Bangkok –
Digital Economy and Society (DES) Minister Chaiwut Thanakmanusorn urged Thailand’s Tobacco Control Committee to reconsider the ban of electronic cigarettes import and sale, reasoning that it should be freely chosen by the people.
The Minister stated to the Associated Press today, April 29th, that the sales of e-cigarettes should be legalized in order to properly collect taxes. Nowadays, smokers were buying it illegally online which could easily be found on any popular social media platform.
Chaiwut continued that banning e-cigarettes sales 100% was not a solution to the social context and would also limit the rights and demands of people who want to have an alternative that was less harmful than regular cigarettes, according to several types of research.
“I really think the committee should legalize and include e-cigarettes in the same condition as regular cigarettes. Advertisements should either be controlled or prohibited. Online sales should be prohibited. It would absolutely be better than being explicitly and illegally smuggled and sold in the underground market. What I’d also learned was that the e-cigs couldn’t be banned or taken down at all,” he added.
Therefore, the Minister had called for the Tobacco Control Committee to reconsider its support against the import and sale of e-cigarettes and urged them to thoroughly study international research as he believed that the issuing control policy based on the scientific research and technological evidence would be beneficial in many aspects, especially reducing health hazards to both smokers and the general public. The legalization could also protect youths from accessing the products through digital channels without supervision, according to his statement.
This comes even as the Public Thai Health Minister has been strongly against legalizing vaping products in Thailand, leading to THIS article and follow-up from pro-vaping groups earlier this month.
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