About 97 percent of parents responding to a survey want all novel tobacco products banned, a civic organization said yesterday, adding that an estimated 73,000 teenagers in Taiwan use e-cigarettes or other such products.
The survey, conducted by the National Alliance of Parents Organizations, showed that the majority of parents were unsatisfied with a proposal to ban only some novel tobacco products, the alliance said at a news conference in Taipei, which was held to coincide with Children’s Day yesterday.
An amendment that is being officially reviewed would ban conventional oil-based e-cigarettes, but allow the sale of heated tobacco products, which heat processed tobacco leaves, it said.
Photo: CNA
Allowing the sale of heated tobacco products would be a loophole that could potentially cause harm to Taiwanese teenagers, it said, adding that this would work against years of efforts to limit tobacco use among Taiwanese minors.
The survey found that 97.5 percent of respondents wanted conventional e-cigarettes banned, 95.5 percent wanted heated tobacco products banned, and 96.7 percent wanted all types of novel tobacco products banned, it said.
In Japan, South Korea and most US states, where all novel tobacco products are legal to sell to adults, the number of adolescents using such products rose sharply within a few years of their entry to the market, it said.
A similar trend is being observed in Taiwan. There were about 57,000 young people in 2019 reporting regular use of conventional e-cigarettes, and 16,000 using heated tobacco products — a total of 73,000 teenagers using novel tobacco products, it said.
“Although cigarette use has declined, we are seeing an overall increase in the use of tobacco products,” National Taiwan University Hospital physician Kuo Fei-ran (郭斐然) said.
A US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study in 2020 found that e-cigarettes were the cause of at least 2,807 people being hospitalized for lung damage, and 68 deaths in the US the previous year, he said.
A Japanese study also showed that heated tobacco products present the same level of risk of lung damage from acute pneumonia as e-cigarettes, he said.
The survey was conducted over 12 days from March 13 to March 25, and collected 3,541 valid samples, the alliance said.
Taiwan does not exclude the possibility of having formal diplomatic relations with countries that also have formal ties with China, regardless of Beijing’s stance, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said on Sunday. There was speculation in 2012 that Honduras was attempting to have simultaneous diplomatic relations with Taiwan and China, an idea that then-minister of foreign affairs David Lin (林永樂) rejected. Honduras severed formal ties with Taiwan on Sunday morning after establishing diplomatic relations with Beijing. President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration has taken a more practical approach to relations with like-minded countries since assuming government in 2016. Previous administrations took the
Seven senior faculty members, including the principal, of a high school in Taichung were temporarily suspended from their jobs on Friday, pending an investigation by the Taichung Education Bureau into alleged bullying and abuse that led to the suicide of a student last month. The city’s education officials were too slow to suspend those involved, the student’s father told a news conference on Wednesday, at which Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chang Liao Wan-chien (張廖萬堅) and members of the Humanistic Education Foundation were also present. The boy had been a good student and a high achiever during elementary and junior-high, and had
ORIGIN UNKNOWN: The Leofoo Village Theme Park and Taipei Zoo have accounted for their baboons, as authorities continue a 12-day capture attempt Authorities in Taoyuan are searching for a non-native baboon, possibly of the chacma species, that has been spotted several times in the city’s Pingjhen District (平鎮) over the past 12 days, and was most recently seen in coastal Sinwu District (新屋). The baboon was first spotted near a local factory on March 10 in central Taoyuan, Jhensing Borough Warden Huang Chih-chieh (黃志杰) said. Huang said he requested the Leofoo Village Theme Park’s help after a second sighting on Saturday. In other sightings, the baboon raided fruit and vegetable gardens on private property, and has evaded one capture attempt via a tranquilizer dart. Media reported
Taiwan would have established formal relations with Argentina long ago if not for China’s interference, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Yui told US-based Spanish-language online news outlet Infobae in an interview published on Tuesday. Beijing has left behind a string of unfulfilled promises in Latin America, including pledges to build the Grand Nicaragua Canal and airports, docks, ports and industrial zones in El Salvador, he said. Meanwhile, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Mexico and other countries enjoy pragmatic and improving relations with Taiwan based on cooperation on the economy, culture, technology and science, he said. While Taiwan is “happy to live and let live,”
RSS