WVA Criticizes Polish Tax
The World Vapers' Alliance has criticized Poland’s “misguided” taxation of safer nicotine alternatives following an anti-harm reduction Bill being adopted by their parliament
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by Dave Cross
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The World Vapers' Alliance (WVA) says it strongly opposes the recent bill adopted by the Polish Council of Ministers, which aims to impose an excise duty on nicotine pouches and other nicotine products, including vapes. The WVA called the legislation proposed by the Minister of Finance a “misguided policy”, adding that it threatens to undermine public health efforts by making less harmful alternatives to smoking more expensive and less accessible.
Michael Landl, Director of the World Vapers' Alliance, commented on the legislative action: “By increasing the price of safer nicotine alternatives, the Polish government is effectively pushing people back towards deadly cigarettes. This short-sighted tax grab will have dire consequences for public health.”
The WVA says that the Polish government's own admission that these regulations will "limit the availability of previously untaxed substitutes for traditional tobacco products" reveals a blatant disregard for harm reduction principles.
This approach contradicts overwhelming evidence supporting the role of alternative nicotine products in helping smokers quit, the organisation adds.
Research consistently shows that increasing the cost of vaping products can lead to unintended negative outcomes:
- Cross-price elasticity: Studies have found positive cross-price elasticities between e-cigarettes and traditional cigarettes, indicating that as vaping becomes more expensive, some users switch back to smoking.
- Youth impact: In the United States, higher taxes on Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) have been associated with decreased ENDS use but increased cigarette smoking among 18- to 25-year-olds.
- Public health setback: The potential public health gains from reduced vaping are expected to be outweighed by the negative effects of increased smoking rates.
The World Vapers' Alliance is urging the Polish government to reconsider the harmful proposal and instead embrace evidence-based policies that support harm reduction and improve public health outcomes.
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.”
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, as well as in the German Parliament.
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Photo by Pawel Czerwinski on Unsplash, resized and cropped
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 start-ups to develop content for their websites.
