Xinhua All Media+｜E-cigarettes are still being sold online after a facelift, illegal additions are even more harmful
Xinhua News Agency, Guangzhou, May 30 (Reporters Mao Yizhu and Li Jiale) The cool casing, the attractive fruity fragrance, and the fashionable e-cigarette sneaked into the campus and captured many teenagers.
A reporter’s investigation on the eve of World No Tobacco Day on May 31 found that although relevant national authorities urge e-commerce platforms to close e-cigarette shops and remove e-cigarette products, on some e-commerce platforms, e-cigarettes are still being sold in a different way. .
Even illegal businesses add synthetic cannabinoids to e-cigarettes, which makes e-cigarettes more addictive and harmful, and causes great harm to the mind and body of young people.
The online sales are dark, and the photos of minors are not mistaken.
According to the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of people aged 15 and over using e-cigarettes in China is about 10 million.
The population of e-cigarettes is mainly young people, and the 15-24 age group has the highest usage rate. The main way to obtain e-cigarettes is the Internet, accounting for 45.4%.
In 2019, the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration and the State Administration for Market Regulation issued the "Notice on Further Protecting Minors from E-cigarettes", urging e-commerce platforms to close e-cigarette stores and remove e-cigarette products in a timely manner.
After a lapse of two years, a reporter's investigation found that e-cigarettes are still on sale after a facelift, and buyers can purchase without providing identity information, and the age limit is in vain.
——E-commerce platform "change soup without changing medicine".
On some e-commerce platforms, searching for "e-cigarettes" does not show results, but searching for keywords such as "e-cigarettes" will display information about stores selling e-cigarettes and related accessories.
Among them, one of the best-selling online stores has monthly sales of "1000+".
——Black box operation on social platforms.
The reporter saw on some social platforms that many businesses advertised in pictures and short videos, "new flavors, full of security" and "energy bars at your fingertips"... Some businesses will leave comments in the comments Mobile phone number or QQ, WeChat, induce netizens to contact further and buy online one-on-one.
The reporter added the WeChat account of one of the merchants and pretended to be a minor.
After being informed, the other party first stated that "the company prohibits the sale of e-cigarettes to minors", but then changed the words "it depends on yourself" and recommended a package of 88 yuan and 3 cartridges.
In the online chat, the merchant revealed that the main purchasers of e-cigarettes are college students, and they can develop students to act as agents. Selling a set of products can earn 30 yuan, and the average daily sales of well-selling products is 50.
Fragrance is used as bait, and the risks are superimposed after illegal addition
"Grape ice, peach-flavored oolong, iced watermelon..." A device the size of a USB flash drive contained fruit-scented smoke oil.
“Smoking makes people feel bad about the image. E-cigarettes are relatively hidden, without the smell of smoke, and will not attract people’s attention.” Xiao Fan, a junior in Guangzhou, told reporters that he came into contact with e-cigarettes while playing with friends a year ago. , "Seeing that everyone smokes e-cigarettes and feels very trendy, I want to give it a try."
Zhuang Runsen, executive vice president of the Shenzhen Tobacco Control Association, introduced that e-cigarettes are a new product that has developed rapidly in the past ten years. It was originally launched to help smokers quit smoking. However, through years of marketing, sales have grown by leaps and bounds and the coverage has become wider and wider. The dazzling appearance and fruity fragrance have attracted many teenagers.
The health risks of e-cigarette smoking cannot be underestimated.
"The main component of e-cigarettes is nicotine, which is a highly toxic chemical and is addictive. The respiratory system of adolescents is not yet mature. Inhalation of this type of aerosol can easily have adverse effects on lung function and impair blood exchange." Zhang Zhihua, deputy chief physician of Guangzhou Baiyun Psychological Hospital, said that because of the lack of standards and specifications, e-cigarettes have uncertainties in the content of nicotine and other additives, so they have great health risks and addiction risks.
A 14-year-old girl, Xiao Yu, smoked an e-cigarette on the recommendation of a friend due to her weariness and anxiety.
At first, the parents did not notice the humble equipment, until Xiaoyu behaved abnormally and self-harmed before sending him to the hospital.
Xiaozhi, a 17-year-old boy, met social friends in the bar.
Under the introduction of a friend, I smoked an e-cigarette for the first time.
"It smells like a fruity scent. After smoking it, I feel dizzy and dizzy." Xiaozhi told reporters that after smoking a few e-cigarettes, a friend introduced him to "cigarette powder". Slowly, he I found my addiction to cigarettes was too big to control, and my temper became more and more irritable.
With the help of some illegal businesses, e-cigarettes have become more secretive and dangerous.
According to Zhang Zhihua, among the e-cigarette-related cases admitted to Guangzhou Baiyun Psychological Hospital, the youngest is 12 years old and the oldest is 23 years old. The main channel for purchasing e-cigarettes is the Internet.
Many patients thought they were smoking "regular electronic cigarettes", but unexpectedly found synthetic cannabinoids after submitting for inspection.
"E-cigarettes add synthetic cannabinoids. After long-term smoking, patients will experience changes in mood and cognition, and symptoms of psychosis." Zhang Zhihua said that once a minor had smoked e-cigarettes for 5 years, he had poor sleep, doubts, and emotions. Suicide jumped from a building when he was agitated, causing multiple fractures throughout the body. The hospital sent the smoke oil he was smoking and detected synthetic cannabinoids.
Eliminate fuzzy areas and strengthen supervision of e-cigarettes
According to a survey conducted by iiMedia Consulting, the size of China's e-cigarette market in 2013 was 550 million yuan, and by 2020, the size of China's e-cigarette market will increase to 8.33 billion yuan, with an eight-year compound annual growth rate of 72.5%.
The market size is expected to exceed 10 billion yuan in 2021.
But in sharp contrast, there is a lack of supervision and the quality of products is worrying.
"E-cigarettes are neither medicines, health products, nor food. The industry continues to expand, but product quality lacks strict control." Zhuang Runsen, for example, said, "If the electronic heater uses inferior plastics, harmful gases will be generated during the heating process; in addition, The detection of e-liquid also requires the intervention of professional technical departments to achieve effective supervision."
The reporter noticed that the price of e-cigarettes on the Internet ranges from a dozen yuan to a thousand yuan.
Many students buy low-quality e-cigarettes for tens of yuan through the Internet.
Some people in the industry suggest that at the legal level, it is advisable to include e-cigarettes in the scope of tobacco management, clarify the definition of attributes and departmental supervision responsibilities, formulate and promulgate relevant laws and national standards as soon as possible, and prohibit the addition of carcinogens, synthetic cannabinoids and other harmful substances. , Marketing and consumption places should also be restricted.
The newly revised "Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Minors" will come into effect on June 1 this year, and the inclusion of the prohibition on electronic cigarettes into this law is one of the highlights.
Zhuang Runsen believes that the management and control of e-cigarettes is actually a systematic long-term project, and education, guidance, and law enforcement should be emphasized. Local health and health systems and some professional institutions should conduct more extensive publicity on the hazards of e-cigarettes and implement more Extensive social supervision forms a complete system of extensive social participation, guidance by professional institutions, and supervision by law enforcement agencies.
(Participate in the collection and writing: Intern Zheng Yixi)