The legislature’s Education and Culture Committee yesterday said that it would establish an interministerial anti-vaping platform within one month after a report showed that there are about 80,000 teenagers who vape in Taiwan.
A survey conducted in 2021 showed that the number of junior-high school students who smoked e-cigarettes had risen to 3.9 percent, up from 1.9 percent in 2018, while the figure for vocational and high-school students was 8.8 percent, up from 3.4 percent in 2018, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said.
An estimated 80,000 adolescents used e-cigarettes in 2021, the HPA said in the report, adding that they are causing a teenage health crisis.
Photo: Taipei Times
The committee yesterday convened a meeting to discuss a review of school-based measures to prevent and control adolescent e-cigarette use.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wan Mei-ling (萬美玲) said that an interministerial effort was needed to banish e-cigarettes from campuses.
The responsibility should not be shouldered solely by teachers, Wan said.
The HPA in collaboration with local authorities has reported 1,000 cases of teenagers vaping outside school and 38 cases on campuses, although it has taken responsibility for curbing vape use, she said.
E-cigarettes are being widely and unlawfully sold via online channels, but the Ministry of Digital Affairs has ignored the problem and the National Police Agency has not acted, Wan added.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Hsiu-pao (陳秀?) criticized HPA Director-General Wu Chao-chun (吳昭軍) for not attending the meeting, saying that Wu should have been answering legislators’ questions on such an important issue.
HPA Deputy Director-General Chia Shu-li (賈淑麗) said that Wu is on a business trip abroad, as international conferences tend to be held toward the end of the year.
DPP Legislator Jean Kuo (郭昱晴) said that adolescents could pick up vaping from friends, parents or relatives, and warned against using flavored e-cigarettes, which appeal to teenagers, but could be fatal.
The youngest death from vaping in Taiwan was a 16-year-old, Kuo said, adding that e-cigarettes should never be thought of as a means to quit smoking.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare should make prompt rulings and punishments for cases in which adults draw adolescents into vaping, and share the responsibility of discouraging e-cigarette use on campuses with teachers, she said.
DPP Legislator Fan Yun (范雲) said that government authorities should assist teachers in on-campus anti-vaping campaigns.
While schools have individually introduced programs to control e-cigarettes, the Ministry of Education should develop a top-down roadmap similar to its anti-drug program for schools, Fan said.
The HPA has focused on clamping down on illegal online sales of e-cigarettes, but so far rulings and punishments had been handed down in only 74 of more than 35,000 cases, Chia said.
The HPA would step up its efforts, she said, adding that the latest data on teenage vape use would be available soon.
Ministry of Justice Department of Prosecutorial Affairs Director-General Kuo Yung-fa (郭永發) said the Narcotics Review Committee would convene a meeting next week to discuss whether etomidate — an ingredient in e-cigarettes — should be upgraded to a Category 2 drug, given its addictiveness, abusive usage and harm to society.
Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said that his ministry would collaborate with local education bureaus to guide schools to report e-cigarette sellers or providers to public health authorities.
That could prevent e-cigarettes from entering schools by intercepting them at the source, Cheng said.
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