European Union seeks wider anti-tobacco powers: petition and consultation

Forest presents a video on the EU tobacco control consultation, which closes on Friday.



Please sign petition here, consider replying to the consultation, or take both actions. A campaigner for e-cigarettes writes:

Plans to hand all nicotine sales rights to pharmaceutical companies are moving along. There are now proposals from the EU and WHO to bring nicotine under tobacco control regulations where it hasn't been medicalised. To complement that move, new end game strategies from tobacco control on removing it from tobacco products have been announced.

There may be more outright bans or just trading restrictions, border quotas, internet sales bans, advertising bans, postal bans, extortionate taxes, etc.

Please take action, it is important for nicotine traders and users to be vocal to have our wishes heard, all policy and regulatory considerations so far appear to be by and for corporate pharmaceutical and tobacco control interests.  The EU consultation presents at least a pretence of  democracy but the WHO have no intention of anything but totalitarian control.  Are we subordinate drones in the collective or humans with self determination and free will?

Respond to the EU and WHO proposals and please spread the word to other nicotine users.  Don't let them take away the rest of our choices without a fight.

The consultation document is 11 pages long, far shorter than many such documents. The format is fairly simple: it presents an aspect of the problem, such as legislation about smokeless tobacco, and gives three options. Option 1 is usually to retain control for policy within member states. Options 2 and 3 are generally Europe-wide solutions with Option 3 generally being more hard-line. (You may wish to support Option 2 in Question 2, which provides for the legalisation of snus and other smokeless tobacco throughout the EU.)

Clearly the Commission wants to be given a mandate to legislation for the whole of Europe. Please respond to the Consultation if you can, recommending that member states retain control over tobacco control policy.

The deadline is Friday 17 December. Instructions for responding are all contained here.