As the Thai government prepares to impose the plain tobacco package, a network of e-cigarette users and importers are proposing a more "useful" alternative: The outright lifting of the ban on tobacco-free products. smoke.
40 SIGNATURES TO CONTROL THE E-CIGARETTE INSTEAD OF THE BAN!
Thailand is a country where it has clearly become dangerous to own an e-cigarette. Recently, a network of e-cigarette users and importers suggested that lifting the ban on “smokeless” products and enacting appropriate regulations would be more effective measures to discourage people from smoking rather than discouraging people from smoking. launch the "neutral package".
Currently, the Ministry of Public Health is in the process of implementing new regulations requiring cigarettes to be sold only through the “plain pack” with images and warning messages designed by the ministry. This new measure is expected to enter into force 270 days after its publication in the Official Journal.
Citing research that the plain packet helps reduce the need for cigarettes, the new regulations will make Thailand the first country in Asia and the eleventh in the world to adopt this type of packaging to discourage smoking, officials said. .
However, Maris Karanyawat, representative of the group End Cigarette Smoke Thailand (ECST) believes that the plain package will do little to reduce cigarette consumption, citing
the number of smokers who have remained (11 million in Thailand) over the past decade and those despite inclusion of warning images on packages since 2005.
« Thailand's [tobacco] laws provide for severe penalties, but the question remains whether they can be really or seriously enforced" , did he declare. Previously, the ECST had obtained 40 signatures during a campaign for the legalization of electronic cigarettes, which suggested transforming it into a “controlled” product rather than banning it.
Maris met with the relevant agencies late last month about lifting the ban, but left without a resolution. However, the Commerce Ministry said it would set up a committee to study the feasibility of the proposal, he said.
PHILIP MORRIS SUPPORTS THE LIFT OF THE BAN ON SMOKE-FREE PRODUCTS
At the same time, Gerald Margolis, Managing Director of Philip Morris (Thailand) which offers IQOS, said lifting the ban on smokeless products and properly regulating cigarettes would do better than the plain packet. He adds that his company is not opposed to the neutral package but more focused on finding appropriate regulations for reduced-harm products.
Obviously, he specifies that Philip Morris International is working to create a “smoke-free” future and that society's priority remains to provide alternative and less harmful solutions to smokers who would like to smoke otherwise.
Source : Phnompenhpost.com/
