The Middle East is also increasingly interested in electronic cigarettes

The Middle East is also increasingly interested in electronic cigarettes

The Middle East region has entered the field of vision of electronic cigarette manufacturers with the tightening of supervision on major electronic cigarette markets in Europe, America and China.

Almost all countries in the Middle East believe in Islam, with the exception of Israel. The Islamic doctrine opposes all things that can cause people to sink and become addicted. The hadith says: "The messenger of God strictly prohibits the use of all narcotics and things that make people depressed.". Therefore, in principle, all Muslim countries in the Middle East should be anti smoking and anti alcohol.

In fact, most countries in the Middle East strictly prohibit the import, sale and use of cannabis products, and offenders can be sentenced to death. Israel allows the use of cannabis for medical purposes.

In view of the stricter restrictions on alcohol in the Islamic teachings (Section 90, Chapter V of the Koran: "Those who believe in alcohol are evil, so you should stay away from it"), and the Middle East countries generally adopt the attitude of "turning a blind eye to a blind eye" to tobacco, which is weaker than alcohol and marijuana. Even though smoking is prohibited by law, the tobacco market is very active in the Middle East. In fact, according to the data of the National Library of Medicine of the United States, the average adult smoking rate in the Middle East countries is as high as 45%, and the female smoking rate is also 5%.

Although traditional tobacco can be sold in most countries in the Middle East, the tax is high. For example, Saudi Arabia imposes a tax of 100% on the pre tax price of cigarettes, that is, the effective tax rate is 50%; The sales of cigarettes are also strictly restricted. Only designated tobacco retail stores can legally sell cigarette products. When I was traveling in Saudi Arabia last year, I bought cigarettes from convenience stores and grocery stores many times, and the cigarettes in these stores were hidden under the counter. It can be inferred that some unlicensed stores have black market resources and sell cigarettes secretly.

As the developed countries and the world have introduced the goal of banning smoking, the developed countries' market has become increasingly interested in electronic cigarettes. This has caused other markets to follow suit. The Middle East is a typical region.

There are three levels of regulation on electronic cigarettes in the regional policies. The first level is countries with complete regulation on electronic cigarettes, such as Israel and the United Arab Emirates; The second level refers to countries that allow electronic cigarettes but have inadequate supervision, such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Bahrain; The third level refers to countries prohibited by law but with blank law enforcement leading to black market, such as Egypt, Lebanon, Iran