The use of e-cigarettes amongst young people in Hong Kong has risen to the point where primary school children have been seen smoking e-cigarettes in playgrounds, according to Apple Daily.
Reporters from the newspaper visited Lai On Estate in Sham Shui Po over the weekend and interviewed a group of girls who appeared to be puffing on disposable e-cigarettes, one of whom looked “no older than six years old”. We don’t know about you guys, but we’re getting an eerie sense of déjà vu.
In Apple Daily’s footage, the children are accompanied by adults, none of whom seem bothered or concerned by their usage of personal vapourisers.
Talking to a reporter, one of the girls said, “These aren’t bad for your health.” When asked to explain her reasoning, she and her friends said, “It’s fake smoke. It’s a toy.”
“There’s no nicotine and no tar,” the interviewees – who had obtained their “toys” for HKD20 from a nearby mall – said.
Chan Man-fai, a committee member of the Hong Kong Vape Association, told Apple Daily that the association has “repeatedly urged” the government for stricter regulation of the purchase and use of e-cigarettes in Hong Kong.
Chan said that all vapes should be registered, and that they should only be available for sale to people aged 18 or over.
In Hong Kong, e-cigarettes which contain nicotine are regulated under the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance. Possessing or selling an unregistered nicotine-containing e-cig bears the maximum penalty of HKD100,000 fine and 2 years’ imprisonment.
A study conducted by HKBU earlier this year found that various e-cigarettes on the market that were either advertised as “nicotine free” or made no mention of nicotine on their packaging actually contained between 1.7 to 1,490 nanograms of nicotine per millimetre.
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