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Written by: Zheng Cuibi
2020-06-02 22:46
Date of last update: 2020-06-02 22:46The Government introduced the Smoking (Public Health) (Amendment) Bill 2019 a year ago to study the ban on the sale of alternative tobacco products such as electronic cigarettes, heated tobacco and herbal tobacco. , Meaning that the draft ban on e-cigarettes is officially dystocia.
The Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health responded that it was very disappointed and regretful that the delay in related measures would have a serious impact on public health. The chairman of the committee, Kwong Zusheng, said: "I missed this legislative opportunity to allow alternative smoking products to invade the market and poison young people", while providing more choices to smokers and reducing their desire to quit smoking. The rise again is a major step backward for public health and tobacco control policies."
Kwong Zusheng believes that the decision of the Bills Committee to terminate its deliberations really meets the expectations of people from different sectors of society for the protection of public health. (Profile picture)
Committee Chairman Kwong Zusheng: There is a negative social expectation that the tobacco control policy will go backwards
The Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health expressed great disappointment and regret that the measures to prohibit the import, manufacture, sale, distribution and promotion of alternative smoking products, including electronic cigarettes, heated non-burning tobacco products (heated tobacco) and herbal tobacco, will delay Health has a serious impact.
The chairman of the committee, Mr Kwong Zusheng, believes that the Bills Committee’s decision to terminate its deliberations has negatively expected the protection of public health, especially the health of young people from different sectors of society. People also provide more choices for smokers and reduce their desire to quit smoking. "The smoking rate, which has been falling for many years in Hong Kong, has the opportunity to rise again, which is a major step backwards for public health and tobacco control policies."
The Government introduced the Smoking (Public Health) (Amendment) Bill 2019 a year ago to study the ban on the sale of alternative tobacco products such as electronic cigarettes, heated cigarettes and herbal tobacco. However, the draft officially declared dystocia today. (Profile picture)
The committee pointed out that the government had made recommendations to ban e-cigarettes as early as 2015, and the Amendment Ordinance was also submitted to the Legislative Council in early February 2019. The Legislative Council Bills Committee has held eight meetings, including three public hearings, most of the public All comments support the "Amendment Ordinance", including the medical profession, academia, parents and education, youth and social service groups, patient organizations, etc. The committee said that according to surveys by youth service groups, parents and teachers’ organizations, 70% to 90% of the people support the prohibition of alternative smoking products, and the committee has collected more than 100,000 signatures, showing that there is a general consensus in the community to support the Amendment Ordinance ".
The committee pointed out that foreign experience has shown that alternative smoking products have been rapidly popular in just a few years. More than 5 million young people in the United States have used e-cigarettes and caused more than 2,000 related lung disease cases. "Alternative cigarettes can cause serious public health disasters. It was banned before it became popular." The committee reiterated that any type of tobacco product is a hazard to public health and a major threat to public health. The committee advocates that the government and the Legislative Council restart the relevant legislative work as soon as possible in the next legislative year, and incorporate traditional cigarettes into the legislative revision framework to effectively suppress the spread of all tobacco products, and further reduce the smoking rate to a single number to achieve government The goal of reducing the smoking rate to 7.8% by 2025.
The committee recommends that the government and the Legislative Council restart the relevant legislative work as soon as possible in the next legislative year, and incorporate traditional cigarettes into the legislative revision framework to effectively curb the spread of all tobacco products. (Profile picture)
The government considers resubmitting the bill for the new session
The Government introduced the Smoking (Public Health) (Amendment) Bill 2019 a year ago to study the ban on the sale of alternative tobacco products such as electronic cigarettes, heated cigarettes, and herbal tobacco. However, the chairman of the Bills Committee, Guo Weiqiang, believes that the review will not be completed before the July recess. Realistically, whether the advisory committee continued to review the work. As a result, when the meeting was held today, the committee members voted to suspend the operation of the committee, which meant that the ban on e-cigarettes was officially difficult to produce. The government responded at the meeting that it would definitely consider resubmitting the bill in the new session.
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