The Knesset approved: pictures of smoking damage will be printed on tobacco products and cigarettes

The Knesset plenum approved this evening (Tuesday) in second and third reading the bill that will oblige tobacco companies to print pictures illustrating the harms of smoking on packs of cigarettes and various tobacco products. The law includes mandatory provisions for the size of the image in relation to the size of the package, the location of the images and their design, in order to prevent the images from being reduced on the package.MK Approved shekels, one of the initiators of the proposal said after the approval of the law: “The issue is important because according to the report of the Minister of Health it was found that smoking causes 8,000 deaths every year and this bill comes to correct this issue. Saving a life is a supreme value and besides that there is also an issue of quality of life.

“A person who is sick also affects his environment, his family and his friends. This bill is a derivative of a controversial discussion we held on a non-smoking day in the Knesset. It is important for us to reach a state of prevention. Moreover, there is an important social and educational message here.”

About three weeks ago, the finance minister signed Bezalel Smotrich On a decree to increase the purchase tax on a variety of smoking products, and a pack of cigarettes became more expensive by two shekels, electronic cigarette filler became more expensive by one shekel per milliliter and rolling tobacco became more expensive by 13 shekels per gram.

In addition, the purchase tax on unprocessed tobacco, cigarettes, other vaping tobacco, a tobacco heating device including tobacco units as well as a tobacco heating device including tobacco increased.