Hong Kong’s smoking rate dropped to 9.5 percent in 2021, for the first time hitting single-digits, reports The Standard, citing a survey by the city’s Census and Statistics Department. In 2019, 10.2 percent of Hong Kong’s population smoked.
The survey results showed that there were some 581,500 daily conventional cigarette smokers in 2021, accounting for 9.5 percent of all persons aged 15 and over in Hong Kong.
The survey also found daily conventional cigarette smokers consumed on average about 13 sticks of conventional cigarettes a day, the same as that in 2019.
Despite the drop in overall tobacco use, the number of people using e-cigarettes surged from 7,200 in 2019 to 17,500 last year.
The number of people using alternative smoking products is likely to decrease in the wake of Hong Kong’s ban on the import, manufacturing, sale and distribution of electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco items, which took effect April 30.
Health secretary Sophia Chan Siu-chee said that Hong Kong aims to lower the smoking rate to 7.8 percent by 2025. To achieve this, the government is considering expanding statutory nonsmoking areas, reducing the overall attractiveness of tobacco products and preventing young people from developing smoking habits.
Hong Kong’s chief executive, Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s term may mostly be remembered for her role in the ban on the import and sale of e-cigarettes and other alternatives that has just become law. The ban, first proposed seven years ago, was watered down in 2018 to the permissive regulation that applies to tobacco products.
Opposition to the backdown from medical and education authorities prompted Lam to switch to proposing the full ban in her policy address that year, according to a story in the South China Morning Post. It took lawmakers until last October to pass legislation without exemptions and concessions of one kind or another. Evidence of the effect on consumption of e-cigarettes and the like is that the law has forced some shops selling these products to close.
The most persuasive argument against outlawing the “new tobacco products” was that they were a not so harmful alternative that helped nicotine addicts quit smoking tobacco and perhaps stop altogether. But health minister Sophia Chan Siu-chee said many surveys that supported it were sponsored by tobacco companies.
Essentially the argument hinges on the lack of knowledge of the long-term effects of e-cigarettes and other alternatives, especially on those who begin smoking at a young age. The smoking rate in Hong Kong has fallen to about 10 percent of people aged 15 and above. Ultimately, the prospect of a non-smoking society seems dependent on youth breaking the generational cycle of addiction by not taking up the habit in the first place.
Lam announced in April that she would not seek reelection. Her successor is expected to be picked in May. Hong Kong media have reported this week that Chief Secretary John Lee, the city’s No. 2 leader, is likely to enter the race to succeed Lam.
Hong Kong police arrested two men, who are being held in custody under suspicion of selling and possessing a poison in Part 1 of the Pharmacy and Poisons Regulations as well as selling alternative smoking products, according to a report in the South China Morning Post. The arrests follow the implementation of a new e-cigarette ban.
The new law went into effect last weekend, banning the import, sale and manufacture of electronic cigarettes, heated-tobacco products and herbal cigarettes. Those caught breaking the law are subject to a maximum fine of HKD50,000 ($6,370) and six months’ imprisonment. Under the law, consumers are still allowed to use vaping products.
Police seized 94 boxes of suspected nicotine-containing electronic cigarette cartridges and 74 smoking devices from a mobile retail outlet in Mong Kok.
“The government appeals to smokers to quit smoking as early as possible for their own health and that of others,” said a Department of Health spokesperson.
Hong Kong’s ban on the importation and sale of alternative smoking products, including vaping and heat-not-burn products, will take effect on April 30.
In a statement, the government said that, under the Smoking (Public Health) (Amendment) Ordinance 2021, people will not be allowed to use or carry an activated vaping device in no-smoking areas. Offenders will be fined HK1,500 ($191).
The ban covers electronic smoking products, heated tobacco products, herbal cigarettes, and their accessories, the government said, reports The Standard.
The ordinance prohibits the importation of any novel tobacco product by way of parcels, cargoes or bringing in by incoming travelers. People bringing such products into the city must declare them to customs.
Starting Saturday, inspectors from the Department of Health’s Tobacco & Alcohol Control Office will conduct inspections, investigate complaints and carry out enforcement actions, the government said.
The ordinance also prohibits the promotion, manufacture, and possession for commercial purposes of novel tobacco products. Those convicted of violating the law will be fined HK50,000 and imprisoned for six months.
China’s health authorities have locked down Shenzhen to prevent the spread of Covid-19 from Hong Kong, which is experiencing a surge of the virus.
Shenzhen is a significant manufacturer of consumer electronics, including vapor hardware, for the global market. The city houses tech powerhouses, such as iPhone manufacturer Foxconn, and more than 170,000 vaping-related businesses. The local vapor industry employs more than 3 million people and supplies more than 90 percent of the vapor hardware used around the world, according to some estimates.
The Shenzhen lockdown will last for at least seven days. All nonessential workers must stay home, adults must take PCR tests and public transportation is being halted.
A lockdown in Shenzhen might further disrupt global supply chains because Shenzhen has one of the world’s largest ports. An outbreak in Shenzhen in late spring of last year held up port operations and caused a steep spike in global shipping rates that helped drive up prices for imported goods in the United States and elsewhere.
According to The New York Times, Hong Kong has reported nearly 3,780 Covid-19 deaths and nearly 700,000 new cases since late January. Shenzhen reported 66 new cases in a population of 17 million on Sunday.
Hong Kong has banned the sale of e-cigarettes and other heated tobacco products but personal use is still allowed. The ban will come into effect as soon as mid-2022, Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee said. The maximum penalty for offenders will be a HK$50,000 fine and six-month imprisonment.
Lawmakers passed the bill banning the import, sale and manufacture of electronic nicotine-delivery systems (ENDS) but some legislators say bill goes too far in targeting the business of vaping, will hurt the import sector and will deny a potential area for innovation.
Credit: TS Donahue
The long-delayed Smoking (Public Health) (Amendment) Bill 2019 passed Thursday, “delivering a major victory for health activists and educators who have blamed the devices for encouraging smoking among young people,” according to theSouth China Morning Post.
While the new law targets only vape shops and the local business of vaping, consumers will still be free to use the devices, prompting some politicians to call for more aggressive measures to curb tobacco use, including banning smoking in all public places except for designated areas. Others, however, argued Hong Kong should allow reshipment of vaping products and warned the ban would hurt logistics companies.
The bill was approved by a vote of 32 to three in the Legislative Council. Two lawmakers abstained.
The largest political party in Hong Kong has edged its support towards a ban on all vapor and heated-tobacco products. Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress (DAB) of Hong Kong lawmaker Wong Ting-kwong, chairman of the Bills Committee on Smoking, said the government has asked him to host a meeting next Friday to decide whether the government should finalize its stance on electronic nicotine-delivery systems (ENDS).
Photo Credits: Timothy S. Donahue
According to reports, the DAB decided to throw their support behind the motion of a complete ban on the new tobacco products in a recent meeting, according to The Standard. With DAB lawmakers making up more than half of the committee on smoking members, the legislative amendment banning ENDS products is expected to be passed in this term. The proposed bill is aimed at amending the Smoking Ordinance by targeting ENDS products was introduced in February 2019 to outlaw the importation and sales – but not consumption – of ENDS products.
Liberal Party’s Peter Shiu Ka-fai said that while 64 countries, including China, had started regulating ENDS products, authorities should handle e-cigarettes and heated-tobacco products separately, as there is currently insufficient evidence to ban heated-tobacco products. Shiu also added that it would be unfair to ban heated-tobacco products but not traditional cigarettes, given they are all tobacco products.
The proposal was among four bills that the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administration Region (LegCo), the unicameral legislature of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China, stopped working on last June. Legco stated at the time that it would not ban ENDS because “the products provide smokers with safer smoke-free alternatives.”
However, after Beijing endorsed the Hong Kong government’s request to extend the Legco term by a year, a new bills committee was set up last November. It last met in June this year to discuss the bill.
According to the Food and Health Bureau, the government plans to secure passage of the bill within the current Legco term, which will end in October, The Standard reports. Sales of e-cigarettes are currently banned in 30 jurisdictions, including Macau and Singapore.
Vaping is a safer alternative to smoking, according to a Hong Kong health advisory group. The Hong Kong Legislative Council (Legco) has suspended all discussions on a proposed ban on vaping products. Legco says the products provide smokers with safer smoke-free alternatives.
Legco’s Bills Committee on Smoking announced it had ceased discussions over the proposed ban on electronic cigarettes, heat-not-burn tobacco products (HTPs) and other electronic nicotine delivery systems on June 2, according to a press release.
The committee ended its work after nine meetings, including three public hearings, since it was established in March 2019 to tackle the bill that aimed to amend the Smoking Ordinance and impose a blanket ban on vaping or the use of e-cigarettes, HTPs and the likes.
Hong Kong’s vaping ban was strongly opposed by some members of the committee who cited scientific studies showing that e-cigarettes, HTPs and the likes have much lower levels of toxicants compared to combustible cigarettes.IQOSER, a heated tobacco concern group in Hong Kong, said the end of discussions on the proposed ban on HTPs could hopefully bring lawmakers’ attention to the more important task of addressing the smoking problem. “Smoking incidence remains at more than 10 percent in Hong Kong, which means a tenth of our population is exposed to the health risks brought about by toxicants found in tar, the by-product of tobacco smoke,” said Joe Lo of IQOSER, which is also a member of the Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA).
“As we have been saying all along, nicotine is not the problem, but the smoke, which is responsible for thousands of deaths globally each day. Unlike combustible tobacco, e-cigarettes and HTPs do not involve combustion or burning, because they only heat tobacco to a certain degree that is not harmful to humans,” said Lo.
Nancy Loucas, Executive Coordinator of CAPHRA, noted that Hong Kong, like Japan and Korea, has a high number of former smokers who have switched to reduced-harm products, such as heat-not-burn (HnB) devices.“It was pleasing to see that some of the officials involved in the process to decide the fate of the products strongly opposed the ban based on science that proves that [HnB devices] have a lower level of toxicants compared to cigarettes, whilst addressing the concerns of creating black market in illicit trade in the products,” Loucas said.
In Hong Kong, many heated tobacco users were forced back to combustible tobacco because of the inability to access the product in the past year, according to Loucas. “Others, with the means, have risked being caught buying through illicit channels. Legislators such as Peter Shui, Raymond Chan and Cheng Chunt-tai, have repeatedly argued that a ban was neither logical nor feasible. More importantly, all three pointed out that adult smokers should not be deprived of the right to choose tobacco harm reduction,” she said.
Asa Ace Saligupta, who runs consumer group ENDS Cigarette Smoke Thailand, said the country should follow the lead of Hong Kong in putting to rest the discussions on vaping ban. “Lifting the ban on e-cigarettes, HTPs and the likes will provide Thai smokers representing more than 20 percent of our population an opportunity to switch to reduced-risk alternatives. At present, nearly 40 percent of Thai males are at risk of suffering from illnesses caused by the smoking epidemic,” he said.
Photo Credits: Timothy S. Donahue
Stephanie Thuesen, director of stakeholder engagement at The Progressive Public Health Alliance, said any restrictive policy on e-cigarettes and HTPs will exacerbate the smoking problem as this will discourage smokers from switching to reduced-risk alternatives. “Tobacco harm reduction should be viewed as a progressive health policy by all countries to put an end to the smoking problem,” she said.
Kulthida Maneechote of SmokeFree4Life campaign asked tobacco harm reduction advocates and vapers to unite against bans and restrictive policies imposed by countries based on alleged lies fed by the World Health Organization to deprive smokers of less harmful alternatives.
“Let us challenge the fallacies and unscientific guidelines being spread by the World Health Organization on electronic cigarettes especially with the upcoming WHO Framework Convention of Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) in November this year [the convention has since been cancelled for 2020]. If left unchallenged, e-cigarettes might be banned by governments altogether. This will put many smokers at risk of not being able to choose a better alternative,” she said.
“It was pleasing to see that some of the officials involved in the process to decide the fate of the products strongly opposed the ban based on science that proves that [HnB devices] have a lower level of toxicants compared to cigarettes, whilst addressing the concerns of creating black market in illicit trade in the products,” Loucas said.