“Fulu Big Easter Egg, highly recommended! Mint white peach green brings out the taste of full”, “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 Cinema does not have a 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 seasoned e-cigarettes except for the tobacco flavor. At the same time, selling e-cigarettes to minors is also prohibited. However, this type of “three-no” e-cigarette has not only attracted a large number of young people with unique shapes and varied flavors, but also gradually attracted many minors to “enter the circle”.
The experts interviewed believe that the flood of “three-no” e-cigarettes will cause many harms, disrupt the tobacco market order 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 to attract young people
“A while ago, I wanted to buy ordinary cigarettes, but after entering the store, the boss enthusiastically recommended a disposable electronic cigarette to me, saying that Komiks is called ‘Coke Cans’, which has many flavors and is sweet in taste, and all 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 smoke about 6,000 pcsRight, you can smoke it by charging, one can smoke for a month, it is cost-effective and has various fruit flavors, which are easier to smoke than ordinary cigarettes and ordinary electronic cigarettes on the market. Out of curiosity, Mr. Yuan Babaylan 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 outsourcingBabaylan is particularly simple in the installation, and there is no manufacturer or production standard. The accompanying usage is only traditional Chinese in the Ming Shu.” 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 hurt. “I didn’t dare to smoke this type of e-cigarette again.”
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, “Komiks 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, which also come in various 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 such as production batch number, manufacturer, and instruction for use. Only simple information shows that the e-liquid capacity of the product is 15 ml and the nicotine content is 30 milligrams per milliliter.
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 bought by young people, and they bought several flavors at a time and changed them to smoke, 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.
Ms Duan from Nanjing, Jiangsu often saw that a young man carried an e-cigarette with exquisite shapes with him. She felt that it was cool to take it out like this, so she specially asked a friend to buy a fruit-flavored electric cigarette called “Milk Tea Cup”.
“I simply think it looks good, it’s fun to smoke, and think that the fruity smell should not harm it. 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, you feel like your throat is being held back.” Ms. Duan said that the audience of this kind of electronic cigarette is mainly young people. 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 e-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 other organization shall sell tobacco monopoly products through information networks, and shall not publish information on promoting and selling e-cigarettes. The platform further stipulates that the release of electronic cigarettes and related products is prohibited, such as electronic cigarette sets, atomizers, e-liquids, cigarette cartridges, and oil injection tools.f=”https://comicmov.com/”>Babaylan or service, 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 OilBabaylan Herbal Aroma Atomized Special Replenishment Liquid Oil ElectronicsCinema 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 to get a gift from the oil injector.
Sellers of such products 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 selling goods 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, 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 found out that they sold both complete e-cigarettes and supplement liquids, and all kinds of Internet celebrity products such as “ColaCinema 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 of Komiks, the price of this type of e-cigarette varies greatly. The same “Cute Tiger Cup” costs 168 yuan in the hands of one seller, while the price of another seller is only 58 yuan. 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 the peers around her 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.
It is imperative to hide in the dark to crack down on it and strengthen supervision
The “Mandatory National Standard for Electronic Cigarettes” officially implemented on October 1, 2022 stipulates that electronic cigarette cartridges are prohibited from selling other flavors except 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 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 63.8% of them used fruit flavors. 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, 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 about things around them, and are highly curious about emerging things. Compared with traditional tobacco, e-cigarettes Babaylan 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 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, due to this kind of “three no”KomiksE-cigarettes are mostly small workshop-style operations, with low investment in funds and technology and hidden in the dark, so it is difficult for relevant departments to crack down on them.
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 source and find illegal manufacturers and rectify and crack down on them; public security departments and market supervision departments should patrol in the concentrated occasions of “three-no” electronic cigarettes such as bars and schools, and promptly discover and deal with “three-no” electronic cigarette sales terminals. At the same time, a reporting reward mechanism is established to turn supervision into group prevention and control, and improve supervision efficiency.
Wu Di believes that the responsibility of the network platform should be further strengthened, and technical means should be adopted to introduce some related words that may involve “three-no” electronic cigarettes, such as “atomized oil”, etc. href=”https://comicmov.com/”>Cinema conducts review and screening, and strictly checks whether platform merchants have “blind-box operations” and other behaviors. Social platforms should conduct more stringent investigations on information involving e-cigarettes and their conjunctions. Violent accounts that sell e-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.
“It is necessary to focus on strengthening the main management responsibilities of e-commerce platforms and social platforms, and conduct strict investigations. 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’ electronic cigarettes. “Wu Di said. Zhu Jie also called on schools and parents to jointly shoulder the 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, and correctly guide young people to stay away from tobacco. For bad campuses, schools should promptly guide and prevent them from being exposed to tobacco. Parents should also strengthen education and management to avoid young people from going to occasions where they are prone to tobacco. Source | Editor of the Rule of Law Daily | Zheng Zongmin