Do young people use electronic cigarettes as chewing gum? Expert: Don't touch this "one bite"!
"My child is smoking e-cigarettes, and they still have various fruit flavors. He is a high school student. Why can he buy e-cigarettes? How can I get him to quit smoking?" Some parents posted such requests for help online.
The youngest COPD patient treated by a doctor was a high school boy who started smoking e-cigarettes at the age of twelve or thirteen; a hospital admitted 9 college students in the early hours of the morning and was admitted to the hospital because they were unwell after sharing an e-cigarette of unknown composition... The e-cigarette market has grown wildly for many years, and cases of e-cigarettes are also "accumulating".
Recently, the State Administration for Market Regulation and the National Standards Commission announced the mandatory national standard GB41700-2022 "E-Cigarette", which will be implemented on October 1, 2022, and the ban on flavored e-cigarettes will be implemented on May 1. .
Electronic cigarettes have a "national standard", and the industry has tightened the "tightening spell", which is related to smokers and cigarette merchants, and in fact, it is more implicitly related to everyone.
Intern Chen Xujia
Yangzi Evening News/Ziniu News reporter Xu Qianqian Yang Yan
Electronic cigarette "Jianghu"
Some young people use electronic cigarettes as chewing gum
"The first electronic cigarettes had a big smoke, which was called 'big cigarettes'. Now most of us smoke the so-called 'small cigarettes'. If you want to change the flavor, just change the pods. Some' Xiaoyan' can also refill oil, players can season their own flavors, and have more freedom." Mr. Liu pointed to the introduction of a "gadget" that was not much bigger than a USB flash drive hanging around his neck.
For non-smokers, the concepts of "big smoke", "small smoke", atomizers, ceramic cores, cotton cores, etc., which Mr. Liu talks about, are completely unfamiliar "jianghus".
This "Jianghu" was formed in China in 2009, which is called "the first year of electronic cigarettes".
Under the hot push of capital, various domestic brands have emerged, and electronic cigarettes have begun to "break the circle".
Mr. Wen also came into contact with electronic cigarettes during this period.
At that time, he was still in college, and he gave up the idea of buying cigarette rods when he saw that the price was only two or three hundred yuan. Later, after graduation, Mr. Wen tried electronic cigarettes for the first time, which was also shared by friends around him.
He felt that compared with traditional cigarettes, electronic cigarettes did not have an overly stimulating taste, and it was not easy to cause too much impact on others. The overall taste was softer and the price was cheaper than traditional cigarettes. After comprehensive consideration, Mr. Wen also started the first one. Tobacco stick.
Mr. Liu also told reporters that there are actually quite a few girls around him who smoke e-cigarettes, and that fruit flavors such as mung bean, mango, and watermelon are very popular among girls.
"There are some people who can't smoke e-cigarettes in their lungs, and they spit them out after a circle in their mouths. For many young people, e-cigarettes are regarded as chewing gum." Mr. Liu said.
Under the "Flavoring Ban", some smokers want to stock up on hundreds of bottles of e-liquid
According to the data of the "2021 Electronic Cigarette Industry Blue Book", there are more than 1,500 electronic cigarette manufacturing and brand enterprises in China, and there are nearly 190,000 domestic electronic cigarette retail stores.
All kinds of businesses are growing wildly, and while the market is expanding rapidly, the "Sword of Damocles" has always been hanging above the industry's head.
The national control will be tightened at the end of 2021, and the "wolf" that the industry has been worried about is not only coming, but also running.
In November 2021, the State Council issued new regulations emphasizing new tobacco products such as e-cigarettes, and the supervision will be consistent with the supervision of traditional cigarettes.
In March this year, the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration issued the "Measures for the Administration of Electronic Cigarettes" and "National Standards for Electronic Cigarettes (Second Draft for Comment)", proposing that from May 1, the sale of flavored electronic cigarettes other than tobacco flavors and flavored electronic cigarettes that can be freely Electronic cigarettes with added vaping.
Just one month later, the "national standard" for e-cigarettes was introduced, which detailed regulations on e-cigarette additives, nicotine concentration, and the release of various substances.
Among the tightening spells, the ban on the sale of "flavored" e-cigarettes and e-cigarettes that can add atomizers has the greatest impact on smokers and sellers.
The sales of flavored electronic cigarettes with various flavors of "sugar coating" account for the absolute "largest". The ban is equivalent to stripping off the "sugar coating" of electronic cigarettes. Only tobacco flavors can be purchased, which will make many smokers "down" in an instant.
"Although the Internet is banned, you can buy pods from many micro-businesses." Mr. Wen told the Yangzi Evening News reporter that before the new policy came out, he bought various flavors of pods through micro-businesses at a price of 70 yuan/3 One, immediately after the "ban" came out, it rose to 85 yuan/3 pieces, and the scarce taste was 95 yuan/3 pieces.
"A pod can be smoked for 2-3 days. In fact, the price is almost the same as that of traditional cigarettes." Mr. Wen said that the situation in physical stores is similar. There used to be a "friendship price", which is almost 30% off the regular price. Now It is the standard price of 99 yuan for three pieces.
"I haven't thought about stockpiling. If I really can't accept the original e-cigarette in the future, I will consider quitting smoking."
Wechat business "Lulu" has been selling e-cigarettes for eight years before they "break the circle".
"There are players who have come to me to stock up these days. He is playing with his own oil. He made a list of various flavors and wanted to stock up on 150 bottles of e-liquid, but I was persuaded by me. Stock up so much, the shelf life has expired. I can't use it up!" "Lu Lu" said that the customer finally stocked up 60 bottles, and he had already planned to "retire", "The seasoning is not allowed to be sold, which means that the business is reduced by 80 to 90%. I After March 11, it will no longer be stocked, and a barbecue restaurant or a small supermarket may be opened in the future."
doctor reminder
Various "flavors" of electronic cigarettes are not as mild as imagined
The smell of traditional cigarettes is strong, and many smokers will also experience discomfort symptoms such as sore throat, cough, and nausea, while e-cigarettes are much softer to smoke, and there are various flavors to choose from, which is why many people gradually become addicted to e-cigarettes. reason.
However, are "soft and cute" electronic cigarettes really gentle?
E-cigarettes contain less harmful substances than ordinary cigarettes, but e-cigarettes always contain nicotine. Nicotine will make smokers feel euphoric and make people dependent and addicted to smoking. This remains unchanged.
The new inhalation method actually brings multiple risks.
Professor Kong Hui, Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Jiangsu Provincial People's Hospital (The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University) said that after heating e-cigarette liquid, dozens of toxic substances such as formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, vinyl alcohol, and acrolein will be produced, which are harmful to The respiratory system, cardiovascular circulatory system, oral mucosa and skin can all have effects.
The structure of electronic cigarettes includes chips, metal pipes, etc., and heavy metal substances such as nickel and chromium in these product components will also volatilize in the high temperature environment when they work.
For people who use e-cigarettes for a long time, the damage to the human body caused by inhaling these heavy metal vapors is another important hazard.
Shao Danbing, chief physician of the Department of Emergency Medicine of the Shaw Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, told the Yangtze Evening News reporter that various "tastes" come from food-derived or non-food-derived flavors and other additives, and even the added ingredients are not clear, and flavors and other additives are taken orally. The metabolic pathway of inhalation is completely different from the metabolic pathway of inhalation. There are no problems with adding some additives to food, but it does not mean that there is no problem in the inhalation pathway, and the lungs may not be able to bear it at all.
The longer-term negative effects of vaping on the body will take time to observe.
Electronic cigarettes also have an "entry" effect, don't touch this one
For a long time, e-cigarettes have appeared in the public eye as "smoking cessation products" or tobacco substitutes. Various flavored e-cigarettes and labels such as "sweet", "safe" and "fashionable" have attracted more Teenagers try to "get into the pit".
"And it turns out that even if teenagers only smoke e-cigarettes 1-2 times, they are three times more likely to become addicted to cigarettes after a year than those who never smoked." Kong Hui said, this is the "starter" from e-cigarettes to cigarettes effect".
Some people think that if the smoke is sucked into the mouth and then spit out, it will not cause harm to the body if it does not enter the lungs. This understanding is also wrong.
Professor Kong Hui explained that the smoke not only enters the lungs through the mouth, but when the smoke is exhaled from the mouth and diffuses in the air, they will still be inhaled into the body through the nasal cavity as second-hand smoke, especially in relatively closed air. In the environment, this situation is more serious.
As for some people who use e-cigarettes as a transitional way to quit smoking, they also fail to achieve the purpose of quitting smoking.
"If you really want to quit smoking, you should try to create a smoke-free environment, and family members and friends should give appropriate advice, but the most important thing is that smokers should have a strong awareness of quitting smoking." Professor Kong Hui told reporters that most tertiary hospitals have special respiratory departments For people who are heavy smokers or think it is difficult to quit smoking, they can use nicotine-replacement patches, nasal sprays, chewing agents and other drugs to assist the transition under the guidance of a doctor.
"Clinically, there are still some patients with difficulty quitting smoking who are mentally and physically dependent on nicotine. For this group of people, in addition to drug replacement therapy, appropriate psychological intervention may be required."