In the near future, Euro MPs will vote on new measures which have been designed to reduce smoking among the youth. The draft legislation from the European Commission consists of making e-cigarettes a medicinal product, potentially banning menthol and other flavoured cigarettes, banning the sale of packs of ten as well as slim cigarettes, as well as a ban on chewing tobacco.

Europe is known throughout the world for its lenient attitude towards smoking and such laws could cause unrest amongst the civilians of the countries. The high demand for the product will also eventually cause a black market which will lead to low quality cigarettes being sold illegally at high prices. In addition, these countries will also loose a lot of taxation being collected from tobacco. The UK for example generated about 9bn in taxes from tobacco in 2009-2010.

Despite the potential negative effects of implementing this law, there is a major potential positive which is a reduction of healthcare cost. The less people that have to be treated for smoking related illness, the less money has to be spent on healthcare.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24439474