Liquid Vapes Excluded from Regulations... Youth 'Proxy Purchase' Smoking Unprotected

"E-cigarettes, I can buy liquid e-cigarettes on your behalf. I'm a minor too, but I have access to several e-cigarette sites, so I sell them as a way to earn pocket money. I don't scam, so trust me." (Post on social networking service 'X' (formerly Twitter))

Recently, in the amendment to the Tobacco Business Act agreed upon by the ruling and opposition parties, which expands the scope of tobacco raw materials, 'synthetic nicotine,' which accounts for most of the liquid e-cigarettes, was excluded. As a result, concerns have been raised that synthetic nicotine should be included in the regulatory scope because youths can easily access liquid e-cigarettes through online sales and proxy purchases via social networking services (SNS).

On the 21st, the ruling and opposition parties held a subcommittee meeting of the National Assembly's Planning and Finance Committee and tentatively agreed on an amendment to expand tobacco raw materials from 'tobacco leaves' to 'tobacco leaves, roots, or stems.' Consequently, e-cigarettes made from tobacco roots or stems are expected to be banned from online sales. However, synthetic nicotine was excluded from regulation due to opposition from the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, which argued that its toxicity and safety have not been verified, making it difficult to recognize as a tobacco raw material. Although the subcommittee was scheduled to discuss the amendment to the Tobacco Business Act again on the 23rd, conflicts between the ruling and opposition parties over other bills prevented any discussion, and ultimately no agreement was reached regarding the regulation of 'synthetic nicotine.'

According to data received by Representative Choi Hye-young of the Democratic Party from the Korea Health Promotion Institute, synthetic nicotine accounts for 92.2% of e-cigarette liquid solutions. This proportion has rapidly increased over the past three years, from 24% in 2020 to 46.3% in 2021.

With synthetic nicotine, which constitutes most of the liquid e-cigarettes, excluded from regulation, red flags have been raised regarding youth health. Even now, youths easily purchase liquid e-cigarettes online. On portal sites, posts boast, "I'm a minor, but I bought e-cigarettes and liquids secretly using an account created with a friend's mother's account."

On SNS, posts offering proxy purchases of liquid e-cigarettes and requests for proxy purchases can be found. A 16-year-old girl, A, who has actually made proxy purchases, said, "You find a place to proxy purchase, contact them, tell them the product you want to buy, and they give you a bank account." She added, "The process is not difficult at all." She also said, "When proxy purchasing, a commission of about 1,000 won per bottle is charged, but sometimes there is no commission," and "When there is no commission, it is suspected that the seller is an e-cigarette business operator." A also mentioned that she sells liquid e-cigarettes she does not like on SNS as secondhand goods to raise funds for additional proxy purchases.

According to statistics from the 18th Youth Health Behavior Survey released last year, the usage rate of 'liquid-type e-cigarettes' among youths was 4.5% for boys and 2.2% for girls, increasing by 0.8 percentage points and 0.3 percentage points respectively compared to the previous year. Since it is difficult for youths to obtain these offline, it is presumed that most use liquid e-cigarettes through proxy purchases. Experts emphasize the need to discuss synthetic nicotine as a regulatory target as well. Lee Sung-kyu, director of the Korea Tobacco Control Research and Education Center, said, "The main tobacco product used by youths is liquid-type e-cigarettes, and many studies show that they start with liquid and then move on to heated tobacco products," adding, "If synthetic nicotine is not regulated, youth smoking will continue to increase."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.