Singapore E-Cig Ban To Go Into Effect Soon

In the Asian country of Singapore, an island city-state, authorities have already banned shisha tobacco and the devices most commonly used to smoke it, hookahs. Now, electronic cigarettes are in the country’s crosshairs.

In November of 2017, the government of Singapore banned electronic cigarettes in their entirety. That ban is now scheduled to go into effect within what Rice Media reports to be the next few months.

By Rice Media’s account, the country’s health ministry can make the claim that they’re banning e-cigs out of public health concern, but the move leaves the country’s cigarette smokers with one less smoking cessation that could very help the country’s inhabitants quit their smoking habits.

While some countries, such as Taiwan, are considering following suit and banning electronic cigarettes in their entirety, there are those that have taken a more or less opposite approach. In the United Kingdom, the government has endorsed vaping as they’ve formally suggested that their smoking population take up vaping instead of smoking as a means to end their nasty, potentially deadly smoking habits.

But in Singapore, the government is not convinced by the growing body of scientific evidence supporting the notion that e-cigs could prove beneficial to smokers looking to quit. In November of last year, the country’s Parliamentary Secretary of Health, Amrin Amin, indicated that the health ministry was unconvinced by the evidence, noting that such studies were not only inconclusive, but also potentially sponsored by tobacco companies.

What do you think about the ban on e-cigs in Singapore and elsewhere? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.