In an ideal world, government organizations such as the European Union would base its policies solely off of what would benefit the citizens of Europe. Unfortunately, however, this is far from how the world actually functions, and instead, the policies of the European Union are heavily influenced by the lobbyists who have the most money to spend on influencing the laws. This leads to many policies being enforced that benefit corporate lobbyists, rather than citizens of Europe.
One unfortunate example of the European Union using its power to benefit lobbyists is with the ban of snus, as well as the potential ban of electronic cigarettes. Electronic cigarettes are a type of cigarette that provides users with the pleasures of smoking, yet is devoid of the harmful health effects. Many people prefer electronic cigarettes compared to traditional cigarettes due to the lack of these negative effects.
Although these types of cigarettes are highly favorable from a consumer’s perspective, however, they are detrimental to the profits of many pharmaceutical companies. The reason for this is that numerous pharmaceutical companies make a large profit manufacturing smoking cessation products, such as Nicorette. At the moment, smokers who wish to avoid the dangers of smoking are much more likely to choose electronic cigarettes over products like Nicorette, making e-cigs a strong competitor of the pharmaceutical companies.
Luckily for the pharmaceutical companies, however, these companies are so wealthy that they have a disturbingly powerful influence over most laws due to their vast lobbying funds. According to many experts, the recent ban by the European Union of snus, another popular alternative to smoking, was made due to pressure by pharmaceutical lobbyists for the sole purpose of eliminating a competitor to the pharmaceutical industry. Although this ban did not benefit the citizens of Europe, many claim that the European Union is more concerned with appeasing its lobbyists than its citizens.
Unfortunately, it is not unlikely that the same fate that has happened to snus will befall electronic cigarettes. Electronic cigarettes continue to pose a serious threat to companies who manufacture products such as Nicorette, and the European Union currently claims that they are investigating them for possible hazards. Although the scientific data does not suggest that electronic cigarettes are harmful, only time will tell whether the European Union decides to adhere to this data or to instead benefit the pharmaceutical lobbyists.
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