Problems caused by expensive vaping

Decrease in harm reduction 

Expensive vape prices can have a devastating impact on harm reduction and ultimately cost lives.

As seen in Minnesota, when vape products are expensive or become more expensive, e-cig users tend to go back to smoking or are deterred from switching to vaping in the first place.

Vaping black markets

As consumers look to avoid higher prices, illegal, unregulated black markets emerge – with potentially dangerous products become more prevalent. 

The danger of black markets was demonstrated in 2019 when black market cannabis thickened with Vitamin E Acetate was sold leading to devastating consequences. 

 More than 500 people in the US were hospitalised and 8 died due to lung conditions initially blamed on vaping. Further investigation found this to be untrue and the CDC (Centre for Disease Control) eventually confirmed that the actual cause was a line of contaminated THC cartridges bought from unlicensed dispensaries. 

The blaming of these casualties on nicotine vaping caused widespread panic and depicted vaping as dangerous and potentially fatal – further reducing harm reduction efforts. 

These adverse effects have caused some governments to rethink their vaping taxes. One example is Estonia. After introducing a vape tax in 2018, the country has temporarily suspended it from 1st April 2021 – 31st Dec 2022 to counteract the black market that emerged after the tax was imposed.