Knesset stubs out ads for cigarettes in print media

The Knesset passes into law a ban on cigarette and tobacco ads in print media, nearly four years after a blanket ban on such ads in all other spaces.

The law amendment, proposed by Meretz MK Mossi Raz and Joint List MK Ofer Cassif, passed in its second and third readings, with seven in favor and no opposition.

The wide-reaching advertising ban on all mediums other than print currently extends to cigarettes, cigars, hookah products, and papers used to roll cigarettes. It also outlaws advertising for non-tobacco herbal substances used for smoking, as well as e-cigarettes and all affiliated devices.

The amendment to the law will prevent the advertisements of cigarettes in print media in several stages.

The first stage, which will last three years, will require advertisements in print media to include an even larger warning regarding the harms of smoking than currently required, so that the area of the warning will be double that of the ad itself.

In the second stage, which will last four years, the maximum advertisement size will be cut by 25% each year, and in the third stage, the advertisements will be banned entirely.