Lowering the minimum age of persons who can buy, sell, or use vapes and electronic cigarettes to 18 years old means giving younger people access to products with adverse health effects and which could lead to substance abuse, medical and health experts say.
(See Vape use could lead to alcohol and illegal drug use ー health experts)
[Ang ating tinututulan ay `yung palalaganapin ang paggamit nito [e-cigarettes] sa lahat ng tao, kahit `yung hindi naninigarilyo, kahit `yung kabataan dahil napakaraming side effects, dangers. Daan ito para maging adik sa ibang mga substance like tobacco," said Antonio Dans, president of the Asia Pacific Center for Evidence-Based Health Care, during an Aug. 31 forum organized by the Philippine College of Physicians (PCP).
(What we oppose is making these [e-cigarettes] accessible to all people, even those who are not smoking, even young people, because these have several side effects, dangers. This opens a way for addiction to other substances like tobacco.)
(See Vape use could lead to alcohol and illegal drug use ー health experts)
Senate Bill (SB) No. 2239, or the Vaporized Nicotine Products Regulation Act filed by Sen. Ralph Recto on May 26, is in the period of interpellation prior to second reading approval, while its counterpart, House Bill No. 9007, already secured third reading approval earlier in May.
SB 2239 gives retailers the [responsibility to verify the age of buyers," who [may be required" to present any valid identification card indicating age or date of birth.
The pending bills seek to modify Executive Order No. 106, signed by President Rodrigo Duterte in February 2020, which prohibits the sale and distribution of electronic nicotine/non-nicotine delivery systems (ENDS/ENNDS) and heated tobacco products (HTPs) to persons below 21 years old.
What does lowering the age restrictions for these novel cigarette products really mean? Here are three things you need to know:
1. At what age do smokers start?
[Smoking is a pediatric disease. Many of our smokers commence their smoking before the age of 18," said Rizalina Gonzalez, a pediatrician and member of the Philippine Pediatric Society (PPS), during an online forum on COVID-19 and Tobacco organized by Imagine Law, a public interest group that advocates evidence-based policy for Filipinos` health and well-being.
One in eight Filipino teens aged 13 to 15 has [used any tobacco products," based on data from the 2019 Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS), a nationally rpresentative, school-based survey conducted every three to four years by the Epidemiology Bureau of the Department of Health (DOH), with support from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S. CDC).
The survey questionnaire covers topics on tobacco use, cessation, secondhand smoke, access to and availability of tobacco products, and knowledge and attitudes regarding tobacco use.