The latest Bhekisisa opinion post, “Hey Parliament, our children are becoming addicted to vapes. Let’s put an end to it” raises legitimate concerns. Protecting young kids from nicotine is something I wholeheartedly support. However, the piece misrepresents my organisation’s (VSML) beliefs and risks directing public discourse away from South Africa’s considerably greater and deadlier tobacco epidemic.
Instead of encouraging tobacco cessation methods such as vaping, just as countries like the UK did – to help people quit cigarettes, the government encourages smoking by overtaxing alternatives.
My challenge to you, Minister, is a simple one. Can you tell us what mechanisms or measurement tools you use to determine if there has been a demand reduction in vaping products after implementing an excise tax on these products, especially among the youth, as a stated objective of the Explanatory memorandum on the taxation laws amendment bill, 2022?
But a reading of the bill reveals a poorly conceived piece of legislation which, while purporting to reduce public harm from tobacco products and electronic delivery systems, completely misunderstands especially these new generation products and the role they can play in tobacco harm reduction. It basically seeks to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
If we really want more people to quit smoking, we must have serious discussions about people-centric cessation strategies and tobacco harm reduction – a reference to policies, programmes and practices aimed at minimising the adverse health, social and legal effects of risky behaviours.
In public hearings MPs reprimand the audience for supposed breaches of decorum, while they pay more attention to their cellphones than the public
