Lee Hsien Yang has recently taken to Facebook to express his stance on the ban on e-cigarettes in Singapore. In a post on his Facebook account, he argues that the benefits of regulating e-cigarette usage outweigh the potential risks involved.
Hsien Yang asserts that there is ample evidence supporting the claim that vaping is significantly less harmful than smoking traditional cigarettes.
He emphasizes the importance of acknowledging and accepting this “well-documented” evidence as a basis for reconsidering the current ban on e-cigarettes.
According to him, the adoption of a regulatory framework, coupled with the imposition of safety standards, is a more prudent approach to addressing the concerns related to vaping.
One of the key points raised by Hsien Yang is the potential role of e-cigarettes in smoking cessation. He suggests that permitting the regulated use of e-cigarettes could be beneficial for individuals attempting to quit smoking traditional cigarettes.
Hsien Yang criticizes the existing regulations on e-cigarettes, characterizing them as “dogmatic” and asserting that retaining such policies is detrimental to public health.
He advocates for a shift towards a more flexible and evidence-based approach that takes into account the evolving landscape of smoking alternatives.
Lee Hsien Yang’s post
LIFT BAN ON E-CIGARETTES
Singapore should lift the ban e-cigarettes. The benefits that would accrue from regulated use of e-cigarettes outweigh the potential risks involved. The evidence that vaping is far less harmful than smoking cigarettes is well documented and accepted. It is far better to regulate vaping and impose safety standards. We should permit vaping for people trying to quit smoking. To dogmatically retain the existing regulations is simply bad public policy.
Singapore’s stance on e-cigarettes
Vaping is illegal in Singapore. Simply purchasing, using or owning an electronic vapouriser or vape results in fines of up to $2,000 per offence.
According to Health Hub, existing evidence shows that the harmful chemical composition within vapes pose many health risks.
Below are some of the common chemicals found in vapes:
- NICOTINE
- CANCER-CAUSING AGENTS & METAL NANOPARTICLES
- PARTICULATE MATTER
- VITAMIN E ACETATE
Health Hub also added that for youths, vaping can serve as a gateway to pick up smoking, due to nicotine addiction.
They said that “many authoritative scientific studies in the United States and United Kingdom have shown that youth who use vapes are more likely to progress to conventional cigarettes.”
“There is also a growing number of studies from overseas such as Taiwan, UK, US and Canada that reported that youths who have never smoked but experimented with vapes at least double their chance of smoking cigarettes later in life.”