The Health Promotion Administration (HPA) expressed concern over the rising use of e-cigarettes among adolescents, as a survey last year showed that 80.9 percent of e-liquids contained nicotine and some also contained harmful or potentially harmful ingredients.
E-cigarettes pose potential health risks, but they are often marketed in various forms or names and claim to have health benefits, such as vitamin aromatherapy sticks and food flavor e-juices, and have rapidly attracted many children and adolescents to try them out, the agency said.
According to the US’ National Youth Tobacco Survey last year, e-cigarette use among adolescents increased drastically between 2017 and last year: The rate jumped from 3.3 percent to 4.9 percent among middle-school students, and from 11.7 percent to 20.8 percent among high-school students, the agency said.
E-cigarettes have become the most commonly used tobacco product among US adolescents, it added.
A similar trend can be observed in Taiwan, with a survey conducted by the agency last year showing that e-cigarette usage reached 1.9 percent among middle-school students and 3.4 percent among high-school students — both of which were higher than the 0.6 percent usage rate among adults, it said.
Moreover, the rates of middle-school and high-school students smoking both e-cigarettes and traditional cigarettes were higher at 0.8 percent and 1.9 percent respectively, compared with 0.5 percent in adults, it added.
Just as the increase in e-cigarette use among young people can be seen in some countries where such products can only be sold to adults, its usage rate among young people has also surpassed that among adults in Taiwan, although the nation does not allow sales of e-cigarette and heated tobacco products.
An inspection conducted by the Food and Drug Administration on 1,102 e-liquids last year showed that 80.9 percent contained nicotine, which should be controlled and registered as medicine according to regulations.
Unapproved manufacturing or import of such products can constitute a breach of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act (藥事法), associated with making or importing counterfeit or illegal drugs, it added.
Citing an information sheet by the WHO’s Tobacco Free Initiative saying that “all forms of tobacco use are harmful, including heated tobacco products,” the agency said they contain the highly addictive substance nicotine, harmful and potentially harmful additives, and even carcinogenic compounds.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare has launch an interdepartmental initiative to enhance e-cigarette prevention, it said, adding that the ministry encourages people to report illegal sales of e-cigarettes.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS