EDITORIAL - Veto the vape bill

Youth groups have joined over 50 of the country’s biggest medical organizations as well as the incumbent and former health secretaries in urging President Duterte to veto the vape bill.

While the country was busy confronting the worst public health and economic crisis the country has faced, with the deadly pathogen attacking the respiratory system, both chambers of Congress passed the Vaporized Nicotine Products Regulation Act.

The bill, which has been submitted to President Duterte for his signature, lowers the age requirement for vaping from 21 to 18. It also places e-cigarettes and vapes outside the reach of the Food and Drug Administration and instead under the regulation of the Department of Trade and Industry.

The World Health Organization has debunked arguments that vaping is a healthy alternative to smoking. The WHO and groups of health professionals have stressed the dangers associated with vapes and e-cigarettes, particularly damage to the lungs, and the risks of opening their marketing to the young.

In a statement, the Department of Health has warned that vape liquids and emissions contain nicotine, propylene glycol, carbonyls and carbon monoxide that are “either addictive, toxic or can cause cancer.” The DOH cited growing evidence that both vape users and those exposed to the emissions become vulnerable to respiratory problems, cardiovascular diseases and explosion injuries.

In the United States, EVALI or e-cigarette and vape-associated lung injury have been linked to deaths and thousands of hospitalizations among mostly young people. Aside from nicotine, vape liquid can contain THC or tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol or CBD oil, the active ingredients in marijuana, as well as Vitamin E acetate, which damages the lungs when inhaled.

President Duterte has banned smoking and vaping in enclosed public spaces and public conveyances. The DOH has described the vape bill as retrogressive; it goes against the spirit of the smoking and vaping bans. Vaping regulation must be further tightened rather than allowing wider access to the products, especially for the youth. It would be unfortunate if this bill would be enacted into law in the time of COVID, when the deadly, crippling pandemic hasn’t even been contained.