Proposed Expansion of Anti-Smoking Law to Include E-Cigarettes

According to Bemparana news, the City Council of Curitiba in Brazil (CMC) will hold its plenary meeting next Tuesday for the first round of voting on expanding the anti-smoking law. The proposal aims to explicitly include e-cigarettes under the indoor smoking ban.

The author of the project, Tico Kuzma, warns that electronic smoking devices (ESDs), commonly known as e-cigarettes, can be a factor in triggering smoking. According to a study conducted by the Instituto do Coração do Hospital das Clínicas (InCor), e-cigarette users consume the equivalent of 20 traditional cigarettes worth of nicotine on a daily basis.

According to data from the National Cancer Institute (INCA), the risk of starting smoking is significantly higher for e-cigarette users, and the sales of these devices may pose a threat to public health policies in Brazil," said Kuzma.

He recalled that the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) has banned the sale, importation, and advertisement of all e-cigarette devices. The legislator is also the author of the Anti-Smoking Law and Municipal Law No. 13,254/2019.

In addition, the project aims to add electronic devices to the "Anti-Smoking Act" signage to indicate the prohibition of smoking products in enclosed spaces (005.00006.2023).

The rule applies to environments that are used collectively, whether they are public or private, even if they are partially enclosed. Ashtrays are also prohibited in these spaces. If approved by the legislators, the bill will undergo a second round of voting on November 29th during the meeting's agenda.