Regulation of e-cigarettes in this country is long overdue, with flavoured vapes, especially, being described by the Independent Community Pharmacy Association (ICPA) as “bait”, reports Business Day.
SA’s biggest association for independent pharmacies has long supported the government’s plan to introduce laws to regulate e-cigarettes, which it says could be useful for adults wanting to kick the smoking habit, but which needed to be regulated to protect children and ensure they did not contain dangerously high levels of nicotine.
Parliament is currently holding public hearings on the draft Tobacco Products & Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill, which seeks to introduce stricter rules for cigarettes and enforce the same controls on other nicotine-containing products – like vapes.
Last week, the ICPA told MPs that vape-users inhale vapour created by a battery-powered device that heats a liquid containing nicotine and various potentially harmful additives, such as flavours, scents and colours – don’t necessarily list ingredients on the label, as the products are not subjected to official scrutiny.
“We need to know exactly what is in vaping liquids,” said ICPA chair Jackie Maimin.
The Pharmacy Council has prohibited the sale of vapes in pharmacies but allows them to sell nicotine-containing products registered with the SA Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) as medicines intended to help smokers quit the addiction.
“In low doses it is a medicine. In high doses it is a poison,” added Maimin, suggesting the nicotine content of vapes be limited to the amount in an average pack of cigarettes (36mg), with a maximum concentration of 3mg/ml.
Additionally, the regulations should require vape liquids to be sold in containers with childproof lids, in line with World Health Organisation recommendations, she said.
The ICPA has urged MPs to approve the Bill’s provisions banning vapes in workplaces and public spaces, and recommends a complete ban on flavours in vapes, as they were aimed at attracting children, said Maimin. “Bubblegum, mango, candyfloss – they’re not just flavours, they’re bait.”
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Calls for more stringent vape regulation in South Africa
SA drags heels on vape regulations, warns WHO