Ashtray Blog has been publishing expert predictions on the future of vaping for the last seven years. This year’s predictions come from experts from across the globe, including the UK, France, Canada, the USA, Australasia and Asia, who have each been involved in tobacco harm reduction for a number of years.
Amongst these experts, is renowned public health advocate Clive Bates, who thinks that consumers and markets – will win in the end. “..But my main prediction is again hopeful. It is that regulators will start to be taught lessons about the limits of their power by consumers, markets, internet commerce and overseas entrepreneurs.”
“As with any prohibition or its more respectable regulatory equivalent, the enormous arbitrage opportunities created by the barriers erected by regulators to products people want to buy for legitimate reasons in their own interests will prove too tempting. Juul knock-offs in any flavour you like will become ubiquitous,” he added.
The current resistance towards vaping will not stop its expansion
Similarly, Canadian chair of the Advisory Board at the Centre for Health Law, Policy and Ethics at University of Ottawa, David Sweanor, believes that the existing resistance towards vaping, will not stop the expansion of this industry.
“I think many of the organisations that should be major players in facilitating the substitution of low risk non-combustible products for lethal cigarettes will stay adversarial. In fact, as vaping becomes ever more common, and the research becomes ever more overwhelming, they will double down in their opposition,” said Sweanor.
“The optimistic aspect of this is that all this opposition will largely not matter. At least not to vaping and other low risk alternatives to cigarettes in an ever-expanding range of jurisdictions. In fact, it might merely help good advocates generate the public discussion that speeds the demise of combustibles (and the credibility of those protecting them),” he added.
Big Tobacco tries to infiltrate the vaping market
On the other hand, our very own Ghyslain Armand, founder of Vaping Post, spoke of the importance of keeping an eye on Big Tobacco as they try infiltrating the vaping industry.
“Some vaping advocates are now saying that no matter who builds it, a vaping device or e-liquid helps reduce tobacco epidemic. If we were machines I would agree, but we are not. We have memory and we bring values to our behaviours. I wouldn’t buy organic tomatoes from Monsanto (if they were so), just like I would prefer to get an electric car from Tesla rather than General Motors, or I wouldn’t buy a medicine from the same people who made the disease it’s supposed fight.” said Ghyslain.
“It’s a good thing the tobacco companies are on the vaping market, it challenges independent players. But let’s not forget who changed the game at the beginning and let’s support them. Let’s support the companies that got this long term view of developing something that has already changed our lives, companies built by people who just quit smoking one day and wanted to make a living out of it,” he concluded.
Read more predictions: Ashtray Blog
