By Alexandria Dennise San Juan
Should President Duterte's vaping ban push through, a House leader said that the government should also prohibit the use of tobacco products which are more harmful than vape and e-cigarettes.
Rep. Robert Ace Barbers (Photo from Ace Barbers website / MANILA BULLETIN)
According to Surigao del Norte Representative Ace Barbers, the use and importation of all types of cigarettes should be banned if the government is looking at reducing its harmful effects.
"Looking at it from the perspective of harm that will be given to the people, dapat tanggalin natin lahat 'yun (all forms of cigarette). I-ban na rin natin pati 'yung mga cigarettes," Barbers said in a forum in Quezon City on Friday.
Barbers, who also chairs the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs, said that people are turning to vapes and e-cigarettes because they want to reduce the harm brought by smoking.
"I am not endorsing any vaping products or e-cigarettes, ang sa akin lang ay harm reduction, to reduce the harm brought by the addiction to nicotine and smoking," he explained.
While the lawmaker supported the President Duterte's announcement on the ban, he added that the government should consider to strictly regulate the use of all forms of cigarettes instead of banning them as it may have an impact on the country's economy.
"Most of the governments in the world did not ban smoking. They did not ban tobacco kasi number one, mayroong economic implications kapag binan mo 'yan," Barbers emphasized.
"In our case, we have a tobacco producing region, ma-a-apektuhan yung ating mga tobacco planters and even the local government units as well as the national government that benefit from it," he continued.
Barbers pointed out that the government should instead impose taxes on all of these systems.
E-cigarette 95 percent less harmful
Meanwhile, anti-tobacco advocate, Dr. Lorenzo Mata, Jr., cited studies from different health experts which found that e-cigarettes were 95 percent less harmful than tobacco cigarettes.
"Tobacco cigarette (smoking) is the leading cause of preventable death and diseases worldwide," Mata bared adding that half of smokers will die prematurely due to its harmful effects.
Mata, who is the president of anti-tobacco group Quit For Good, added that the President should know the science behind vaping and that he is banning a less harmful product.
"The real culprit in the deadliness of cigarette is actually the burning of the cigarette which produces tar and carbon monoxide. The tar contains about 7,000 chemicals and 70 of these are carcinogen," the medical practitioner explained in the same forum.
"If you go to vaping, the carbon monoxide and the tar is taken out of the picture entirely because there is no burning, they are heated. This is the difference between burning and heating, the burning caused chemical reaction, while in vaporization, it is a physical reaction," he added.
The health expert also stated that e-cigarettes only contain 150 chemicals, which are still below the standard threshold in occupational health and safety products.
"Vaping and e-cigarettes are valuable harm reduction alternative to tobacco but what I would like to clarify is this, this is only for the 17 million smokers in the country. This is never for non-smokers and most importantly never for the youth," he concluded.