You have probably seen this warning before in our webshop: "This website has a minimum age of 18 years". This age limit is a consequence of the new regulations on electronic smoking and came into force on 20 May 2016 (in the Netherlands). One of the rules of this tobacco law is that the sale of e-cigarettes to young people under the age of 18 is not permitted.
When the new regulation was introduced, the reliable dealers (united in the Esigbond in the Netherlands) were very pleased with it: they had been using a voluntary age limit for some time, but unfortunately found that less reliable sales addresses simply did what they wanted. The new law, which also sets requirements in terms of safety, composition of liquid, labelling and advertising, is in any case clear.
E-Liquid much less harmful than tobacco smoke
The new regulations were largely based on research by RIVM (the Institute for Public Health and Environmental Protection in the Netherlands). The RIVM recognised for the first time that electronic smoking is much less harmful than smoking traditional tobacco, but 100% is harmless, the E-Liquid in the e-cigarette or new cigarette The RIVM speaks of "chemical impurities."
The question is, of course, whether a ban on sales to young people under the age of 18 will have any effect. Everyone knows the campaigns in which parents make agreements with their children about alcohol and tobacco consumption. Newspapers recently showed that the campaigns about alcohol consumption and sales to young people are of no use at all. Young people do not drink less alcohol because of this.
Four out of ten young people try the e-cigarette
The discouragement policy in tobacco smoking seems to have been more successful. The number of young people under the age of 18 who start smoking has dropped sharply in recent years, which is a good thing, because the younger you start smoking conventional tobacco, the harder it is to stop. There is interest in e-cigarettes among young people. According to research by the Trimbos Institute among students aged 16 to 18, 4 out of 10 young people have tried an e-cigarette at least once, with about one in 12 young people (8%) continuing to "try it", according to research by the Trimbos Institute.
According to the same Trimbos Institute study, half of the students interviewed have already tried a "real cigarette" and a third smoke regularly afterwards. For these young people, the e-cigarette is then a tried and tested aid for stopping smoking. The e-cigarette is characterized by the fact that you can adjust the amount of nicotine. You can even use a smart nicotine knives However, young people who wish to adapt their smoking habits electronically will have to wait a short time for the legislator to 18