This World Vape Day, Governments Must Promote Harm Reduction

The annual World Vape Day celebration takes place on Saturday, May 30, 2026. This is very fitting as governments and organizations around the world, including, shamefully, the World Health Organization (WHO), have gone to great lengths to spread false narratives about vaping in an attempt to discredit any of the many benefits.

The Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) has consistently supported the adoption of less harmful products to reduce deadly cigarette consumption. Vaping offers a considerably less dangerous alternative to conventional cigarettes, which subject users to thousands of toxic chemicals, many of them carcinogenic. Tobacco harm reduction (THR) isn’t a new idea. In 1976, well-known tobacco researcher Dr Michael Russell may have inadvertently started the THR movement when he stated that “people smoke for the nicotine, but die from the tar.”

A traditional cigarette contains more than 600 ingredients and, when burned, releases more than 7,000 chemicals, including arsenic, formaldehyde, lead, and tar. Traditional cigarette use is associated with cancer, heart disease, lung disease, diabetes, and other chronic diseases. More than 480,000 Americans die from tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke every year. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), tobacco product use remains the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States.

The American Lung Association reports that smoking rates have fallen 73 percent among adults since 1965, plummeting to 11.6 percent in 2022. Even though cigarette smoking among adults has declined over the past decades, the CDC neglects to acknowledge the benefits that THR has on the overall smoking rate in the U.S. In fact, it has arguably spread confusion and doubt of its own towards the products.  

Commonsense THR strategy integrates scientific evidence and individual liberties, while aiming to mitigate the detrimental effects of conventional cigarette smoking. Beyond the human toll associated with combustible tobacco are substantial economic and taxpayer costs. The CDC estimates that these costs exceed $300 billion annually, encompassing approximately $225 billion in direct medical costs and over $156 billion in lost productivity. These impacts affect governments, insurers, and employers through preventable illnesses, premature mortality, and reduced economic output.

However, international governments and U.S. state and federal authorities continue to impose fear-based restrictions and taxes on THR products rather than acknowledging the evidence. For example, the WHO urges governments to adopt ineffective policies, such as high taxes and bans, to accelerate the decline of tobacco use.

This contradicts the WHO’s own evidence and reports indicating that THR products reduce traditional smoking rates. Released in October, the WHO’s global report tracks trends in tobacco use from 2000 to 2024 and projects future trends through 2030. The report analyzed data from 195 countries and territories, and for the first time, measured worldwide e-cigarette use. The findings are striking and challenge the flimsy long-standing arguments of prohibition advocates. Simply put, products like vapes are less harmful substitutes for far more dangerous devices like cigarettes.

According to the report, the number of global tobacco users has decreased from 1.38 billion in 2000 to 1.2 billion in 2024. Since 2010, tobacco use has fallen by 120 million—a decline of approximately 27 percent. Global tobacco prevalence has dropped significantly since the start of the century, with a 13 percent reduction in the number of users and a 27 percent decline when adjusted for population growth.

Interestingly, tobacco use among women (females aged 15 and older) is decreasing faster than among men. In 2000, the estimated prevalence for women started much lower at 16.5 percent, roughly one-third of men’s rate at that time. By 2010, it had decreased to 11 percent. In 2024, the estimate is 6.6 percent, already below the WHO member states’ target of 7.7 percent. THR must be recognized as a crucial factor in tobacco cessation. The WHO report estimates that the number of tobacco users will continue to decrease to 1.197 billion by 2030, but it overlooks the impact THR has had on smoking rates. 

The WHO and individual countries have tried to use taxes to stop people from smoking and vaping.  Now, many U.S. states facing budget shortfalls are also implementing regressive taxes and policies that limit consumer choice and put Americans at risk. As of 2026, most states have implemented excise taxes on vaping products, and many have legislative proposals to increase taxes, including but not limited to Delaware, Idaho, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, New York, Washington, and West Virginia.

One of the worst consequences of high taxes on vapes is the increase in black market activity. When consumers can’t access regulated products locally or at an affordable price, they will look across state borders or, worse, purchase illicit products that put consumers at risk. According to the Tax Foundation, cigarettes are easily transportable in bulk, and large-scale cigarette smuggling operations are already in place due to excessively high tax rates. In 2022, 54 percent of cigarettes consumed in New York were smuggled into the state. Nearly half of the cigarettes consumed in California and New Mexico were not legally purchased in those states. Restrictions, bans, and high taxes only serve to empower criminals and harm Americans’ health, and these effects extend across all markets. Prohibition and high taxes are popular among policymakers but do not reduce demand.

THR products such as vapes are less harmful alternatives to traditional cigarettes, and evidence shows that they enable more adults to quit smoking. World Vape Day is an opportunity for governments worldwide to bolster consumer access to THR products and save lives by encouraging smokers to quit. This is a far better approach than higher taxes and increased regulations, which put more lives at risk.