Can Students Use E-Cigarettes?

Can students use e-cigarettes? In October last year, the State Administration for Market Regulation and the National Tobacco Monopoly Administration issued a notice prohibiting the sale of e-cigarettes to minors. Since most students are minors, they are generally not allowed to use e-cigarettes.

According to data released by the FDA on November 15, 2018, about two-thirds (67.8%) of children aged 12 to 17 in the United States use e-cigarettes. Teenagers are becoming a significant user group for e-cigarettes worldwide.

Recently, media reports from various regions including Guishan Lake District, Guiyang, Guizhou Province, Xiamen, Fujian Province, Weifang City, Shandong Province, Xiangjiang Road, Huangdao District, Qingdao, Danzhou, Hainan Province, Guilin, Guangxi, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, etc., indicate that local elementary and middle school convenience stores are selling large quantities of e-cigarettes to students.

In August last year, the State Administration for Market Regulation issued a notice requiring a ban on the sale of e-cigarettes to minors. However, the sale of e-cigarettes to minors has not been effectively curtailed.

Although many online shops clearly state that "minors cannot use e-cigarettes," there is no age verification process when placing an order, nor is there any customer service discouraging the purchase. Some e-cigarette vending machines in shopping malls only require a scan to select products, allowing users to obtain e-cigarettes independently from the vending machine.

The low threshold for e-cigarettes has attracted many investors, and the regulatory policy gap has intensified the uncertainty in the e-cigarette industry, leading to chaos in the e-cigarette market. The key to preventing youth smoking still lies in legislation.

On July 23, Mao Qun'an, Director of the Planning Department of the National Health Commission, revealed at a press conference that the National Health Commission is conducting research on e-cigarette regulation in conjunction with relevant departments, planning to regulate e-cigarettes through legislation.

Can students use e-cigarettes? The Heated Tobacco Information Network believes that students should be prohibited from using e-cigarettes and should not use them out of curiosity or to follow trends, as e-cigarettes can be harmful to health.