"Three Noes" e-cigarettes turned into "Coke cans" for public sale【A variety of flavors attract young people and even minors to "enter the circle"】
□ Reporter Sun Tianjiao
"Big Fluid Egg, highly recommended! Mint, white peach and green raisins are full of flavors" "Tutu milk tea cup, water-based oil is refreshing and moisturising, enjoying silky smoothness like milk tea" "Fluid and violent bear shape, can be used as a decoration after smoking, The face value is really high"...
A reporter from the "Rule of Law Daily" recently investigated and found that there are a large number of such "three noes" electronic cigarette products in the online and offline electronic cigarette sales market: there is no detailed Chinese description on the outer packaging, no manufacturer information, and no production license.
These "three noes" e-cigarettes are called "disposable aerosol", "milk tea cup", "coke can" and "planet cup" on the outer packaging and in the seller's promotional language. selling point.
In fact, "E-cigarette Mandatory National Standards" and "E-cigarette Management Measures" explicitly prohibit flavored e-cigarettes other than tobacco flavors.
At the same time, selling e-cigarettes to minors is also prohibited.
However, this kind of "three noes" e-cigarettes not only attracts a large number of young people, but also gradually attracts many minors to "enter the circle" with their unique shapes and flavors.
Experts interviewed believe that the proliferation of "three noes" e-cigarettes will cause harm in many ways, disrupt the order of the tobacco market, and endanger human health, and its harm to minors is worthy of vigilance.
Under multiple bans, "three noes" e-cigarettes are still growing wildly, which is due to multiple factors such as the concealment of trading methods and weak supervision, and corresponding measures are urgently needed to regulate them.
Three non-e-cigarettes are popular
Various tastes attract teenagers
"Some time ago, I originally wanted to buy ordinary cigarettes, but after entering the store, the boss enthusiastically recommended a disposable electronic cigarette to me. He said it was called 'Coke cans'. It has a variety of flavors and tastes sweet. Young people Everyone loves to smoke.” Mr. Yuan, a resident of Chaoyang District, Beijing, talked to reporters about his first experience of buying e-cigarettes.
The Tobacco Hotel where Mr. Yuan went is located in a community in Chaoyang District.
According to the owner, the disposable e-cigarette can smoke about 6,000 puffs, and it can be smoked after charging. One can be smoked for a month.
Out of curiosity, Mr. Yuan bought a lemon-flavored "Coke can" for 99 yuan.
After returning home, Mr. Yuan discovered that this electronic cigarette may be a "three noes" product.
"The outer packaging is extremely simple, there is no manufacturer and production standards, and the accompanying instruction manual is only in traditional Chinese."
After smoking for a period of time, Mr. Yuan found that although this fruit-flavored e-cigarette did not have the tar flavor of ordinary cigarettes, it tasted sweeter, but if he smoked too much, he would feel a sore throat. Smoked."
Recently, the reporter came to the above-mentioned tobacco hotel for on-the-spot interviews. As soon as he entered the door, he saw a large number of colorful small bottles in front of the cash register at the door.
The owner of the store saw the reporter observing these small bottles, and immediately took out one and handed it over, saying: "Disposable e-cigarettes, fruit flavored and soda flavored, not exciting, many young people buy them."
The price of the disposable e-cigarettes in the shopkeeper's mouth ranges from 89 yuan to 99 yuan. One of them is called "Tutu Milk Tea Cup", which looks like a mini water cup with a straw. There are many colors, and different colors correspond to different flavors, such as kiwi fruit, black currant, Zest Coke and so on.
In addition, there are many replacement cartridges for a certain type of e-cigarette next to them, and there are also a variety of flavors, such as peach, strawberry, and ice mint.
The reporter spent 99 yuan to buy one of the "Tutu milk tea cups" with a green flavor. Although there is a certain brand name on the outer packaging of this product, there is no information such as the production batch number, manufacturer, and instructions for use. The simple information shows that the e-juice capacity of this product is 15ml, and the nicotine content is 30mg per ml.
When the reporter asked the owner about the specific usage method, the reply he got was "you can charge it directly with your own data cable, and you can smoke it after charging, and you can smoke about 6,000 puffs".
When introducing the product, the shop owner said many times that this kind of fruity e-cigarette "is bought by young people. They buy several flavors at a time for smoking, and there are many student parties among them."
It is understood that "coke cans" and other "three noes" e-cigarettes have quietly appeared in the market recently, and quickly became popular among young people.
Ms. Duan from Nanjing, Jiangsu often sees young people carrying delicately shaped e-cigarettes with them when shopping. She thinks it feels cool to take out a puff, so she asked a friend to buy a "milk tea cup" Fruit flavor e-cigarettes.
"I just think it looks good and it's fun to smoke. I thought that the fruit flavor should not be harmful. This is not the same as the ordinary e-cigarettes bought at the counter. It tastes really good, but you can't smoke too much a day. After taking more than a dozen puffs, I feel like my throat is being blocked." Ms. Duan said that the audience of this kind of e-cigarettes is mainly young people, and many "post-00s" around them are smoking.
Recently, an evaluation blogger with 20 million fans posted a video on the short video platform introducing the dangers of fruit-flavored e-cigarettes. "Who young people smoke cigarettes", the pursuit of this fruit-flavored e-cigarette can be seen.
Relevant news reports show that many shops around primary and secondary schools sell fruit-flavored e-cigarettes to students.
Some netizens commented, "I'm only in the sixth grade, and someone in my class smoked. The teacher has been busy inviting parents to 'drink tea' recently."
Covert sales under the ban
Exclusive super chat for platform settings
The reporter’s recent investigation found that there are a large number of “three noes” e-cigarette sales in offline physical stores, online e-commerce platforms, and social software.
On some e-commerce platforms, when searching for the keyword "e-cigarette", the "Green Network Plan" page will pop up directly, showing that according to relevant laws and regulations, any citizen, legal person or other organization shall not sell tobacco monopoly products through the information network, and shall not publish Information on promoting and selling e-cigarettes.
The platform further stipulates that the publication of e-cigarettes and related products is prohibited, such as e-cigarette kits, atomizers, e-liquids, pods, refueling tools or services, heated cigarette smoking sets, etc.
Therefore, searching for keywords such as "fruity e-cigarettes" and "e-liquid" on related platforms showed no search results.
However, the "three noes" e-cigarettes are not completely extinct on the e-commerce platform, but continue to exist in another more hidden form.
After the reporter searched with keywords such as "atomized oil", "atomizer" and "net celebrity milk tea bottle", similar products of "three no" e-cigarettes on the market immediately popped up, and there were even fruit-flavored e-cigarettes, Peripheral products such as fruity filters.
Most of the products searched by hidden keywords are fruity supplements for e-cigarettes, and the descriptions on the product details pages are even more vague.
For example, the product name of a certain product is "Fruit Flavored Atomized Oil Herbal Aromatherapy Atomizable Special Replenishment Liquid Oil Electronic High Concentration Steam Essential Oil", the monthly sales volume has reached more than 400, a 30ml refill, 55 yuan, please consult before placing an order Customer service can get a gift of oiler.
Sellers of such products are extremely cautious. When the reporter mentioned words such as "smoke" and "milk tea cup" in the chat box, the customer service immediately asked "please withdraw the message", and then claimed that he was selling "aromatherapy".
In addition, other stores sometimes refer to refills as "perfume" or "edible oil".
In addition to the "code word" selling of goods on the e-commerce platform, there are also many "three noes" e-cigarette sales places that have been transferred to more hidden social platforms.
On a social platform, there is even an exclusive super topic of "milk tea cup". The topic is all about buying, selling, and transaction information. Most sellers said, "If you want to add a private chat account to private chat, you can send and express within the city." .
The reporter added the chat accounts of several of these sellers, and learned that they sell both complete e-cigarettes and refills, and various online celebrity products such as "Coke cans", "milk tea cups" and "cute tiger cups". "Factory direct hair", the price ranges from 55 yuan to 168 yuan.
In the online market, the prices of this type of electronic cigarettes vary greatly. The price of the same "Menghu Cup" is 168 yuan in the hands of one seller, but only 58 yuan in the hands of another seller.
Surprisingly, one of the sellers’ circle of friends information shows that she is still a sophomore in high school and is a minor herself.
During the chat, she told the reporter: "It's so cool that all the peers around me smoke."
However, in the opinion of the interviewed experts, these "three noes" e-cigarettes exist in large numbers, and even extend their tentacles to minors, which not only disrupts the tobacco sales market, but also causes various negative effects.
Zhu Jie, a senior partner of Tahota (Chongqing) Law Firm, believes that this kind of "three noes" e-cigarettes attract young people to buy them through their unique packaging and unique taste. The ultimate impact is not only on personal health, but also on education and social order.
Hiding in the dark is more difficult
Strengthening supervision is imperative
The "Compulsory National Standards for Electronic Cigarettes", which will be officially implemented on October 1, 2022, stipulates that the sale of e-cigarette pods with flavors other than tobacco is prohibited.
The "E-cigarette Management Measures" also clearly stipulates that no individual, legal person or other organization shall sell e-cigarette products through information networks other than the e-cigarette transaction management platform specified in these measures; the sale of e-cigarettes to minors is prohibited.
However, under multiple bans, why can "three noes" e-cigarettes still be easily bought?
Zhu Jie said that with the introduction of the national standard for e-cigarettes, national standard e-cigarettes can only be sold in tobacco flavors, while "three no" e-cigarettes have various fruit flavors, which are easier to be accepted by consumers.
In May 2022, the "2021 Tobacco Epidemic Surveillance Results of Chinese Middle School Students and College Students" released by the Tobacco Control Office of the China Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that in 2021, 16.1% of middle school students had used e-cigarettes, of which 63.8% used fruit flavors. .
Among the preferred tastes of Chinese e-cigarette consumers in 2021, 60.9% of consumers prefer rich fruits, food and other flavors.
Wu Di, a lecturer at the School of Grammar and Law of Beijing University of Chemical Technology, believes that this type of e-cigarette is very attractive to young consumers, especially minors.
Its appearance design is very cute, the packaging is like a snack or a toy, and it has a variety of novel flavors, which is very attractive to children.
Teenagers are in the stage of rapid exploration and learning of things around them, and they have a strong curiosity about new things. Compared with traditional tobacco, e-cigarettes are more in line with the psychological characteristics of teenagers because of their novel appearance design and different taste styles.
"After the promulgation of the "E-cigarette Management Measures", due to the explicit prohibition of the sale of flavored e-cigarettes other than tobacco flavors and e-cigarettes that can add atomized substances by themselves, some young people choose these 'three-no' products as new 'toys', Continue to choose your favorite flavor." Wu Di said.
Zhu Jie also mentioned that the cost of "three noes" e-cigarettes is much lower than that of national standard e-cigarettes in terms of research and development, taxation, labor, etc., so the price is low and the profit margin is large, so consumers are more willing to choose, and businesses are more profitable .
At the same time, since most of these "three noes" e-cigarettes are operated in small workshops, with low investment in capital and technology, and hidden in the dark, it is difficult for relevant departments to crack down on them.
Zhu Jie suggested that the relevant departments strengthen supervision, starting from two aspects of production and sales, and adopt a two-pronged approach.
Relevant regulatory departments trace the source to find illegal manufacturers and punish them; public security departments and market supervision departments should conduct inspections in bars, schools and other places where "three noes" e-cigarettes are concentrated, and promptly discover and deal with "three noes" e-cigarette sales terminals.
At the same time, establish a reporting reward mechanism, turn supervision into group prevention and group governance, and improve supervision efficiency.
Wu Di believes that the responsibility of the network platform should be further consolidated, and technical means should be adopted to review and screen some related words that may involve "three noes" e-cigarettes, such as "atomized oil", and strictly check whether there are "black boxes" on the platform merchants. operation" and other behaviors.
Social platforms should conduct more stringent investigations on information related to e-cigarettes and their associated words, promptly shut down illegal accounts that sell e-cigarettes, and take necessary restrictive measures for suspicious accounts to protect the healthy growth of minors.
"It is necessary to focus on strengthening the main management responsibilities of e-commerce platforms and social platforms, and conduct strict investigations. The real-name system must be adhered to in the express delivery process, and the packaged items must be strictly checked, and no convenience will be provided for illegal delivery of 'three noes' e-cigarettes." Wu Di said.
Zhu Jie also called on schools and parents to share educational responsibilities.
Schools should strengthen the publicity and education of juvenile legal knowledge and health knowledge, let young people understand the dangers of tobacco, and correctly guide young people to stay away from tobacco. Schools should promptly guide and stop unhealthy school atmosphere.
Parents should also strengthen education and management to prevent young people from going to places where they are easily exposed to tobacco.
Comics/Li Xiaojun