PUBLISHED : 15 Feb 2024 at 04:00
Authorities are pushing for stricter policies to control the spread of electronic cigarettes after the number of smokers increased tenfold in recent years.
The National Health Commission Office (NHCO) recently held a meeting on raising awareness and enforcing laws as part of its plan to develop policies on e-cigarette control, with the chairman of the committee on the development of public policies for curbing e-cigarettes, Suwanna Ruangkanchanasetr, presiding.
Dr Suwanna said authorities need to work together to develop a plan to raise awareness of e-cigarettes’ danger among the public as many people still have a misunderstanding about the dangers of such cigarettes.
Dr Suwanna said the number of e-cigarette smokers has surged dramatically, with the number of smokers aged over 15 rising from 78,000 in 2021 to 700,000 in 2022, a 10-fold increase.
The portion of student smokers aged between 13 and 15 grew as well, increasing from 8.1% to 17.6% over the same timeframe.
Dr Suwanna added that e-cigarettes are increasingly replacing traditional cigarettes amid claims they are safer than the traditional ones. However, academic research has proven such claims wrong.
The secretary of the committee, Vasin Pipattanachat, said e-cigarettes practically have the same legal status as drugs because import, sale and possession of both types of items are banned.
He emphasised the need to build awareness of the legal aspect of the matter and develop related policies to discourage their use.
The proposed policies discussed in the meeting include integrating knowledge of e-cigarettes into the education system, distributing information about their danger, tracking content which promotes e-cigarette smoking in the media, proactive restrictions on sales, keeping bans on imports, and bringing legal action against vendors.