Poland bans sale of e-cigarettes to minors, public vaping
Poland will ban the sale of popular e-cigarettes to minors and their use in public spaces under a law that comes into effect on Thursday.
Adopted by parliament in July, the new measures put e-cigarettes on a par with their traditional tobacco-based counterparts, making it illegal to sell them to anyone under 18 years of age or "vape" anywhere that smoking is banned.
The new law also prohibits advertising e-cigarettes, their sale over the internet or from vending machines.
An estimated 1.5 million people use e-cigarettes in Poland, an EU state of 38 million people, making sales in the sector worth some 115 million euros ($129 million) per year.
The United States and several European countries, including Belgium, Luxembourg, Malta, Slovenia and Lithuania, have already banned e-cigarettes in enclosed public places.
© 2016 AFP
