It may surprise those who need to become more familiar with how politics works in Hungary. Still, it is just business as usual for those familiar with the government’s stand on policy issues.

Whenever opposition members of parliament raise a sensible policy issue, the Hungarian government finds a way to either discredit the MP, shove the topic off the table, or completely disregard the issue. This was no different when László Lukács, the party group leader of Jobbik-Conservatives, demandé the Minister of the Interior a question about revisiting the regulation regarding e-cigarettes. (It might be worth another article on what the Minister of the Interior has to do with health issues, but Hungary has not had a Health Ministry since Fidesz took over 13 years ago).

MP Lukács enquired about the possibility of changing the law since it has been in effect for seven years and new scientific evidence has come to light in many countries; people have experienced positive results due to more flexible legislatures and common sense.

But this is Hungary, where many policy issues meet with the arrogance of government officials who disregard facts and only focus on humiliating their colleagues in opposition.

The reply by the State Secretary was relatively straightforward. The Hungarian government considers vaping harmful and would not plan on changing the present legislation: no consideration, no openness to new studies, and no interest in looking at best practices.

The attitude of the State Secretary has shocked Michael Landl, the director of the Alliance mondiale des vapoteurs (the guest on our podcastsome months ago), who issued a press release about the official statement presented by the Hungarian government. According to Mr. Landl, “ Il est choquant que le gouvernement hongrois continue de colporter des mythes éculés et démentis sur le vapotage. Rétvári ignore systématiquement les preuves scientifiques démontrant les bienfaits du vapotage, sans parler de l'expérience directe de millions de vapoteurs. Le vapotage est… » 95% moins nocif than smoking and a more effective method to quit smoking ” L’approche hongroise du vapotage ne fera que coûter des vies, contrairement aux thérapies traditionnelles comme les gommes à mâcher et les patchs à la nicotine. » 

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