Most vapers would buy online if flavours were banned and taxes increased
Survey findings mirror international research results
Irish people start vaping to quit smoking and if the Government bans flavours or increase taxes on the products, vapers will seek to purchase their products, online, from unregulated sources or return to tobacco.
According to a *poll of Respect Vapers members, 87% started vaping to quit tobacco, while 8% said they switched to save money previously spent on tobacco.
Those who completed the online survey were concerned about the impact on their fight to quit tobacco if the Government increased taxes on vaping.
7 in 10 vapers said they would purchase their products abroad, while almost 20% said they’d go back to smoking.
If the Government banned flavours, because of the misguided view that flavours attract young people to smoking, 40% of those surveyed said they would purchase the flavoured products from abroad.
3 in10 said they would use the tobacco flavours, 18% would go back smoking and 8% would make up their own flavours.
Respect Vapers is the voice of 200,000 people who vape to stop smoking.
Its founder, Joe Dunne, said that the survey results mirror those found **internationally and he asks the Government to listen to Irish vapers before deciding on something that is having a real impact on reducing tobacco use in Ireland.
“It would be a shame if Government decisions, based on ‘blinkered’ views of a few, resulted in people returning to tobacco or buying their products from unregulated sources. Vapers are tobacco quitters not starters,” he said.
End
*https://www.surveymonkey.com/results/SM-3HCNZ3JD9/
**Research/Report_ETHRA_Survey_2020_EN.pdf
