Paediatricians demand stricter rules for smart vapes

Paediatricians are demanding stricter rules for smart vapes, reported Flemish newspaper De Standaard. This new type of e-cigarette, which allows you to make calls and play games as well, has appeared in Belgium since a few weeks.

With the new e-cigarette type, you can not only inhale nicotine, but also make phone calls, play games and listen to music. You can connect the so-called smart vape to your smartphone via Bluetooth. This would make the e-cigarette particularly attractive among young people.

Although it’s illegal to sell the smart vape in shops in Belgium, they can be bought on the online black market and the devices thus also appeared in Belgium a few weeks ago. In Menen, West Flanders province, the Federal Public Service (FPS) Health for example seized ten smart vapes last week.

The new device worries paediatricians. “The vaping industry is exploiting the addiction sensitivity of our teenagers,” said Marc Raes, paediatrician at Jessa Hospital in Hasselt, to Flemish public broadcaster VRT. “We really have to be careful how such devices are introduced to our young people.” He called for stricter regulation: “The government should monitor the composition of these devices.”

Ann De Guchtenaere, president of the Belgian Academy of Paediatrics, also sounded the alarm bell. “Children are encouraged to vape as part of a game, but such a smart vape is not harmless, quite the contrary. It disrupts brain development,” she said. De Guchtenaere argued for stricter rules as well. “It’s time for us to wake up the government.”

Minister of health Frank Vandenbroucke stressed that the sale of such devices is not only entirely illegal but also completely criminal. “The vapes make people addicted to nicotine,” he said. “They also contain a lot of ingredients whose harmfulness we do not yet know.”

Vandenbroucke pointed out that the FPS Health is amongst others keeping an eye on possible advertisements on social media platforms such as TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. He is furthermore working on regulation at the European level. “Belgian legislation is strict, that of our neighbouring countries less so. I will take an additional European initiative to tackle the problem at the European level.”

^{A teenager smokes a puff, the disposable electronic cigarettes popular with young people © BELGA PHOTO Myriam Tirler / Hans Lucas via AFP}