Two out of three former smokers say they feel better after switching to e-cigarettes. The “Ride 4 Vape” reminds us of this, the two-wheel race that aims to prove how these products restore lost breath to the lungs.
As with the protagonists of Apollo 13the famous film dedicated to the troubled NASA mission of the same name, also for Umberto Roccatti «failure is not an option». Failure is not an option. And not out of presumption, rather to chase away the specters of fear, give yourself the right energy in the face of a space sweat: 201 kilometers to cover by taking off for almost 2 thousand metres, without the thrust of a rocket, climbing on the pedals curve after curve, one climb after another.
«What if I can do it? O yes, o yes” he repeated on the eve of the sixth edition of the “Ride 4 Vape”, the bicycle race which is neither an athletic gesture nor a test of strength. Umberto Roccatti, in addition to being a former avid smoker, is the president of Anafe Confindustria, the National Association of electronic smoke producers. And his annual trek serves to demonstrate that, by preferring electronic cigarettes to the old “blondes”, the lungs recover, the muscles respond, covering considerable distances is not a cinematic invention, but a documented feat.
«Electronic cigarettes are at least 95 percent less harmful than traditional ones. And I’m not saying it, but hundreds of independent scientific studies. They represent the only sensible alternative for that 91 percent of smokers who cannot or do not want to quit” recalls Roccatti, not even too exhausted, after leaving Perugia behind and reaching Rome in 6 hours, 36 minutes and mere seconds. «A fantastic time. I knew I was fit, not so much.” Because it’s one thing not to fail, it’s another to overcome the idea you have of yourself.
As a sidekick, the president had Marco Piscopo, a high-level volleyball player and also a former smoker. Both were wearing a shirt that had this edition’s slogan printed on the back: “Flavor ban = Black market”. That is: banning flavorings is equivalent to encouraging the black market.
The reference is to the desire of the European Union (hence the writing in English, to be decipherable in Brussels) to prohibit the trade of various flavors for electronic cigarette liquids, which make their consumption more pleasant. «The EU’s objective is understandable: to protect minors, who could be attracted to them. But there are already strict rules designed to ban the sale of such products to anyone under 18. Instead, we are in favor of tightening sanctions for violators” underlines Roccatti, also vice-president of Ieva, the independent European alliance for vaping.
Flavors are not a simple element of pleasure in the use of electronic cigarettes: according to a survey by Euromedia Research released before the summer, for 77 percent of adult smokers in Italy they proved to be decisive in abandoning traditional cigarettes. And in fact their demand has not collapsed in countries where they are already prohibited, but has shifted, en masse, towards illicit trade.
«It grew by 85 percent in Holland and 90 percent in Denmark» continues Roccatti, highlighting how the issue is not, at least not only, the loss of income for the industry he represents: «With the bans we end up financing criminal organizations and putting people’s health at risk. Because our products are strictly controlled and certified in terms of chemistry and vapors emitted, while on illegal channels you can find everything.”
The finish line of the «Ride 4 Vape», after the sprint on the Tiber cycle path and an adrenaline-filled queue in Rome traffic, was in front of the Ministry of Health. Here Roccatti wanted to personally deliver the documents that support his arguments: «It is not Anafe Confindustria’s style to raise the tone, only to create a constructive comparison, starting from the data».
Two above all, again emerging from the Euromedia Research study: 4.7 percent of Italians have stopped smoking thanks to the e-cig. «We are certainly not targeting young people. They are products to give up cigarettes, not to start using them.” And those who have switched to vaping, in two out of three cases, say they have noticed notable improvements in their physical well-being. Not to the point of starting to climb Italy by bicycle at extraterrestrial pace, but that’s another story.
