Exclusive New Study: More Smoking, More Harm Under Failed Dutch Vape Ban

Exclusive New Study: More Smoking, More Harm Under Failed  Dutch Vape Ban
8 of 10 Dutch vapers admit that flavour ban for vapour products mightpush consumers back to smoking as flavours are important in their decision toswitch and stay away from smoking.

24 March 2026. Amsterdam, Netherlands. A new consumer survey of more than 1 000 Dutch vapers conducted byDynata and commissioned by Prohibition Does Not Work provides one of theclearest pictures yet of the abject failure of the Netherlands banning vapingflavours.

·      95% of vapers say it isstill easy to obtain banned flavours

·      More than three-quartershave seen banned products available during their last 10 purchases 

·      85% believe the ban riskspushing people back to smoking, which goes completely against why the government banned them

The survey also underscores the centralrole flavours play in harm reduction: more than a half of vapers in Netherlandsuse them due to health reasons, including stop or reduce smoking. 8 of 10 respondentssay flavours are important to their decision to vape, and fruit andmenthol flavours are consistently identified as key to switching away fromsmoking.

Despite the ban, consumer behaviour has notfundamentally changed. Around two-thirds of vapers report continuing to usefruit, menthol, or sweet flavours—now sourced through online, cross-border, orinformal channels. This clearly shows the failure of the prohibition and defacto ban on vapour category introduced by the Government.

At the same time, there is strong supportfor an alternative approach: roughly three-quarters of respondents believegovernments should support safer alternatives to smoking, and most favour moreprogressive policy approaches such as stricter enforcement of age restrictions(as accepted for other adult consumer products) rather than outright bans.  

This survey provides early, real-worldevidence from consumers themselves: the Dutch flavour ban has not eliminateddemand but simply changed where and how banned products are purchased - raisingadditionalconcerns about unintended consequences, product safety, and smokingrates. .

You can download the survey results here. 

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