A GROUP slammed the lapsing into law of the Vaporized Nicotine and Non-Nicotine Products Regulation Act or Vape Bill, calling it a “betrayal of public health.”

The bill lapsed into law on July 25.

“The Vape Bill is anti-health and anti-youth,” Sophia San Luis, ImagineLaw executive director, said.

“It dismantles existing measures that protect our health and protect our youth from lifelong addiction,” she added.

According to the group, the law will lower the age of access to e-cigarettes and vaping products from 21 to 18.

It will also allow online sales and transfer of regulatory powers from the Food and Drug Administration to the Department of Trade and Industry.

“It is a deregulation measure that will lead to a vaping epidemic among young people,” San Luis said.

“The measure is against the overwhelming medical advice of medical associations and health experts,” she added.

However, the group expressed hope that the executive inaction that led to the lapsing into law of the bill does not mean that President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. will neglect tobacco control in the country.

“During a global pandemic that attacks the lungs, building back better means protecting our health through better public health policies. We hope that the President will ensure that the Vape Bill will be implemented with our health in mind, not the commercial interests of those that pushed for its passage,” San Luis said.