The Health Promotion Administration (HPA) expressed concern over the rising use of e-cigarettes among adolescents, as a survey last year showed that 80.9 percent of e-liquids contained nicotine and some also contained harmful or potentially harmful ingredients.
E-cigarettes pose potential health risks, but they are often marketed in various forms or names and claim to have health benefits, such as vitamin aromatherapy sticks and food flavor e-juices, and have rapidly attracted many children and adolescents to try them out, the agency said.
According to the US’ National Youth Tobacco Survey last year, e-cigarette use among adolescents increased drastically between 2017 and last year: The rate jumped from 3.3 percent to 4.9 percent among middle-school students, and from 11.7 percent to 20.8 percent among high-school students, the agency said.
E-cigarettes have become the most commonly used tobacco product among US adolescents, it added.
A similar trend can be observed in Taiwan, with a survey conducted by the agency last year showing that e-cigarette usage reached 1.9 percent among middle-school students and 3.4 percent among high-school students — both of which were higher than the 0.6 percent usage rate among adults, it said.
Moreover, the rates of middle-school and high-school students smoking both e-cigarettes and traditional cigarettes were higher at 0.8 percent and 1.9 percent respectively, compared with 0.5 percent in adults, it added.
Just as the increase in e-cigarette use among young people can be seen in some countries where such products can only be sold to adults, its usage rate among young people has also surpassed that among adults in Taiwan, although the nation does not allow sales of e-cigarette and heated tobacco products.
An inspection conducted by the Food and Drug Administration on 1,102 e-liquids last year showed that 80.9 percent contained nicotine, which should be controlled and registered as medicine according to regulations.
Unapproved manufacturing or import of such products can constitute a breach of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act (藥事法), associated with making or importing counterfeit or illegal drugs, it added.
Citing an information sheet by the WHO’s Tobacco Free Initiative saying that “all forms of tobacco use are harmful, including heated tobacco products,” the agency said they contain the highly addictive substance nicotine, harmful and potentially harmful additives, and even carcinogenic compounds.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare has launch an interdepartmental initiative to enhance e-cigarette prevention, it said, adding that the ministry encourages people to report illegal sales of e-cigarettes.
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