Is the puff the enemy of vaping ?

Puffs and vapes : friends or foes?

Puff Vape friends foes

Introduction

A growing trend in recent months, the Puff or disposable electronic cigarette creates controversy in the vaping world and in society in general. Two major reasons are mentioned in this trial of intent. On the one hand the environmental problems associated with the disposable nature of the product, and on the other hand the attraction that the Puff has on a young public, even very young.

First of all, what do we mean by Puff ? A Puff is a pocket-size electronic cigarette, pre-filled and pre-loaded, which is activated by simply inhaling and then thrown away after use. It comes in all sorts of flavours and can legally contain up to 20mg of nicotine. It is commonly used between 300 and 600 puffs with 1 to 2 ml of liquid.

Puff and environment

The first criticism of the Puff is its disposability. At a time when ecological awareness has become a global responsibility, the disposable nature of a product seems like an environmental heresy.

Some brands of Puff are now trying to join a greenwashing approach, making their puff recyclable up to 95% by using recycled cardboard and bioplastic. E-cigarettes critics in general, and of the Puff in particular, argue that there’s still a problem of battery recycling. But this battery is recycled the same way as batteries, and they’ve never complained about what happened to batteries in watches or video game consoles of teenagers. 

Also, if we consider that these e-cigarettes are dangerous for the environment because they contain lithium, we will have to start asking questions about the fate of our mobile phones, which can contain up to 40 components including heavy metals and persistent pollutants.

recycling puffs

Puff and teens

Young people are the main problem for the Puff. The Puff has become a fashion phenomenon aimed at a very young and impressionable public.

If adolescence is an age of transgression where we test the limits of what is forbidden, the role of adults is to supervise these experiences to make them as harmless as possible. And it is true that between tobacco, alcohol and cannabis, vaping in the evening is probably a less harmful option.

This is no reason to make it easier for minors to access these products. But we've all known the grown-up friend who oversaw buying alcohol for parties, and the Puff is unfortunately no exception to this tradition of group buying.

Social networks such as Tiktok or Snapchat have their share of responsibility in the diffusion of attractive messages on Puffs. Some influencers popular with young people have not hesitated to promote brands of puffs covertly, or even to sell them unregulated.  

puffs and teens

The puff can do better

The risk mentioned by the health sector is to attract non-smokers to nicotine products and lead them to addiction.

In this respect, we must recognise that the Puff brands have not helped their case. These e-disposables are criticised for coming in sweet and fruity flavours with the sole aim of attracting young palates in the same way pop spirits do. Even though vapers have the right to indulge in sweet flavours, it is indeed regrettable that few puff brands have made the effort to offer tobacco flavours. This would have been a good way to show their goodwill in the fight against smoking, as we know that some smokers need to keep their taste habits when they switch to vaping.

Manufacturers are also criticised for the fancy and attractive packaging of Puffs with their playful design and bright colours. Would a grey or black Puff in a repulsive package make it less attractive to young people ? We’ve seen that the plain cigarette pack, with its horror movie pictures, has had only a very limited impact on tobacco consumption.

Vaping is not just about puffs

The real problem lies in the confusion that risks being made between Puffs as a fashion accessory and an entire industry that has made great efforts in recent years to structure and reform itself and to provide smokers with the most effective help possible to stop smoking.

The risk of attracting non-smokers to the disposable e-cig should not be confused with the opportunity of allowing smokers to go to the puff to find an effective withdrawal tool, with the possibility, like the refillable electronic cigarette, to start at 20mg, and reduce its amount little by little.

The danger is that this Puff may cause irrational reactions among legitimately concerned parents, which may spread to the entire vaping community, compromising its public health objective by demonising it.

In Switzerland, the health authorities have raised this issue to the political level. On March 17, Mrs. Fehlman Rielle addressed the National Council on this issue. She raised some concrete problems that highlight the improvements to be made by vaping professionals. She pointed out that some Swiss e-commerce sites offer Puffs that exceed the legal maximum nicotine amount. The site incriminated by the advisor, namely PuffBars, has since modified its sales catalogue and now only offers products containing a legal maximum of 20mg of nicotine.

This rapid compliance demonstrates that a little self-discipline among Swiss vape professionals should be enough to return to sound practices and prevent the legislature from taking over.

In France, the health authorities also raised concerns, relayed by the Ministry of Health, which has already allowed some unscrupulous actors to comply with the law. In view of the controversy generated, Tiktok France announced that it had suspended its search engine with the word Puff. That's fine, but after our verification, Tiktok Switzerland still allows access to all the most dubious Puff ads ! 

An unsolvable problem ?

But what about the internet, where on European sites, you only need to tick the "over 18" box to start shopping ? How can you check the age of a buyer ? Unfortunately, it is impossible for the moment.

When you type in 50mg disposable e-cig (illegal in Europe), the first thing that comes up is a New Zealand site happy to ship to Switzerland. There is also a thriving market in Morocco, where the local disposable brand goes as far as to make its Puff look like a gas capsule for whipped cream siphons that young people love, with the sweet evocative name of Euphoria.

These are the bad behaviours that should be condemned, not an entire sector. Fight against the black-market sale of illegal products brought in from abroad or ban the sale in non-specialised shops like Gifi in France.

Sweetch's position

In what purpose was the electronic cigarette market created ? Quite simply to provide smokers with an effective and lasting tool for smoking cessation.

It's no longer necessary to demonstrate, today, the leading role of the electronic cigarette in the fight against smoking, a role acknowledged by the scientific community and supported by health professionals.

At Sweetch we have never compromised on ethics. Our sales policy has always been to help people quit smoking.

As such, the disposable electronic cigarette can be an asset in this fight for smokers reluctant to anything that is not supplied ready to use, while ensuring the traceability of our products. In addition, Sweetch, as a recognized professional vendor of vaping products, offers support and advice on how to quit smoking.

Conclusion

We can always regulate the Swiss or European market, but in a globalised economy it will be difficult to regulate all malpractice.

Nevertheless, we should not condemn an entire industry that has already helped so many smokers around the world to quit. 


Thank you for reading.

The Sweetch team