Enforcement of a ban on electronic cigarettes has been lacking since the law was amended in 2023, with only a small percentage of cases resulting in fines, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wan Mei-ling (萬美玲) said recently.
The Legislative Yuan passed an amendment to the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act (菸害防制法) in March 2023 banning the sale, demonstration and use of e-cigarettes.
Since then, only 1,247 fines were issued out of 500,000 cases involving e-cigarettes, or only 0.25 percent, Wan said, citing data from the Health Promotion Administration.
Photo: Taipei Times
Of these 1,247 fines, 251 were for selling e-cigarettes, 619 were for selling heated tobacco devices and 404 were for illegal use, she said.
From July to September last year, police nationally tracked down 681 “zombie vapes,” which contain the anesthetic drug etomidate, at an average of 227 per month, she added.
E-cigarette products almost all contain nicotine, a highly addictive substance, Wan said.
Use of e-cigarettes impacts adolescent brain development, causes lung damage and increases the risk of cancer, she said.
The “zombie drug” etomidate, which has been classified as a Category 2 narcotic, is not only addictive, but also causes adrenal insufficiency and loss of concentration, potentially resulting in traffic accidents, she said.
Inspection and public awareness must be increased to prevent e-cigarettes and related drugs from affecting society, Wan said.
The Executive Yuan in response said that the High Prosecutors’ Office held meetings with the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of the Interior and Ministry of Digital Affairs on Nov. 13 and 21 last year to discuss the prevention and control of e-cigarettes.
For cases involving e-cigarettes laced with illegal drugs, anti-drug agencies have been urged to intensify their investigations, trace drug sources upstream and uncover drug use downstream, it said.
The Health Promotion Administration has held multiple meetings with online e-commerce and social media platforms to strengthen investigations into sellers of e-cigarette products, the Executive Yuan said.
The agency is also working with the Ministry of Digital Affairs to suspend illegal Web sites and with the Financial Supervisory Commission to identify sellers’ personal information and financial transactions, it added.
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