Consumers Condemn Finland's Tax Plan
Consumers condemn Finland's tax increase plan on nicotine pouches and vape e-liquids
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by Dave Cross
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Michael Landl, Director of the World Vapers' Alliance, expressed his concerns: “Finland’s plan to increase taxes on less harmful nicotine alternatives is deeply concerning. Not only does this reduce the price differential between deadly cigarettes and safer alternatives, but it also directly undermines public health goals. By making products like nicotine pouches and vape liquids more expensive, we risk discouraging smokers from switching to these less harmful alternatives.”
The proposal, which seeks to amend the law on tobacco taxation, will encompass smoke-free nicotine products, including nicotine pouches and vape liquids. The World Vapers' Alliance warns that such tax increases will disproportionately impact low-income groups, who statistically exhibit higher smoking rates.
Landl further commented: “Imposing higher taxes on harm reduction products hits the most vulnerable groups the hardest. These are the same groups with the highest smoking rates. Instead of providing them with affordable alternatives to quit smoking, the government is pushing them back to the more harmful habit. This move by the Finnish government is a step in the wrong direction that ignores public health benefits and deepens social inequalities.”
The World Vapers' Alliance stated that the Finnish lawmakers don’t need to look far for successful examples of harm reduction. Sweden is on track to become the first smoke-free country in the world because of its progressive harm reduction policies. Earlier this year, Sweden announced a program of lowering tax on snus and nicotine pouches while significantly raising cigarette tax.
Michael Landl is the director of the World Vapers’ Alliance. He is from Austria and is based in Vienna. He is an experienced policy professional and a passionate vaper. He studied at the University of St. Gallen and worked for several public policy outlets and the German Parliament.
The World Vapers’ Alliance says it, “amplifies the voices of vapers worldwide and empowers them to make a difference in their communities. Our members are vapers associations and individual vapers from all over the world.”
Photo Credit:
Photo by Joakim Honkasalo on Unsplash
Photo by Tapio Haaja on Unsplash
Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous vape companies to develop content for their websites.
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