Vapers in the City of Baguio (known also as “Baguio City”), located in the Philippines’ Northern Luzon, are fighting for their right to vape after the city council approved an amendment to the city’s Anti-Smoking Ordinance last year that effectively banned the sale, distribution, possession, and use of vaping products within the city’s limits.
Now a couple of advocates, Joey Dulay with the Philippine E-Cigarette Industry Association and Francis Aurellado, are standing up for vapers’ rights, advocating on their behalf that they be regulated separately from the tobacco smoking industry and their products as vaping has been shown to be an effective and likely less harmful tool in the battle against cigarette addiction, SunStar reported.
Attorney Bernadette Esguerra Huggins, a consultant for Health Justice, was quoted by SunStar as having said that vaping devices are “potentially toxic” products and not regulating them like cigarettes would serve to establish “a gateway to addiction.”
“We do not tolerate any form of addiction, this is a potentially toxic product and not regulating it like cigarettes is a gateway to addiction.”
This isn’t the first time that vapers in the country have fought back against vape regulations in the country. Previously, retailers of vaping products lobbied for exemptions allowing vapers to test and use vaporizers in their vape shops, to sell vaping products where their sale is otherwise prohibited such as near hospitals and schools, and more.
As vaping rises in popularity, regulators are actively responding through new legislative efforts aimed at reeling in the booming industry and protecting consumers from potential health concerns associated with vaping. In some countries, such as Thailand and Australia, nicotine vaping is effectively banned on a nationwide level. In other countries, such as the United States and United Kingdom, regulations prohibit the sale of such devices and products to minors, but otherwise allow for their purchase and possession.
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