Oman Ban
Oman ban dangerous ecigs – cigarette and cigar sales continue
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by Dave Cross
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The country is not one in which vapers are advised to protest about the restriction of their right to practice informed harm-reduction. Human Rights Watch details how there have been widespread reports of torture by the authorities. Oman has strict laws banning the right to free assembly, the right to protest, freedom of speech and has a record of arresting anyone involved in unapproved gatherings.
The Public Authority for Consumer Protection frequently heralds its success in seizing prohibited tobacco and tobacco-related products.
In a statement resembling something from George Orwell’s 1984, Dr Jawad Ahmed Al Lawati, of the Department of Non-communicable Diseases Control at the Ministry of Health, said: “This ban came into effect as there is no scientific proof that e-cigarettes help cure addiction or are a better alternative to real traditional cigarettes.”
The Public Authority for Consumer Protection is ostensibly responsible for the banning of ecigs, but names of departments are pretty transferable in a place where power resides in a single seat. The ban has been justified “in the interest of public health” although it remains perplexing why cigars and cigarettes are freely available for sale.
Al Lawati is also the senior consultant for the National Tobacco Control Committee, he continued: “Many people are under the wrong impression that e-cigarettes are a step towards cessation. On the contrary, they are a gateway for children and non-smokers to try them and become regular smokers. E-cigarettes have tried to normalise the habit of smoking, which is something very serious,”
The country has a problem with rising numbers of people smoking and currently spends the equivalent of over £35 million per year in dealing with smoking-related disease. This move to eliminate a product that is 95% safer than smoking is sure to prove a great step forward for them.
Anyone brave enough to illegally import and sell electronic cigarettes will face an £870 fine for a first offense – with the figure being doubled to £1,740 for a second offence. And doubled again for a third transgression. Meanwhile it remains legal to smoke in public places around the Gulf state.
“They cause throat irritation. E-cigarettes include nicotine which causes fast and irregular heartbeat and increases blood pressure,” Al Lawati, the unofficial Minister of propaganda, added before reminding authorised journalists about the number of explosions they were told to report.
Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous start-ups to develop content for their websites.
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