Why Are Vaping Devices Banned From Online Sales?

Because national standards for e-cigarettes have not yet been officially introduced, the government has shut down online sales channels for vaping devices in order to protect the health of minors.

The domestic e-cigarette market has been chaotic, with highly inconsistent product quality. Many products have serious quality and safety risks, such as unsafe ingredients, leaking e-liquid, and poor-quality batteries. In particular, some e-cigarette companies have arbitrarily added various additives to change the taste and color of their products in order to make them more appealing, causing serious harm to consumers’ physical and mental health, especially that of minors. At this stage, the focus of China’s e-cigarette regulation is the protection of minors.

Many teenagers mainly learn about, purchase, and come into contact with vaping devices through the internet, while online advertising promotes concepts such as fashion and youthfulness, which is even more harmful to young people. For this reason, the state has required relevant companies to fully implement the notice’s requirements: remove e-cigarette products from shelves, shut down e-cigarette sales websites and client apps, withdraw online e-cigarette advertisements, and effectively safeguard the lawful rights and interests of minors and consumers.

In the past, e-cigarettes were mainly sold online. We could see them everywhere on the internet. In 2019, however, e-cigarettes suddenly disappeared from online platforms.

I think there are mainly the following reasons:

1. E-cigarettes contain harmful substances

E-cigarettes were previously marketed as safe, nicotine-free, and tar-free, and were promoted as a safe way to quit smoking and attract users. But is that really true? In fact, e-cigarettes do contain nicotine. Even after purification, nicotine entering the human body can still be highly harmful. This is especially concerning now that many vaping devices are being purchased by minors. Because minors are not yet fully developed, early exposure to nicotine is even more harmful to their bodies. In order to boost sales, many businesses have also created various flavors. In some cases, to attract more young people, vaping devices are offered in many colors and contain numerous additives. E-cigarettes can cause bronchiolitis, a rare lung disease, and the damage to the lungs is permanent.

2. The e-cigarette market was too chaotic.
Previously, there were no restrictions on who could buy e-cigarettes. As long as you wanted to buy them, you could. As a result, many minors found them very novel and interesting. There were no purchasing restrictions, and because using them in public places was not effectively controlled, many people were forced to inhale secondhand aerosol.

3. Vaping devices were unsafe
This had also happened before: e-cigarettes exploded. In the United States, a 17-year-old boy had his jaw injured in an explosion. Such incidents are truly frightening. You never know when a device in your pocket might explode. E-cigarette explosions can also cause tooth loss, scarring, and burns, creating very serious safety problems.

It is now prohibited for businesses without a license to sell e-cigarettes. There was recent news that a man was sentenced for illegally selling e-cigarettes. We still see some young people holding and using vaping devices in public. We hope the relevant authorities will introduce clear regulations as soon as possible so that, as with cigarettes, smoking will be banned in public places.