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Tufton concerned about appeal of e-cigarettes to children

Published:Thursday | October 10, 2024 | 12:09 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:

Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton says that, despite the concerns about the easy access to e-cigarettes and the absence of legislation to address tobacco use, Jamaica is still not yet in a position to institute a total ban on tobacco products.

Tufton, who was addressing a press conference at the Iberostar Hotel in Rose Hall, St James, said he was quite concerned about the easy access to e-cigarettes, especially as it relates to the targeting of the nation’s children.

“I was at the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) last week, and a conversation took place around tobacco control. One of the big emerging risks is vaping, or e-cigarettes,” said Tufton.

“All the countries in the Americas have expressed concern that those who peddle these devices have become a lot more creative, as they are easily camouflaged in the school system and they are looking like pens and pencils.”

During his attendance at the 61st PAHO Directing Council in Washington DC on October 3, Tufton pledged Jamaica’s support for an updated strategy on meeting targets of tobacco control in the Americas.

“We are doing comprehensive tobacco legislation in Jamaica, where the Parliamentary Joint Select Committee has almost completed its work, and then it is going to be debated in the Parliament and, hopefully, a law will be passed,” Tufton said during the press conference. “We are not at the level of a ban and, while we would like to discourage consumption altogether, we also recognise that, in a society where people are old enough to make decisions, the freedom of choice that we support as a philosophy is maintained.

“There must be restrictions on the age cohort, and there should be restrictions on the promotional aspects of these devices, and those are areas that the legislation focuses on.”

Speaking to the specific tactics of marketing e-cigarettes to young people, Tufton said special focus would have to be placed on monitoring boys in schools.

NOT SAFE

“E-cigarettes have other forms of marketing attached to them, whether it is the colours, whether it is the smell of the fluid that is inside them, or different flavours, and it really is trying to target a wide cross-section of the market. Worse, there is a view that is being expressed that, because it does not have the smoke component, it is somehow healthier than the traditional tobacco, and this is not the case,” said Tufton.

“Some of these chemicals are synthetic chemicals going in your lungs, and they are making people ill and certainly will, over time, be debilitating to their health, not to mention the practice of it by youngsters, who are attracted to these devices and are doing it in a clandestine way. We are also going to have to be very vigilant within our younger population in our school system, and particularly our young boys,” noted Tufton. “The marketing that is being deployed around these devices has become very attractive and catchy to the younger population, which means bad habits being developed and danger to themselves in their early years.”

On September 26, 2023, the World Health Organization called for a ban on smoking and vaping in schools worldwide. The organisation argued at the time that the tobacco industry’s marketing approach resulted in increased use of e-cigarettes, with nine out of 10 smokers starting before the age of 18, and some starting as early as age 11.

christopher.thomas@gleanerjm.com