Sweden's Riksdag rejects proposal to ban flavored e-cigarettes

The Swedish parliament, Riksdag, has today vetoed a proposal to ban the sale of flavored e-cigarette products, in a clear rejection of orthodox tobacco control views. The final voting result was 177-126, with 46 abstentions.

The Ministry of Social Affairs of the government proposed a ban on flavorings in late February. If passed, the law would be enacted in January of next year and would prohibit all flavors in e-liquids except for tobacco, including nicotine-free vape juice.

This vote is not entirely surprising. A week ago, the Swedish parliamentary social affairs committee recommended passing most of the provisions in this bill - which also added regulations on nicotine pouches and synthetic nicotine - but omitted the ban on flavors. The full parliamentary session agreed with the committee's opinion today.

We hope to incorporate harm reduction perspectives in our country's tobacco policy," a conservative committee member told Sweden's e-cigarette website Vejpkollen. "Restricting the flavors of an alternative product can actually decrease the number of smokers, which goes against that point.

Sweden has the lowest proportion of regular smokers amongst European countries due to the widespread use of snus, a type of oral tobacco that has been sterilized using pasteurization. Extensive epidemiological research has shown that snus does not pose any measurable health risks.

Seven other European countries have implemented bans on non-tobacco vape flavors. Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, and Ukraine currently have restrictions in place on flavored vape products. Lithuania's ban on flavors will take effect on July 1st. In the Netherlands, the ban on flavors that was originally scheduled to begin in July has been postponed until January 2023. No European country has completely banned all vaping products.

Source: Vaping360