Huzhou, Zhejiang cracks first case of selling vaping devices to minors

As everyone knows, smoking is harmful to health. In recent years, under carefully crafted packaging and enticing advertising by merchants, large numbers of young people and even minors have started to use e-cigarettes as well. Recently, the Changxing County Administration for Market Regulation in Huzhou, Zhejiang, investigated and handled the province’s first case of selling vaping devices to minors under the newly revised Law on the Protection of Minors.

On June 17 this year, the Changxing County Administration for Market Regulation received a tip that a local e-cigarette specialty store had sold e-cigarettes to middle school students. Law enforcement officers immediately went to the store to verify the information and, together with the county tobacco bureau, carried out a joint investigation and evidence collection. After questioning the store owner, sales staff, and the students who purchased the products, and reviewing mall surveillance footage and the store’s cashier records, investigators found that since June 2021, the e-cigarette specialty store had failed to fulfill the relevant verification obligations and had illegally sold one e-cigarette pod each to two junior middle school students from a local school in the county. The conduct of the party involved is suspected of violating relevant provisions of the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Protection of Minors, and the Changxing County Administration for Market Regulation has officially opened a case for investigation.

In recent years, more and more e-cigarette companies have targeted adolescents as potential customers. Taking advantage of young people’s strong curiosity, openness to new things, and lack of clear understanding of products such as e-cigarettes, many youths may regard vaping as something “fashionable, cool, and competitive.” In order to attract more young consumers and increase the appeal of their products to adolescents, some businesses arbitrarily add various additives and alter the flavor and color of e-cigarettes, which can cause serious harm to the physical and mental health of minors and create negative social impacts.

The newly revised Law on the Protection of Minors officially came into effect on June 1, 2021. In the provision prohibiting the sale of cigarettes to minors (Article 59), the law also includes regulation of e-cigarettes. This is the first time a national law has explicitly prohibited the sale of e-cigarettes to minors. On June 18 this year, the State Administration for Market Regulation and the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration jointly issued the “Protecting Minors from Tobacco Harm — Safeguarding Growth” special action plan. The plan states that efforts to investigate and punish tobacco-related violations must be strengthened, with greater emphasis on prevention first, integrated prevention and control, and comprehensive governance, so as to effectively protect the healthy development of minors.

To curb the spread of e-cigarettes among minors, the Changxing County Administration for Market Regulation, together with tobacco regulatory authorities, has launched a comprehensive rectification of the e-cigarette market, focusing on stronger coordinated enforcement and continuously increasing supervision of e-cigarette products, especially around areas where minors are concentrated, such as shops and supermarkets near primary and secondary schools. Authorities will intensify inspections of brick-and-mortar e-cigarette stores in accordance with the law, seriously investigate acts of selling e-cigarettes to minors and the publication of false or illegal e-cigarette advertisements by physical stores, comprehensively check whether stores are complying with explicit commitment requirements, and require effective age-verification measures to prevent minors from purchasing e-cigarettes, thereby effectively protecting minors from the harms of e-cigarettes.

Tips

At present, the various e-cigarette products sold on the domestic market are highly inconsistent in raw material selection, additive use, process design, and quality control, resulting in uneven product quality. Some products may pose quality and safety risks such as e-liquid leakage, unsafe low-quality batteries, and problematic ingredient additives. In addition, the core consumable ingredient in most e-cigarettes is purified nicotine. Nicotine is a highly toxic chemical. Because minors’ respiratory systems are not yet fully developed, inhaling such substances can adversely affect lung function, and improper use may also lead to multiple safety risks including nicotine poisoning.