Undoing the harm done by vape law

A lawmaker has filed crucial amendments to the vape law that will reinstate child protection measures removed during its passage in 2022 including the minimum access age.

House Bill No. 10897, filed by Muntinlupa Rep. Jimmy Fresnedi, proposes to amend Republic Act No. 11900 by raising to 21 years old from 18 years old the minimum age that an individual can be allowed to use vapes. The bill gained support from several organizations including the Child Rights Network, which said the measure “represents a return to responsible regulation that prioritizes the health and safety of children over the profits of a harmful industry.”

HB 10897 also wants to transfer jurisdiction over vapes, heated tobacco products, and other imitation tobacco products to the Food and Drug Administration from the Department of Trade and Industry. “Considering how vapes pose serious threats to health, it should rightfully fall under a health agency [that] possesses the scientific expertise to effectively regulate these products,” the bill’s explanatory note stated.

The Philippines has seen the grim effects of vaping on the youth over the two years since RA 11900 was passed. The country has documented at least seven cases of e-cigarette or vaping-use-associated lung injury (Evali) since 2019.

Evali death

Last year, the death of a 22-year-old male was linked to Evali. The patient, who had no history of smoking or alcohol use, was admitted to a hospital with severe chest pain and experienced a heart attack caused by blockages in his two major arteries—he died three days later. The patient had admitted to being a daily vape user for two years, which meant he started vaping at age 20.

Increasing the minimum access age is crucial because, per the 2019 Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS), students as young as 13 years old have been using e-cigarettes. GYTS estimated that one in seven Filipino students aged 13 to 15 years old were e-cigarette consumers, with boys more likely to use the product than girls.

The first generation e-cigarette, when it first appeared in the market, was meant for one use only and shaped to resemble a cigarette. But the product has since evolved with the latest, the fourth generation, as a refillable pod cartridge that comes in many shapes, sizes, colors, and flavors. Vape products have been marketed to be part of a cool lifestyle and targeted at the younger market.

Standardized packaging

Last May 12, the Department of Health’s (DOH) policy requiring graphic health warnings (GHWs) on vaporized nicotine and non-nicotine products, and novel tobacco products came into effect. These GHWs are supposed to show the harm that smoking these products can do to the human body. However, DOH Assistant Secretary Albert Domingo said they wanted to amend the graphic health warnings law and preferred standardized or plain packaging for cigarettes and vape products similar to other countries that use the same color as human excrement (“kulay dumi”) to make the products less appealing.

The Action on Smoking and Health Philippines, an affiliate member of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Alliance Philippines, which is committed to the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases, has backed this proposal arguing that a standardized packaging would do away with attractive colors that could entice people to consume these products.

Lawmakers who pushed for the enactment of RA 11900 insisted it was necessary to regulate the use of vape products, which were then being illegally imported. Under a regulated environment, these products have been prohibited from being sold online or within 100 meters of schools. These provisions, however, have been continuously violated although major online shopping sites have banned the sale of vapes.

Extreme measure

Beyond regulation, lawmakers must put more teeth in the law and government must improve implementation. Or they can consider the extreme measure of banning disposable e-cigarettes like what Belgium and France did—a move that the European Commission recently approved. Germany and Ireland are eyeing a similar law.

Vaping has been introduced as a “safer” alternative to smoking but, as documented cases of Evali have shown, it is not harmless and poses health risks as well. If the government cannot immediately ban vape products, it should conduct a nationwide campaign debunking disinformation about them and highlighting the dangers they pose to health.

As Inquirer columnist Michael L. Tan wrote in 2022: “The worst part is that the vape liquid contains nicotine, the addictive chemical in tobacco.”

Critics of the then-vape bill even called the measure “retrogressive” and warned that it would undo public health protections that were already in place. They were not wrong. Youth consumption has surged and the country now faces a vape epidemic. It is on the 19th Congress to undo the harm done by its predecessors. The fight against smoking, which has been proven to be bad for health and causes lung cancer and bronchitis, did not end with vaping. It continues.