JUUL e-cigarette company petitions High Court over ban

The JUUL e-cigarette company petitions the High Court of Justice over a Health Ministry ban of their product over its high nicotine content, which was signed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this week.

The company accuses the Israeli government of upholding a double standard with regard to their vaping product — which they claim is designed solely to wean long-time smokers off cigarettes —  in that the Jewish state continues to allow tobacco companies to freely peddle their far more deadly cigarettes. Health officials argue the vaping devices’ high nicotine levels make Israelis susceptible to addiction, with teenagers seen as particularly vulnerable to becoming hooked on the slickly designed e-cigarette.

JUUL also claims it didn’t receive a fair hearing at the Health Ministry and slams the government for ignoring FDA approvals of the product.

“It is not possible to accept the conduct of a regulator working in the dark, with a hidden agenda and strengthening the status of the tobacco companies at the expense of an alternative designed to save millions of smokers the cancerous influence of consuming tobacco,” it says in a statement.