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Saudi Arabia announces ban on e-cigarettes and sets date for implementation

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Saudi Arabia announces ban on e-cigarettes and sets date for implementation

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In a published article, Dr. Badr bin Saud Strong call for a ban on “electronic cigarettes” (Smoking electronic cigarettes) due to its use in smoking medication.

The authors expressed concern about the spread of e-cigarettes in Saudi society, noting that such smoking includes both disposable e-cigarettes and reusable vaping devices.

He explained that these devices were originally designed to help people quit traditional smoking.

However, Han Li, the Chinese inventor of the e-cigarette, said in an interview with the media 21 years after inventing the e-cigarette in 2003 that he had failed to achieve this goal.

The authors explain that e-cigarette use becomes more problematic over time because some users begin to smoke both e-cigarettes and regular cigarettes at the same time, which increases the risks of smoking instead of reducing them.

He mentioned that a 2024 report by the World Health Organization showed that the number of adolescents and children aged 13 to 15 who use e-cigarettes worldwide reached 37 million.

Dr Badr noted that e-cigarettes and vaping devices have the characteristic of not leaving users with a strong smell like traditional cigarettes, and there are more than 16,000 flavours to choose from, which is attractive to young people.

He mentioned statistics from 2015 showing that e-cigarette use among American high school students increased by a whopping 900%, with 70% of them having never smoked traditional cigarettes.

The authors stressed that there is no reliable scientific evidence that e-cigarettes are less harmful than regular cigarettes, explaining that some e-cigarette devices contain substances such as tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is extracted from marijuana.

Dr Badr added that regular smoking burns harmful substances such as tar, carbon monoxide and lead, in addition to other toxic substances such as acetone and gasoline, and pointed out that the composition of e-cigarettes is different but not free of harmful substances.

He explained that e-cigarettes contain heavy metals such as tin, nickel, chromium, manganese and arsenic, which are toxic substances and can cause serious complications even if they do not contain nicotine.

He cited statistics showing that in 2020, e-cigarettes caused 68 deaths due to related lung injuries.

Dr Bader confirmed that tobacco companies, which produce both traditional and e-cigarettes, are working to use digital broadcasting platforms such as Netflix and HBO to promote smoking among young people.

He pointed out that more than 79% of the show’s heroes are smokers, and most viewers are between 15 and 24 years old, which increases the impact of spontaneous smoking in film and television dramas on the increase in the number of smokers.

Dr. Badr ends his article by expressing his surprise at the lack of statistics and dedicated research on the e-cigarette phenomenon in Saudi Arabia, despite the significant impact that e-cigarettes have on the country’s human capital.

He called for strengthening laws and regulations on the circulation and use of e-cigarettes, and raising their prices to the maximum limit in line with the recommendations of the World Health Organization.

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