Nicotineproducten zonder tabak

Reactie

Vraag1

Smoking cessation and prevention remain the most impactful and cost-effective interventions in medicine, and we will continue the hard work to raise awareness to every smoker and the public about the adverse effects of smoking. However, where cessation repeatedly fails, switching to less harmful products expected to result in benefits for many smokers should be an option.
We have read the explanatory memorandum regarding the Bill amending the Tobacco and Tobacco Products Act regulating non-tobacco nicotine products and nicotine devices and although we are pleased to see that the Dutch government seeks to support smokers to quit smoking, we are concerned that the proposed ban on nicotine pouches creates more barriers to those who cannot quit smoking conventional cigarettes by removing one low-risk alternative to smoking from the market. Accordingly, it is more likely that the proposed ban will hamper the efforts of reaching the smokefree objective.
Banning nicotine pouches, reminds the SNUS case in Europe. In 1992 a ban in the sales of SNUS was imposed in most EU countries, with the exemption of Sweden, and Norway. Scientific evidence nowadays, including long-term epidemiological studies, shows a lower risk of cancer, heart disease and chronic bronchitis.
In Sweden, smoking has fallen to 7% of adults, close to the EU’s target for 2040, i.e., daily smoking 5%. The lower smoking rates have translated to lower levels of cancer and other serious diseases in Sweden, especially among men, the main snus users. Smoking is down to 1-2% among young women in Norway now – signaling the emerging prospect of a smoke-free generation.
The experience from SNUS indicates that we need to monitor closely the use of nicotine products to document the use because we run more risk to create a negative outcome!
Long term observational studies and the generation of conclusive evidence about the relative risk between conventional cigarettes and the newer Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) will secure informed decisions that will carry a positive outcome for health.

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