Two departments jointly issued a document prohibiting the sale of e-cigarettes on e-commerce platforms
E-cigarettes lose power in the era of strong supervision
● Today, the domestic e-cigarette market is chaotic, and product quality is uneven. A large number of products have serious quality and safety hazards such as the addition of unsafe ingredients, e-liquid leakage, and inferior batteries.
In order to increase the attractiveness of their products, some e-cigarette companies randomly add various additives to change the taste of e-cigarettes and the color of e-liquid, which will cause serious harm to the physical and mental health of consumers, especially minors.
● "Notice on Further Protecting Minors from E-cigarettes" urges e-cigarette production and sales companies or individuals to promptly close e-cigarette Internet sales websites or clients; e-commerce platforms promptly close e-cigarette shops and install e-cigarette products Take off the shelves in time; electronic cigarette production and sales companies or individuals withdraw electronic cigarette advertisements posted on the Internet
● From the perspective of the regulatory body, it is recommended that the health authority and the market supervision and management department supervise electronic cigarettes.
But in terms of feasibility, in the current lack of management energy and capacity, it can also be handed over to the tobacco monopoly department for supervision.
□ Our reporter Zhao Li
□ Intern Zhao Xinyi
On November 1, the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration and the State Administration for Market Regulation issued the "Notice on Further Protecting Minors from E-cigarettes" (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice"), stating that from the date of issuance of the "Notice", urge E-cigarette production and sales companies or individuals promptly close e-cigarette Internet sales websites or clients; urge e-commerce platforms to promptly close e-cigarette stores and remove e-cigarette products in time; urge e-cigarette production and sales companies or individuals to withdraw from the Internet Electronic cigarette advertisements released.
The website of the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration also released the "Notice on Further Protecting Minors from E-cigarettes" Policy Interpretation on the same day, which clearly pointed out that the current domestic e-cigarette market is chaotic, product quality is uneven, and a large number of products are inconsistent. There are serious quality and safety hazards such as the addition of safety ingredients, e-liquid leakage, and inferior batteries.
In particular, in order to increase the attractiveness of their products, some e-cigarette companies randomly add various additives to change the taste and color of e-cigarettes, causing serious harm to the physical and mental health of consumers, especially minors.
Therefore, the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration and the State Administration of Market Supervision and Administration have decided to issue a joint announcement again on the basis of the "Notice on Prohibiting the Sale of Electronic Cigarettes to Minors" issued in August last year, aiming to implement the Law on the Protection of Minors The spirit and requirements of relevant laws and regulations such as the Advertising Law, to further protect minors from electronic cigarettes.
It is reported that for some time to come, the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration and the State Administration for Market Supervision and Administration will focus on further strengthening the awareness of protecting minors from e-cigarettes in all sectors of society, and strengthen coordination with relevant departments to continue to investigate and deal with violations of laws and regulations. The behavior of electronic cigarettes effectively protects the legitimate rights and interests of minors and consumers.
Nicotine is dangerous
Mothers-to-be cautiously smoke electronic cigarettes
"You can smoke e-cigarettes, e-cigarettes are safe for the body." Recently, Tang Min's mind has been echoing the suggestion that his girlfriend Hu Lin (pseudonym) made to her.
Tang Min is a returnee doctor and an executive of a Fortune 500 company.
The news of her pregnancy at the beginning of this year made Tang Min ecstatic. She quit her job and raised her baby in peace at home. She quit smoking for many years, just for the baby in her belly.
However, the smoking habit that has been cultivated for many years cannot be changed for a while, especially when it is addicted to cigarettes, it is extremely uncomfortable.
A few days ago, Hu Lin gave her an idea-smoking electronic cigarettes.
However, Tang Min has been uncertain about whether smoking e-cigarettes is harmful or not. She checked a lot of information online but did not get a definite answer.
"E-cigarette is an electronic product that imitates cigarettes. It has the same appearance, smoke, taste and feel as cigarettes. It uses atomization and other means to turn nicotine into steam for smokers to inhale." Hu Lin's The answer made Tang Min believing.
Hu Lin added: “Some female celebrities were photographed smoking e-cigarettes during breastfeeding, and e-cigarettes were not banned in public places, which means it’s okay.”
Hearing what his best friend said, Tang Min moved a little.
When she went to the hospital for a check-up, she consulted the check-up doctor.
However, the answer given by the doctor is completely different-although the e-cigarette releases harmless water vapor, this water vapor also contains nicotine, and this harmful substance will also enter the human body.
Under normal conditions of use, the concentration of certain metals (including lead, chromium and nickel) and formaldehyde in some e-cigarette aerosols is equal to or higher than that in traditional cigarettes, including certain metal particles, such as nickel and chromium. , Lead, even higher than the second-hand smoke produced by traditional cigarettes.
In addition, electronic cigarettes also produce some toxic substances that are not in the smoke of traditional cigarettes, such as glyoxal, which is flammable, toxic, and irritating. The vapor or mist can irritate the eyes, mucous membranes and upper respiratory tract.
Because nicotine is dangerous, mothers-to-be should stay away from electronic cigarettes, because the blood supply of mothers and fetuses is connected. If the mothers smoke, the fetus will be exposed to nicotine through blood.
The doctor said: "Experiments have shown that when people use e-cigarettes, in addition to nicotine, they may also inhale many other undiscovered toxic compounds. At the same time, second-hand smoke produced by e-cigarettes may also endanger health. E-cigarettes will also release inhalable liquid fine and ultrafine particles, nicotine and carcinogens into the room."
According to the doctor, the Greek health department tested 30 healthy smokers to observe the changes in their respiratory tract after using e-cigarettes.
Researchers found that after 5 minutes of smoking e-cigarettes, their lungs showed signs of contraction. Combined with other breathing tests, they also found symptoms of inflammation.
This is the first time there is evidence that just using an electronic cigarette can produce such a strong stimulation to the respiratory system.
The doctor finally concluded that: the World Health Organization conducted a special study on e-cigarettes and came to a clear conclusion-e-cigarettes are harmful to public health, and it is not a means of quitting smoking. It must be controlled to avoid giving young people and Non-smokers bring harm, and pregnant women are best not to smoke electronic cigarettes.
Tang Min, who walked out of the hospital, secretly rejoiced that if he did not ask the doctor, it would probably cause irreversible consequences.
The smoking cessation function was originally a gimmick
False promotion
Tang Min found that the public's misunderstanding of e-cigarettes needs to be clarified urgently.
"Once my family and I were having a meal at a noodle restaurant, and a man next to him smoked an e-cigarette without anyone else. I suggested that this is not smoking in public, and I indicated that I am a pregnant woman, and I hope the other party understands. The other party said that I smoked an e-cigarette. , No smoke comes out, no harm to the human body." Tang Min said helplessly.
At the same time, Tang Min told the "Legal Daily" reporter that among pregnant mothers, some mothers told her that there are also some e-commerce platforms that sell electronic cigarettes for pregnant women. "It is said that the price is several hundred yuan, and one of the specifications contains 7 Three bottles of tobacco with different fruit flavors, claiming to be an artifact for women to quit smoking, harmless hookah, and 10 bottles of e-liquid included. A mother-to-be who had smoked asked that the product is exclusively for pregnant women and does not contain nicotine and does not harm the fetus." .
"For the sake of children, no one dare to try." Tang Min said that she later learned from internal channels that many processing plant owners, investors and brand owners said that they had never heard of e-cigarettes for pregnant women and never recommended them. Pregnant women smoke electronic cigarettes.
The hazards of traditional cigarettes mainly come from the toxic and harmful substances in tobacco smoke, such as tar, carbon monoxide, and heavy metals, while cigarette addiction is mainly due to nicotine.
In order to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages, electronic cigarettes came into being.
So, what exactly is an electronic cigarette?
Public information shows that e-cigarettes are mainly composed of e-liquid (containing nicotine, flavor, solvent propylene glycol, etc.), heating system, power supply, and filter. Through heating and atomization, aerosols with specific odors are generated for smokers to use.
Broadly speaking, electronic cigarettes refer to electronic nicotine delivery systems, including electronic cigarettes, hookahs, hookah pens and other forms.
In a narrow sense, e-cigarettes simply refer to portable e-cigarettes that are similar in appearance to cigarettes.
E-cigarettes are often exquisitely designed, and because there is no process of burning shredded tobacco, businesses often attract consumers, especially young people, with marketing slogans such as "remove tar, no burden on the body", "no carbon monoxide", "no heavy metals", and "replace real cigarettes". buy.
23-year-old Zhang Yuanyuan (pseudonym) has not been able to leave her hands with e-cigarettes recently, and her beautiful appearance and freely changeable taste have attracted her to become an "e-cigarette".
In her view, e-cigarettes are a very fun and stylish product.
She chose the pink e-cigarette, which made her feel very girlish, and the body-friendly publicity made her feel more relieved to start smoking e-cigarettes.
More and more young people like Zhang Yuanyuan choose e-cigarettes. The distributor of an e-cigarette brand said: "E-cigarettes used to be a relatively niche product. Now they have become a trend and become popular. Smokers are turning to e-cigarettes. On the one hand, it is because of the trendy fashion, on the other hand, it is also the pursuit of so-called health."
In the marketing of e-cigarettes, fresh or cool advertisements emerge one after another, and "health", "quit smoking" and "clear lung" are the most attractive selling points.
And this year's "March 15" party revealed that long-term e-cigarette smoking will also produce dependence on nicotine, which is completely contrary to the slogan of e-cigarettes promoting "health".
Mass sales online and offline
Wide variety of additives
A reporter from Legal Daily found that the current electronic cigarettes on the market are mainly sold online and offline.
A reporter from "Legal Daily" searches for e-cigarettes on an e-commerce platform, and a large number of related products will appear.
A well-known brand's e-cigarette online flagship store has 280,000 fans. The monthly sales volume of e-cigarettes in the store has reached more than 40,000, and the number of cigarette cartridges is as high as 210,000.
On the detailed introduction page, the sense of science and technology, harm reduction, addiction and decompression are the main publicity points.
Zhao Hu (pseudonym), who is an e-cigarette retailer, introduced that whether an e-cigarette has the taste of real smoke is determined by the nicotine content in it. E-cigarettes with high nicotine content have a more throat-sucking feeling, while smoking without nicotine It doesn't look like real smoke and has no effect on replacing smoke.
The nicotine content of the cartridges in this shop is divided into 3% and 5%. One cartridge is about 3 packs of cigarettes. There are 18 kinds of mung bean popsicles, fragrant green tea, banana smoothies, and iced watermelon, which look quite attractive. The flavors are available, and the rods are available in 8 colors.
At the bottom of the product, many netizens gave praise, "It's easy to smoke, can achieve satisfaction", "I have tried all kinds of flavors", "I hope it can replace real cigarettes, a good companion in the office".
There are also many distributors and retailers selling e-cigarettes on social platforms.
Because she felt that there was a promising market prospect, Zhao Hu started to do e-cigarette retail business in March of this year. She went to Zhuhai to purchase goods, advertised sales in Moments, and supported self-pickup and mailing. So her sideline became a micro-business.
Zhao Hu told the reporter of Legal Daily that she can sell two or three sets of e-cigarettes every day on average. Most of the buyers are young people aged 20 to 35. Many people choose e-cigarettes for health, and she can get them. About 30% profit.
In addition to online sales, there are also many physical e-cigarette stores offline, including e-cigarette experience stores, e-cigarette bars, e-cigarette clubs and many other names.
A reporter from "Legal Daily" visited an e-cigarette experience store in Chaoyang District, Beijing. The signs of no entry and no smoking for minors were posted on the glass windows of the store.
There are e-cigarettes of various brands and prices in the store. Customers can try them, and the boss will give a detailed introduction.
It is worth noting that a certain brand of e-cigarette is promoting the "Guardian Project", that is, minors are strictly prohibited from using it, and the promotional poster is prominently standing on the counter.
The brand's online flagship store also has related slogans, but there is only a small area at the top of the store homepage, which is easy to ignore. The "Double 11" promotion message below almost occupies the entire screen.
At the same time, on some video platforms, videos of "e-cigarette evaluation" have gradually appeared, and their expressions are the same as those of popular cosmetics and food evaluations. Bloggers put different flavors and different brands of e-cigarettes on the desktop and conduct them one by one. After smoking and commenting, many netizens commented and recommended their favorite e-cigarettes, and some people asked for recommended e-cigarettes.
Cartography/Li Xiaojun