Lazy regulation

At least one manufacturer of cigarette alternatives has criticized the Greek Government for lumping heat-not-burn products and electronic cigarettes with combustible cigarettes when considering legislation, according to a story at ekathimerini.com.

An urgent bill debated in Parliament yesterday provides for the alternative products to be treated in the same way as conventional tobacco products are treated.

The story said that, under the provisions of the bill, the alternatives would have to carry warnings saying that they damage health, but it wasn’t clear from the report whether those warnings would mirror those carried by combustible products.

In a statement, the Philip Morris International subsidiary Papastratos accused the Health Ministry of avoiding launching a dialogue and examining the scientific data relating to alternative products.

It said that because the bill assumed cigarette alternatives to be equal to cigarettes [in respect of risk], eventually, smokers would choose the most damaging option – continuing to smoke.