Letters | Hong Kong vaping ban would be first step to a smoke-free city
- Banning vaping helps to create an appropriate environment for all tobacco products to be outlawed
First, banning e-cigarettes and new tobacco products could be the initial step towards achieving the long-term goal of a smoke-free Hong Kong. Traditional cigarettes have been imported and consumed for decades, and a sudden outright ban would be impractical. But banning vaping products, which are still relatively new to the market, would prevent their gaining popularity.
Simultaneously, the government should regularly review its regulations on traditional cigarettes, such as tax and import laws, to create disincentives for smokers and importers and eventually scale down the number of smokers. Banning vaping thus helps to create an appropriate environment for all tobacco products to be outlawed in the city.
A ban on e-cigarettes and new tobacco products is a very wise move by our government, and shows its determination to tackle smoking addiction in the interest of public health. A smoke-free Hong Kong may well be on the horizon.
Edmund Poon, Kowloon Tong