According to a policy address delivered today by Hong Kong's chief executive, Cheng Yuee Lam of @ observer.com, the sale of e-cigarettes and other new tobacco products will be banned. This is an unexpected change as the Hong Kong government has been advocating to restrict the sale of e-cigarettes to minors only. "In my policy address, I proposed a comprehensive ban on e-cigarettes to protect the health of the public, especially children and adolescents," she said. '
"In my policy address, I proposed a comprehensive ban on e-cigarettes to protect the health of the public, especially children and adolescents," she said. '
E-cigarettes are often marketed as a way to help smokers quit smoking by providing non combustible nicotine, such as steam free of harmful tar or carbon monoxide. But the World Health Organization (who) has questioned its effectiveness in quitting smoking, and there are concerns that the product will appeal to children.
With traditional cigarettes no longer popular and big tobacco companies investing in alternatives, Juul, an e-cigarette start-up, recently received a $15 billion valuation.
The Hong Kong smoking and Health Commission, which promotes tobacco control policies, said e-cigarettes could 'reshape smoking behaviour and become an entry point for young people to smoke'. The group said 37% of people in Hong Kong who have tried e-cigarettes are between 15 and 29 years old.
At present, Singapore, Thailand, Argentina and other countries have banned the sale of e-cigarettes. In countries such as France and Italy, sales of e-cigarettes are subject to minimum age requirements. What are the hazards of electronic smoke?
Electronic smoke can cause immunosuppression, fatal lung disease and cancer. Another group of research results previously published in the United States have more effectively revealed the harm of e-cigarettes:
1. Damage the immune system
By comparing the immune cells in the nose of e-cigarette users, traditional cigarette smokers and non-smokers, it was found that smoking e-cigarette could inhibit 358 immune genes in the nose, while 53 immune genes in the ordinary smokers were inhibited. That is to say, the harm of electronic cigarette is 7 times that of cigarette!
2. Cause cardiovascular disease
Since then, researchers have carried out research on the liquid smoke of e-cigarettes, and the results once again shocked the world:
Electronic smoke aerosol can also increase platelet aggregation, which may lead to microvascular thrombosis. It shows that electronic cigarette has no less harm than traditional cigarette in increasing cardiovascular system risk and causing heart attack!
3. Causes multiple cancers
Later, the researchers also found that the aerosols produced by the battery heating smoke also contain aldehydes, including formaldehyde, acetaldehyde and acrolein, which are harmful to cardiovascular system. This can lead to a variety of cancers, including lung cancer.
4. Cause fatal lung disease
Just as e-cigarettes have been confirmed step by step that the 'healthy aura' does not exist at all, another experiment has found that there is an additional fatal risk - bronchitis obliterans. This is a rare, fatal and irreversible obstructive pulmonary disease, which will gradually lead to lung failure.