The vaping industry is not the same as the tobacco industry, says the writer. (Getty Images, Gallo Images)
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The vaping industry is not the same as the tobacco industry, says the writer. (Getty Images, Gallo Images)
Multimedia · User Galleries · News in Pictures Send us your pictures · Send us your stories
In all the talk about the tobacco ban, there has been very little effort to engage with the science of vaping.
The past seven weeks have put the debate about smoking in the mainstream of public discourse.
What was initially seen as a stealth attempt by policy makers to achieve their anti-tobacco policy goals, has quickly morphed into a defining feature of the lockdown.
Along with the ban on the sale of alcohol, the ban on the sale of tobacco has been one of the most polarising features of the lockdown.
Yet, the consequences of the ban extend much wider than only the woes of "Big Tobacco".
Smaller businesses in the local Electronic Vapour Products (EVP) industry have probably suffered the most harm from the ban.
The industry mostly consists of small businesses, most of which are akin to spaza shops as they are owner-operated and run on very tight margins.
An industry which was once projected to create up to 14 500 jobs by 2025, now faces an existential crisis which is likely to lead to widespread bankruptcies and unemployment.
The vaping industry is not the same as the tobacco industry. Our members and broader industry players simply do not have the means and resources to withstand a longer lasting ban.
Predictions that include the potential closure of close to 500 vapour SMEs across South Africa, along with the loss of 5 000 direct and 10 000 indirect jobs, is of serious concern, particularly when viewed within the context of South Africa's already grim unemployment rate.
In all the talk about the tobacco ban, there has been very little effort to engage with the science of vaping.
Policy makers and the anti-tobacco lobby have made wild claims about the harms of vaping without the foresight to recognise that vaping has been found to be a far less harmful alternative to smoking.
In the extreme, proponents of the ban have conflated vaping and smoking without consideration for the long term set-back this will cause to the agenda of tobacco harm reduction.
The Vapour Products Association of South Africa (VPASA) recognises that less harmful alternatives do still contain some harmful effects.
However, we also recognise that smokers would rather have access to less harmful alternatives to smoking rather than go cold turkey.
We think it is a sensible approach to remove the ban on the sale of vaping products to enable smokers who have quit smoking to stay off tobacco, especially the counterfeit and illicit kind which is all that is currently available in South Africa.
More importantly, access to legal products will stop the emergence of counterfeit vapor products, the latter of which will decimate the legal industry and foreclose the potential for reduced harm nicotine products in the country.
South Africa’s position is currently largely out of step with the majority of countries around the world, which are allowing the sale of vaping products during their lockdowns.
In fact, Italy one of the countries hardest-hit by Covid-19 - reversed its initial decision to ban vapour products, in recognition of the harm-reduction potential.
By allowing the sale of EVP, the government will not only provide its citizens with an alternative that is less harmful to their health but will also demonstrate that they trust South Africans to make informed decisions about their own health.
- Asanda Gcoyi is the Chief Executive Officer of the Vapour Products Association of South Africa (VPASA), which strives to work with government and other stakeholders to develop legal regulations and standards for the vapour product industry, and to ensure consumers have access to information related to vapour products and its effects. vpasa.org