“Fulu Big Easter Egg, highly recommended! Mint white peach green brings out the taste of the whole”, “Rabbit milk tea cup, water-based oil is exciting and moist, and it is silky like milk tea”, “Fluid violent bear style, can be used as ornaments after smoking, and its appearance is really high”…
The reporter recently found that a large number of such “three-no” electronic cigarette products have appeared in the online and offline electronic cigarette market: there is no detailed Chinese description on the outer packaging, no manufacturer and other information, and no production license. These “three-no” e-cigarettes are called “disposable aerosol”, “milk tea cup”, “cola can”, “planet cup” and so on in the promotional terms of the outer packaging and sellers. Various flavors are the main selling points of this type of product.
In fact, the “Mandatory National Standards for Electronic Cigarettes” and “E-cigarette Management Measures” expressly prohibit seasoning e-cigarettes other than tobacco flavors. At the same time, selling e-cigarettes to minors is also prohibited. However, this type of “three-no” e-cigarette has unique shapes and varied flavors, which not only attracts a large number of young people, but also gradually attracts many minors to “enter the circle”.
The experts interviewed believe that the flood of “three-no” e-cigarettes will cause many harms, disrupt the order of the tobacco market and endanger human health, and its harm to minors is even more worthy of vigilance. Under multiple bans, the “three-no” e-cigarettes are still growing wildly, which is attributed to multiple factors such as the concealment of transaction methods and ineffective supervision. Corresponding measures are urgently needed to be taken to regulate them.
Sanwu electronic cigarettes are sought after by various flavors attract young people
“Some time ago, I originally wanted to buy ordinary cigarettes, but after entering the store, the boss enthusiastically recommended a disposable electronic cigarette to me, saying it was called ‘Coke Can’. It has many flavors and has a sweet taste. Young people love to smoke.” Mr. Yuan, a resident of Chaoyang District, Beijing, talked to reporters about his first experience in buying electronic cigarettes.
Mr. Yuan went to the tobacco hotel in Chaoyang District. According to the store owner, disposable electronic cigarettes can be smoked about 6,000 pcs, and they can be smoked just by charging. One pc can be smoked for a month. It is cost-effective and has various fruit flavors. It is easier to smoke than ordinary cigarettes and ordinary electronic cigarettes on the market. Out of curiosity, Mr. Yuan Cinema spent 99 yuan to buy a lemon-flavored “Cola can”.
Mr. Yuan only discovered after returning home that this e-cigarette may be a “three-no” product. “The outer packaging is particularly simple, there is no manufacturer or production standard, and the accompanying instruction manual only has traditional Chinese.” After a while, Mr. Yuan found out thathref=”https://comicmov.com/”>Cinema, although this fruit-flavored e-cigarette does not have the tar smell of ordinary cigarettes, it tastes sweeter when you smoke, but if you smoke too much, you will feel your throat hurt. “I didn’t dare to smoke this type of e-cigarette again later.”
Recently, the reporter came to Cinema for an on-site interview. As soon as he entered the door, he saw a large number of colorful small bottles placed in front of the cash register at the door. After seeing the reporter observing these small bottles, the shop owner immediately took out one and handed it over and said, “Disposable electronic cigarettes, fruity and soda, not irritating, many young people buy them.”
The disposable electronic cigarettes mentioned by the shop owner range from 89 yuan to 99 yuan. One of them is called “Rabbit Milk Tea Cup”. It looks like a mini water cup with straw. The packaging also has a cartoon rabbit pattern printed on it. It is divided into multiple colors. Different colors correspond to different flavors, including kiwi fruit, black currant, sensation cola, etc. In addition, there are many replacement core atomizer bombs for certain electronic cigarettes next to them, and there are also many flavors, such as Peach Duoduo, Yuanqi Strawberry, Bingpo Mint, etc.
The reporter spent 99 yuan to buy one of the “Ruba Milk Tea Cups” with green flavor. Although there is a brand name on the outer packaging of this product, there is no information such as the production batch number, manufacturer, and user statement. Only simple information shows that the e-liquid capacity of the product is 15 ml and the nicotine content is 30 mg per ml.
When the reporter asked the store owner about the specific usage, the reply he received was “You can directly charge with your own data cable, and you can draw it by charging, and you can draw about 6,000 pips.” When introducing the products, the store owner said many times that this kind of fruity e-cigarette “is all young people come to buy, and they buy several flavors at a time, and there are many student parties among them.”
It is understood that “three-no” e-cigarettes such as “Cola Can” have appeared quietly in the market recently and have quickly become popular among young people.
Ms Duan from Nanjing, Jiangsu often saw that young people carried exquisitely styling e-cigarettes with them. She felt that it was cool to take them out and take a sip, so she asked a friend to buy a fruit-flavored e-cigarette called “Milk Tea Cup”.
“I simply think it looks good, it’s fun to smoke, and think that the fruity smell should not be harmful. This is different from the ordinary electronic cigarettes bought by the counter. It tastes really fragrant when you smoke, but you can’t smoke too much a day. If you smoke a dozen sips, you feel like your throat is being held back.” Ms. Duan said that the audience of this electronic cigarette is mainly young people, and many “post-00s” around you are smoking.
Recently, a test with 20 million followersThe blogger posted a video on the short video platform introducing the harm of fruit-flavored e-cigarettes, but in the comments, many netizens left messages saying “I want to buy”, “Is there any sold”, “Who is young people smoking cigarettes”, which shows the popularity of this fruit-flavored e-cigarette.
Related news reports show that many shops around primary and secondary schools sell fruity electronic cigarettes to students. Some netizens commented, “I am only in the sixth grade, and there are people in the class who have smoked them. The teacher has been busy asking parents to ‘drink teaKomiks‘” “I am now in the second year of junior high school, and there are indeed many people around me.”
Under the ban, a hidden sales platform set up exclusive super talk
The reporter recently found that there are a large number of “three-no” e-cigarette sales in offline physical stores, online e-commerce platforms and social software Komiks.
On some e-commerce platforms, when searching for the keyword “e-cigarette”, the “Green Net Plan” page will pop up directly, showing that according to relevant laws and regulations, no citizen, legal person or other organization shall sell tobacco monopoly products through the information network, and shall not publish information on promoting and selling e-cigarettes. The platform further stipulates that the release of e-cigarettes and related products is prohibited, such as e-cigarette sets, atomizers, e-liquids, cigarette cartridges, oil filling tools or services, heating cigarettes, etc.
Therefore, when searching keywords such as “fruit-flavored electronic cigarettes” and “e-liquid” on relevant platforms, no search results were found.
However, the “three-no” e-cigarettes did not completely disappear on e-commerce platforms, but continued to exist in another more hidden form. After searching with keywords such as “atomizing oil”, “atomizer”, and “Internet celebrity milk tea bottle”, the reporter immediately popped up similar products of “three-no” electronic cigarettes on the market, and even Cinema electronic cigarette fruit-flavored beads, fruit-flavored filters and other peripheral products.
The products searched from hidden keywords are mostly fruity supplements for electronic cigarettes, and the introduction on the product details page is even more vague. For example, a certain product name is “Fruit Flavored Atomized Oil Herbal Aromatherapy Special Replenishment Liquid Oil Electronic High Concentration Steam Essential Oil”, with monthly sales reaching more than 400, a supplementary liquid of 30 ml, 55 yuan. Consult customer service before placing an order and you can get a gift from the oil injector.
Sellers of such products are particularly cautious. When the reporter mentions words such as “smoke”, “milk tea cup” in the chat box, the customer service will be in place.He asked “please withdraw the message” and then said that he was selling “aromatherapy”. In addition, other stores also call supplement liquids “perfume” and “edible oil”.
In addition to selling goods on e-commerce platforms, many “three-no” e-cigarette sales places have been transferred to a more hidden social platform. On a social platform, there is even a “milk tea cup” exclusive super topic. The topics are all purchase, sales, and transaction information. Most sellers say, “If you want to add a private chat account and chat privately, you can send and express delivery in the same city.”
The reporter added the chat accounts of several of the sellers and learned that they sold both complete e-cigarettes and supplement liquids, “Cola cans”, “milk tea cups”, and “Cute Tiger Cups”. Some even claimed that “manufacturer shipped directly”, with prices ranging from 55 yuan to 168 yuan.
In the online market, the price of this type of e-cigarette is huge. The same “Cute Tiger Cup” is 168 yuan in the hands of one seller, while the price is only 58 yuan in the hands of another seller. Surprisingly, from the information on one of the sellers’ circle of friends, she is also a sophomore in high school and is a minor. During the chat, she told reporters: “It’s so cool for all her peers to smoke.”
However, in the opinion of the experts interviewed, these “three-no” e-cigarettes exist in large quantities, and even extend their tentacles to minors, which not only disrupts the tobacco market, but also causes various negative effects.
Zhu Jie, senior partner of Taihetai (Chongqing) Law Firm, believes that this type of “three-no” e-cigarette attracts teenagers to buy through unique packaging and unique tastes. Due to the lack of discernment, teenagers are often passively on the road of smoking. In the end, it will not only affect personal health, but also harm education and social order.
Hidden in the dark and crack down on it is difficult to strengthen supervision is imperative
The “Mandatory National Standard for Electronic Cigarettes” officially implemented on October 1, 2022 stipulates that e-cigarette cartridges are prohibited from selling other flavors except tobacco. The Measures for the Administration of Electronic Cigarettes also clearly stipulate that no individual, legal person, or other organization shall pass the information network other than the Cinema electronic cigarette transaction management platform stipulated in these MeasuresSelling electronic cigarette products online; selling electronic cigarettes to minors is prohibited.
However, under multiple bans, why can “three-no” e-cigarettes still be easily purchased?
Zhu Jie said that with the introduction of the national standard for e-cigarettes, national standard e-cigarettes can only sell tobacco flavors, while “three-no” e-cigarettes have various fruit flavors and are more easily accepted by consumers. In May 2022, the “2021 China Middle School Students and College Students’ Tobacco Epidemic Monitoring Results” released by the Tobacco Control Office of the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention showed that the proportion of middle school students who used e-cigarettes in 2021 was 16.1%, of which the proportion of fruit flavors used accounted for 63.8%. Among the preferences of Komiks consumers in 2021, 60.9% of consumers have rich preferences for fruits, food and other flavors.
Wu Di, a lecturer at the School of Liberal Arts, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, believes that this type of e-cigarette is highly attractive to young consumers, especially minors. Its appearance design is very cute, the packaging is like snacks or toys, and it has a variety of novel flavors, which is very attractive to children. Teenagers are in the stage of quickly exploring and learning things around them, and are highly curious about emerging things. Compared with traditional tobacco, e-cigarettes are more in line with the psychological characteristics of teenagers because of their novel appearance design and different taste styles.
“After the issuance of the “Electronic Cigarette Management Measures”, due to the explicit prohibition on the sale of seasoned e-cigarettes other than tobacco flavors and e-cigarettes that can add atomizers by themselves, some teenagers have chosen these ‘three-no’ products as new ‘toys’ and continue to choose their favorite flavors.” Wu Di said. Zhu Jie also mentioned that the cost of “three-no” e-cigarettes is much lower than that of national standard e-cigarettes in terms of research and development, taxation, labor, etc., so they are cheaper and have a large profit margin. Therefore, consumers are more willing to choose, and merchants are more profitable. At the same time, since this type of “three-no” e-cigarette is mostly operated in small workshops, with low investment in capital and technology and hidden in the dark, it is difficult for relevant departments to crack down on it.
Zhu Jie suggested that relevant departments strengthen supervision, start from both production and sales, and take a two-pronged approach. Relevant regulatory departments trace the root cause to find illegal manufacturers and crack down on them; public security departments and market supervision departments should conduct inspections in concentrated places such as bars and schools, and promptly discover and deal with the “three-no” electronic cigarette sales terminals. At the same time, a reporting reward mechanism will be established to turn supervision into group prevention and control, and to improve the efficiency of supervision.
Wu Di believes that the responsibility of the online platform should be further strengthened, and technical means should be adopted to review and screen some conjunctions that may involve “three-no” e-cigarettes, such as “atomized oilKomiks, and strictly check whether the platform merchants have “blind-box operations” and other behaviors. Social platforms should conduct more stringent investigations on information involving Komiks e-cigarettes and their conjunctions. Violent accounts that are sold in electronic cigarettes should be blocked in a timely manner, and necessary restrictive measures should be taken for suspicious accounts to protect the healthy growth of minors. “We must focus on strengthening the main management responsibilities of e-commerce platforms and social platforms, and conduct strict inspections. The express delivery process must adhere to the real-name system, strictly inspect the parcel items, and not provide convenience for illegally sending ‘three-no’ e-cigarettes.” Wu Di said.
Zhu Jie also called on schools and parents to jointly shoulder educational responsibilities. Schools should strengthen publicity and education on legal knowledge and health knowledge for young people, so that young people can understand the harm of tobacco, correctly guide young people to stay away from tobacco, and schools should promptly guide and stop bad campus habits. Parents should also strengthen education and management to avoid teenagers from going to occasions where they are prone to exposure to tobacco.
Source | Editor of the Rule of Law Daily | Zheng Zongmin