"Stop Electronic Cigarettes" Are Poisons, Not Smoke

  □ Our reporter Yu Dongming

  □ Zhang Haiyan, a trainee reporter of this newspaper

  "Small a sip, there is no hidden danger in safety..." Similar propaganda slogans appeared quietly in the social circle of friends, coupled with the picture of puffing clouds, "e-cigarettes on the top" attracted many young people to buy.

  In recent years, electronic cigarettes have been widely sought after by young people, and "top cigarettes", which are known as "safe top" and "legal top", are disguised and widely spread in young people's social circles.

In fact, the main ingredient leading to the top, synthetic cannabinoids, was officially listed as a drug by the state in July last year for supervision, and the "top electronic cigarette" is poison, not smoke.

  A reporter from the "Rules of Law Daily" recently visited a number of political and legal units to conduct on-the-spot investigations to restore the poisonous trap behind the "top e-cigarette".

  Drugs in a new disguise

  Dizziness, vomiting, trance, hallucinations, and the first time he smoked the "top electronic cigarette", Chen Ming (pseudonym) fell into a semi-mad state.

The first experience in the bar made Chen Ming unforgettable.

Buying cigarettes one after another also made him stretched, and he turned into a middleman of "top electronic cigarettes", and started online sales through "flash delivery" in the same city.

  This is a new drug case handled by the People's Procuratorate of Jiading District, Shanghai.

On August 24, 2021, the public security organs arrested Chen Ming and detained 2.74 grams of e-juice, which was identified to contain ADB-BUTINACA, a synthetic cannabinoid substance.

On November 10, 2021, the procuratorate prosecuted the defendant Chen Moumou for the crime of drug trafficking. The court finally sentenced Chen Ming to 7 months in prison and a fine of 1,000 yuan.

  "The new drug synthetic cannabinoid is different from the traditional drug marijuana. As a chemically synthesized drug, it is more addictive and more dependent than marijuana, and it is far more harmful to the human body than marijuana." The Prosecutor of the Second Procuratorate of the Jiading District Procuratorate introduced. , the cost of a bottle of ordinary e-liquid is only tens of yuan, but after adding synthetic cannabinoids to ordinary e-liquid, the price often doubles by more than ten times.

  According to reports, electronic cigarette oil has become the most important carrier of synthetic cannabinoids due to its ease of transportation and smoking. Drug addicts and drug dealers call it "top cigarette" and claim that smoking "top cigarette" is "safe top" and "legal top". , induce or even deceive groups of people who are not aware of drug prevention to take them.

  In a case of "top e-cigarettes" handled by the People's Procuratorate of Pudong New Area, Zhang Moumou knew that there was a problem with the e-liquid sold, and he developed symptoms similar to drug addiction after consuming it, and still contacted customers through online chat tools for 5 times. Selling e-liquids containing synthetic cannabinoids to others as a drive-thru delivery.

On November 22, 2021, the procuratorate instituted a public prosecution in accordance with the law.

On December 14, 2021, the Shanghai Pudong New Area People's Court sentenced Zhang Moumou to three years in prison, three years of probation, and a fine of 10,000 yuan for the crime of drug trafficking.

  "The main abuse method of synthetic cannabinoids is to dissolve in electronic cigarette oil or spray on the surface of plants such as cut tobacco and petals for smoking or soaking in water for drinking. Smoking such substances will cause dizziness, vomiting, trance, and hallucinogenic reactions. Overdose Smoking will cause shock, suffocation and even sudden death." The prosecutor in charge of the Pudong New Area Procuratorate said that social platforms, express delivery, and "flash delivery" are becoming the main tools for selling new drugs.

  Online transactions are more hidden

  Inter-provincial drug delivery cases accounted for 50%, and cross-border cases accounted for 18%. Among the drug delivery cases in the city, 83.3% of the drug delivery cases were delivered using the same city's "flash delivery" and "running errands". "There are still blind spots in the supervision of new logistics formats.

  This is the 2017-2021 delivery of drug crime cases released by the People's Procuratorate of Jing'an District, Shanghai.

In the past five years, the persons involved have become younger, and the drugs delivered have changed from traditional first- and second-generation drugs to third-generation new psychoactive substances such as "top e-cigarettes", "Smurfs" and "rhino liquid".

  "Using the 'network + delivery' model of drug crimes is concealed and fast, adding a lot of difficulty to the investigation." According to the case-handling police of the Criminal Investigation Corps of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau, criminals use WeChat and other social software to contact transactions, pay for drug money, and then rely on Express delivery, "flash delivery", "errands" and other logistics services are delivered and transported, and the sales level is usually as high as three to five levels. Most of those who are caught and sentenced are "distributors" below the second level, and those who are higher-level "distributors" ” Little is known about the real situation, and it is difficult to find out the source of the drug’s manufacture.

  In addition, the appearance of the "top electronic cigarette" is almost the same as that of ordinary electronic cigarettes. The courier cannot distinguish it with the naked eye, and there are situations in which the identity is not carefully verified during the mailing process, which increases the difficulty for the public security organs to trace the source of the drugs afterwards.

  What's more, some couriers can't help the temptation of interests and act as "setters" for the circulation of drugs.

This not only disrupts the state's drug management order, but also poses a serious threat to the physical and mental health of smokers, and also brings new chaos to the e-cigarette industry.

  Remediation of chaos in the whole chain

  Arguing that "e-cigarettes on the top" are cigarettes and not poisonous, or arguing that e-cigarettes contain synthetic cannabinoids are common excuses after criminal suspects are arrested.

They often have a bad record of drug use, a drug addiction conviction or even a criminal record of drug crimes, and most of them are drug traffickers of the "trafficking and feeding" type.

  Although these suspects often argue that they have no knowledge, the investigative agency can still combine social software chat records, buyer testimonies, defendants’ confessions and other evidence to presume that they have the subjective intention of knowingly selling drugs.

  The reporter learned from the Criminal Investigation Team of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau that in 2021, the Shanghai police will detect more than 700 drug-related cases, including 91 new drug cases represented by "top electronic cigarettes", effectively curbing the proliferation of new drug crimes in the city. .

  For "top electronic cigarettes" (synthetic cannabinoids) and related narcotic drugs, the Shanghai police focused on strengthening clues mining, detection and identification capabilities, and coordinated and organized anti-drug law enforcement departments at all levels to deploy and carry out multiple rounds of cluster crackdowns.

  The governance of new drug crimes should not only rely on after-the-fact strikes, but also how to prevent them.

On October 20, 2021, the Supreme People's Procuratorate issued the "No. 7 Procuratorial Recommendation" with the theme of "Strengthening Delivery Safety Supervision" to the State Post Bureau, aiming to effectively strengthen delivery safety supervision and promote the healthy and sustainable development of the delivery industry.

  In response to the new characteristics of drug-related crime cases in the delivery channel, the procuratorial organs at all levels in Shanghai have actively carried out the work of tracing the origin of drug-related crime cases in the delivery channel.

The People's Procuratorate of Changning District innovatively launched the "Morning Meeting on Law Popularization" system, and issued the "Proposal for Safe Delivery" to more than 100 Meituan takeaways, reminding riders to strengthen the identification of new drugs and improve anti-drug when receiving orders for the "flash delivery" business Anti-drug awareness and coping ability.

The Putuo District People's Procuratorate carried out surprise inspections on express delivery outlets, consolidated the main responsibilities, innovatively promoted anti-drug propaganda, and effectively raised the awareness of the people on drug awareness, drug prevention, and drug rejection.

  In addition, while strengthening market supervision and management and drug prevention and control in logistics delivery channels, the public should fully recognize the dangers of synthetic cannabinoids from new drugs.

  It should be noted that the "Measures for the Administration of Electronic Cigarettes" issued by the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration was officially implemented on May 1 this year.

The administrative measures explicitly prohibit the sale of flavored e-cigarettes other than tobacco flavors.

Any e-cigarettes other than tobacco flavors will not be legally sold e-cigarettes, and the public should be vigilant.