The Municipality of Montenegro’s plan to extend the indoor smoking ban to vapes has drawn strong opposition from the restaurant industry. They believe that this restriction will not solve the problem. The government and its supporters emphasize the importance of the ban in protecting public health, especially among young people.
In Podgorica, Montenegro, a restaurant association recently launched a campaign called “Restrictions are not the solution,”. Calling on the Montenegrin government to drop plans to ban the use of vapes indoors, reported Aktuelno on July 1st.
Five years ago, Montenegro passed a law banning smoking indoors. Now the government plans to extend the ban on vapes.
The World Health Organization has obtained this plan from the government (WHO). The organization warned about the dangers of vapes.
“This is a very simple decision for some governments that stand for the health of children and future generations. Rather than maintaining the profits of the tobacco industry.” Mina Brajović, head of the WHO office in Montenegro, told Radio Free Europe.
Montenegro will be included in the list of 42 countries in the world where the use of vapes indoors will be banned if the proposed law is supported and validated by MPs.
According to the World Health Organization, 34 countries in the world have banned the sale of vapes. The rate of vape use among young people is showing a worrying upward trend. About one-third of the world’s 15-year-olds say they have used vapes.
Blajovic noted that the tobacco industry has made vapes more attractive to children and teens by offering more than 16,000 different flavors, and even cartoon characters are often printed on the packages.
- “In this way, they are recruiting new customers and making them nicotine addicts from a young age. Does Montenegro want to provide this for the benefit of the tobacco industry and lobbying teams? I don’t think so.”
The import of vapes into Montenegro has increased dramatically in recent years. Since 2020, Montenegro has imported 2.5 million vapes from China, according to data presented by the Montenegrin Statistical Office (MONSTAT).
The National Coordinator for Tobacco Control. Dr. Agima Ljaljevic received an increase in sales of vapes due to the increase in sales of vapes and their popularity among teenagers. (Agima Ljaljević) sees the need to act quickly.
She pointed out that the history of the use of vapes is only 15 years old. This is not enough to determine all the side effects.
- “However, there is no doubt that vapes can neither be used to quit smoking nor are they ‘less harmful than traditional tobacco’ as promoted by tobacco companies.”
She added that there are more and more labels on the market for vapes that do not contain smoke tar, but tests have shown this to be inaccurate.
- “And smoke tar is also a cause of addiction.”
According to the coordinator, some of the solutions are a reduction in the availability of vapes, strict promotional and traffic control, and moderate tax and pricing policies.
Although the Ministry of Health is moving forward with the law banning the use of vapes indoors. Montenegro faces many challenges in enforcing the ban on traditional tobacco.
“Smoking is strictly prohibited!” The project was initiated by the Monitoring and Research Institute Monitor (CeMI) with the support of WHO and the youth organization Juventas. This aims to address the issue of food and beverage establishments that violate the indoor smoking ban. The project allows the public to easily report illegal operations through an app and send the reports to the relevant inspection bodies.
Vladimir Simonović explained that even though the program ended at the end of March, reporting continues. So far, there have been 522 reports.
The average response time to reports from inspection bodies is eight days, which reflects inefficient implementation. In addition, the fining policy is ineffective and fines are generally within the legal minimum.
Simonovic noted that inspectors can impose fines of €30 on individuals and €500 on businesses for smoking indoors. However, these fines do not have a deterrent effect.
In the first six months of 2024, the frequency of inspections by inspectors has increased by 30 percent compared to last year, and the frequency of inspections by inspectors has increased by 70 percent, according to data obtained by RSE.
The Municipality of Montenegro’s vape ban has caused widespread controversy, especially in the restaurant industry. They fear that the ban will affect business, while supporters emphasize the importance of the ban in protecting public health. Especially young people from tobacco tar.
