Health experts slam vaping free-for-all
● Johannesburg schoolgirl Ashley Jade (not her real name) has no qualms about puffing a nicotine-free e-cigarette, which she believes is safer than tobacco.
The 17-year-old has her parents’ blessing to vape with friends, but after the death of several young vapers in the US, health experts say she is risking her life.
Legislation to regulate e-cigarettes — the Control of Tobacco Products and Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems Bill — is in the pipeline, but anti-smoking activists say it appears to have made no progress since a draft was issued last year.
The health department said the bill still needed to go through state law advisers and the cabinet. In the meantime, said the National Council Against Smoking, e-cigarettes were unregulated and shops selling them were proliferating.
“There is plenty of evidence already to show that e-cigarettes are harmful to the respiratory system, cardiovascular system and other parts of the body,” said the council’s Savera Kalideen. “With these lung-related deaths [in the US], we are seeing new levels of harm.”
India banned the sale, production and advertising of e-cigarettes this month, and the Cancer Association of SA has urged the government to speed up implementation of the bill. “Lives are at stake,” said spokesperson Lorraine Govender.
Associate professor Anthony Westwood, of the University of Cape Town’s child and adolescent health department, said there was no evidence that people were eschewing conventional cigarettes for vaping.
“Widespread use of e-cigarettes and vaping is likely to renormalise smoking in the eyes of children, reversing years of progress in cultural change regarding the non-acceptability of smoking in any form,” he said.
Johnny Moloto, head of external affairs at British American Tobacco Southern Africa, said the cannabis psychoactive tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and vitamin E acetate had been linked to most deaths in the US.
The key to safe vaping was to use reputable products, he said. “These case highlight the importance of effective regulation and enforcement to ensure product safety.”