Entrepreneur from Almere joins national campaigns against “taste ban”

Representatives of specialty stores and customers of those stores are voicing their voices against the proposed ban on taste for “vapers”. According to them, there is a “war on vapes” by State Secretary Blokhuis. Last week they performed in Amsterdam and reinforced their protest with a light show. An online petition has already been signed 18 thousand times.

Vapers

With the vapers are meant the e-cigarettes. It is possible to add flavors to the e-cigarette. Director Michael Landl, of World Vapers’Alliance, thinks State Secretary Blokhuis wants to force hundreds of thousands of vapers to smoke again. “Banning flavors can force a quarter of a million ex-smokers in the Netherlands to resume the habit. 

Illegal trade

Marchiano Chotoe of the E-cigarette Shop in Hoofddorp (with branches in Vlaardingen, Lelystad and Almere) does not consider a taste ban for vaping sensible. “Don’t limit vaping further than it already is. If flavors are banned, a major illegal trade will start. Uncontrolled black trade.

E-liquids can then be contaminated and people can get sick. We have already seen the same situation in America. Should we make the same mistake again? In my opinion it is asking for trouble. It is a wonderful alternative to traditional tobacco, but it must be properly designed. Due to the already active restrictions (smaller tanks, smaller amounts of liquid) people already buy a lot more abroad. I often come across unregulated products and that worries me a lot. ”

Experience

In addition to being an entrepreneur, Marchiano Chotoe is also an expert by experience. For him it is clear: vaping is a good way to get rid of smoking. He saw it up close. “My father, who was around 40, smoked two packs of cigarettes a day ten years ago. I can still remember that he walked up the stairs and was panting very heavily at the end of the stairs. We had already tried several things to get him to quit smoking; nicotine patches, nicotine pills, nicotine gum. All those resources could not get him from smoking cigarettes and those aids were also terribly expensive. In the end, we decided to buy an electronic cigarette. We had nothing to lose. Gradually, with a little discipline and patience, we started to see it work. My father started to smoke less and less, and when he lit a cigarette at some point, it was just gross. My dad was finally off his cigarette! We saw it as a miracle. ” E-cigarette smoker are active.

In more places

Not only their own family saw the miraculous happen. “Then the ball started to roll. Family and friends all wanted one (because if my dad can quit smoking, anyone can). We added a little Marketplace, and eventually we worked as a greengrocer during the week and as a “vape farmer” at the bazaar in Almere-Buiten at the weekend. Then we knew, this is going to be a great success. Now we are four stores in the family (Almere-Buiten, Lelystad, Vlaardingen and Hoofddorp). Together we have certainly helped thousands of people from smoking, maybe tens of thousands. Including my father. ”

Convinced

“I’ve always said that until my death I want to help people like my father to quit smoking. We have so much experience and we have seen that it can do so much with people. That will all be a lot less soon if they implement the speculated regulations.

I want to keep helping people like my father ”. e-cigarette smoker kun je online vinden.

Chotoe continues: “I want children to be able to be close to their safe haven without the smell of a bad cigarette smell. I just want people to enjoy life more, that’s what it all comes down to. It is precisely for these reasons that I would like to appeal to everyone who cares about fumes: Contribute every bit you can contribute now. Make yourself heard towards politics. So that people like you and me can get rid of the nasty addiction of the cigarette forever ”.