Previously Proposed Vape Bill Back On The Table

Parliament is re-considering a bill proposed by the Bright Future party in 2017, which would create restrictions on vaping, Vísir reports.

The bill was first proposed by former Minister of Health Óttarr Proppé of Bright Future in early 2017, and would prohibit vaping in certain spaces such as restaurants, cinemas, cafes, bars, and other public spaces like schools, hospitals, and on public transportation. Some schools have already banned vaping on school premises, such as Menntaskólinn við Hamrahlíð.

The majority of the committee is currently in favour of the bill, and want to create amendments to the bill that would create further restrictions on vaping. The proposed amendments would seek to treat vaping like cigarette smoking, by creating a tax on vaping similar to the tax on cigarettes. This tax would go directly into the Public Health Fund. It would also impose an advertisement ban on the web, including social media.

Halldóra Mogensen, an MP for the Pirate Party, strongly opposes the bill. “The majority of the committee is going much farther than the bill itself, which goes farther than the directive,” she told Vísir.

Others such as Erna Margrét Oddsdóttir, owner and manager of vape shop Gryfjan in downtown Reykjavík told Vísir last year that she is concerned that such a bill could encourage a ‘vape black market’ with people trying to make and sell their own vape juices, which could be dangerous as there would be no regulations.

The rise of vaping in Iceland has also been attributed to the sharp decline in smoking that has happened in Iceland in the past few years, resulting in a 50% decrease in cigarette sales between 2008 and 2017.