Tobacco harm reduction has been under attack in France, despite the country’s high rates of smoking and smoking-related deaths.
Embattled French activists have united to fight back. Their latest effort is a first-of-its kind white paper, intended to inform decision-makers, titled Merci la vape.
Supported by crowdfunding, hard copies of Merci La Vape were published on September 19 by four French associations representing people who vape: Aiduce, SoVape, La Vape du Cœur and FIVAPE. The paper includes a major national survey with 40,000 respondents, illustrating the harm reduction role that vaping plays in people’s lives and how misinformation and policies threaten this.
In seeking to draw repeated attention to such threats, the campaign’s strategy has involved launching a digital version of the white paper in May, and releasing early survey data in late 2023.
The campaign also includes a petition. In translation, its summary reads:
“I am among the millions of people who vaping helps to turn away from tobacco. I want to defend what makes it the most effective aid: the diversity of flavors, affordable cost, objective information on risk reduction.”
At publication time, the petition was approaching 100,000 signatures.
Regardless, on September 25, the European Commission supported France’s request to ban single-use vapes, based on environmental issues and concern for youth vaping. That brings the French government’s long-running plan to ban “puffs,” as they’re known in France, very close to reality.
“In a distressing way, various actors have flooded the media with misinformation. But worse still, new anti-vape measures are being considered.”
Similar arguments against disposables are familiar in other countries, while harm reductionists point out that these devices, easy to use and with low up-front costs, represent a uniquely low-barrier way for people to switch from deadly cigarettes. But a disposables ban isn’t the only anti-vape measure on the table in France.
Philippe Poirson is the vice president of Sovape, an independent association that promotes tobacco harm reduction and is part of the Merci La Vape campaign. He told Filter that France has a smoking rate of 32 percent—a figure actually higher than 20 years ago. And he’s in little doubt of what has perpetuated this situation. I took the chance to ask him more. Our interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Kiran Sidhu: What were the motivations behind Merci la vape?
Philippe Poirson: It is regrettable to witness huge misinformation on vaping: a powerful tool for harm reduction which helps people quit smoking. This is something we have seen in practice in France from 2016 to 2019. This happened while smoking is the leading preventable cause of premature death, estimated at 75,000 per year in France, [with] millions of smokers whose health is impaired daily by the brutal effects of cigarettes.
In a distressing way, various actors have flooded the media with misinformation on the subject. But worse still, new anti-vape measures are being considered, such as a ban on flavors, and the strengthening of messages against harm reduction among health professionals and the public. Thus, the recent National Plan to Fight Smoking 2023-2027 (PNLT) looks more like a catalog of measures to prevent [smoking cessation] with the help of vaping than anything to reduce smoking.
In this context, the Merci la Vape initiative aimed to make the voices of those most concerned heard. It relied on a petition claiming four clear principles: the refusal to ban flavors, the refusal of a punitive tax against vapers, the cessation of disinformation campaigns, and stopping the witch hunt against harm reduction actors. Additionally, we opened a survey to determine more precisely the expectations and ideas of the people concerned about what a policy of general interest on vaping should be. These data, and the many comments that accompanied the survey, combined with scientific studies, allowed the analyses presented in the white paper.
“Nearly nine out of 10 vapers use flavors other than tobacco to get away from smoked tobacco.”
KS: With 40,000 respondents, your survey was the largest conducted among people who vape in France. What were the main takeaways?
PP: Nearly nine out of 10 vapers use flavors other than tobacco to get away from smoked tobacco. A significant proportion risk either relapsing into smoking (about one third) or resorting to parallel [unregulated] sources (a clear majority) in the event of a ban on flavors.
A punitive tax against vapers, such as the European Commission wants to impose on the EU, would be perceived as unfair and unfounded; the lower cost of vaping compared to smoking has been an important driver for 85 percent of [respondents] to quit smoking. These figures confirmed at the French level [what we had previously] discovered with the ETHRA European survey in 2020.
Moreover, the loss of confidence in French health authorities is dramatic: Nearly two thirds of participants believe they have been misinformed by them. Conversely, specialized vape sellers are acclaimed for the quality of their advice. This could shed light on the growing disaffection in recent years of operations such as the Mois Sans Tabac [No Tobacco Month], because smokers who want to quit do not find consistent help there. Vape shops are fulfilling this public health role today, despite all the obstacles placed in their way.
However, in parallel, the wider public has been convinced by the dissemination of doubt and vilification campaigns against vaping. There is a kind of schism between a concerned public that has lost confidence in the health authorities, and a [wider] public that has lost confidence in vaping and continues to smoke. This is the double effect produced by French policy since 2019.
“If it fails, it will remain a kind of witness document that demonstrates it was possible to design policy differently.”
KS: What are you hoping the white paper will achieve?
PP: Our hope is to break through the bubble surrounding decision-makers on this topic. This white paper was written to provide a relatively easy-to-read summary of data and analyses to inform political decision-making. The format allows it to be easily shared with elected officials, who can then verify the information by consulting the scientific references in the paper.
In a way, we have done a job that should have been done by the administration, but they are not doing it. For example, during a Senate hearing, elected officials were surprised to learn that the French scientific report on vaping [from France’s High Council for Public Health] relies on retracted studies and ignores important work such as the Cochrane meta-analysis on the effectiveness of vaping for smoking cessation.
This white paper can help inform a policy of general interest on vaping in France. If it fails, it will remain a kind of witness document that demonstrates it was possible to design policy differently than what is emerging.
KS: You’ve previously told me about the hostility towards French tobacco harm reduction advocacy. Are you confident that this white paper will be looked at by the government?
PP: Currently, the political situation in France is very confusing, following the dissolution of the Assembly by President Macron, and a long period without a real government. A new government has just been appointed, but it is too early to determine what direction it will take on this issue, or even if it will remain in place. That said, crowdfunding has allowed us to print a few hundred copies of the white paper to distribute to elected officials, to encourage them to [reflect upon] the issue. It is also available online, which allows any citizen to give it as a reference.
We have learned in recent years that we cannot rely on the French administration; we will have to succeed in [finding ways] to reach ministers or elected officials directly.
“They have even gone so far as to falsely accuse us of being corrupted by the cigarette industry.”
KS: Has the project received negative press from the anti-vape lobby?
PP: Organizations that were previously tobacco control and have now become anti-harm reduction have multiplied slanderous rumors. They have even gone so far as to falsely accuse us of being corrupted by the cigarette industry in a mainstream magazine. Subsequently, AFP (French press agency) refuted this false accusation in the middle of an article, but the damage was already done.
These defamations also occur behind the scenes, particularly with elected officials. The anti-vapers know that they can’t debate honestly on the grounds of arguments and data, so they play the slander card by claiming we are corrupt.
KS: What’s your response to the European Commission backing a disposable vape ban in France just now?
PP: It comes as no surprise, despite the extremely hollow dossier submitted by the French authorities. The hypocrisy of this ban can be seen in the total absence of any accompanying measures to prevent puff users from returning to smoking, although Sovape has insisted on this important point.
The one-off use of a product with lithium batteries designed to be recharged thousands of times is an indefensible ecological aberration. [However], sadly, we will probably have to wait a very long time for the French and European authorities to reduce their own unsustainable daily wastes.
KS: How do you envisage the future of tobacco harm reduction in France?
PP: In the short term, the hope is to reverse the very negative trend emerging at the legislative level in France and the European Union. Either the defense of the right to harm reduction succeeds in preserving the fundamental points highlighted by the Merci la vape survey, or [policies] will generate a situation where millions of users will seek to circumvent the restrictions.
This would be an absurd situation, where people would have to resort to illegality to have the right to avoid smoking. That would create risks of poorly made products and would cause authorities to lose all control. The Merci la vape operation, and in particular the white paper, are betting on a positive awakening of the consciences of decision-makers. We will see if it works or not…
Image via the Merci la vape white paper