one of the lead organisers of World Vape Day 2020. She said: "Safer
nicotine products, such as e-cigarettes, are the most disruptive
influence on smoking in decades and have the potential to save
millions of lives globally.” Vapers shared #worldvapeday alongside
their stories of quitting smoking and urged governments to reconsider
flavour or vaping bans. The day was organised by a number of
worldwide consumer organisations including Acvoda (Netherlands),
The Association of Vapers India (AVI) , vapers.org.uk (UK) and Vapers
Finland among many others.
Each country celebrated the day differently to reflect local concerns
and issues. In India, for example, where the production, import and
sale of vaping products has been banned since September, there
were video campaigns protesting the ban and email templates to
allow vapers to express their concerns directly to politicians. The
Association of Vapers India says the ban has forced a lot of vapers
back to cigarettes and said it was important that politicians were
aware of the consequences of their restrictions.
Nearly a million people die every year in India due to smoking, with the
country’s tobacco crisis costing the economy $22 billion each year.
World Vape Day has never before faced a challenge like the coronavirus
lockdown and, for the first time, everything took place online. Julie
Woessner, President of the board of INNCO - International Network
of Nicotine Consumer Organisations said: “I felt overwhelming pride
at our community as I watched the tweets come in. It’s a lot to ask of
people right now as things are so dominated with the pandemic yet
they still managed this.
“This was truly an organic grassroots movement and we look forward
to doing it bigger and better next year.” Meanwhile for World No
Tobacco Day, The World Health Organization (WHO) made protecting
children and young people from exploitation by the tobacco industry
their focus for 2020, introducing classroom kits for teachers to discuss
tobacco harm. However, much to the dismay of vapers and vape
organisations, the WHO included e-cigarettes in a list of products they
said introduced children to nicotine as a ‘new generation of smokers.’
Vapers hit back using #WHOExposed instead of the #TobaccoExposed
branding as suggested by WHO. They accused the organisation of
misrepresenting the facts and not playing fair.
Vaper @mkasera summed up the feelings of many by tweeting:
“It's 'NO TOBACCO' day. Focus on tobacco. Vapes are not tobacco
products. They exist to eliminate tobacco. If you played fair, you would
realise that we are on the same team.”
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