“Fulu Easter Egg, strongly recommend Babaylan Recommended! Mint white peach green flavor is fully lit up”, “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 the “Babaylan” and other flavored e-cigarettes except tobacco flavors. At the same time, selling e-cigarettes to minors is also prohibited. However, this type of “three-no” e-cigarette has a unique shape and variety of flavors, which not only attracts a large number of young people, but also gradually attracts many minors to “enter the Babaylan 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 the concealment of transaction methods and the lack of supervision. Corresponding measures are urgently needed to be regulated.
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 owner, disposable electronic cigarettes can be smokedIt can be smoked at about 6,000 pcs 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 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, and there is no manufacturer or production standard. The attached manual only has traditional Chinese.”
After smoking for a while, Mr. Yuan found that although this fruit-flavored e-cigarette does not have the tar smell of ordinary cigarettes, it tastes sweet when smoking, but if you smoke too much, you will feel your throat hurts. “I didn’t dare to smoke this type of e-cigarette again later.”
Recently, the reporter came to the above-mentioned tobacco hotel 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 also many substitute Komiks for a certain electronic cigarette next to Cinema, 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 green-flavored “Ruba Milk Tea Cups”. Although there is a brand name on the outer packaging of this product, there is no information on the production batch number, manufacturer, instructions for use, etc., and 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 product, the store owner said many times that this kind of fruity e-cigarette “is all young people come to buy Komiks, and buy several flavors at a time to change them, including many student parties.”
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.
Duan from Nanjing, JiangsuWhen women were shopping, they often saw young people carrying e-cigarettes with exquisite shapes. She felt that it was cool to take them out and take a sip, so she specially 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 review blogger with 20 million fans posted a video on a short video platform introducing the harm of fruit-flavored e-cigarettes. However, in the comments, many netizens left messages saying “I want to buy”, “Is there any sold”, “Who young people smoke cigarettes?” This 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 smoke. The teacher has been busy asking parents to ‘drink tea’ recently.” “I am now in the second year of junior high school, and there are indeed many people smoking around me.”
Under the ban, a hidden sales platform sets 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.
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 his organization shall not sell tobacco monopoly products through information networks, nor shall it 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 injection 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 peripheral products such as e-cigarette fruit-flavored beads and fruit-flavored filters.
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 Atomized 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, and you can get it by consulting customer service before placing an orderGet a gift from a gas injector.
Sellers of this type of product are particularly cautious. When the reporter mentioned words such as “smoke”, “milk tea cup” in the chat box, the customer service immediately asked “please withdraw the message” and then said that they were selling “aromatherapy”. In addition, other stores also call supplement liquids “perfume” and “edible oil”.
In addition to the situation of Komiks “code language” sellers on e-commerce platforms, many “three-no” e-cigarette sales places have been transferred to more hidden social platforms. On a social platform, there is even a “milk tea cup” exclusive super topic. The topics are all purchase, sale, and transaction information. Most sellers say, “If you want to add a private chat account to 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 5Komiks8 yuan in the hands of another seller. Surprisingly, from the information on one of the sellers’ circle of friends, she is also a sophomore high school student and is a minor herself. 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 sales market, but also causes a variety of negative impacts. Zhu Jie, senior partner of Taihetai (Chongqing) Law Firm, believes that this type of “three-no” e-cigarette attracts teenagers to buy through its unique packaging and unique taste. 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
It will be officially implemented on October 1, 2022The “Mandatory National Standard for Electronic Cigarettes” stipulates that electronic cigarette cartridges are prohibited from selling other flavors other than tobacco. The “Electronic Cigarette Management Measures” also clearly stipulates that no individual, legal person or other organization shall sell electronic cigarette products through information networks other than the electronic cigarette transaction management platform stipulated in these Measures; it is prohibited to sell electronic cigarettes to minors. However, under multiple bans, why are the “three-noBabaylan” electronic cigarettes still easy to buy?
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 Chinese 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 in 2021, the proportion of middle school students using Cinema over e-cigarettes was 16.1%, of which the proportion of fruit flavors used was 63.8%. Among the preferences of Chinese e-cigarette consumers in 2021, 60.9% of consumers prefer other flavors such as fruits, foods, etc.
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, with packaging like snacks or toys, and it has many novel flavors, which are very attractive to children. Teenagers are in the stage of quickly exploring and learning about 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 release of the “Electronic Cigarette Management Measures”, due to the explicit prohibition on the sale of Cinema flavored e-cigarettes and e-cigarettes that can add atomizers on their own, 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 far 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” electronic cigarette is mostly operated in small workshops, the funds, low investment in technology and hidden in the dark, making it 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 Cinema 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 supervision efficiency. Wu Di believes that the responsibility of the online platform should be further strengthened, and technical means should be taken to review and screen some conjunctions that may involve “three-no” e-cigarettes, such as “atomized oil”, and strictly check whether the platform merchants have “blind-box operations” and other behaviors. Social platforms should conduct more stringent investigations on information involving e-cigarettes and their conjunctions, and should promptly block the illegal accounts of sales of electronic cigarettes, and take necessary restrictive measures 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 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 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