We look back on the talks from the second day of VOXPO: Vape Live
Q&A with John Dunne Director of the UKVIA
With so many changes, regulations and flavour bans being introduced across the world, it’s a confusing time for the industry as a whole.
VOXPO VAPE Live invited UKVIA director, John Dunne to answer a Q&A from vape enthusiasts, store owners and brands.
The talk included a discussion on what UKVIA membership involves and how the organisation enacts change within the industry. This also touched on what the association did to help brands struggling during the lockdown crisis.
John stressed that the next 12 months are going to be incredibly important with ‘all to play for’ in the vaping industry and rebuilding will present many challenges.
This will include addressing miseducation and trying to influence changes to the TRPR when it is assessed in May 2021.
This will mean also working to win over the public and helping them to see the potential health benefits associated with switching from smoking to vaping.
TPD Review: Opportunity or Catastrophe? with Martin Cullip and Clive Bates
Martin Cullip and Clive Bates gave us valuable insights into the history of the TPD review and what the purpose of it is.
Clive warns that the next review due in May 2021 is likely to feature more restrictions and bans. While he was positive about what has been achieved, he stressed that vapers have a lot of hard work yet to do.
Clive suggested that the TPD is ‘all threat,’ with looming US flavour bans, increased regulations and extra burdens on small businesses. This is the result of the UK looking to vaping scares from America, such as the youth vaping epidemic and EVALI.
With Brexit coming, Martin turned his attention to what we can expect to see from the market. Clive answered that when it comes to vaping, it may not matter as Europe will continue to dominate.
Clive urged British vapers to look outside the local market as what Europe decides will ultimately affect the vaping climate.
Q&A with Louise Ross from the New Nicotine Alliance
Our own content creator, Benedict Jones rounded up the second day of Vape Live talks with a Q&A with Louise Ross.
Louise explained how medical bodies can sometimes not understand the passion that vapers who have quit smoking feel for the industry because they don’t speak to vapers enough.
She highlighted a missing opportunity for the two areas to connect so that professionals can see the positive sides of vaping in action.
Louise said that she has spoken to many smokers who have used the stop smoking services to find out what they thought of the services on offer. She found that smokers were often concerned about the negative propaganda around vaping but this went away once they tried it for themselves.
While everyone is different, Louise has seen more success when smokers attempt to quit using e-cigarettes. She said that there was a 10 percent higher success rate in those groups.
