Resting on its laurels on the issue of smoking is immediately used by the tobacco industry to expand. The obstacles that were imposed on the action of smoking traditional tobacco implanted in 2005 and 2010 (placing Spain at the forefront in the fight against smoking in Europe) have become obsolete with the massive incorporation of electronic cigarettes (in all its varieties ) driven by the industry with the clear objective of attracting young people, with their striking designs and exotic flavors. That, and the use of (well-paid) influencers on social networks that make young people believe that vaping is cool, makes it very difficult to achieve the goal of ending smoking by 2040, as set by Europe.
Young people were precisely the focus of the interventions at the IX European Conference on Tobacco or Health, because the expansion of vapers endangers all the progress made against smoking, adhering the new generations to this addiction. A fact in Spain: more than half of those under the ages of 14 and 18 have vaped, figures for 2019 that are known to have already been exceeded. Another example: in the United States, the use of these products had increased from 1.5% in 2011 to 78% in 2018 among students between the ages of 13 and 18.
Given this evidence, measures are imposed. The first, issued by the EU last year, put limits on the industry when marketing these products, with or without nicotine. In this sense, Spain is working on a royal decree to improve labeling and packaging "through the introduction of generic packaging, together with traceability and safety measures" and introduce improvements in "the proper cataloging of emerging tobacco products and those related to tobacco". And, especially relevant, prohibit additives and components, especially the most striking for consumers, according to Health.
Flavors fall into this category, says Francisco Rodríguez Lozado, former president of the European Network for Smoking and Tobacco Prevention (ENSP), who for years has been clamoring (like all health and scientific professionals) for them to be banned because of their attractiveness. for adolescents and young people. The flavor (from watermelon to vanilla, passing through menthol, apple or strawberry) makes young people believe that they are safe. This ban and the new labeling rules should be approved next summer.
But what all the European participants do agree on, including the Spanish ones (with Queen Letizia at the helm), is that these products must be taxed. Raising the price is the most effective weapon against smoking, especially among young people.
But Spain does not seem to be in that line at the moment (although it already contemplated it in the Comprehensive Plan against Smoking that has been parked by the Government of Pedro Sánchez). And that the Ministry of Health and the Institute of Fiscal Studies endorse imposing a rate of 35.6%, which would mean almost 35 million euros to public coffers, to electronic cigarettes (the liquid used would be taxed and, in addition , nicotine), as explained by Marta Trapero-Beltrán, from the International University of Catalonia. Currently, these products do not have taxes except 21% VAT. Europe is working on a new directive in this regard that, for the moment, has been parked. "Let's hope that Spain (in July it presides over the Council of the EU) promotes it," said Lilia Olefir, of the Smoke Free Partnership.
