Several groups yesterday urged the government to reconsider its repeated refusal to bring electronic cigarettes under the control of the Tobacco Hazards Act (菸害防制法), which it said has only fueled the illegal sale and use of the nicotine-dispensing product.
John Tung Foundation chief executive officer Yau Sea-wain (姚思遠) said that while smoking rates among adults dropped slightly from 20 percent in 2009 to 18 percent in 2013 after the government banned smoking in all indoor public areas, the number of cigarette-related complaints it received has surged from 647 in 2011 to 1,188 last year.
“With electronic cigarettes inundating the Internet, we have also observed a noticeable increase in the number of complaints over the illegal sale or use of e-cigarettes, with the amount rising from 39 in 2011 to 670 last year, before surging to 1,446 in the first week of this year alone,” Yau said.
The government categorizes e-cigarettes containing nicotine as a regulated drug subject to the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act (藥事法). Due to the act’s stringent requirements for getting a permit to manufacture or sell drugs, no e-cigarettes can be sold legally in Taiwan.
Taiwan International Medical Alliance secretary-general Huang Sung-li (黃嵩立) said that a recent Japanese study found that e-cigarettes contain 10 times more formaldehyde and acetaldehyde — both potential carcinogens — than normal cigarettes, disproving the common misconception that the former are risk-free and conducive to reducing the use of tobacco.
“The government’s policy of regulating e-cigarettes — in place since March 2009 — as a drug is impractical and ineffective, as evidenced by the widespread presence of the product in online shops, night markets and street stalls,” Huang said.
Consumers’ Foundation deputy secretary-general You Kai-hsiung (游開雄) said e-cigarettes have become a popular choice for new smokers and only bringing the product under the regulation of the Tobacco Hazards Act will curb its popularity.
“Inclusion in the act would prohibit advertising and online sales of e-cigarettes, and ban their use in indoor public areas. It would also require health warnings to be placed on e-cigarette packaging and impose age restrictions for purchasing the product,” You said.
Health Promotion Administration Deputy Director-General Yu Li-hui (游麗惠) said that treating e-cigarettes as a regulated drug is a policy that has been adopted by several European countries, such as Denmark, the Netherlands and Austria, because it subjects the product to the strictest regulations.
There are 77 incidents of Taiwanese travelers going missing in China between January last year and last month, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said. More than 40 remain unreachable, SEF Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) said on Friday. Most of the reachable people in the more than 30 other incidents were allegedly involved in fraud, while some had disappeared for personal reasons, Luo said. One of these people is Kuo Yu-hsuan (郭宇軒), a 22-year-old Taiwanese man from Kaohsiung who went missing while visiting China in August. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office last month said in a news statement that he was under investigation
An aviation jacket patch showing a Formosan black bear punching Winnie the Pooh has become popular overseas, including at an aviation festival held by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force at the Ashiya Airbase yesterday. The patch was designed last year by Taiwanese designer Hsu Fu-yu (徐福佑), who said that it was inspired by Taiwan’s countermeasures against frequent Chinese military aircraft incursions. The badge shows a Formosan black bear holding a Republic of China flag as it punches Winnie the Pooh — a reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) — who is dressed in red and is holding a honey pot with
Celebrations marking Double Ten National Day are to begin in Taipei today before culminating in a fireworks display in Yunlin County on the night of Thursday next week. To start the celebrations, a concert is to be held at the Taipei Dome at 4pm today, featuring a lineup of award-winning singers, including Jody Chiang (江蕙), Samingad (紀曉君) and Huang Fei (黃妃), Taipei tourism bureau official Chueh Yu-ling (闕玉玲) told a news conference yesterday. School choirs, including the Pqwasan na Taoshan Choir and Hngzyang na Matui & Nahuy Children’s Choir, and the Ministry of National Defense Symphony Orchestra, flag presentation unit and choirs,
China is attempting to subsume Taiwanese culture under Chinese culture by promulgating legislation on preserving documents on ties between the Minnan region and Taiwan, a Taiwanese academic said yesterday. China on Tuesday enforced the Fujian Province Minnan and Taiwan Document Protection Act to counter Taiwanese cultural independence with historical evidence that would root out misleading claims, Chinese-language media outlet Straits Today reported yesterday. The act is “China’s first ad hoc local regulations in the cultural field that involve Taiwan and is a concrete step toward implementing the integrated development demonstration zone,” Fujian Provincial Archives deputy director Ma Jun-fan (馬俊凡) said. The documents
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