Sofia, 18.02.2025 – The World Vapers' Alliance (WVA) strongly criticizes the recent unanimous vote in the Bulgarian Parliament to impose a total ban on vaping products. This reckless decision threatens public health and ignores scientific evidence supporting vaping as a less harmful alternative to smoking.
Bulgaria is among the countries with the highest smoking rates in the world, with no decline since the first Eurobarometer survey in 2007. Despite this alarming statistic, the government has decided to ban all vaping products, including nicotine-free options, both in retail stores and online. This decision was made without public consultation and is likely to fuel the growth of the black market for dangerous and unregulated products.
Michael Landl, Director of the World Vapers' Alliance, stated:
"The Bulgarian government's decision to ban vaping is a huge step backward in the fight against smoking-related deaths. Bulgaria has one of the highest smoking rates in the EU, so instead of banning vaping, it should be promoting harm reduction tools."
The WVA emphasizes that vaping is a proven effective tool for quitting smoking. This ban will force adult vapers to either return to smoking or seek unregulated products on the black market, completely disregarding vaping's potential to significantly reduce the high smoking rates in the country.
"This ban will have catastrophic consequences for public health in Bulgaria. It is absurd that in a country where smoking kills thousands of people every year, the government is eliminating a proven safer alternative," added Landl.
The World Vapers' Alliance urges the Bulgarian government to vote against this bill in the next stages of the parliamentary process and instead adopt science-based policies that help smokers quit rather than removing their access to less harmful alternatives.
Link to the original article:https://worldvapersalliance.com/bulgaria-bans-vapes-while-smoking-rages-on/
