Two bills aimed at combating smoking in general, and among youth in particular, will be on the cabinet table this morning. The Ministerial Committee on Legislation will be asked to approve a bill that stipulates that packs of cigarettes will be marked with deterrent images with body parts damaged by smoking.
Such packaging is used in more than 120 countries around the world. Another bill would ban the sale of e-cigarettes in flavors such as fruits, spices or sweets, a law that has been passed in 35 countries.
Moshe Ben Simhon
The bills are those of MK Osher Shekels and MK Boaz Bismuth of the Likud party. Both of these measures are considered effective in preventing smoking and were also recommended in the past by the Ministry of Health.
MK Boaz Bismuth (archive), photo: Oren Ben Hakon
The Ministry of Health has been trying to promote the issue of labeling cigarette packaging with daunting pictures for almost a decade, and the one who blocked the issue in the past was actually then-Health Minister Yaakov Litzman. The Israel Medical Association welcomed the bill and noted that the Tobacco Control Convention, to which Israel is a signatory, includes a blanket advertising ban on cigarettes and the application of uniform packets with warnings in pictures.
In Israel, cigarette packaging has been changed to a uniform color and without branding, but it is the only country that has made this change without the incorporation of graphic warnings, "even though these have proven to be a success story," note Prof. Hagai Levin and Dr. Yael Bar-Zeev of the Association of Public Health Physicians and the Medical Society for Smoking Cessation.
"Warnings in the pictures contribute to reducing the number of children who start smoking and increase the number of quitters, and can convince smokers to protect the health of non-smokers by avoiding smoking at home and smoking around other children and family members," added Prof. Levin and Dr. Bar-Zeev.
Electronic cigarette, photo: Reuters
They also said that this is a move financed by tobacco companies and therefore has no costs to the state. In addition, the decrease in the rate of smokers will save the state the costs of treatment and prevention of morbidity.
Dangerous flavors
The second bill that ministers will vote on today is a ban on the sale of electronic cigarettes and smoking products in various flavors and smells that attract young people to use them. Data from the "Initiative for the Elimination of Smoking" indicate that these flavors are very popular. Among 17- to 15-year-olds who smoked e-cigarettes in 2022, 93 per cent said they had used fruit flavours and 44 per cent menthol flavours.
Shira Kislev, CEO of the Smoking Eradication Initiative, addressed the ministers and warned: "These flavors make smoking products more dangerous because they make smoking tastier, make smoking feel less difficult during smoking and more attractive to young people, increase smoking absorption and reduce quitting. The addition of fruit and herbal flavors, including menthol, may lead to the mistaken conclusion that such products are healthier than standard tobacco-flavored products."
The professional associations of the Israel Medical Association also expressed support for the bill, noting that "more than 80% of the youth indicated that the first smoking product they bought was flavored. Most respondents thought that products with flavors were less harmful, noting that flavors played an important role in starting the product. Therefore, this legislation is necessary in order to prevent young people from becoming addicted to nicotine through electronic cigarettes," concluded Prof. Levin and Dr. Bar-Zeev.
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