Smoker rights groups yesterday protested outside the legislature in Taipei against a proposal to ban e-cigarettes.
Holding signs that read: “Consumers have rights, too,” “Give me the freedom to choose” and “Do not force me to smoke cigarettes,” protesters said the government should not impose a blanket prohibition against e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products (HTPs).
The government must respect the rights of smokers, they said, adding that it should offer people choices, instead of instituting an outright ban.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
The protest was in response to the legislature’s Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee considering changes to the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act (菸害防制法) that would ban e-cigarettes and limit HTPs. Amendments to the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act (毒品危害防制條例) to restrict e-cigarettes are also be considered by the Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee.
One protester said that vaping devices, HTPs and flavored cigarettes should be regulated like regular cigarettes, with taxes and age restrictions for purchase.
“HTPs and e-cigarettes should be classified as tobacco products, just like the cigarettes sold at convenience stores,” said the protester, who asked that their name not be used. “We agree that the government should impose restrictions and rules, not permit sale to minors, no advertising, no online purchase and have health warnings.”
Separately, while discussing amendments to the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act at the legislature, Deputy Minister of Justice Tsai Pi-chung (蔡碧仲) was asked about recent calls by advocates urging the government to permit medicinal cannabis.
Tsai said there is no plan to decriminalize cannabis, which remains classified as a category 2 narcotic.
Tsai said the judiciary is cracking down on all illegal drug use, including cannabis, and said it is illegal in Taiwan for YouTubers to post videos teaching how to grow marijuana.
South Korean K-pop girl group Blackpink are to make Kaohsiung the first stop on their Asia tour when they perform at Kaohsiung National Stadium on Oct. 18 and 19, the event organizer said yesterday. The upcoming performances will also make Blackpink the first girl group ever to perform twice at the stadium. It will be the group’s third visit to Taiwan to stage a concert. The last time Blackpink held a concert in the city was in March 2023. Their first concert in Taiwan was on March 3, 2019, at NTSU Arena (Linkou Arena). The group’s 2022-2023 “Born Pink” tour set a
CPBL players, cheerleaders and officials pose at a news conference in Taipei yesterday announcing the upcoming All-Star Game. This year’s CPBL All-Star Weekend is to be held at the Taipei Dome on July 19 and 20.
The Taiwan High Court yesterday upheld a lower court’s decision that ruled in favor of former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) regarding the legitimacy of her doctoral degree. The issue surrounding Tsai’s academic credentials was raised by former political talk show host Dennis Peng (彭文正) in a Facebook post in June 2019, when Tsai was seeking re-election. Peng has repeatedly accused Tsai of never completing her doctoral dissertation to get a doctoral degree in law from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in 1984. He subsequently filed a declaratory action charging that
The Hualien Branch of the High Court today sentenced the main suspect in the 2021 fatal derailment of the Taroko Express to 12 years and six months in jail in the second trial of the suspect for his role in Taiwan’s deadliest train crash. Lee Yi-hsiang (李義祥), the driver of a crane truck that fell onto the tracks and which the the Taiwan Railways Administration's (TRA) train crashed into in an accident that killed 49 people and injured 200, was sentenced to seven years and 10 months in the first trial by the Hualien District Court in 2022. Hoa Van Hao, a
RSS