Vaping is not for the poor

In discussions, we often hear that it is disgusting to attack vaping because it could improve the lives of a billion people. This is the number of smokers in the world. This is an argument repeated many times while it is false in reality.

The argument of the billion smokers

On the one hand, clinical trials show that the effectiveness of vaping in smoking cessation is 18%. This is superior to all nicotine substitutes, but that means that if you give an electronic cigarette to 100 people, only one in five people will be able to give up the fag. And no, forcing with all the liquids and nicotine levels in the market that it’s going to work by magic. An addiction of sometimes several decades does not go away so easily.

It is true that there are one billion smokers in the world, but 800 million are poor in poor countries. And a poor man in a poor country is not a yellow jacket. Such a poor person can buy only according to what he has in his pocket. No credit, no debit, no bit, nothing at all. And in its current state, vaping is not at all accessible for these poor.

Vaping is 100% oriented for Western purchasing power

100% of vaping is designed according to Western vaper who has a greater purchasing power. In Europe, it is estimated that 18% of smokers (it’s 28% for the WHO, but other European statistics show that it’s more around 18 to 20%, because it varies widely between countries). The European population is estimated at 747 million (October 2019) which is roughly 134 million smokers.

In the United States, the population is 327 million people and 14% who smoke which gives us about 45 million smokers. I take my abacus and we have, 179 million smokers in Europe and the United States. In rounding, we can say that there are 200 million smokers in rich countries and 800 million in poor countries.

And since vaping has been shaped by western purchasing power, we are in an incredible shit where smokers, who need it most, can not buy the electronic cigarette. Sometimes, when I have a few pennies, I buy small e-cigarettes, I put on my evangelist’s coat and I try to convince smokers to try vaping. I have an acquaintance who is a poor person. His monthly salary is $ 100 (and still I’m wide).

Too poor, even for the cheapest electronic cigarettes

I tried to find the cheaper pod that exists while not being too much junk. I found the Minifit from JusFog, which, on Chinese sites, is worth 12.50 dollars. Justfog is a good brand and it’s a pod with disposable cartridges. It was too expensive for him.

Because, in fact, what must be understood is that the poor in poor countries will not only compare according to what they have in their pocket, but also compared to what they used to consume. Basically, a poor will compare the price of the e-cigarette according to the price of a fag.

And I see coming, the leftists and plaster saints in vaping, who are going to tell me (with a thin efeminine voice): Yeah, but you see, you can not compare the two, the health is invaluable. We see that this type of individual has never known true poverty. A poor man does not care about health and everything else, he consumes only what he can buy at the moment.

A ridiculous cheap price of cigarettes in poor countries

And the price of cigarettes in poor countries is very low. In Madagascar for example, we are around 1 dollar per package. So, if you want to get poor smokers out, then your e-cigarette should not be worth more. And it is impossible in the current state of vaping. Maybe if we cut corners on quality, mass-produce with disposable stuff, we could go down to $ 3 or $ 4 per e-cigarette. And this is the technique used by vaping devices of Big Tobacco (it’s not a coincidence).

And for a poor, a $ 12 e-cigarette was already too expensive. But it will also be necessary that he buys coils or cartridges and especially the liquid. To be quiet, you have to buy the liquid in Europe, but the prices are a real scam.

A vape of wankers

And it could also be extended to the poor in rich countries. You have people who are in debt as of the 10th of the month. And poverty is very correlated with smoking which locks them into a vicious circle. And during this time, vaping for wankers (myself included) continues to grow. In addition, a trend of vapers, pretentiously experienced, demonize nicotine. I remember my first vape shop where the saleswoman was horrified that I ask for 12 mg liquids. While to get a smoker quit, it must be saturated with nicotine at first.

Put together, this shows a vaping’s sector that has moved far away from its main targets. Namely, give priority to smoking cessation and target the poorest populations.

To each country, its vape

However, we must not blame Western vapers, because it is up to each country to develop its vaping’s sector. This is the only solution to lower the prices of liquids and gear. But we are going to come up against a major obstacle which is that the totality of poor countries are anti-vaping to death. And for good reason, a large part of their income is financed by tobacco taxes and a proof of that is to see what happened in India with the total ban of vaping while the fags circulates freely.

What makes us come back at the beginning, when activist vapers say they are there for a billion people, that’s wrong. At the limit, they are there for 200 million smokers. This is already a major challenge and a considerable market if we look at the economic plan. But for the 800 million smokers, in this holy year of October 2019, vaping has no answer for the poor with their means.