To: Clerk to Bills Committee on Smoking
From: National Taxpayers Union
On behalf of National Taxpayers Union, the oldest taxpayer group in the United States, I write to urge you to oppose legislation that would prohibit the distribution of e-cigarette and vapor products in Hong Kong. This misguided proposal would limit access to innovative products which help traditional tobacco users transition to less harmful alternatives, like heat-not-burn and vapor. As we’ve experienced here in the United States, bans on goods only lead to illicit underground networks and leave consumers worse off.
The stated purpose of the proposed ban is to prevent young people from switching to combustible tobacco products in the future. While well-intentioned, this could cause far more harm than good, as it would prevent people from switching from combustible cigarettes to harm reduction products. Given the fact that innovative alternatives, like vapor and heat-not-burn could be 95 percent less harmful than traditional combustible cigarettes, they serve as an effective bridge for smokers transitioning toward a significantly less harmful alternative.
Our years of advocacy and research finds that when governments raise taxes or ban substitutes to traditional combustible cigarette smoking, it creates unnecessary public policy problems. For years, government officials have taken steps to reduce the prevalence of tobacco usage, and the free market has produced a solution to address this serious problem. Support for policies that raise barriers for people to access healthier alternatives, as this legislation proposes to do, will simply derail efforts to lower health care costs and reduce government spending.
If the goal of this ban is to stop people from smoking, then it fails to achieve its goal. Further, it would create illicit black markets, and likely increase the smoking prevalence rate due accessibility issues for healthier alternatives. NTU strongly believes this proposal would harm Hong Kong consumers far more than it would help them and we urge lawmakers to scrap plans for any ban on harm-reduction products.
Sincerely,
Thomas Aiello
Policy and Government Affairs Associate