været, at Danmark er forpligtet til at overholde WHO’s rammekonvention for tobakskontrol, FCTC. E-cigaretter hører imidlertid IKKE under FCTC, og derfor kunne det se ud til, at Sundheds og Ældreministeriet har misforstået EU-lovgivning for området vedr. e-cigaretter, som er særskilt lov og derfor IKKE er underlagt de strenge regler, som gør sig gældende for Tobaksindustrien.

E-cigaretter hjælper rygere med at stoppe med at ryge, e-cigaretbranchen sælger altså produkter der hjælper rygerne med at komme ud af tobaksindustriens kløer. De senere år vi set, at tobaksindustrien har fået øjnene op for ”tobaksskadesreduktion”, herunder e-cigaretter, dette har betydet, at det er blevet nemt for ”tobakskontrollen”, at skære alle over én kam. Det er lykkes tobakskontrollen, med WHO i spidsen, at få overbevist politikere og sundhedsfolk, at e-cigaretbranchen, er lige så slemme som tobaksindustrien, og desværre ser vi, at flere og flere rygere efterhånden fejlagtigt tror, at e-cigaretter er lige så skadelige som cigaretter.

Vi er blevet ofre for tobakskontrollens spil, men vi er IKKE Tobaksindustrien, tværtimod. Vi er tidligere rygere, for hvem det er lykkes at drive forretning med salg af e-cigaretter, for at hjælpe VOKSNE rygere med at stoppe med at ryge, på baggrund af egne erfaringer og brugerinteraktion i samspil med relevant videnskab og forskning! Hvorfor skulle vi ønske at fastholde rygerne i tobaksindustriens kløer?

Danmark går forrest i kampen mod børn og unges rygning, og SMOKE-IT bifalder de øvrige tiltag i loven der skal være med til at forhindre børn og unges rygning. Vi mener, at INGEN, hverken børn, unge eller voksne ikke-rygere, bør starte et nikotinforbrug uanset hvilket produkt der er tale om, men e-cigaretter er kommet i klemme, og det virker lidt som om vi er blevet ofre for forhandling, fordi regeringen ikke ønskede alt for høje cigaretpriser af hensyn til socialt udsatte.

E-cigaretter er for rygere der ønsker at holde op med at ryge, e-cigaretter er IKKE produkter for nye potentielle nikotinbrugere og derfor anses produkterne, for at være hjælpemidler i forbindelse med rygestop.

Antallet af unge brugere af e-cigaretter er faldet siden 2014.

Med udsagnet ”flere unge bruger nikotinprodukter”, er det lykkes Sundhedsstyrelsen og tobakskontrollen i Danmark, at overbevise regeringen, om at flere børn og unge også bruger e-cigaretter, dette selvom ALLE rapporter, b.la. Skolebørnsundersøgelsen 2014 sammenlignet med Skolebørnsundersøgelsen 2018 , viser det modsatte, og at antallet af unge brugere af e-cigaretter oveni købet er faldet siden 2014, og tallene er i øvrigt stadig nedadgående. Tal fra rapporten ”Danskernes rygevaner” viser også, at antallet af brugere af e-cigaretter generelt er faldet, og særligt blandt de unge er faldet markant siden 2018.

De unge søger nye trends hele tiden - og har alle dage gjort det

Derfor er det også værd at bemærke, at flere undersøgelser viser, at de unge ikke længere synes e-cigaretter er trendy, tværtimod mener de unge, at e-cigaretter er kiksede og kun beregnet personer der vil stoppe med at ryge.

E-cigaretter var en dille, ligesom ”Fidget Spinners” også var det

Bekymringen for børn og unges brug af e-cigaretter i Danmark, udspringer af den såkaldte ”epidemi” i USA, hvor flere unge begyndte at bruge e-cigaretter, og særligt ét mærke blev fremhævet i forbindelse med overskrifter i medierne – Juul.

Juul tog kritikken til sig, og besluttede at fjerne frugtsmage fra hylderne i almindelig detailhandel, dette efterlod tobak og mintsmag tilbage. En undersøgelse viste senere, at smagen ikke var den primære årsag til, at de unge købte Juul, men derimod det stilede design, og de voldsomme nikotinstyrker produktet sælges med. Ved at fjerne frugt- og andre søde smage brugte de unge altså bare de smage der var tilgængelige - altså tobak eller mint.

Juul er ikke tilgængelig i Danmark og bliver det højst sandsynligt heller ikke, produktet lever nemlig ikke op til Sikkerhedsstyrelsens krav om børnesikring af e-cigaretter.

Politikerne er blevet misinformeret

De fleste danske politikere har endnu ikke fået øjnene op for e-cigaretters potentiale, hvilket er forståeligt. Igennem de seneste år er det lykkes tobakskontrollen i Danmark at håndplukke udvalgte data fra diverse undersøgelser. Desværre har hverken medier eller politikere haft en tilstrækkelig kritisk tilgang til den data de er blevet præsenteret for, og derfor er der heller ikke blevet stillet spørgsmål om hvorvidt konklusionerne er repræsentative for de data de udspringer fra, eller om man tegner et unuanceret og faktuelt forkert billede.

Det er bekymrende at politikerne overlader sortering af vigtig information og data til embedsværket, særligt fordi vi kan se, at netop vigtige data bliver udeladt i de konklusioner der videregives til politikerne. Når brugere og forhandlere af e-cigaretter henvender sig til diverse embedsmænd og ikke mindst politikere, bliver der henvist til Sundhedsstyrelsens rapporter og udtalelser. Man responderer ganske enkelt med de samme indstuderede, men faktuelt forkerte konklusioner, frem for at tage en åben dialog. Men vi kender rapporterne, og vi har også de den data der danner grundlag for dem, men når rapporterne udelader de vigtigste data, er det os magtpåliggende at gøre politikerne opmærksom herpå.

Politikernes fornemste opgave bør altid være, at lave lovgivning ud fra oplyste, gennemtænkte og veldokumenterede grundlag, og IKKE ud fra følelser og særligt udvalgte udsagn, der i dette tilfælde potentielt får den fatale konsekvens, at man demonterer en branche der ønsker fuldstændig det samme som Sundhedsstyrelsen - at få rygerne til at stoppe med at ryge!

Bekymringen bør slet ikke omhandle smag i e-cigaretter, men bør i stedet omhandle markedsføring og tilgængelighed.

Bekymringen for børn og unges brug af nikotinprodukter er reel, men her bør man se på tilgængeligheden af produkterne, og det er netop her vi mener man bør gribe ind i stedet for at regulere et marked der allerede er velreguleret.

Enhver forhandler af e-cigaretter ønsker blot, at forretningen overlever, og indførslen af TPD har allerede gjort det svært nok.

Sikkerhedsstyrelsen i Danmark kontrollerer forhandlerne i Danmark, og under kontrolbesøg i butikkerne er der ikke fundet overtrædelser i forbindelse med alderskontrol.

Vi er samarbejdsvillige, men vi mener at tiltagene foreslået i udkastet til lovforslaget er over stregen.

Den danske regering mener ikke, at andre tiltag vil have lige så stor effekt som de foreslåede tiltag, men de vil heller ikke måle effekten af tiltagene i fremtiden – hvordan hænger det sammen?

Vi ønskede dialog under forhandlingerne, og vi mener vi har løsningerne til hvordan man kan forhindre børn og unge i, at købe e-cigaretter.

Derfor ønsker vi at stille forslag om, at e-cigaretter udelukkende sælges i specialforretninger.

Vi er klar over, at det er et stort ansvar, men det er et ansvar vi er villige til at tage for at overbevise regeringen om, at vi tager vores forretning alvorligt, og at vi IKKE sælger produkter til personer under 18 år.

Tak.

_________________ _



Jens N. Andersen

CEO

Jens@smoke-it.dk

SMOKE-IT ApS

Erhvervsparken Klank 3

DK-8464 Galten

CVR 32 33 72 60