Workers’ Daily: Illegal Vaping Must Be Cracked Down on Immediately

“Milk Tea Cup,” “Coke Can,” “Toy Bear”... with brightly colored bodies, threaded caps, and curved colorful straws, are these toys, drinks, or something else? In fact, they are all e-cigarettes in disguise.

According to a report today by Legal Daily, these e-cigarette products with trendy, playful designs and sweet, varied flavors have quickly attracted a wave of fans, including many minors on school campuses. What many people do not realize is that these flavored e-cigarettes are mostly unbranded products made in illegal workshops, posing numerous health and safety risks.

The E-cigarette Administration Measures, which officially took effect on May 1 last year, clearly stipulate that e-cigarette business operators must obtain a tobacco monopoly license and prohibit the sale of e-cigarette products to minors. The mandatory national standard for e-cigarettes, implemented on October 1 last year, further requires a ban on flavored e-cigarettes other than tobacco flavor. The purpose of these policies is very clear: adding fruit, floral, mint, and other flavors to e-cigarettes is specifically intended to cater to young people’s taste preferences and curiosity. The explicit ban on “the sale of flavored e-cigarettes other than tobacco flavor and e-cigarettes that allow users to add aerosolizing substances themselves” is meant to reduce the appeal and temptation of e-cigarettes to teenagers and better protect their physical and mental health.

However, tempted by considerable profits, some unscrupulous sellers still take the risk, disguising and repackaging e-cigarettes before aggressively selling them on online platforms. Such conduct, which disregards social responsibility as well as laws and regulations, must be severely punished. On the one hand, regulators should strengthen enforcement at the source by improving reporting channels and tracing products back to their origin, so as to crack down hard on illegal e-cigarette factories and workshops in accordance with the law. On the other hand, e-commerce and social media platforms must be held accountable by strengthening the identification and blocking of e-cigarette-related keywords and taking strict action against sellers.

Only through strict inspections and tough penalties—cracking down on illegal flavored e-cigarettes the moment they appear, leaving them with no way to enter the market and nowhere to hide—can minors be kept away from the harm caused by e-cigarettes. (Gao Gui)