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By APD writer Melo M. Acuña
With Filipino lawmakers led by House Committee on Trade and Industry Chair Weslie Gatchalian moving to regulate the entry and use of e-cigarettes, Carrie L. Wade, Director of Harm Reduction Policy said the introduction of government regulations is in order.
In an interview after her appearance at a House hearing last Monday, December 2, Ms. Wade said e-cigarettes is a reduced risk product.
“It’s a lot safer than combustible than combustible cigarettes and this has been shown through many studies,” she said. Studies made b Public Health England and the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine as safer products than combustible cigarettes.
She added this is a real opportunity to improve the health of people who smoke. Adolescents and minors should not be given the privilege to use them.
“E-cigarettes are much less harmful than combustible cigarettes as concentration of harmful chemicals greatly decreased in the new alternative,” Ms. Wade added.
Culture is another factor that leads to people to smoke as people who have less in life tend to smoke or get addicted to smoking.
“People in the rural areas smoke more than those in urban areas,” she explained as in the United Kingdom, public health authorities strongly endorse the use of e-cigarettes as a quitting method.
Asked if the influx of e-cigarettes would end the local tobacco industry, Ms. Wade said farmers will now have the opportunity to venture into other high-value crops.
The challenge for the government remains how to stop the flow of smuggled and even counterfeit e-cigarettes and vaping gadgets.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
