E-cigarettes ban in UAE goes up in smoke | GulfNews.com
GCC countries set for total ban on e-cigarettes
I'm a Journalist currently based in Bahrain which also suffers from a blanket ban on E-Cigarettes imposed by the GCC health council. As is the case with most decisions made in this part of the world, the ruling was based on ignorance, and junk science. The problem faced here is that consumers have no way to petition to have the ban lifted. To be honest, they have much more serious problems to deal with these days and so this issue probably won't be reopened for a long time.
The GCC cited a World Health Organization (WHO) report filed in 2008 which stated that "...no rigorous, peer-reviewed studies have been conducted showing that the electronic cigarette is a safe and effective nicotine replacement therapy. WHO does not discount the possibility that the electronic cigarette could be useful as a smoking cessation aid, but insisted that claims that electronic cigarettes can help smokers quit need to be backed up by clinical studies and toxicity analyses and operate within the proper regulatory framework"
They also referenced an FDA study filed in 2009 which tested 19 varieties of electronic cigarette cartridges produced by two vendors. A study which has been regarded as a laughing stock by reputable medical research experts because of narrow focused the study was. It has also been noted by other reputable experts that the potentially harmful chemicals found in the e-cig cartridges were measured at "about one million times lower concentrations than are conceivably related to human health."
Additionally, The Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee of the FDA is alleged to have several members who maintain consulting relationships with various pharmaceutical companies who manufacture smoking cessation products. While most sources of of this information choose to word it kindly, I'll tell it like it is. They have the best interest of the people filling their wallets with cash in mind, not the consumers the FDA is meant to protect. This has been proven enough times that the FDA has little to no scientific credibility left.
I don't claim to be an expert on e-cigs as I'm very new to this. All my friends have already made the switch and I'm the last late adopter in my social circle. But I've done my homework on the subject and reached the same conclusion that everyone else has, E-Cigs are several orders of magnitude safer than smoking tobacco, and as long as the industry is allowed to continue to grow and develop, and -real- scientists chime in and offer useful information to the producers of e-cigs and e-liquids, the product will only get better and safer in the years to come, as it has in the years since its invention. Right now, industry standards need to be set up and enforced, banning E-Cigs, or anything for that matter, isn't the answer.
Besides, a Government makes themselves look stupid when they say E-Cigs should be banned because they are potentially unsafe but don't ban tobacco cigarettes which are 100% proven to be unsafe.
Finally, to the topic at hand:
If you want to get e-cigarettes into a GCC country, I recommend you buy the hardware when you travel outside the GCC, and order the e-liquid or cartomizers online in small batches. Bring larger batches with you, discretely in your hand luggage, pack them in with your toiletries. So far, I haven't had any problems with getting in my personal supply, however, you're gambling when you make online orders. Aramex, which is the most popular parcel service in the GCC countries will absolutely not import E-Cig products into the GCC. Most of the time, you'll end up having to deal with local postal services, which are notoriously unreliable in the best of times. I still have to check about DHL and UPS, but I suspect they'll have the same policy.
The safest way is to bring it in yourself when you travel, or have your friends bring it in for you.
As with anything on a Black Market... DO NOT under any circumstances buy from disreputable vendors in Dubai or anywhere in the GCC, 9/10 times they import junk from China and over charge you for it, often not knowing anything about the product. I for one wouldn't put anything in my body that I didn't feel I could reasonably trust in.
Also, welcome to the GCC, one expat to another, if anyone offers you some Siddiqui, don't drink it. If you don't go blind from it, you'll end up going out and making very poor life decisions and wake up with a hangover of BIBLICAL PROPORTIONS.
