Philippine Medical Celebrities Support Vape Bill

Two well respected Philippine medical celebrities praised the Senate for ensuring that minors are protected under the so called vape bill or Vaporized Nicotine Products (VNP) bill being discussed in the House of Representatives.

Both doctors pointed out that although Senate Bill 2239 recognizes that e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products (HTP) are less harmful than cigarettes, it uses one-third of the provisions to ensure that minors cannot obtain these non-flammable alternatives. And only people older than 18 years old are allowed to buy and use them, imposing the same age restrictions on cigarettes.

Cardiologist Rafael Castillo conducted the first local scientific research together with other medical professionals and concluded that HTP contains less harmful chemicals than cigarettes. He said that the Senate Bill 2239 and House of Representatives Bill 9007, which are designed to regulate nicotine products should provide the required controls, but they should not be stricter than those currently imposed on traditional cigarette products, otherwise the enacted laws may be self-defeating and may make pragmatic middle ground inaccessible.

Dr. Castillo is a researcher at the Philippine College of Physicians, the Philippine College of Cardiology, and the European Society of Cardiology.

Dr. Lorenzo Mata is the chairman of the advocacy group Quit For Good and a professional medical expert with more than 35 years of professional medical experience. He said his group envisions a regulatory framework that includes harm reduction measures. He said regulations on non-flammable alternatives should be less restrictive than combustible cigarettes, and support reasonable accessibility, while curbing accidental use by non-smokers and minors.

At the same time, consumers and industry groups emphasized that the vape bill has overwhelming support from an estimated 1 million e-cigarette users across the country, who have defended their rights in the “We vape, we vote” campaign.

Philippine Electronic Cigarette Industry Association (PECIA) Chairman Joey Dulay said,

“We have seen widespread support for SB 2239 from online and offline e-cigarette shop owners and e-cigarette users. Posters and stickers expressing support for the bill can be seen everywhere, as far as Visayas. As the deliberation in the Senate continues, we see more natural posts on social media from people who use #yestovapebill.”

Anton Israel, chairman of the National Union of Nicotine Consumers of the Philippines (NCUP), said,

“Just check the Senate’s live broadcast of the vape bill, 90% of the comments and responses support the bill. Stakeholders call for balanced regulation of e-cigarettes and HTP, which reflects people’s desire to obtain less harmful alternatives to smoking. There are approximately 17 million smokers in the Philippines. Once we have established regulatory measures commensurate with the risks, these people’s lives will benefit.”

Dr. Matta said the law should be carefully calibrated to ensure that adult smokers understand the less harmful alternatives available and can choose to switch to these alternatives while protecting minors and non-smokers. Over-regulating these better alternatives makes it impossible to achieve compliance and will only make smoking permanent.

Dr. Castillo pointed out that they support the use of HTP among stubborn smokers and expressed concern about the possibility of its abuse, especially our young people.

“This is where effective legislation can provide the necessary control measures. Not only young people should be protected, but even older non-smokers should also be protected, especially women, who may be lured into this vice.” He said.

Dr. Castillo pointed out that the current decline in the number of smokers only represents “2.5% in the past two years or a reduction of 1,0250,000 smokers per year. This may be a positive direction, but the number of smokers has fallen by Not fast enough. We know that there is no quick solution, but we should try a pragmatic and positive way to solve this problem, showing some hope in mitigating the results. The use of alternative tobacco products and HTP may be such a method.

He emphasized that permanent smoking cessation is still our main goal, but as a mitigation measure, we allow stubborn smoker patients to turn to HTP as a relatively less harmful middle ground.