Vaper Expo is taking place at the NEC in Birmingham next weekend and NNA will be there, in the Media Meet and Greet area. Trustees Andy Morrison and John Summers and Associates Martin Cullip and Sue Wilson plus NNA administrator Jessica Harding will be at the NNA stand and would very much like to see you there. The Expo organisers have, as always, made us very welcome and we would be as delighted to welcome you to our stand so please do pop by, to learn more about what we do or just for an idle chat.
Snus you lose
The Advocate General gave his opinion on the snus case – in which the NNA was involved as intervenor- at the European Court of Justice on 12th April. You can read our media release here.
It is very disappointing that he recommended the ban on the sale of snus throughout the EU (except Sweden) is upheld, but the final decision isn’t expected until later in the year, and it isn’t unheard of for a final decision to go against the Advocate General’s opinion. It’s fair to say though that the likelihood is that once again common sense will be side lined and that snus, a harm reduction product which has contributed to Sweden boasting dramatically lower smoking prevalence and associated diseases, will continue to be prohibited for purely political reasons.
This won’t stop us in the NNA for fighting for what we know is right. We are very encouraged that the case has boosted a new snus advocacy movement: EUforSnus now numbers over 3000 members and social media has shown an impressive uptick in vapers supportive of snus as a harm reduction opportunity, like the one they have seen to be so successful for themselves. The snus case is just the end of the beginning. There is lots more to come and NNA will be amongst it.
New Statesperson
A New Statesman event entitled “When might England become Smokefree?” took place within the shadow of the House of Commons on 10th April, and our Chair, Sarah Jakes, was on the expert panel. Read more in our post about the event here. Sarah laid out the NNA’s stated position on a number of harm reduction avenues and stressed that we still have a long way to go, unless stakeholders realise that it is smokers who will decide what is the best way to quit or switch, not self- appointed experts. The important thing is that a suite of products is made available in order that everyone who chooses to stop smoking can be enabled to do so.
The event was filmed so we hope that the footage will be available soon. Keep checking back to the NNA website and social media accounts: as soon as we see it, so will you.
Hope you liked Jamming too
Vape Jam went extremely well and we really enjoyed meeting so many of you there. Thank you very much to Vape Jam for, once again, making us so welcome and donating the proceeds of the superb raffle to us. Thank you very much too to SoulOhm reviews for giving fantastic presentations for NNA.
Forum frolics
The chair and former chair of the NNA both took part in a panel at the UKVIA Forum in London last week, chaired by Norman Lamb who is currently conducting an enquiry into vaping and other harm reduction methods in Parliament. Sarah made the point that the people who implacably oppose harm reduction will never listen to reason, while Gerry expressed disappointment that the public health cognoscenti seem reluctant to embrace e-cigs as the public health benefit that they obviously are. We think - thanks also to a question from the floor by the IBVTA - they may have hit the target - read on to find out why.
NNA's Sarah Jakes and Gerry Stimson with Norman Lamb MP, Lynne Dawkins and Dan Marchant at the UKVIA forum.
NNA gathering pluses in May
The UK Parliament's Science and Technology Committee will be holding another oral evidence session for their E-cigarettes inquiry on the afternoon of 9th May. Sarah will be giving evidence on behalf of NNA, it will be online live and our Facebook and Twitter accounts will feed you the link when we know it. This is your advocacy group in the heart of Westminster speaking your message directly to MPs.
NICE and easy does it
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) are updating their suite of tobacco and smoking guidelines and the NNA hopes to be involved in helping to shape them. The guidelines cover prevention, cessation and tobacco harm reduction and Sarah Jakes – who recently served as a member of the NICE public health advisory committee on smoking cessation – attended a workshop at NICE to give a consumer point of view on the scope of the updates. E-cigarettes will feature heavily in this update, and it is important that NICE get this right (or at least don’t bugger it up)...
Parroting sense
If you missed it do go and watch this amusing but educational video from the NCSCT which calmly debunks many of the myths spread about vaping. Passive vaping for parrots was produced in conjunction with NNA and we are listed in the credits.
Passive Vaping: A guide for parrots
Help us to help you
As you can see, the NNA has been busy on your behalf but we couldn’t do it without your support. NNA advocates are unpaid volunteers but expenses are inevitably incurred along the way, so please keep your donations coming in via the donate button below. Why not consider setting up a standing order or regular PayPal payment, to help us to help you?
We look forward to bringing you more NNA news at the end of May.
