South Korean Teen Vaping Rate Reaches 8.6%

[Global Times comprehensive report] According to Yonhap News on June 1, the Korea Health Promotion Institute conducted a survey on e-cigarette use among students at anti-smoking pilot schools in 2014. The results showed that 8.6% of teenagers said they had tried e-cigarettes.

Anti-smoking pilot schools are a school-based smoking prevention education program launched by the South Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare in 1999 to prevent teen smoking. Among students who had ever tried e-cigarettes, 5.4% said they had used them within the past month. The results were similar to the 2014 Youth Health Behavior Web-based Survey released by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Students who regularly used e-cigarettes accounted for 9.1%, while those who had used them recently accounted for 5%.

It is understood that e-cigarettes use an electronic device to deliver a nicotine-containing liquid into the mouth, producing effects similar to smoking. E-cigarettes contain harmful substances and can seriously damage teenagers' health, so this issue should draw attention. A recent survey by the National Institute of Technology and Standards and the Korea Consumer Agency under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy showed that the nicotine content in e-cigarettes sold on the market can be up to 2.6 times that of regular cigarettes.

The Korea Health Promotion Institute said that demand for e-cigarettes is increasing as a cigarette substitute, but if users do not pay attention to proper use and dosage, long-term use may cause adverse reactions such as nausea and decreased concentration. Therefore, teenagers under 18 should be prohibited from using e-cigarettes.