Why Is Hong Kong Banning E-Cigarettes?
The Kowloon Lok Sin Tong Charitable Society has observed that e-cigarettes have become increasingly popular in recent years. Many studies have found that e-cigarettes contain toxic substances, yet most product packaging does not clearly list detailed ingr
Lok Sin Tong, Kowloon (LST) sees that e-cigarettes have become more and more popular in recent years. Many studies have found that e-cigarettes contain toxic substances, but most e-cigarettes packages do not list out the detailed ingredients, but only display different flavors and misleading words such as "non-addictive" and "helps to quit smoking" to attract young people to use them, but the government only proposes to "regulate" but has not actively considered a total ban on e-cigarettes. Why is e-cigarettes banned in Hong Kong?
The survey received 4,265 valid questionnaires, among which 1,131 questionnaires were received from young people. E-cigarettes are publicized not only in physical stores such as stationery stores, but also through young people's social networking platforms such as IG, Facebook, Wechat, Youtube, and the Internet, etc. Among them, 77% of the respondents indicated that they came into contact with e-cigarettes publicity through the abovementioned online channels, and nearly 30% of them even indicated that they came into contact with e-cigarettes or related products. In addition, the survey also showed that the number of youths who have smoked e-cigarettes is increasing, and the number of youths who have smoked e-cigarettes is decreasing.
At the same time, the survey interviewed a group of nurturers who guard the children, including parents, social workers and educators, and received a total of 3,134 valid questionnaires. 98% of the nurturers interviewed believed that e-cigarettes would cause harm to health, 93% were worried that the emergence of new e-cigarettes would attract young people to experiment with smoking, and 86% believed that a total ban on e-cigarettes would be one of the most effective ways of preventing young people from smoking. Over 90% of parents, educators and social workers are in favor of the government's legislation to ban the sale of e-cigarettes and new products.
At the press conference, Tom, a 27-year-old e-cigarette smoker, shared that he had smoked e-cigarettes a few years ago under the influence of his peers, but he did not continue to try them after smoking because he thought that e-cigarettes were of unknown composition, and there were safety issues such as explosions, etc. In addition, he saw that his friends around him smoked both traditional cigarettes and e-cigarettes, which not only did not help to reduce the number of cigarettes, but also resulted in the double use of nicotine. Although he smoked it out of curiosity, he believes that using e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation tool is useless, and that if the government only regulates e-cigarettes, i.e. legalizes them, it will only lead to more e-cigarettes products coming into the market, which will result in more young people smoking. Therefore, he supports a total ban on e-cigarettes and related emerging products as a young person.
Dr. Lee Ho Cheung, Associate Professor of the School of Nursing, the University of Hong Kong, said at the press conference that e-cigarettes can easily become the threshold of smoking for young people, and increase their dependence on nicotine, which makes them easy to get addicted to cigarettes. In addition, e-cigarettes are usually not labeled, and the chemicals they contain and produce when they are heated are unknown, posing a risk to the health of young people. Dr. Lee also pointed out that there is no detailed scientific research to prove that e-cigarettes are effective in helping to quit smoking, and the World Health Organization has also pointed out that e-cigarettes are not an approved method of smoking cessation, and there is even a study in a foreign country that shows that smokers who use e-cigarettes to quit smoking are more likely to have a double use of nicotine. Dr. Lee believes that the introduction of e-cigarettes and heated non-combustible tobacco products should be banned in Hong Kong as soon as possible before they become popular, in order to protect public health as the primary consideration.
The survey received 4,265 valid questionnaires, among which 1,131 questionnaires were received from young people. E-cigarettes are publicized not only in physical stores such as stationery stores, but also through young people's social networking platforms such as IG, Facebook, Wechat, Youtube, and the Internet, etc. Among them, 77% of the respondents indicated that they came into contact with e-cigarettes publicity through the abovementioned online channels, and nearly 30% of them even indicated that they came into contact with e-cigarettes or related products. In addition, the survey also showed that the number of youths who have smoked e-cigarettes is increasing, and the number of youths who have smoked e-cigarettes is decreasing.
At the same time, the survey interviewed a group of nurturers who guard the children, including parents, social workers and educators, and received a total of 3,134 valid questionnaires. 98% of the nurturers interviewed believed that e-cigarettes would cause harm to health, 93% were worried that the emergence of new e-cigarettes would attract young people to experiment with smoking, and 86% believed that a total ban on e-cigarettes would be one of the most effective ways of preventing young people from smoking. Over 90% of parents, educators and social workers are in favor of the government's legislation to ban the sale of e-cigarettes and new products.
At the press conference, Tom, a 27-year-old e-cigarette smoker, shared that he had smoked e-cigarettes a few years ago under the influence of his peers, but he did not continue to try them after smoking because he thought that e-cigarettes were of unknown composition, and there were safety issues such as explosions, etc. In addition, he saw that his friends around him smoked both traditional cigarettes and e-cigarettes, which not only did not help to reduce the number of cigarettes, but also resulted in the double use of nicotine. Although he smoked it out of curiosity, he believes that using e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation tool is useless, and that if the government only regulates e-cigarettes, i.e. legalizes them, it will only lead to more e-cigarettes products coming into the market, which will result in more young people smoking. Therefore, he supports a total ban on e-cigarettes and related emerging products as a young person.
Dr. Lee Ho Cheung, Associate Professor of the School of Nursing, the University of Hong Kong, said at the press conference that e-cigarettes can easily become the threshold of smoking for young people, and increase their dependence on nicotine, which makes them easy to get addicted to cigarettes. In addition, e-cigarettes are usually not labeled, and the chemicals they contain and produce when they are heated are unknown, posing a risk to the health of young people. Dr. Lee also pointed out that there is no detailed scientific research to prove that e-cigarettes are effective in helping to quit smoking, and the World Health Organization has also pointed out that e-cigarettes are not an approved method of smoking cessation, and there is even a study in a foreign country that shows that smokers who use e-cigarettes to quit smoking are more likely to have a double use of nicotine. Dr. Lee believes that the introduction of e-cigarettes and heated non-combustible tobacco products should be banned in Hong Kong as soon as possible before they become popular, in order to protect public health as the primary consideration.
