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.
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
RSS