Vaping is not Tobacco! Stop Bahrain from imposing 100% excise tax on vape juice!

*This petition was jointly initiated by the League of Vapers - Bahrain and the Pinoy Vapers Bahrain groups.
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Bahrain classifies VAPE as a TOBACCO product and applies 100% tax. Although vaping contains nicotine, is does not contain any tobacco.

Smoke is the result of combustion. When combustion occurs, new chemicals form through the process of oxidation. Smoke contains thousands of new chemicals different from those initially burned. Fire is what creates smoke. When you smoke a tobacco, a fire must be involved to create the smoke.

When a substance becomes gaseous, at a temperature that is lower than its point of combustion, it is considered vapor. The chemicals that are in vapor are the same as those found in the vaporized substance. Vaporizing something is what happens when you heat water on a stove. When water begins to boil, it creates vapor. While the vapor is in a different state, it still has the same chemical makeup as the liquid water.

The biggest takeaway is the fact that vaporizing does not create any new compounds. Vapor maintains the same compounds as the substance that created it.

The 2016 Royal College of Physicians (RCP) report “Nicotine Without Smoke” says that “robust evidence on the safety of long-term nicotine use in humans from the 5-year Lung Health Study, in which participants were actively encouraged to use Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) for several months and many continued to consume NRT for a much longer period, demonstrates no association between sustained NRT use and the occurrence of cancer (lung, gastrointestinal or any cancer) or cardiovascular disease.”

Cancers from smoking are caused by the combustion of tobacco. The smoke forms a sticky chemical slurry called tar, and the tar coats delicate parts of the lungs. Over the course of years, the damage created by tar in the lungs can lead to tumor growth. According to the US National Cancer Institute (NCI), most of the cancer-causing substances in cigarette smoke are in the tar. Tar also causes damage that can lead to lung diseases like emphysema and bronchitis.

E-cigarettes don’t produce tar, because they don’t burn (or even contain) tobacco or other plant material. There are known carcinogens in vapor, but they’re in tiny concentrations that are unlikely to pose any risk to vapers. Most studies that have raised alarms about cancer risk from vaping have used poor methods, including using smoking machines to take too-frequent or too-long drags, or vaping at unrealistic high temperatures on dry wicks. Those things wouldn’t happen to actual vapers, because the result — known as dry hits or dry puffs — is unbearable to breathe.

“In normal conditions of use, toxin levels in inhaled e-cigarette vapour are probably well below prescribed threshold limit values for occupational exposure, in which case significant long-term harm is unlikely,” says the RCP report. “Some harm from sustained exposure to low levels of toxins over many years may yet emerge, but the magnitude of these risks relative to those of sustained tobacco smoking is likely to be small.”

A recent study at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland found that the cancer danger of vaping is almost as low as for nicotine replacement therapies like patches and gum — less than one percent. “This study should put to rest any doubt within the tobacco control movement about whether vaping greatly reduces health risk compared to smoking,” wrote Boston University’s Dr. Michael Siegel.

Smoking cigarettes causes about a third of all the heart disease deaths every year, according to the US Surgeon General. Those deaths come in the form of heart attacks, heart failure, stroke, aneurisms, sudden cardiac arrest, and several other kinds of cardiovascular events that can be caused by conditions in the body that are caused or made worse by smoking.

As with cancer, nicotine isn’t a primary cause of acute cardiovascular events. The US Surgeon General’s 2014 report says that “international epidemiologic evidence, and data from clinical trials of nicotine patches, suggests that chemical components in smoke other than nicotine are more important in elevating the risk of death from MI [myocardial infarction — heart attacks] and stroke.”

By and large, it’s the other things in smoke that cause heart disease and death. Oxidant chemicals, free radicals, particulates, and carbon monoxide all damage the heart and circulatory system in many ways, according to the CDC.

Smoking can raise triglycerides and lower the HDL (“good”) cholesterol, and increase the buildup of plaque (from fat, cholesterol, calcium and other substances) in blood vessels. It can also thicken and constrict the vessels, and damage the cells that line them. It reduces oxygen in the blood and makes it sticky and more prone to clot. And when blood clots, it can block the flow to the heart and brain, causing heart attacks and stroke.

And perhaps the most dangerous constituent of cigarette smoke with regard to cardiovascular health — carbon monoxide — is not found in e-cig vapor at all.

There has been no research to date showing any provable cardiovascular danger from vaping.

For many smokers, taking up vaping works immediately — whether coming from cigarettes, pipes, cigars, or even hookah. For others though, it can take months to finally say goodbye to combustion. And for some, it never happens. If you’re a smoker who wants to quit, there are options that will work for you — if you choose to make some effort to find them. But there’s no longer a reason to say that “vaping doesn’t work.” Because it really can. And there’s no question now about whether vaping is safer than smoking.

Let us raise awareness, not only in Bahrain but the rest of the world, that Vaping is not Tobacco and should not be classified as such. Vaping can save lives by helping smokers stop tobacco use.