Usually presented as a preferable alternative to cigarettes, vaping today raises many questions. Particularly in the United States, where more and more voices are raised against the success of flavored electronic cigarettes among young people, including minors. Seven deaths, which seem to be linked to these new practices, increase the pressure on the authorities.
Measures to protect young people
The doubts surrounding vaping primarily concern teens, targeted by the aggressive, and creative, marketing of the manufacturers. It is by noting the ” impressive rise Of this use among young people, with the risk of nicotine addiction, which the city of San Francisco had, the first, banned the sale of electronic cigarettes in June.
Two weeks after a similar vote in Michigan, the New York State Board of Public Health and Health Planning, convened at the request of Governor Andrew Cuomo, voted Tuesday, September 17, to ban flavored electronic cigarettes. , two weeks after a similar vote in Michigan.
« We are taking public health action and helping prevent countless young people from acquiring a lifelong, costly, unhealthy and potentially fatal addiction ”, welcomed the governor. According to figures from his state’s health department, nearly 40% of senior high school students vape, even though electronic cigarettes are prohibited for sale under the age of 18.
A mysterious illness linked to vaping
Since this summer, vaping has been singled out in the United States for its success with young people. The government of Donald Trump is also considering a federal ban on the marketing of flavored electronic cigarettes, to thwart their growing success in American colleges and high schools.
But the rehabilitation of nicotine, thanks to vaping, is not the only cause of this growing mobilization. Authorities, locally and nationally, are being urged to act as they face what now looks like a health crisis: more than 380 people have recently had serious lung problems after vaping and seven have died from it, according to the report. the latest figures from the Center for Disease Control (CDC).
The sick cough, get out of breath, can no longer breathe. Many are hospitalized in intensive care and connected to artificial respirators. Healthy young people have found themselves in artificial comas, without knowing, for the moment, the component at the origin of these pulmonary problems.
Outright ban in India
What takes on the appearance of awareness is also at work in Asia. Already banned in Singapore since 2018, electronic cigarettes will soon disappear from shelves in India: the government of New Delhi announced Wednesday, September 18 the ban on their sale in the name of health imperatives and the fight against addictions.
“The decision was taken with in mind the impact electronic cigarettes have on today’s youth., said Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman at a press conference. It has become very fashionable to try them on, to use them. “
An ordinance passed by the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi bans the production, import or export, transport, storage and sale of electronic cigarettes. A first offense is punishable by one year in prison and / or 100,000 rupees (1,270 €) fine, up to 3 years and / or 500,000 rupees (6,300 €) in the event of a repeat offense.
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