Why Is Hong Kong Banning E-Cigarettes? It Actually Has Nothing to Do with IQOS
Negative coverage of vaping has intensified, amplified by major media. Hong Kong’s planned full ban has cast a shadow over the industry, largely tied to misconduct by a small part of the vaping sector.
Negative news targeting e-cigarettes has been coming fast and hard lately. Most of it has been published by major accounts and well-known media outlets, reaching audiences of hundreds of thousands or even millions. On top of that, Hong Kong's move to completely ban e-cigarettes has cast a dark cloud over the vaping industry!
Looking into the reasons, Hong Kong's decision to fully ban e-cigarettes is closely tied to a very small number of bad actors in the vapor-product e-cigarette industry.
After looking into the matter from multiple sources, it appears that Hong Kong's full ban on e-cigarettes is mainly due to the detection of polybrominated diphenyl ethers in e-liquid, a type of flame retardant. These chemicals can cause liver enlargement, affect the development of the brain, reproductive organs, and neurobehavior, and interfere with thyroid hormone levels.
When people talk about e-cigarettes, many assume they mean IQOS, but this is actually about vapor-based e-cigarettes—the kind that use e-liquid. Some self-media accounts have misunderstood this, so there is no need to be overly concerned. Heated tobacco is the future trend, and tobacco companies in various provinces across China are already developing their own heated tobacco products.
Products such as Sichuan's Kuanzhai, Yunnan's MC, and Hubei Tobacco's COO are representative examples. Overseas, there is even less need to elaborate: Japan, South Korea, Russia, Canada, the United States, Europe, Malaysia, and Dubai are all markets where heated tobacco can be seen as the future trend. In Japan, users increased from 4% in 2016 to 70% in 2019, and half of the products in convenience store tobacco displays are already heated tobacco products. Meanwhile, with recent events such as vapor e-cigarettes being banned from sale in the United States and removed from convenience stores in South Korea, the editor personally recommends heated tobacco products over vaping devices.
When people talk about e-cigarettes, many assume they mean IQOS, but this is actually about vapor-based e-cigarettes—the kind that use e-liquid. Some self-media accounts have misunderstood this, so there is no need to be overly concerned. Heated tobacco is the future trend, and tobacco companies in various provinces across China are already developing their own heated tobacco products.
Products such as Sichuan's Kuanzhai, Yunnan's MC, and Hubei Tobacco's COO are representative examples. Overseas, there is even less need to elaborate: Japan, South Korea, Russia, Canada, the United States, Europe, Malaysia, and Dubai are all markets where heated tobacco can be seen as the future trend. In Japan, users increased from 4% in 2016 to 70% in 2019, and half of the products in convenience store tobacco displays are already heated tobacco products. Meanwhile, with recent events such as vapor e-cigarettes being banned from sale in the United States and removed from convenience stores in South Korea, the editor personally recommends heated tobacco products over vaping devices.
