{"id":25087,"date":"2025-06-24T18:57:31","date_gmt":"2025-06-24T18:57:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/?p=25087"},"modified":"2025-06-24T18:57:35","modified_gmt":"2025-06-24T18:57:35","slug":"irish-prime-minister-brands-vaping-as-evil-at-global-health-summit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/post\/irish-prime-minister-brands-vaping-as-evil-at-global-health-summit\/","title":{"rendered":"Irish prime minister brands vaping as \u201cevil\u201d at global health summit"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Irish Taoiseach (prime minister) Miche\u00e1l Martin has branded vaping as \u201cevil\u201d and \u201cthe revenge of Big Tobacco\u201d as he called for \u201cthe strongest possible measures\u201d to restrict its use.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking at the World Conference on Tobacco Control in Dublin on Monday, Martin claimed the rise of vaping was a deliberate strategy by the tobacco industry to \u201cget nicotine back on the agenda.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He described the industry’s tactics as \u201cdisgraceful,\u201d particularly in targeting younger people through flavours and product placement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cAll the same issues we had to deal with in respect to cigarettes, we have to deal with vaping,\u201d he said. \u201cThe same tactics designed by the tobacco industry are absolutely in evidence here in respect of vaping, to a disgraceful degree.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

His comments have drawn criticism from public health experts, who warn that equating vaping with smoking risks undermining harm reduction efforts and could push adult smokers back to combustible tobacco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smoking remains the primary cause of preventable death globally, while regulated vapes have not been directly linked to any deaths. Vaping has also been proven not to cause any tobacco-related diseases. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Significant restrictions\u2019 ahead<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Martin said vaping had \u201ccaught us off guard,\u201d but noted Ireland had moved to introduce significant restrictions, due to take effect next February. \u201cWe will have significant restrictions coming in next February as a result of legislation passed by the last government,\u201d he said. Measures will include limits on sales, packaging regulations, and bans on pop-up vape shops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe international research is there now and our own public health is at the same point in terms of the evil of vaping and the damage it does to people, young people and adults alike,\u201d he added. \u201cAny measures that reduce or eliminate vapes would be positive from the perspective of public health.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same event, World Health Organisation (WHO) director general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Ireland had long been at the forefront of tobacco control, including being \u201cthe first country to make all indoor public places smoke-free in 2004.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vapes part of tobacco\u2019s \u2018broader strategy\u2019<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo matter how it\u2019s packaged, tobacco kills,\u201d he said, citing a figure of \u201cover seven million people every year\u201d who die as a result of tobacco use. He added that vapes were \u201cpart of a broader strategy by the tobacco industry to profit from addiction, disease and death. The marketing is aggressive, the appeal of their products is strong, and regulation is often weak.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In February, retailers in Ireland were hit with a new licence fee<\/a> for selling vapes. Shops wishing to sell vapes are now hit with an annual charge of \u20ac800, and a further fee of \u20ac1,000 if they sell tobacco. Nicotine pouches are currently excluded from the legislation.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In October, the Irish government announced a major new levy of 50 cents per millilitre<\/a> (ml) of e-liquid as part of its annual budget. The tax is far above the European average of \u20ac0.10 to \u20ac0.30, and adds \u20ac1.23 to the cost of a typical vape in Ireland. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

World Vapers\u2019 Alliance protests consumer exclusion<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Following a lightshow on Sunday night that symbolised the silencing of nicotine consumers in policy debates, the World Vapers\u2019 Alliance (WVA) continued its \u201cVoices Unheard – Consumers Matter!\u201d campaign with a silent protest outside the conference centre. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Demonstrators, their mouths taped, stood in solidarity to represent the ongoing exclusion of nicotine consumers from key tobacco control policy discussions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael Landl, Director of the WVA, said: \u201cIt is a symbol of how consumers are silenced in these discussions. We are here, our stories matter, and it\u2019s time policymakers started listening. Instead of banning flavours and safer alternatives, we need policies that protect both youth and adult smokers who want to quit. Silencing consumers is not the answer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Concerns over WHO\u2019s stance<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The protest highlights concerns over the WHO\u2019s aggressive stance against harm reduction, including recent calls to ban flavoured tobacco and nicotine products. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alberto G\u00f3mez Hern\u00e1ndez, Policy and Advocacy Manager for the WVA, added: \u201cSafer nicotine alternatives save lives, but only with sensible, evidence-based regulation. Consumers must be included in the conversation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOutdated, dogmatic tobacco control policies, which stubbornly ignore the potential of harm reduction, are holding back public health progress.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The WVA urges genuine consumer inclusion in policy discussions and calls for an end to marginalising those who stand to benefit most from progressive harm reduction measures ahead of COP11 in Geneva.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n

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Irish Taoiseach (prime minister) Miche\u00e1l Martin has branded vaping as \u201cevil\u201d and \u201cthe revenge of Big Tobacco\u201d as he called for \u201cthe strongest possible measures\u201d to restrict its use. Speaking at the World Conference on Tobacco Control in Dublin on Monday, Martin…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":990005,"featured_media":25088,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[257],"tags":[334,343,186],"slider":[],"class_list":["post-25087","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-global","tag-ireland","tag-nicotine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25087","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/990005"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25087"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25087\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25095,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25087\/revisions\/25095"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25087"},{"taxonomy":"slider","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/slider?post=25087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}