German Official Calls for Ban on Flavored E-cigarettes

On May 7th, Burkhard Blienert, Germany's government addiction and drugs official, called for a complete ban on flavored e-cigarettes.

Brunette told the media:

Electronic cigarettes flavored with milk, cherry, or mint are likely to encourage teenagers to smoke.

This has led to teenagers being attracted to cheap disposable e-cigarettes, he criticized the fact that tobacco and e-cigarette ads are still very common in Germany.

Many shops across both big cities and small towns feature colorful packaged electronic cigarettes as their selling point, almost as if they were selling candy.

Brunet criticized that internet retailers offer discounts to first-time and bulk buyers, and this situation needs to be changed.

In Germany, e-cigarettes can only be sold to adults, yet there is a growing trend of teenagers using e-cigarettes.

The German Federal Senate is considering proposing a new bill that urges the European Union to ban single-use e-cigarettes due to the addictive nature of nicotine content. They argue that these devices should be treated as electronic waste.

According to Brinat, the tobacco industry is currently spending 250 million euros (approximately 1.9 billion yuan) on advertising and sponsorship activities.

Breenat suggested that the government may next ban tobacco advertisements and related sponsorship activities.

Our goal is to lower this number as much as possible.

It has been reported that Blinat has been advocating for the legalization of marijuana in Germany. According to plans revealed by the German government, Germany will legalize the purchase and possession of small amounts of marijuana and allow its sale in licensed shops, but advertising will be prohibited.

Reference:

The German Drug Commissioner Blienert calls for a ban on flavors in e-cigarettes.