It’s not just second-hand tobacco smoke that health officials in Barbados want to stop exposing the public to. Now, e-cigarettes are to be banned.
Parliament yesterday passed the Health Services (Amendment) Bill 2017 which adds e-cigarettes to products that people are forbidden to smoke in public.
An e-cigarette is a handheld electronic device that vaporizes a flavoured liquid, which the user inhales. It is usually made of nicotine, propylene glycol, glycerine, and flavourings, although some e-liquids do not contain nicotine.
“The Ministry of Health will not support the report sometimes made that this product can be used as a cessation device and, on the contrary, it may be a forerunner to the use…of tobacco product,” Minister of Health John Boyce said as he introduced the amendment that also includes a ban on the sale of e-cigarettes to minors.
Minister of Commerce and Industry Donville Inniss, in his contribution to the debate, said it was time to regulate the use of these products.
“Over the years, there has been aggressive marketing by manufacturers who claim it is less harmful than cigarettes. Many jurisdictions have imposed heavy taxes on the traditional cigarettes. We have also prohibited the advertising of this, but the e-cigarette which around the world is yet to be regulated has been able to fly under the radar,” he noted.
Meantime, Minister Boyce also served notice that steps were being taken to have cigarette packaging graphically illustrate the harmful effects of smoking.
“The packaging and labelling of any tobacco product should not contain any information that is false, misleading, deceptive or likely to give erroneous information about its characteristics, health effects or hazards of the tobacco product,” he added.
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