Hungarian tobacco control: not a clue about vaping

I've submitted a Freedom of Information Request to the National Institute for Health (the entity responsible for tobacco control in Hungary) regarding they National Youth Tobacco Survey 2013 (part of WHO's GYTS). Amongst many things (there are a lot of discrepancies) I've been curious about why they thought to query the youth whether they vape flavourless e-liquids to be a good idea.

Sin-taxation of harm reduction in Hungary

According to the updated law on excess taxes, Hungarian vapers will face a new tax of 65 HUF/ml (cca 0.2 EUR/ml) on e-liquids from 1 January 2017 which will subsequently be raised to 70 HUF/ml (cca 0.22 EUR/ml) after 1 July 2017. As a comparison, the local net wholesale price of e-liquids varies between 45-70 HUF/ml.

The law defines e-liquid as tobacco product, regardless of its nicotine content. The limit for personal use will be 300ml. It is not yet clear what the impacts of the law will be on DIY mixing of e-liquids.

Vaping Hungary: a blog primer

So many of you asked me at GFN16 in Warsaw about what is going on in Hungary, I decided to dedicate a blog to such news and updates. I outline the current situation and a bit of its background below. Any future events and updates will come as additional posts.