“So our advice is not to take any risks. Familiarize yourself with the facts, do not be seduced by half-truths or lies! It`s your health that we`re talking about. E-cigarettes are not harmless,” he said. It is illegal to sell, possess or use vaping equipment. Despite claims that vaping is less harmful than smoking cigarettes, it also carries risks. On the contrary, two studies from 2019 showed that e-cigarettes are just as dangerous – perhaps even more dangerous – than traditional cigarettes. The first study found that vaping can exacerbate several risk factors for heart disease to levels equivalent to those of tobacco cigarettes, while the second study found that e-cigarettes reduce blood flow to the heart even more than tobacco cigarettes. Speaking on a presentation tour of the Health Promotion Council (HPB), Amrin Amin, then Parliamentary Secretary of State for Health and Home Affairs, said there was no data on the long-term health effects of using e-cigarettes, as they were relatively new products. 10 citizens who have information about the illegal import, distribution, sale or offer of electronic vaporizers can easily report to go.gov.sg/reporttobaccooffences via the online form. Alternatively, during office hours (9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday to Friday), they can contact the HSA Tobacco Regulatory Branch at tel: 6684 2036 or 6684 2037. On Tuesday, May 31, illegal vaping products worth more than S$1 million went up in smoke at the Tuas South incinerator as part of the agency`s law enforcement efforts.
They believe they are much less harmful than cigarettes and can help them quit forever, but these electronic devices heat up a vapor solution and send it to the lungs, much like a regular cigarette. And when asked if vaping can prevent someone from smoking cigarettes in the long run, Dr. Eng replies, “Even Chinese pharmacist Hon Lik, who invented e-cigarettes in 2003 to help people quit smoking, didn`t work for him. Instead of changing completely, he is now a double user who vapes and smokes at the same time. Vaping and selling e-cigarettes are illegal in Singapore, but they said the devices are meant for personal use only at home. In Singapore, it is illegal to import, distribute or sell counterfeit tobacco products, including e-cigarettes and their accessories. He added that despite Singapore`s total ban on e-cigarettes, they have found their way here through e-commerce. 8 HSA conducts active monitoring online and will continue to take strict enforcement action against those who sell electronic vaporizers and related components. We also work closely with the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority to monitor and stop illegal imports of electronic vaporizers and related components.
Those with information about the illegal importation, distribution or sale of these items can submit a report online on this website or call the HSA Tobacco Regulatory Branch at 6684-2036 or 6684-2037. The purchase, use and possession of an e-cigarette carries a maximum penalty of $2,000. Dr. Koh also pointed out that the Republic has gradually raised the legal smoking age from 19 in 2019 to 21 in January 2021. The number of people caught using and owning e-cigarettes increased from 1,266 in 2020 to 4,697 people in 2021. Despite the ban here, they are still able to receive them, resulting in a significant increase in the number of e-cigarette cases processed by the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) – from 1,565 cases in 2017 to 7,593 last year. Although there are no absolute numbers, a large number of teens vape despite the national ban on selling e-cigarette products. Its popularity is partly linked to the marketing of flavors known to appeal to minors, such as chewing gum and berry-flavored products. 2 The convicts ranged in age from 19 to 36. They had bought the e-vaporizers and associated components overseas and sold them illegally on various local social media and e-commerce platforms. Electronic vaporizers and related components valued at more than $30,000 were seized (photos can be found in Appendix B).
Dr. Lee says e-cigarettes are being marketed as smoke-free alternatives to help smokers quit smoking, but studies suggest that vaping is almost as dangerous as smoking. [1] Electronic vaporizers refer to battery-powered devices that provide vaporized nicotine to inhale. They come in forms such as e-cigarettes, e-pipes, e-cigars and others. The use of e-cigarettes or vaping has become remarkably popular in recent years. There is no data on how many Singaporeans vape, but according to Gallup, about 6% of American adults now report vaping. That`s about 15 million people, twice as many as three years ago. The review, funded by the Federal Department of Health, prompted the Australian Council on Smoking and Health to call for a state ban on the sale and advertising of e-cigarettes to young people. Four years before the Canadian case, Singapore had banned emerging tobacco products such as e-cigarettes, smokeless cigars and cigarillos as part of a preventive measure to protect public health. 5 Chen Xin, an overseas student who was studying in Singapore at the age of 23, was caught handling unpaid cigarettes by customs in Singapore. Further investigation revealed that it also sells electronic vaporizers and related components on WhatsApp and WeChat.
He was born on the 6th. In January 2022, he was fined a total of $22,500 for offences related to e-vaporizers and $9,500 for handling unpaid cigarettes. The store is located on the first floor of a house in Johor Baru and sells e-cigarettes, more commonly known as vapes. In its most comprehensive review of the harm caused by vaping to date, published in April this year, the Australian National University`s Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health found that there was conclusive evidence that e-cigarettes caused poisoning, injury, burns and immediate inhalation toxicity. including convulsions. But Dr. Koh noted that young people here are generally not smokers. Instead, the challenge is to prevent vaping products such as e-cigarettes from becoming popular, adding that despite the total ban, e-cigarettes have found their way here through e-commerce. He noted that in 2020, standardised packaging and improved graphic health warnings for all tobacco products sold in Singapore would be needed to reduce the attractiveness of cigarettes, but that it was still too early to assess the effectiveness of the measure.
7 From 1 January 2018 to 31 January 2022, HSA sued 74 persons for the sale of electronic evaporators and their associated components. The highest fine imposed to date was $99,000 for the illegal sale of these prohibited items. There was also a case where the perpetrator was sentenced to 1 week in prison and fined $61,000 for selling electronic vaporizers and their associated components. “The small airways of the lungs are inflamed, damaged and scarred as a result of inhaling toxic substances or sometimes due to infections. Diacetyl has been found in some e-cigarettes. There are other compounds that could also trigger the same process that causes this disease,” he says. So many Singaporeans have illegally bought and steamed vapes. Based on Hon Lik`s experience, one would expect strong and consistent epidemiological evidence that e-cigarettes encourage people to smoke cigarettes. Therefore, authorities will do more to enforce the current ban on the sale and possession of e-cigarettes and vaporizers here while continuing to review the tobacco tax rate, he said. This teen vaping madness, which took off from a popular e-cigarette brand with flavored nicotine liquids like crème brûlée and watermelon, also triggered a mysterious lung disease called “popcorn lung.” HSA, which works with the Immigration and Enforcement Department to enforce vaping, found that some illegal importers have begun changing their tactics to avoid detection, such as hiding in light fixtures.
Rather, the biggest challenge here is the popularity of vaping products like e-cigarettes, which are still tobacco products and harmful to users, he said. SINGAPORE – Young people in Singapore no longer see smoking as glamorous and are aware of its harms, but are attracted to the e-cigarettes they can get even if they are banned here, chief minister of state for health Koh Poh Koon said on Tuesday (11. January) in Parliament. To complement its enforcement actions, the HSA said it has worked with online platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and Carousell to remove illegal posts about tobacco products. The use and sale of e-cigarettes has been banned in Singapore since 2018. The harms of e-cigarettes are difficult to assess, in part because there are many differences between different e-cigarettes and the e-liquids they contain. While these products are being redeveloped, no fair conclusions can be drawn about their long-term health effects, said Yvette Van Der Eijk, assistant professor at NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health. It`s also a challenge, as most of the diseases associated with smoking appear late – about 40 years after the person started smoking. The store has a “very wide range of flavors” and the items are “about a third of the price compared to those sold by illegal sellers in Singapore,” he said. Their use also led to addiction, the researchers found.
The review found that there was strong evidence that e-cigarettes increased tobacco consumption among non-smokers, especially young people, while there was little evidence that nicotine e-cigarettes help smokers quit. They might even start engaging in illegal activities in primary school, said Jolyn Koh, a student health advisor who advises high school students and the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) to solve health problems such as weight control and smoking cessation.
