DOH, FDA asked to regulate production, sale of e-cigarettes

Antitobacco advocates New Vois Association of the Philippines (NVAP) has urged the Department of Health (DOH) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to start regulating the production and selling of electronic cigarettes in the country.

NVAP president Emer Rojas said the DOH and the FDA should put restrictions on the growing popularity of e-cigarettes considering its adverse effects on public health.

“More and more studies are showing its adverse effects on one’s health … the government cannot just sit idly while more and more people are now puffing on e-cigarettes and in danger of getting addicted to nicotine,” Rojas said.

Electronic cigarettes are battery-operated devices designed to resemble traditional tobacco cigarettes, except that these emit doses of vaporized nicotine with flavoring.

Its many flavors, including bubblegum and blueberry, are seen as a come-on to young people.

Rojas cited a new study at the University of California that showed that teenagers smoking e-cigarettes are more likely to move on to regular cigarettes.

Researchers conclude that youths, who were considered at low risk of smoking cigarettes, may not have developed a regular smoking habit if they did not try e-cigarettes in the first place.

“Such studies simply show that e-cigarettes are actually encouraging, instead of discouraging, the youth to smoke and to consume nicotine,” Rojas said.

If such a problem is not restrained early on, the antismoking advocate said his group may actually see a new enemy amid the growing worldwide trend for tobacco control.