Iceland does the most interesting things...

[the_future_modernes]

via ontd_political:

What a drag … Iceland considers prescription-only cigarettes


Tobacco bill proposes outlawing shop sales, with only doctors allowed to prescribe cigarettes to addicts unable to kick habit

Iceland is considering banning the sale of cigarettes and making them a prescription-only product.

The parliament in Reykjavik is to debate a proposal that would outlaw the sale of cigarettes in normal shops. Only pharmacies would be allowed to dispense them – initially to those aged 20 and up, and eventually only to those with a valid medical certificate.

The radical initiative is part of a 10-year plan that also aims to bansmoking in all public places, including pavements and parks, and in cars where children are present. Iceland also wants to follow Australia's lead by forcing tobacco manufacturers to sell cigarettes in plain, brown packaging plastered with health warnings rather than branding.

Under the mooted law, doctors will be encouraged to help addicts kick the habit with treatments and education programmes. If these do not work, they may prescribe cigarettes.

...

The tobacco proposal also says that nicotine should be classed as an addictive substance. "It's as hard to give up nicotine as heroin, not in terms of the side effects, but in terms of the cravings and how quickly one becomes addicted," said Gudnason.

"We also want the government to license cigarettes like a medicine, which would mean they would have to go through the same rigorous trials as any other drug. I doubt cigarettes would ever get on the market now that we know the side-effects – lung cancer, heart attacks, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease."

Gudnason said 300 out of the 1,500 deaths in Iceland each year were caused by one of those three conditions.

"That's 20% of all deaths. We think that our proposals could lead to a significant reduction in smoking-related deaths – perhaps down to just 100 annually."

The proposal also suggests that tobacco smoke should be treated as a carcinogenic substance, and that it should be restricted in a similar way to other known carcinogens, because of the known effects of passive smoking. MORE

Bhutan has banned smoking??? And Finland wants to ban it too? Interesting! Thoughts?

BTW: List of smoking bans by country

Comments

[buria_q]

in a general sense, i think the more consumer safety regulations against carcinogenic substances, the better. i went not very long ago to the funeral of a friend's dad who heavily smoked in his youth. :(

there might be policy downsides i haven't thought of. perhaps people will just sell it to each other like with weed. but i guess there's a difference between banned in the shops vs. illegal for individuals to carry.

[thejeopardymaze]

Sure it'll be successful... like the US's previous anti-alcohol prohibition and current war on cough medicine to fight meth addition.

[the_future_modernes]

cough medicine? Oh for real?

[thejeopardymaze]

If you ever wonder why it doesn't work like it used unless it's through prescription, yeah.

I won't claim to be fond of any of the meth heads in my area, but I have nothing but loathing with how the US deals with drug issues led to this problem, and I really don't like the fact that there are meth parties in my building and surrounding areas, my body can't handle the assault of industrial fumes anymore. I blame the war on drugs for this crap.

[capri]

The anti-smoking movement is picking up steam in Singapore and if anyone can do a blanket ban and do it well, it's us. I doubt there will be much protest either - corporations don't have a strong voice here and individual smokers probably wouldn't find it in their best interests to band together given the stigma of smoking.