There is a draft law that has been released for public comment and review in Israel. When it is voted on in six months to come, electronic cigarettes will be contraband in that country. But what has motivated the Knesset (Israeli parliament) to even consider such a law?
A Little Background...
Israel is one country where the rate of smoking is very low at just about 20%. This is despite the number of smokers being 30% of all males and approximately 25% of all women in that country a decade ago.
This drop was achieved by some rather aggressive anti-smoking regulations that made it illegal to even have an ashtray within a building to imposing huge fines on business owners that did not prevent cigarette smoking within their premises.
That harsh environment however failed to prevail in order to stop cigarette advertising in all print media. This was attributed to the lobbying prowess of tobacco firms there.
Despite the huge tobacco lobby, anti-cigarette sentiment is very strong in the country and it is to such an atmosphere that e-cigs have ventured.
What Arguments Are Behind The Proposed Law?
There are many assertions made by the ministry of health in Israel. It is those claims that it makes that form the basis of the proposals in the upcoming law. These are just some of them.
One is that vaping for seven minutes delivers about 24 milligrams of nicotine to the user while smoking an electronic cigarette for the same amount of time delivers just one milligram. This statement is not accurate as nicotine delivery between these two mediums is just about the same.
They also say that the eventuality of a leaking e-cigarette poses a very serious toxic risk. To prove their point, they cite the case of a baby that died after apparently drinking e-liquid. Is this ground enough to ban e-cigs? True, nicotine can be absorbed when it gets in contact with the skin but toxicity results from huge amounts being absorbed this way, something not possible with leaks on e-cigs.
Another wild claim by the health ministry is that the FDA in the US has banned e-cigs so they might as well ban them too. Anyone following what is happening in the US knows that the FDA is yet to regulate e-cigs so to claim that they have banned them is to tell a lie in order to justify what you are doing.
It is also claimed by these authorities that PG can be toxic. Can PG, which has been used in a lot of food items for decades, be badmouthed like this as if it is a totally new product?
The Israeli proposed law is a very clear example of how wrong authorities can be when they do not have accurate information and rely on rumours to do their work. It is hoped that the six months that have been given to the public will be properly used to evaluate the truth that will be brought to light. Will the truth come to light?
