By Lee Hyo-sik
Electronic cigarettes or e-cigarettes, popular among smokers attempting to kick the habit, will face the same restrictions in public advertisements as real tobacco, the court ruled Monday.
The cigarette business law stipulates a cigarette be defined as a product made from tobacco leaves as a main ingredient for human consumption, according to the Seoul Administrative Court.
But cigarette substitutes are also considered a cigarette under the law, it said.
“The e-cigarette in question includes tobacco and is manufactured for humans to suck in liquid nicotine. Its sale and advertising should certainly be regulated by the law,” the court said.
An importer of e-cigarettes ran a range of advertisements on its website to encourage smokers to buy its products as an alternative to real cigarettes.
The company promoted its effectiveness in helping smokers quit through various online and offline events.
But in June, the Seoul Metropolitan Government decided to restrict the importer’s commercial activities, saying that e-cigarette advertisements should face the same restrictions as real tobacco products.
The importer protested the decision and took the case to court, arguing that e-cigarettes are a mere electronic device, not a cigarette.
E-cigarettes are usually a tiny rod, slightly longer than a normal cigarette and uses battery-generated heat to vaporize nicotine along with other chemicals in a cartridge.
Prices of e-cigarette devices range from 100,000 won ($93) to 150,000 won, with smokers having to spend extra money for nicotine cartridges or non-nicotine vaporized solutions on a regular basis.
Under the tobacco business law, cigarette makers are allowed to advertise in a paper no more than 60 times a year. They cannot promote tobacco products when sponsoring cultural and other social activities.