Dear Ms. Dinh Thi Hai Yen, the tobacco industry is using many tricks to create 'fake appeal', especially targeting young people. So is the camouflage with eye-catching images and diverse flavors a deliberate act?
- Recent studies show that there is a decline in traditional cigarette sales. People also understand that cigarettes are harmful to health. Faced with the decline in sales, tobacco companies are not standing still but are looking for ways to maintain and develop products aimed at consumers.
Among them, the appearance of electronic cigarettes, which are advertised and marketed sophisticatedly to teenagers with eye-catching, "cool" shapes, like a fashion item. Besides, if traditional cigarettes have a bad smell, electronic cigarettes have many flavors; with more than 16,000 flavors such as chocolate, mint, strawberry, food... creating a false sense of security for the user's brain.
E-cigarettes are advertised as harm reduction or smoking cessation aids. However, e-cigarettes can be more addictive and quicker to use, which can lead to “double addiction” or nicotine addiction and a switch to smoking traditional cigarettes.
In addition, the tobacco industry circumvents the Advertising Law by promoting on unregulated platforms such as TikTok and Facebook. The repeated images on social media make it seem normal to use e-cigarettes. This can easily lead young people to want to try it or as a way to "express" themselves. Alarmingly, there is a risk of mixing synthetic drugs into e-cigarette solutions, turning this product into a hidden drug trafficking channel, which is extremely dangerous for young people.
Early exposure to e-cigarettes is leading to psychological and behavioral consequences. So does e-cigarette addiction have the potential to lead to other harmful behaviors, Master?
- The World Health Organization believes that the human brain will develop until the age of 25. Meanwhile, the age of starting to smoke is adolescence, this is the stage when the brain is not fully developed. Using electronic cigarettes at this stage will impact and affect the development of the brain. Many studies show that this is the beginning of nicotine addiction and addiction to other substances, especially drugs.
In my observation, for young people, in addition to psychological pressure, many also have anxiety disorders and the solution is that they use nicotine to overcome these disorders. When there is a lack of nicotine, anxiety disorders increase. Many studies have also shown the relationship between tobacco addiction and depression in users. More worryingly, currently, e-cigarettes mixed with synthetic drugs are a danger that needs to be controlled.
Dear Ms. Hai Yen, as a person working in communications, what communication solutions should be included in the ban on e-cigarettes so that the ban law can be effectively implemented?
- Currently, our country and more than 30 countries in the world have banned e-cigarettes. According to experts, this ban is necessary because e-cigarettes are very difficult to manage. Because they are sold in the form of electronic devices and solutions, e-cigarettes are not subject to the Law on Prevention of Tobacco Harms issued in 2013. In addition, the tobacco industry is constantly improving its products and synthetic chemicals, making management very difficult.
Even though there is a ban on e-cigarettes, we still need the media to understand why the government banned them, to see the toxicity of e-cigarettes, to expose the “false appeal”, to see that they are just advertising tricks of the tobacco industry. From there, consider whether to use this harmful product and voluntarily comply with the law. Only when people voluntarily comply will the ban be effective.
Where should parents and teachers start to help their children avoid e-cigarettes, sir?
- Parents and teachers need to help their children understand the nature of e-cigarettes, how the tobacco industry is approaching young people... When a situation arises, children will be sober enough to consider the harmful effects they face when smoking e-cigarettes. This is the time when they decide to use or not to use.
E-cigarettes are very cleverly disguised, so what measures does the health sector have to effectively communicate to the public, especially the young?
- The Ho Chi Minh City health sector has been and will continue other communication activities such as: direct and indirect communication, communication through infographics, leaflets... to each family, each citizen and persist with the message "there is no type of cigarette that is safe for health". From there, help people understand the harmful effects of cigarettes, e-cigarettes, understand why e-cigarettes are banned, voluntarily comply with the ban to together build a smoke-free environment.
Be a smart consumer, when using any product, you need to clearly understand the origin and harmful effects. The same goes for electronic cigarettes, when using electronic cigarettes, you also need to find out if it is really safe for your health or not?
Source: https://baophapluat.vn/thuoc-la-dien-tu-mon-phu-kien-cool-ngau-hay-cam-bay-suc-khoe-post550346.html
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