Vaping Ban

The proposed ban on electronic cigarettes has caused polarized reactions – with the medical sector supporting it while smokers and the tobacco industry crying foul.

E-cigarettes will soon be totally banned in the city – import, manufacture, sale, distribution and advertisement – along with other new smoking products to protect public health, Carrie Lam said.

The pending ban came as a surprise as the government earlier proposed only to restrict new smoking products the same as normal cigarettes in a Legco proposal in June.

Lam said amendments will be submitted within this legislative session to ban e-cigarettes and all other new smoking products.

E-cigarettes are often packaged as better substitutes to conventional cigarettes, with promotional activities often targeting young people.

Lam believes the harmful effects of these products have been grossly underestimated.

She changed her mind over the original proposal after speaking with Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee and reading more about the subject.

A government source said under the amendment, individuals may not be allowed to bring e-cigarettes into the SAR, even if the products are for their own use.

Tobacco companies claim adult smokers are their target audience for e-cigarette products, but the government observed the products come in different flavors that could attract teenagers.

The number of e-cigarette users surged from less than 1,000 to more than 5,000 between 2015 and this year. In addition, 8.7 percent of secondary students have tried smoking e-cigarettes.

The Hong Kong Academy of Medicine and Federations of Parent-Teacher Associations welcomed the decision and urged the government to also restrict traditional cigarettes.

But tobacco company Philip Morris was not impressed, saying the 600,000 adult smokers in the city deserve to access “better products.”

Apart from that, the government will also enhance financial support for patients, in particular those suffering from rare diseases.

It will improve the means test mechanism of the Samaritan Fund and Community Care Fund Medical Assistance Programmes by modifying the calculation method and removing possessions of patients’ parents from household assets.

Also, the first Chinese medicine hospital in Tseung Kwan O will see its operator tendering procedures beginning in the second half of next year. It is expected to be completed and start operating by 2024.

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/breaking-news.php?id=115458&story_id=115458&d_str=20181011

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/breaking-news.php?id=115353&story_id=115353&d_str=20181010

The Hospital Authority, chairman, Professor John Leong,Professor welcomed today the government’s tobacco control measure in proposing the legislative amendments to ban electronic cigarettes and other new smoking products.

“The HA has always supported the government for more stringent controls on the sale of electronic cigarettes and other new smoking products to mitigate the associated health risks.”

The HA provided smoking cessation services in 69 Smoking Counselling and Cessation Centres for patients who intend to quit smoking. The Centres can provide services to 18,000 patients each year. The success rate has been over 50 per cent.

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Several medical groups came together on Thursday to call for a total ban on electronic cigarettes, warning their sale would lead to an “epidemic” of teen vaping.

The groups – including the medical and dental associations – called on the government to end sales of e-cigarettes instead of merely regulating them.

They cited data from a US study that suggested use of e-cigarettes among high-school students had soared in recent years.

Dr David Lam, vice-president of the Medical Association, said cigarettes are evil products that contain nothing that is good for human health.

The groups acknowledged the argument against a total ban, as there is no such restriction on traditional cigarettes.
They said cigarettes have been around for a long time and if they were a new product being introduced, Hong Kong wouldn’t allow their import.

Lam said it had taken decades to cut down cigarette addiction, but modern day teens are not attracted to traditional tobacco products like earlier generations were. “Why are you allowing them to be addicted to these kind of things?” he asked, referring to e-cigarettes.

The joint call for a ban was issued by the Federation of Medical Societies of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Dental Association, the Hong Kong Medical Association, and the Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health.

At a separate event, the Hong Kong College of Cardiology said a survey it had carried out found that vaping is not useful in helping smokers to quit.

The college’s president, Dr Lau Yuk-kong, said their study also found that people are still unaware that those who smoke outside and then return indoors can still pose a threat to those near them through third-hand smoking – the residue that hangs onto their clothes.