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Vaping may soon be anything but banned in Hong Kong.
According to a change in the law at first reading in the Legislative Council next Wednesday, anyone who imports, manufactures, sells or promotes new products for smoking, including electronic cigarettes, could be sentenced to six months' imprisonment or a fine of HK $ 50,000 (US $ 6,370). ).
It will still be legal for the 5,700 Hong Kong people who, according to a 2017 government poll, to vape daily, to use the products, even if their offer will be completely declared illegal.
The research we currently have is not enough to draw conclusions, but what we do know is that the chemicals in electronic cigarettes are carcinogenic.
Dr. William Li, HKU
This figure was a big change from 2015, when there were not many daily users of electronic cigarettes. And with soaring popularity of products worldwide, more and more studies and reports are outlining their advantages and disadvantages.
A recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that e-cigarettes are almost twice as effective encourage people to quit smoking than nicotine substitutes such as chewing gum or patches.
Other studies have reached the same conclusion. But doctors say any serious claims about the safety of electronic cigarettes would be premature.
"They're too new," says Dr. William Li Ho-cheung, who leads the HKU School of Nursing's smoking cessation team.
"Traditional tobacco products have been around for more than a century, and researchers have had the time to study them and conclude that they are bad for you. The research we currently have is not enough to draw conclusions, but what we do know is that the chemicals in electronic cigarettes are carcinogenic. "
Specifically, electronic cigarette liquids typically contain propylene glycol, which, when heated, is known to produce formaldehyde, a carcinogen.
In addition to carcinogenic substances, a recent study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine showed that daily users of electronic cigarettes were almost twice as likely to have a heart attack than those who had never been dumped.
And at the end of January, a 24-year-old Texan died after the explosion of his vaporizer pen.
But the former smoker, Peyton Chan, says, from his own experience, that e-cigarettes can help people struggling to stop smoking.
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The 39-year-old, who became a regular smoker after joining the financial sector almost 20 years ago, remembers: "I smoked to relieve stress and stay awake when I felt tired. Smoking also gave me the opportunity to interact informally with my bosses and colleagues. "
One day, Chan tried to quit smoking. He said that he did not find it pleasant and that the smell bothered him. But giving up was not easy.
"I lost count of the number of times I tried to quit and took it back," he says.
Chan tried to fight his cravings by exercising, but avoiding nicotine replacement products such as patches and chewing gums.
"Like many smokers, I badociate smoking with something, like social drinking. It's like wanting a dessert even after a big meal, "he says. "Even though you can address the biochemical aspect of addiction, it's hard to tackle the psychological aspects."
Then, about two years ago, a friend introduced him to his first electronic cigarette. Chan admits that his first puff left him disappointed, but he realized that it was enough.
According to Chan, in addition to being free of tar and available in many flavors, electronic cigarettes are ideal for people trying to quit.
If the ultimate goal of the smoker is to regain health, he should quit all smoker products, old and new.
Helen Chan, Integrated Hospital Center Tung Wah Hospital Group on Smoking Cessation
"With cigarettes, you feel the need to finish them," he says. "But with vaping, you can only take one puff, or more if you wish."
After a few months of vaping, Chan lost his desire for cigarettes. He says that he has not been smoking cigarettes for almost a year and that he has even rarely been vaping.
According to Helen Chan Ching-han, director of the Integrated Tobacco Control Center in the Tung Wah hospital group, vaping can be at the root of an addiction, citing an increase in the number of people getting help for electronic cigarette addiction since 2017.
From April to December of last year, 133 people asked for help to fight drug addiction, accounting for about 5% of cases during this period. More than half of them were people between the ages of 20 and 40 who smoked cigarettes and vaporized themselves.
"Most of them first smoked cigarettes," she says. "We think that they then switched to e-cigarettes because they thought it was a healthier option, but they ended up being hooked anyway."
But among teenagers, the situation seems to be the opposite. In a recent survey of about 41,000 local students between the ages of 11 and 18, researchers at HKU found that youth may be using electronic cigarettes as bridges to conventional cigarettes.
Dr. Daniel Ho Sai-yin, one of the researchers at the School of Public Health at the University of Hong Kong, said, "Most students know that smoking is bad. They may want to try electronic cigarettes first, give them the confidence to smoke regular cigarettes later.
Students who have continued to smoke have both become more addicted to nicotine, he added, with the feeling that they had to use drugs in the morning.
According to Li, young people may even use conventional cigarettes for the success that e-cigarettes can not provide.
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Under Hong Kong law, nicotine-containing electronic cigarettes, an addictive substance, must be registered with the Pharmacy and Poisons Board prior to sale or distribution.
Helen Chan suspects that many of the electronic cigarettes on sale contain nicotine, and the varying levels of nicotine in the liquids of the electronic cigarette are one of the reasons that She thinks that e-cigarettes are not an effective way to help smokers get rid of this habit.
Citing the recommendations of the World Health Organization and the US Food and Drug Administration, she says, "There is no scientific evidence that e-cigarettes can help people quit smoking. But the nicotine patches, for example, are dosed at different doses, which can be administered over a period of eight to twelve weeks. "
Nicotine patches and gums are available in pharmacies in Hong Kong, but they can cost more than electronic cigarettes. A week of patches can cost over HK $ 320 and three dozen chewing gums cost more than HK $ 170.
At the same time, vaping products found in fashionable shopping malls in Mong Kok and Causeway Bay cost between HK $ 100 and HK $ 500.
According to medical experts, smokers who wish to quit smoking should use the drop-off services provided by organizations such as the HKU School of Nursing and the Tung Wah Hospital Group instead of going from smoking to smoking. choking.
"Through counseling, we address the psychological dependence of our clients and, through medical intervention and therapy, we help patients wean themselves off nicotine," says Dr. Raymond Ho Kin-sang, MD smoking cessation of the Tung Wah group.
Helen Chan, who works at the center, adds, "If the smoker's ultimate goal is to get healthy, he or she must quit, whether old or new. We hope that smokers realize that there are other ways than smoking electronic cigarettes to quit, and we provide free help. "
And even if vaping keeps people away from smoking, experts warn that it could do more harm than good if they were not controlled.
Daniel Ho said that while the government continued to discourage smoking through taxes and warnings, new smoking products should not be allowed on the market.
"Ultimately, all tobacco products should also be banned, but it will be a slower process because once we discovered the dangers of cigarette smoke, they became very popular," he says. "The government could not ban them overnight."
This echoes what the government said about the ban. Assistant Secretary for Food and Health Amy Yuen Wai-yin said this week that officials hope to end the habit.
Li agrees and said, "If we let e-cigarettes become mainstream products, the number of people who adopt this habit will be far greater than the number of people who can use e-cigarettes for their own sake." to rid of it. It's just not worth it. "
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