Philippines bans e-cigarettes, to arrest people vaping in public

The Philippines police were ordered to arrest anyone caught vaping just hours after President Rodrigo Duterte announced that he would ban e-cigarettes on November 20. Police authorities announced that they would confiscate the devices of the people who are found smoking electronic cigarettes in public. E-cigarettes were once promoted as less harmful than smoking actual cigarettes. However, this recent announcement in Philippines has added yet another backlash to the growing criticism of the device. According to President Duerte, e-cigarettes are 'toxic' and vaping induces 'chemicals' into the body of the users.

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Threatened to arrest users

Philippines President had also threatened to arrest the users of e-cigarettes on the night of November 19 in a country which already has toughest anti-smoking rules. President of Phillippines is known globally for his deadly anti-narcotics crackdown, however, now he has also targetted tobacco with a wide-ranging ban on smoking in public areas. The head of country police ordered on Wednesday, while citing the order of the President, that 'effective immediately' all police units nationwide will enforce the ban on the use of vapes and will arrest the violators. 

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Nation's first vaping related injury

President's announcement came just days after the nation reported its first vaping related lung-injury, which led to the hospitalisation of a 16-year-old girl. Nearly 24 per cent of the people in the country were using tobacco according to a World Health organisation study in 2015. The e-cigarettes have become hugely popular in the past decade, however, the recent deaths and illnesses related to vaping in the United States is making more people sceptical about using the product. New York has already banned the devices in September. As per reports, more than 400 individuals in the US suffer from a lung-related disease which may have been caused by vaping. In the US, the State Health Department's data states that the number of high school students using e-cigarettes has doubled in the last two years. 

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