We’re back at it here at Consumer Choice Center, giving you the latest and greatest in our campaigns fighting for YOU across the world. Do you care about lifestyle freedom, innovative technologies, and smart public policies? Then you’re in the right place!

Consumer Choice Supervillains NFT Collectible Cards When it comes to discussions about public policies, especially those around vaping, we all know there are some supervillains out there. That’s why we launched the Consumer Choice Center Supervillains collectible card set, now available as NFTs on OpenSea.

The Shady Side of Student Loan Forgiveness Elizabeth has a widely-syndicated article on the calls for loan forgiveness and why that would be harmful to millions who did not go to college, and would also serve to further inflate the costs of university education. She also highlights the actions of some rather pernicious actors in the loan forgiveness space, using class action lawsuits to try to extract payments from private colleges.

Crypto Hunters: Why Elites are Anxious About Cryptocurrencies Money, power, encryption, decentralization, and a monetary alternative. The rise of cryptocurrencies is, in our opinion, something to celebrate and uphold. And while the adoption of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and others is speeding up among those who could really use it, there are efforts by institutions to regulate access to the on and off-ramps. That’s why we need smart policy to continue to support innovation, while keeping scam projects in check. Check out my latest article in the European Conservative magazine.

Nicotine is not your Enemy: 6 Reasons to stop the war on nicotine One complaint we often have in our work is that public health entities spread many myths and lies about nicotine.  Reducing the number of smokers and allowing them to rapidly and efficiently switch to a less harmful alternative should be a major priority for governments and public health agencies worldwide. Unfortunately, too many people confuse nicotine consumption with the diseases caused by smoking. In this paper, we outline six main reasons why the war on nicotine is pointless and should stop. My colleague Maria Chaplia and World Vapers’ Alliance Michael Landl team up for this great policy note.

Smart cannabis bill introduced in the US House When it comes to smart policies on cannabis policies, we are very happy to support South Carolina congresswoman Nancy Mace’s bill, the STATES Reform Act, which would be the most consumer-friendly model of legalizing cannabis across the United States. Our main goal should be in restoring justice, promoting market access, and finally stamping out the black market. We joined up with a coalition of groups at the Cannabis Freedom Alliance to give our endorsement of what this bill aims to achieve, and we hope to continue to push it until it is adopted.

100 Episodes of Consumer Choice Radio Speaking of successes, David and I just celebrated a milestone for the ages: 100 episodes of Consumer Choice Radio! When we launched in January 2020, we didn’t know where we were headed. Now, almost two years later, we are syndicated on two radio stations, have a booming podcast version that can accept streaming Bitcoin payments on Podcasting 2.0-compliant apps, and we’ve been able to interview congresspeople, members of Parliament, entrepreneurs, authors, and innovators who are making a difference for consumer choice. For the latest, we interviewed Rep. Nancy Mace on her cannabis bill, Rep. Larry Bucshon on why some PFAS chemicals are vital, Alexandra Gaiser from River Financial about Bitcoin maximalism, and Canadian MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith about why excise taxes on non-alcoholic beer don’t make sense. Subscribe to our YouTube for the video interviews, or subscribe to the podcast version below!

This October the CCC team has been hard at work, fighting for consumer choice all across the world. Here are some of the highlights from the past month we’d like to share with you

“One Size Fits All” Does Not Fit All Our North American affairs manager, David, recently authored a new policy note, where he makes the case against the “one size fits all” approach, which is often used by various governments. He highlights multiple instances where this approach failed consumers and explains reasons as to why.

Impact of the flavour bans in the USA Yael recently presented to a virtual Vape Live event hosted by Vapouround Magazine.He talked about the United States Vaping Index, the impact of flavour bans in the USA, and touched upon all the work the CCC does in this field.

EU-mandated common chargers will harm innovation Recently, the EU unveiled its plan to harmonise charging ports across all electronic devices. Although their intentions are, as ever, noble, mandating one specific technology isn’t the way to go. In this blog post, Anna argues that the EU should practice technology neutrality and leave it up to the companies and consumers to make the ultimate choice of which charging port they want to use.

Catch up on the latest episodes of the ConsEUmer podcast This month, for the first time, the ConsEUmer podcast was co-hosted by our communications manager, Fabio. Bill and Fabio discussed some of the current issues concerning the European Union, such as Brussels vs. Uber, rising inflation in Europe, and common chargers. Sounds interesting, right?

Digital economy minister fighting to legalise vaping in Thailand The digital economy minister of Thailand, Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn, wants to legalise vaping to address the high number of smokers in Thai society. Vaping has been proven to be 95% less harmful than smoking and it is important that people looking to quit smoking have access to safer alternatives. In this blogpost, Yael commends the minister’s efforts and hopes that Thailand will embrace the science of harm reduction.

Save the date for our upcoming webinar on illicit trade The webinar will be held on November 10 and will focus on the current challenges posed by illicit trade and existing opportunities for intervention. Our speakers will examine restrictions on marketing and branding to see how those affect illicit trade. If you want to know why illicit trade is flourishing, what the main drivers of it are, and what can be done to tackle it, then you are at the right place!

Hello,

In August, while many were enjoying the rest of their fabulous summer vacations, the CCC continued to work hard and wrapped up the season in style with new content, research, team members, & more! Let me take you through the last few weeks to update you on all of the excitement.

US Should Learn From EU’s Agriculture Mistakes, Not Copy Them Bill continues his battle against the bad agricultural policy, this time warning the US about the dangers of mirroring the harmful and restrictive regulations that the European Union has embraced. Give it a read, because similar to a scarecrow, we think Bill is out-standing in his field. Sorry for being so corny READ HERE

Battling WHO’s Fake News on Vaping Maria co-authored a great piece for the Parliament Magazine calling out the World Health Organization’s latest report that spreads more false myths about vaping. WHO’s continued efforts against a device that is 95% less harmful than smoking sure are scary for consumers, luckily we are here to fight back. READ HERE

Soaking Up the Spotlight in Kyiv Our 2021 Sharing Economy Index got a lot of attention in Kyiv this week thanks to an amazing press conference hosted by Maria, featuring NGO leader Anna Danilenko and transport planning expert Dmytro Bespalov. Congrats again to Kyiv for ranking in the top 10 of best cities in the world for the sharing economy!  WATCH HERE

The Best European Football Stadiums to Kick Back & Relax at Fabio released the amazing Fan-Friendly Stadium Index this month, which ranks the biggest football stadiums in Europe through important metrics for football fans such as the stadium’s overall capacity, accessibility, services provided, number of restaurants and stores, and their physical structure. If you are as excited as we are about football, then you will want to check out this index to find the best stadiums to catch a game at! READ HERE

Latin America ’s the Sharing Economy! As we have highlighted before, the LATAM Sharing Economy Index 2021 was created in collaboration with Somos Innovacion, and provides essential consumer information about the best cities to rent a scooter, get a taxi on a ride-sharing platform, or book an Airbnb throughout Latin America. We are proud to share that the index was featured in a variety of outlets such as La Capital, Eju TV, among others, and our team also put together an awesome video explaining the index. Check it out! WATCH HERE

We are on TikTok! More and more consumers are watching video content, especially short videos that are 60 seconds or less, such as TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts. So we decided to create educational short-videos to share on these platforms. Our Communications Manager Fabio Fernandes has already posted 3 videos that you definitely are going to enjoy. Check our Instagram and Youtube channel or follow us on TikTok!

Elizabeth Hicks U.S. Affairs Analyst

Hope your summer has been as eventful as ours! 

In July, while others were basking in the sun, we continued churning out great content, analysis, and providing results. You’ve heard of superheroes, but even they’d envy our efficiency this month!

Staff retreat in Georgia We love seeing our work make an impact, but it’s even sweeter when we as a team can spend some time together in person. This time, the team reunion took place in the beautiful country of Georgia (yes, yes, we followed all COVID guidelines). Nothing is better than campaigning while enjoying regional Georgian wine, eating khinkali or khachapuri (or both!), and various kebabs. Our amazing team member Anna made sure no one left Georgia without a few bottles of wine to make the inspiration last. With a few additional kilos gained (because the food was so delicious) we are roaring into the upcoming months with lots of new ideas and ambitions. Stay tuned!

David’s best interview on harm reduction Although David couldn’t join us in Georgia, he made sure the CCC stayed in the news. David went on 980 CKNW radio to make a strong case for vape flavours. David loved it, the host loved it, and we are sure you will too! LISTEN HERE

Global Sharing Economy Index 2021 With COVID restrictions being relieved, traveling is finally back on the agenda. Where in the world can you go and freely enjoy e-scooters and ride-sharing? Myself and Anna put together the Global Sharing Economy Index to update you on the recent sharing economy regulations. READ HERE

Pandemic resilience In his latest op-ed for the Arabian Business, Fred argues that creating agile vaccine frameworks is key to future pandemic resilience. Give it a read and share with your friends so when the next pandemic strikes, you’ll be like “Fred told you so!” READ HERE

The special episode of ConsEUmer! Every Thursday on Spotify and Apple/Google podcasts we present the ConsEUmer podcast, giving you updates on consumer choice around Europe. During our staff retreat, we recorded a very special episode of the ConsEUmer featuring Maria, Liz, and Luka D. We talked about COVID-19 vaccinations, switching petrol cars for electric, and the divide in the sharing economy. LISTEN HERE

Dental insurance needs reform Yaël’s dedication to health reform in the US never stops, and this time it’s all about dental insurance! Check out his latest op-ed for Inside Sources on the topic. READ MORE

Maria joins Independent Women’s Forum  As you’ve probably noticed, I love writing about vaping and obesity, and innovation. To make the voice of consumers in these fields even louder, I joined the Independent Women’s Forum as a Visiting Fellow.  READ MORE

Say hi to our newest addition to the team! The Consumer Choice team keeps growing! Say hello to our Research Fellow Rati Gvasalia. We are happy to see our team grow and are always on the look-out for new talent to help us elevate our fight for #consumerchoice to the next level!

Maria Chaplia Research Manager

REGISTER HERE

–>And another related to same-day delivery of cannabis across Canadian provinces:

Specific to Canada, our very own David Clement has been slugging any in national media on the need for intellectual property in the vaccine and medical innovation race and pushing for more consumer-friendly cannabis delivery policies. David’s recommendations on cannabis delivery have now been applied in the province of Ontario. Policy win! And if you’ve been listening to our weekly Consumer Choice Radio program, you’ll know we’ve interviewed the likes of Steve Forbes, Jerry Buting (the attorney from Making a Murderer), Ashley Baker from the Committee For Justice, Corey DeAngelis, and many more! Be sure you’re subscribed to the podcast version we also release.

–>In Ukraine, our European Affairs Associate Maria Chaplia published an article on the need to avoid food export bans. Now is the wrong time to increase the price of food for consumers.

Yaël Ossowski Deputy Director  Consumer Choice Center

Spring is upon us, and the CCC has been as active as ever.

Hello! Spring is upon us, and the CCC has been as active as ever. Over the course of April, my CCC colleagues and I have been passionately defending consumer choice. Here is a snapshot of some of our accomplishments in April: SUCCESS IN MEXICO! Our entire team worked throughout the month of April to push back against a content quota proposal in Mexico. Our efforts to combat the law were featured in more than 50 Mexican newspapers after we hosted a successful webinar with Irene Levy, Antonella Marty, Fernando De Fuente, Manuel Molano, Adriana Labardini to discuss how problematic the policy would be. And the good news is……the law has been delayed, and will now have to go under a full review by Mexico’s legislature and be debated in open parliament. LEARN MORE COVID VACCINES: Our Managing Director Fred Roeder was invited to appear on The Mark Dolan show to explain why Germany’s vaccine rollout has been so poor.Fred also got the chance to fly on the world’s first fully vaccinated flight. Check out Fred’s interview with Emirates Airlines COO here:

Fred also got the chance to fly on the world’s first fully vaccinated flight. Check out Fred’s interview with Emirates Airlines COO here:

Canada Should Block A Patent Waiver For Covid Vaccines Yael and I had our piece titled “Canada Should Block A Patent Waiver For Covid Vaccines” published in Canada’s Financial Post. In the article, we defend intellectual property and encourage the Canadian government to continue to block the erosion of IP rights.  READ MORE

THE U.S. SUPPORTS TRIPS WAIVER We published a blog post on the Biden administration’s decision to support the TRIPS waiver that would undermine global IP rights. READ HERE

CONSUMER PRIVACY In April we launched a tremendously successful consumer privacy campaign, reaching hundreds of thousands of Americans on the issue of consumer privacy.

SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE Our Senior Policy Analyst Bill Wirtz testified at the European Parliament Intergroup for ‘Climate Change, Biodiversity & Sustainable Development’, on the issue of Integrated Pest Management (IPM). Bill stressed the reasons that farmers use crop protection in the first place: to insure that consumer products are safe and affordable. Innovative new technologies such as smart sprayers will also help farmers reduce the amount of pesticides used over time. You can find Bill’s statement here:

THE WAR ON PLASTIC On plastics, Yael and I published our research paper “Deconstructing the war on plastic” which evaluates local, state and federal laws aimed at solving the issue of plastic waste. You can read the full report here. On top of that, I was a guest on ABC and NBC’s affiliate network in Virginia to talk about Virginia’s new single-use plastic law. WATCH HERE

JUNK FOOD My European colleague Maria Chaplia published a policy note on tackling obesity in the EU. READ MORE

BREASTMILK SUBSTITUTES Maria also wrote a scathing response to the Philippines recent attack on breastmilk substitutes.  READ HERE

David Clement North American Affairs Manager