PRESS RELEASE: Brice Lepoutre puts vaping in its place in the face of WHO's denigration

It will not surprise anyone, the World Health Organization very widely against vaping for years now recently communicated its recommendations to fight against smoking. In its usual rant, the WHO looks again at vaping without bringing any real evidence to the table. In order to answer him, Brice Lepoutre, former president of AIDUCE and recently general manager of the group Cigaverte decided to shed direct light on this questionable communication from the WHO.

"WHO KEEPS THE FEARS ON THE VAPE"

As every year on World No Tobacco Day, the WHO communicates its recommendations to fight against smoking. This year a large part of the communicated is a charge against the vape.

The WHO is wrong in asserting that the electronic cigarette is not a means to stop smoking. The study conducted in 2019 by the National Public Health Agency, also known as Public Health France, showed that in France, 700.000 people had quit smoking thanks to vaping. The High Council for Public Health (HCSP) considers that vaping "Can be considered as an aid to stop". For 10 years, the field experience that we have accumulated every day with our customers has gone in the same direction ... and yet, as professionals, we have no right to say that vaping helps to stop smoking.

The WHO is wrong in saying that the tobacco industry is in the maneuver behind the vape. In France, specialty shops and manufacturers are all independent from the tobacco industry. The French industry has also gathered around FIVAPE, an independent federation to which tobacco players cannot join.

The WHO is wrong in claiming that flavorings are made to appeal to young people. Aromatic diversity keeps consumers away from tobacco. This is because they can vape fruity, gourmet, fresh aromas,…. that they manage to resist their smoking demons. In addition, the sale of electronic cigarettes to minors is prohibited in France: market players are very vigilant on the subject.

The WHO is wrong in asserting that when you vape, you have not stopped smoking. With the vape there are no tar, carbon monoxide, combustion,… If we stop smoking, we stop smoking. To say the opposite is like unjustifiable propaganda.

The WHO is wrong in claiming that vaping causes heart and lung disease. To date, no independent study has drawn these conclusions, apart from a few whose interpretations were quickly torched by the scientific community: numerous anomalies invalidate test protocols that are not representative of the use of vape.

By dint of relentlessness and disinformation, the WHO maintains fears around vaping, and through these unfounded doubts, deprives millions of smokers of a precious tool. As a reminder, tobacco is still 75.000 deaths per year in France. Anti-vaping policies are simply playing into the hands of the tobacco industry to the detriment of public health.

Brice Lepoutre, 42, founded in 2008 forum-ecigarette.com the largest consumer forum in Europe and the second largest in the world. He is still the manager and administrator of this forum which has seen up to 1 million visitors per month. In 2013 he founded AIDUCE (Independent Association of Electronic Cigarette Users) in order to legally and mediatically defend vaping. He will chair this association until 2017. Since 2020, he has held the position of Managing Director of the Cigaverte group: the leading vape franchise network in France, which today has more than 50 stores spread across the territory.