21 Jun Electronic Cigarettes and Vapes Included in Sin-Tax Law
Image Source | Inquirer.net
On Monday, June 22, the Department of Health (DOH) said that the incoming administration can include electronic cigarettes (e-cigs) and vaporizers (vapes) in the coverage of the Sin Tax Reform Law or Republic Act No. 10351.
Outgoing health chief Janette Garin said, “It can be an amendment to the Sin Tax law, especially so if the effects on health is the same.”
She also added, “It is what happens usually if you have a particular law, there will always be a way to go around it. But then, it’s not the end of the world. We can easily review the law and slap taxes to these products.”
In retrospect, the Sin Tax Law has been implemented to increase the tax on tobacco products, making it more unwanted by cigarette smokers.
After its implementation, there is an increase of e-cig and vapes use according to the World Health Organization (WHO). It has been seen that using e-cigs and vapes won’t result to having lower prevalence of cigarette smoking.
WHO Representative to the Philippines Gundo Weiler said, “We don’t expect that there is any positive effect of the introduction of e-cigarettes to decreasing the smoking prevalence.”
He also added, “It’s not going to be the solution or an alternative to tobacco prevention.”
“The e-cigarettes will also be actually enticing people to start consuming nicotine. It’s not, at this point, to say that the electronic cigarettes per se can lead to reducing the tobacco consumption,” said Weiler.
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