“Vaping will continue its rise and smoking will continue its accelerated decline. This is how we win,” said renowned public health expert Clive Bates, while Adjunct Professor at Faculty of Law from the University of Ottawa David Sweanor said that further innovation will continue to expand the market. “We will once again see an unleashing of innovation that will dramatically change the US, and global, nicotine markets.”
On the whole, predictions for the US are quite hopeful. This is to be expected since the FDA seems finally open to the idea of looking at vaping products as smoking cessation tools. “…there is an inevitable movement towards a better understanding, and therefore acceptance of, the category [vape and reduced risk alternatives to smoking],” said ECigIntelligence Managing Director, Tim Phillips.
The US situation is finally looking up, but in Australia it’s still precarious
On the other hand, predictions from other parts of the world where regulations are still stifling such as Australia, are naturally not as positive. “2018 will be another hard year for Australian smokers and vapers caught in a death roll with a crocodile-like public health movement intent on dragging them under.” said Marewa Glover PHD, from the School of Health Sciences in Massey University & Chair of End Smoking NZ.
Founder of Vaping Post and director of documentary movie Beyond The Cloud, Ghyslain Armand, was amongst those who was sought out for an opinion. He mentioned how it took years of campaigning by vaping experts to finally get e-cigarettes recognized as harm reduction and smoking cessation tools. However, added Armand, things may be taking a turn for the worse “mainly because the market is growing more than ever in Europe and that it attracts therefore more visibility.”
Drawing a clear line between Big Tobacco and the Vaping Industry
Armand added that gaining credibility in Europe was a long tough road that ended with success, however now that Big Tobacco is investing heavily in the safer alternatives, “our vape is threatened again by taxes or online sales ban, just to quote a few. We need, more than ever, to draw a RED LINE between vaping and tobacco.”
Ghyslain Armand concluded by pointing out that it is important that the line that differentiates vaping from smoking is drawn very clearly, “Vaping is not smoking, vaping is even the opposite of smoking. This red line is the only weapon we have left to prove our good will, and we know that authorities are very sensitive to this position.” He concluded by emphasizing that it is of utmost importance that the organizations who have been at the frontline in the fight for vaping rights, such as Fivape in France and IBVTA in UK, keep being supported.
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