“Countries that have opted to legalize and regulate e-cigarettes have seen a decline in overall smoking rates and better controls on teen vaping. The Thai government is now poised to overturn its The ban on the sale of vaping products is exciting for the whole of Thailand.
Mr. Saligupta said Thailand’s harsh bans and penalties on e-cigarette sales meant too many smokers were trapped in cigarettes, while young people were buying e-cigarettes on the black market, with no control over the age of purchase or product safety standards.
“We’ve seen e-cigarette legalization and regulation work well in places like the US, UK and New Zealand. I’m glad the Thai government is listening to the science and it’s becoming more and more urgent to have effective tobacco harm reduction (THR) policies,” he said. Say.
The ECST director said that Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn, Minister of the Digital Economy and Society, government officials, public health experts and advocates are all key to the final solution to Thailand’s failed tobacco control policies.
He said despite the minister’s evidence-based approach, local conservative health groups continued to unfairly target him and spread rumours openly.
“Last year the minister told the local media that e-cigarettes were a major breakthrough for people trying to quit smoking. He’s been talking about – looking into ways to legalize e-cigarettes since then. He totally understands it’s a smoking gun Smokers offer a less harmful alternative to deadly cigarettes and protect non-smokers from secondhand smoke.
“Consumer groups like ours have been working hard to encourage our politicians and officials to follow important international public health evidence. It’s been a long journey, but we’re very pleased with the progress the government task force continues to make in legalizing the sale of e-cigarettes. Delighted,” Mr Sali Gupta said.
A decade of international research has proven that vaping is safer than smoking, and Public Health England firmly believes that vaping is 95% less harmful than smoking combustible cigarettes.
International research has also shown that countries that have adopted progressive policies on vaping have seen smoking rates fall twice as fast as those that have not, such as Thailand.
Nancy Loucas, executive coordinator of CAPHRA (Coalition of Asia-Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates), said that by lifting the long-standing ban on e-cigarette sales, Thailand will join a group of about 70 countries that Howe’s International Club, countries that have legalized e-cigarettes as an effective smoking cessation tool.
“Around the world, e-cigarettes are saving the lives of millions of quitters, and many more could be saved if safer nicotine products were adopted instead of demonized. For a long time, 10 million smokers in Thailand deserved a ready-made and A legal alternative to cigarettes. The extremely high smoking rates in the country are totally unacceptable, but thanks to the work of the ECST and others, it is about to be seriously addressed,” Ms Loucas said.
For a country where vaping can lead to arrests, sanctions and even imprisonment, Thailand is increasingly isolated internationally because of its ineffective and impractical THR policy, she said.
“By legalizing e-cigarette sales, Thailand will join countries like the Philippines and Malaysia that also realize that e-cigarette bans will inevitably fail, leading to unnecessary smoking-related illnesses and deaths,” Lucas said. said the lady.
Both Mr Saligupta and Ms Loucas said the Minister of Digital Economy and Society and the Thai government continued to receive applause and praise from around the world for their new commitment to investigating the science, human evidence and regulatory framework surrounding vaping.
Legalization in Thailand would be a turning point internationally, causing other countries to reconsider their vaping bans, they said.