The John Tung Foundation yesterday called for stronger government regulation of electronic cigarettes and other new types of tobacco products, saying it has received complaints from parents about shops near schools.
The foundation, which is marking its 36th anniversary today, told a news conference in Taipei that it received a report from a mother of a senior-high school student in northern Taiwan about a shop selling smoking accessories that recently opened across the school.
The school has 2,300 students and teachers, the foundation said.
Other parents have also complained about a newly opened shop selling electronic cigarettes near two elementary schools in northern Taiwan, it said.
To avoid inspections, some sellers allegedly use the sale of smoking accessories as a guise when, according to the parents, various tobacco products can still be purchased inside the stores, the foundation said.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare has over the past three years repeatedly emphasized that electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products are illegal, foundation chief executive officer Yao Ssu-yuan (姚思遠) said.
However, sellers have continued to open stores, he said, adding that the foundation fears sellers are confident that electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products would be allowed.
Even a student at the senior high school has asked why the shop was able to open directly across their school, said Lin Ching-li (林清麗), head of the foundation’s Tobacco Control Division.
The shop near the elementary schools only opens when school is open, and not on weekends, she said.
This is just the “tip of the iceberg” and similar situations exist outside northern Taiwan, she said.
Even though some products claim to be less harmful, they are still harmful, said Lai Chih-kuan (賴志冠), a physician at Taipei Veterans General Hospital’s family medicine department.
With their “cool” high-tech appearance, these products are very attractive to adolescents, Lai said.
Although authorities continue to say electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products are illegal, they can easily be found online, said Yu Kai-hsiung (游開雄), former chairman of the Consumers’ Foundation and a lawyer.
He urged local governments to set up ordinances banning shops within 400m from elementary and high schools from selling electronic cigarettes and other new types of tobacco products.
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