BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) — Barbados has banned the smoking of e-cigarettes in public as the government moves to clamp down on the health problems associated with tobacco.

Health Minister John Boyce, piloting the second reading of the Health Services Amendment Bill 2017, told legislators Tuesday that this is among new restrictions imposed on this type of cigarettes including the sale to minors.

“The Ministry of Health will not support the report sometimes made that this product can be used as a cessation device and on the contrary it may be a forerunner to the use…of tobacco product”.

He said the e-cigarette has been available here over the last years “and it is sold in many convenience malls and service stations and I think that out of an interest in what’s happening around us I would urge members to have a look at what we are talking about”

Boyce said that the authorities would also be moving to clamp down on the packaging and labelling of cigarettes and that manufacturers and producers would be a given a reasonable time to become complaint with the measures outlining the dangers of cigarette smoking.

“The packaging and labelling of any tobacco product should not contain any information that is false, misleading, deceptive or likely to give erroneous information about its characteristics, health effects or hazards of the tobacco product”.

He said the authorities here will not recognise labels such as “low tar” cigarettes “as terms which change the form of the cigarette from dangerous to not dangerous. The Ministry of Health does not subscribe”.

The legislation has found favour with the main opposition Barbados Labour Party (BLP) with one legislator, Dwight Sutherland indicating that Barbadians should stop smoking.

“Mr. Speaker what is before the House this morning is basically the way the world is going and messaging on the dangers of smoking is indeed what a government should be doing,” he said making reference to the dangers of cigarette smoking on the health of the individual.