Experts urge curb on e-cigarette sales

Experts urge curb on e-cigarette sales

Majority sold are 'illegally imported'

Health experts are calling for legal restrictions to curb the sale of electronic cigarettes.

Prakit Vathesatogkit, executive director for Action on Smoking and Health Promotion, said the majority of electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, sold in Thailand are illegally imported.

"E-cigarettes are not covered by any measures under tobacco laws of Thailand," he said in an interview at a workshop on tobacco in the Philippines.

But a legal loophole means that e-cigarettes are available on almost any street corner nationwide.

All tobacco products are currently regulated by the Tobacco Products Control Act, which has been in force since 1992. The act covers “products composed of tobacco leaves or the nicotiana tabacum plant” but electronic cigarettes do not contain leaves or plants.

E-cigarettes are battery-powered and produce vapours that simulate smoke from a liquid mix of propylene glycol, glycerin, high-concentrate nicotine, and flavourings.

Section 10 of the act states that it is illegal to manufacture, import for sale or advertise any goods that imitate tobacco products, such as cigarettes or cigars.

However, a number of e-cigarettes on the market are designed not to look like traditional cigarettes, so are not covered by the act, said Pantip Chotbenjamaporn, director for the Bureau of Tobacco Control at the Public health Ministry.

With no law relating directly to e-cigarettes, the state is forced to use customs and consumer protection legislation to control the import of untaxed and unlabelled e-cigarettes, Dr Pantip said.

Last year, the Public Health Ministry announced plans to amend the Tobacco Products Control Act to cover new tobacco products. But the amendment process is still in its public hearing stage.

Dr Prakit argued that the Tobacco Products Control Act must be updated to support controls on e-cigarettes and on other products, such as goods related to hookah waterpipes, which are used for smoking flavoured tobacco.

He said e-cigarettes should be prohibited, particularly since the country is still in the early stages of implementing tobacco control measures.

“E-cigarette smoking, especially among teenagers, will lead them to smoke real cigarettes,” Dr Prakit said. “It makes smokers who want to quit smoking unable to really quit. Some smokers become addicted to both e-cigarettes and cigarettes.”

Some major cigarette companies were beginning to buy e-cigarette businesses and employing marketing strategies to promote e-cigarette products, he added.

Dr Pantip said there is a misconception among smokers that e-cigarettes are a less harmful alternative to traditional cigarettes. But the intake of highly-concentrated nicotine can affect a user's brain functioning, heart rate and blood pressure, she warned.

Research into the long-term effects of e-cigarettes is yet to be carried out in Thailand, since e-cigarettes are relatively new to the market, she said.

A recent study by VA San Diego Healthcare System and the University of California, found that smoking e-cigarettes increases the virulence of drug-resistant and potentially life-threatening bacteria.

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