Spanish Senate Urges Government to Regulate E-Cigarettes and Reaffirm Anti-Smoking Consensus
The Spanish Senate’s Health Commission has approved a motion calling on the government to reaffirm the need for political consensus in the fight against smoking and to establish specific regulations for electronic cigarettes. The motion, presented by the Popular Party (PP) and amended by the Socialist Party (PSOE), received 26 votes in favor, none against, and two abstentions.
Senator Rosa Romero of the PP criticized the National Plan for Smoking Prevention and Control, approved by the Council of Ministers on April 30, for lacking genuine participation from the autonomous communities. She argued that it was only treated as an informative point in the Plenary of the Interterritorial Council of the National Health System (CISNS) without considering most of the allegations previously presented by the communities.
The motion urges the government to establish specific regulations for e-cigarettes, including a technical, scientific, and economic evaluation of restricting the sale of these products to licensed tobacco shops and specialized establishments. The aim is to combine the prevention and explicit prohibition of minors’ access to these products with the recommendations of the National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC) and the opinions of the Council of State, which advocate for regulating points of sale rather than merely extending the state monopoly.
The text calls for preventing the proliferation of flavors especially attractive to minors, going as far as restricting the sale of those advertised with candy or soda flavors, as well as cigarettes with formats and shapes particularly appealing to minors, such as toys, electronic games, or cartoons. Senator Romero emphasized the need to avoid the proliferation of flavors and aromas, involve all administrations, and develop awareness campaigns for families and educators.
The motion also urges the government to establish specific regulations on nicotine pouches or any format that dispenses nicotine and is not recognized as a cessation therapy by the Spanish Agency of Medicines and Medical Devices.
The motion calls for urgent multicentric scientific evaluation processes, funded with public resources and carried out by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), the Carlos III Health Institute, and various nodes of clinical and epidemiological research. It also promotes studies in the public health agencies of the autonomous communities to gather sufficient data on smoking and its new forms.
Senator José Manuel Tofiño of the PSOE presented an amendment, which was accepted, noting that the CSIC and the Carlos III Health Institute are already investigating and carrying out some of these innovations.
The motion requests that these publicly funded evaluations serve to understand the health consequences of new tobacco alternative products, including heated tobacco and e-cigarettes, as well as their potential complementary or even synergistic role in the processes of weaning conventional tobacco in adult smokers.
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