Ontario plans to double the tax on vaping items. Yes, some vapers may quit. But others will go back to smoking

If you are a smoker in Ontario trying to quit — and if you are a smoker, you should be trying to quit — making the switch to lower-risk vaping products is about to get much more expensive. In his fall economic statement earlier this month, Ontario Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy announced the province would be partnering with the federal government to double the tax burden on vape products.

Right now a 30mL bottle of vape liquid faces a federal tax of $7. Under the new policy, that will double to $14. Those who prefer pre-filled pods will see the tax rise from $1 per unit to $2. In the partnership with Ottawa, the province gets to keep half of the tax revenue generated from the scheme.

Ontario has justified the move as an attempt to curb the prevalence of vaping, especially among young people. That’s certainly an important goal, but minors should never have access to vape products and adults who sell to them or help them get around that rule should be prosecuted.

But many adults are using vape products to quit smoking, which means making vaping more expensive could be a serious net negative for public health. Vaping with the goal of quitting smoking is a huge step in the right direction for people’s health. Public Health England estimates that accessing one’s nicotine through vaping brings a 95 per cent reduction in health risk compared to getting it from tobacco. Most of the danger of smoking come from inhaling combusted materials. Vaping all but eliminates that danger, which is why making it more expensive is a big health policy mistake.

A 2017 study from researchers at the University of California found, using U.S. census data, that vaping had indeed contributed to a significant increase in smoking cessation. Moreover, vaping outperforms other smoking cessation methods. The U.K. National Health Service website spells out that “You’re roughly twice as likely to quit smoking if you use a nicotine vape compared with other nicotine replacement products, like patches or gum.”

So why would Ontario want to make vape products more expensive for smokers, and what will be the effect of these tax hikes?

Vape prices are clearly going to rise. In a 2020 working paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, six U.S. economists analyzed sales data from 35,000 U.S. retailers and found that for every one-dollar increase in taxation vape prices rose between $0.91 and $1.16. The tax is almost entirely passed on to consumers.

How will vapers respond to these price hikes? Many will go back to smoking. The same NBER study showed that a $1-increase in vape taxes increased cigarette sales by a whopping 10 per cent.

So the tax hike will make what has been shown to be an effective cessation tool more expensive, which will likely push former smokers back to smoking — even as our federal government claims to be steadfast in its commitment to have fewer than five per cent of Canadians smoke by 2035.

In 2007, 31 per cent of Canadians identified as regular smokers. By 2020, that number was down to just 11 per cent. That’s certainly good news. We all know the devastating impact smoking can have. Approximately 48,000 Canadians still die each year from tobacco-related illnesses. But while that decline in smoking is clearly something to celebrate, making it harder for those who are still smoking to quit isn’t.

If we’re to have any shot at achieving the smoke-free 2035 goal, we should see vaping as a tool that will help us get there. Heavy-handed tax hikes create more smokers, and no one wins if that happens.

Originally published here

Baru-baru ini Codeblue melaporkan bahawa kerajaan telah membuat keputusan untuk mengeluarkan klausa generasi penamat daripada Rang Undang-undang (RUU) Kawalan Produk Merokok untuk Kesihatan Awam 2023 kerana ia tidak berpelembagaan, atau dianggap bertentangan dengan prinsip kesamarataan dalam Perlembagaan Persekutuan. 

Generasi penamat merujuk kepada peruntukan larangan dalam RUU ke atas mereka yang lahir selepas 2007 daripada membeli dan menggunakan produk tembakau serta vape.

Sehingga kini belum ada sebarang kenyataan rasmi daripada Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia (KKM), namun kenyataan bekas menteri, Khairy Jamaluddin, terhadap kewujudan dua menteri dan “the gaffer” sebagai penghalang kepada RUU itu menguatkan lagi kesahihan laporan tersebut.

Keputusan tersebut sudah tentu bukan tindakan yang mudah. Kerajaan berisiko mendapat imej politik yang negatif tetapi itulah perkara yang tepat dan mesti dilakukan.

Menurut Peguam Negara Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh cadangan larangan berasaskan umur tersebut dianggap sebagai tidak berpelembagaan kerana bertentangan dengan jaminan kesaksamaan dalam Perkara 8 Perlembagaan Persekutuan.

Dalam erti kata lain, sepatutnya setiap orang adalah sama rata bawah undang-undang dan berhak mendapat perlindungan yang sama. Undang-undang mesti adil untuk semua generasi dan setiap kumpulan masyarakat. 

Undang-undang tidak boleh memberikan kelebihan hanya kepada satu generasi dan mengetepikian generasi yang lain.

Semasa RUU itu pertama kali diperkenalkan pada 2022, perbincangan mengenai hak asasi atau hak kesamarataan tidak diberikan perhatian secara terperinci, atau ruang untuk membahaskan secara terbuka dan selamat tidak ada.

Apabila terdapat ahli parlimen, pakar perubatan, ahli ekonomi atau mana-mana pihak cuba menyuarakan pandangan atau mewacanakan dasar ini tersebut secara kritis, mereka dilabel dengan pelbagai gelaran yang negatif.

Bahkan terdapat ahli parlimen yang tidak berani untuk membincangkan isu berkenaan secara terbuka kerana risau mereka akan dilabel dan dimalukan di media sosial atau khayalak ramai.

Dengan mudah – dan sering kali – golongan yang menyokong generasi penamat menggunakan hujah tiada kebebasan mutlak dan mengatakan ia memudaratkan masyarakat dan alam sekitar tanpa mengambil kira hak pengguna untuk membuat pilihan.

Selain tidak berperlembangan, RUU berkenaan juga dikhuatiri tidak boleh dikuatkuasakan dengan efektif.

Presiden Persatuan Kedai Kopi Petaling Jaya Keu Kok Meng dalam perbincangan meja bulat anjuran Pusat Pilihan Pengguna mengatakan di kedai kopi, dia tidak nampak penguat kuasa datang untuk melarang orang merokok dan walaupun ada undang-undang mengenainya.

Saiz perdagangan tembakau haram Malaysia yang tertinggi di dunia juga menjadi kerisauan sama ada dasar berkenaan boleh dilaksanakan atau tidak. 

Pada Mei 2023, rokok yang diniagakan secara haram merupakan 55.3 peratus daripada pasaran domestik.

Semasa Covid-19, sekitar Mac 2020 Afrika Selatan mengenakan larangan ke atas penjualan produk tembakau selama lima bulan walaupun terdapat kelaziman perdagangan haram dalam pasaran tembakau. 

Kesan daripada itu dalam tinjauan bertajuk Market impact of the COVID-19 national cigarette sales ban in South Africa menunjukkan 93 peratus daripada perokok masih berjaya membeli rokok. 

Purata harga rokok pula melonjak sebanyak 250 peratus berbanding sebelumnya kerana peningkatan dalam pembelian melalui pasaran gelap.

Kurangkan jumlah perokok

Meskipun keputusan berani kerajaan menarik semula generasi penamat wajar diiktiraf, sehingga kini masih belum ada undang-undang yang mengawal selia vape secara sah dan jelas. 

Terutamanya bagi memastikan keselamatan pengguna dan mengelakkan salah faham atau mitos mengenai produk pengurangan kemudaratan berkenaan.

Kerajaan perlu segera memperkenalkan undang-undang pintar untuk mengawal selia vape bagi memastikan keselamatan pengguna dapat terjamin dan kanak-kanak bawah umur dilindungi. 

Ketiadaan undang-undang seumpama itu mendedahkan pengguna kepada risiko produk yang tidak memenuhi peraturan kesihatan di pasaran.

Ketiadaannya juga menyebabkan orang ramai tidak mendapat maklumat tepat mengenai vape yang 95 peratus lebih selamat berbanding rokok dan mampu menjadi alternatif terpenting untuk mengurangkan perokok secara berkesan di Malaysia.

Public Health England menganggarkan vape adalah 95 peratus kurang berbahaya kepada kesihatan pengguna berbanding rokok biasa. 

Salah satu kajian penyelidikan terkini daripada Institut Psikiatri, Psikologi & Neurosains (IoPPN) di King’s College London, pengambilan vape boleh membawa pengurangan ketara dalam pendedahan kepada toksin yang menggalakkan kanser, penyakit paru-paru dan penyakit kardiovaskular.

Ini adalah masa terbaik untuk kerajaan menamatkan mitos mengenai vape dan mengiktiraf pengurangan bahaya tembakau sebagai strategi utama untuk mengurangkan perokok di Malaysia.

Originally published here

Questions abound over the tabling of the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Bill 2023 for its second reading in the Dewan Rakyat tomorrow.

This comes after a health ministry briefing for MPs, scheduled to be held at 5pm today, was postponed indefinitely.

The health ministry has also postponed a media briefing on the bill scheduled for this afternoon in Parliament. No reasons were given for the postponement.

A source close to the matter told FMT that the tabling of the bill has been postponed.

At the time of publication, health minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa and the ministry’s communication team have yet to respond to queries on whether the tabling of the bill, also known as the Generational End Game (GEG) bill, had been postponed.

Last week, Zaliha announced that the Cabinet had decided that the bill would be tabled for its second reading on Oct 10.

The GEG bill seeks to ban the use, purchase and sale of cigarettes and vape products to those born after 2007.

Read the full text here

Fred Roeder, Managing Director of the Consumer Choice Center, strongly condemns the UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s recent proposal to introduce a generational ban on smoking, as reported by The Guardian.

The ban, coupled with a blanket prohibition on disposable vapes, is a regressive step that threatens to fuel the black market and infringe upon the rights of adult smokers to make their own informed choices.The UK has long been a champion of evidence-based policies, particularly in the realm of tobacco harm reduction.

However, the proposed generational ban on cigarettes, combined with the ban on disposable vapes, marks a departure from this pragmatic approach. By depriving adults of their right to choose how they consume nicotine, these measures risk driving millions of consumers towards unregulated and unsafe alternatives, undermining public health objectives in the process.

Mr. Roeder emphasizes that the UK’s smoking rates have steadily declined thanks to a comprehensive strategy that embraces harm reduction policies. By promoting alternatives such as e-cigarettes and other reduced-risk products, the UK has successfully encouraged smokers to transition away from traditional combustible cigarettes.

Read the full text here

Expertul Emil Pânzaru a analizat pentru „Adevărul” strategia anti-fumat a României. Acesta crede că taxele suplimentare pe tutun și pe produsele alternative nu aduc nici bani în plus la buget și nici nu îi ajută pe români să renunțe la fumat.

Doctorul în economie Emil Pânzaru avertizează cu privire la politicile greșite ale statului român, care apelează exclusiv la taxe și impozite pentru a acoperi găurile din buget, în dauna altor segmente sociale și economice. Este și cazul fumătorilor, care, spune expertul, vor plăti prețuri mai mari din cauza accizelor suplimentare, iar acest lucru este dăunător și pentru strategia anti-fumat a țării, care la rândul ei generează efecte negative în domeniul sănătății, dar și în cel al combaterii infracționalității economice.

„Consumatorii români vor fi pedepsiţi fără sens pentru greşeala Guvernului. Problema este simplă, dar gravă. Statul român a cheltuit mult mai mult decât a încasat, estimările actuale plasând deficitul bugetar pentru 2023 în jurul cifrei enorme de 7,5% din PIB, mult peste pragul UE de 3%. Ca urmare, România ar putea pierde toate fondurile europene alocate prin PNRR, un dezastru pentru o ţară care are nevoie serioasă de investiţii”, avertizează Emil Pânzaru.

Taxele suplimentare nu garantează venituri mai mari

Disperat să-şi repare greşeala, Guvernul vrea să-i taxeze în plus pe „vaperi” şi pe cei care preferă alternative fumatului în general, arată Emil Pânzaru.

Însă faptul că statul va majora din nou aceste taxe nu înseamnă încasări suplimentare la buget. „Să fim clari – o măsură care descurajează consumatorii din a cumpăra nişte bunuri nu va aduce bani statului. Ministerul Finanţelor a estimat o creştere de 1,1 miliarde de lei la buget ca urmare a noilor impozite. Din contră, logica economică ne-ar spune că lucrurile s-ar întâmpla fix pe dos. Cu cât sunt mai mari taxele, cu atât oamenii vor cumpăra mai puţin sau vor evita taxele pe ascuns. Ar fi un scenariu prost pentru România, ţară în care evaziunea fiscală se ridică la 10% din PIB”, atrage atenția expertul.

Read the full text here

While the effort to reduce secondhand smoke inhalation from combustible cigarettes is noble, vapor produced from e-cigarettes does not contain the harmful tar and chemicals found in combustible cigarettes. It does not create the same degree of harm.

MONTGOMERY, AL — This spring, Alabama state lawmakers passed a bill (HB3) that is now in effect, prohibiting the use of cigarettes and vaping products in vehicles when a child 14 years of age or younger is present.

Elizabeth Hicks, US Affairs Analyst with the consumer advocacy group Consumer Choice Center, said of HB3, “Legislation like this further demonstrates how regulators view vaping and smoking as the same, when in reality, numerous studies have shown vaping to be 95% less harmful. While the effort to reduce secondhand smoke inhalation from combustible cigarettes is noble, vapor produced from e-cigarettes does not contain the harmful tar and chemicals found in combustible cigarettes. It does not create the same degree of harm.

“Treating vaping like cigarettes hampers public health by deterring smokers from adopting a less harmful nicotine option. With 8,600 annual smoking-related deaths in Alabama, regulators should view vaping as a harm reduction tool rather than regulating it as cigarettes,” added Hicks.

Read the full text here