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Thailand Sees Increase in Youth Aged 15-24 Vaping Despite e-Cigarette Ban
Thailand’s Health Minister has affirmed the governments stance against vaping, emphasizing that e-cigarettes are affecting people’s health, of whom more than half are youth.
During a national conference on cigarettes and public health held yesterday in Bangkok, Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul stressed the importance of continuing to ban e-cigarette imports to protect Thailand’s youth.
According to the National Statistics Office of Thailand, there are more than half a million e-cigarette smokers in Thailand aged 15-24.
Mr Anutin noted that vaping has created new smokers, especially young people, while increasing numbers of international studies have found that smoking e-cigarettes harms the brains of youngsters.
He said Thailand has learned from the experiences of other countries in dealing with vaping problems and that banning the import of e-cigarettes is currently the most effective method of controlling vaping.
The government will continue to crack down on the smuggling of e-cigarettes into the country to reduce black market access to the products.
Vaping Related Illness
According to Asst Prof Dr Vijj Kasemsap, director of the Tobacco Control Research and Knowledge Management Centre(TRC), 6,971 international studies published between 2014 and 2021 have linked vaping with respiratory, heart and blood vessel, oral and dental diseases, brain, liver and skin diseases.
Dr Vijj said the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that nicotine in e-cigarettes is harmful to all systems in the human body because it causes blood vessels to contract and obstruct blood flow, adding that e-cigarettes also contain toxic chemical compounds.
According to the American Heart Association, smoking cigarettes is associated with 1.8 times higher risk of ischemic heart disease, 49% higher risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and 39% higher risk of asthma.
Vapour containing nicotine can affect the brain of an unborn baby, directly or indirectly, and can result in several health problems, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and low birth weight.
Dr Vijj said vaping by youth during this period decreases brain development by three to four times the normal rate.
Dr. Sarper Taskiran, a child and adolescent psychiatrist who is trained to diagnose, treat and prevent psychiatric disorders at the Child Mind Institute, attributes the recent rise in youth vaping to packaging and advertising.
Youth Attracted to Branding of e-cigarettes
According to him, teens are attracted to sleek designs and ease of use as well as innovation. “They look like Apple products.”
Although vaping and e-cigarette companies emphatically deny that they are marketing to young people, critics point out features in their advertisements such as youthful images and colors, animation, actors who appear to be under 21, and suggestions that vaping makes you happier and improves your social status, among others.
Teenagers hear that vaping isn’t as bad for their health as smoking cigarettes, and many think it’s not harmful. According to Taskiran, the youth believe that they are inhaling a pleasant gas because of the flavors.
Dr Taskiran said due to their small size and minimal odor, e-cigarettes are easy to conceal and even use discreetly in public places, such as schools. Additionally, kids are vaping marijuana at an increasing rate, which poses its own health risks.
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