Disposable Vape: A New Danger to the Filipino Youth and Environment
Disposable vapes, ‘Dispo,’ or e-cigarettes, have become the newest trend among Filipinos, and the said industry is rapidly expanding at a very fast rate. Leading brands like Flava, Chillax, Snowplus, and Relx are a hit among college students, and even I, who was also a tobacco smoker in the past, had decided to switch to disposable vapes as it is easier to use and more affordable than traditional cigarettes.
One only needs to buy a device for 300–550 pesos, open the box, remove the plastic cover, and smoke it for around one to two weeks, depending on the consumption and puff count. The convenience brought by disposable vape made it very attractive to all ages, including minors. Some vape shops are even offering their products to children, even if it is strictly punishable by law.
The arrival of disposable vapes worsened the underage smoking epidemic in the country. Despite the imposition of the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003 — and Executive Order №106 by former President Rodrigo Duterte, many vape shops are still selling cancer-causing devices to minors. A study by the Institute for Global Tobacco Control (IGTC) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Health uncovered 43 e-cigarette stalls along the 100-meter vicinity of several schools in the country. Fortunately, government agencies like the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) are actively tracking vape shops that cater to minors, including the two establishments in Valenzuela, which were recently ordered to close because of their illegal acts.
On October 28, 2023, a suspected warehouse of Flava was also raided by the Bureau of Customs after they discovered 1.428 billion peso-worth of undeclared disposable vape. They estimated that the stockpile was worth P728 million worth of excise tax if it is based on the P52 excise tax imposed by law for a 1 ml vape product. It is possible evidence that disposable vape importers in the country are earning more by trying to evade taxes and make it possible to sell it to retailers for a lower price, making it affordable to the youth.
Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) Philippines said that many vape retailers are not following the regulations that are supposed to discourage the youth from buying e-cigarettes. They noted that the fruity flavors of disposable vapes are attracting minors, and the puffs being offered by vape companies kept increasing. Aside from these problems, vapes are also openly being sold on Facebook Marketplace, where underage can buy the device in the comfort of their homes, possibly using the hard-earned money of their parents.
I admit that when I started to use disposable vape, I couldn’t go back to tobacco anymore because of the difference in taste. While I’m using disposable vape to reduce my nicotine intake and finally quit smoking, these devices are also the reason why minors are easily getting hooked on nicotine. In the past, the foul smell and taste of traditional cigarettes discouraged children from smoking. Still, because of the arrival of dispo, the flavors quickly attracted them to ‘try’ it and become addicted to it later.
Vaping in a long-term period, according to the American Lung Association, can cause irreversible lung damage and lung disease. The ingredients found in e-cigarettes, like glycol, are considered toxic to cells, and they also produce chemicals that may be bad for cardiovascular health. While vaping is a good choice for people who want to quit cigarettes, we should be mindful of its harmful effects if we decide to use it as just another source of nicotine.
In my own opinion, making disposable vapes unaffordable to children would decrease the consumption of underage people. Forbidding influencers on social media to promote vaping products would contribute to slowing the vaping epidemic among minors. Most disposable vape companies, like Flava, hire influencers like Toni Fowler, Tito Vince, H2WO, and Mika Salamanca, who are being followed by underage netizens on social media.
Disposable vapes also brought another waste problem to the planet. After using the palm-sized disposable vapes, it is unusable, increasing the waste being dumped in our environment. According to a study done by GrandViewResearch.com, the disposable vape market is forecasted to grow by 11.2% a year until 2030, which means that more people are expected to ‘dispose’ of their devices every week or two.
One disposable vape consists of lithium, nicotine, plastic, and rubber; all are unrecyclable and will take thousands of years to decompose. In the Philippines, vape shops are even offering free lace for every purchase, which is considered a big waste as not every dispo user needs to replace their laces every week. All of these materials will end up in dumpsites in the country and may cause harm to the environment.
An article released by the environmental group Greenpeace indicated that plastic-made devices could fill hundreds of basketball courts annually. Meanwhile, in America, there is a problem with how the government would handle such waste, as 12 million disposable vapes were reportedly consumed per month by its citizens. Some cities decided to burn it to the ground, which is not quite environmentally friendly.
I believe that the strict implementation of RA 6969, or the Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Waste Control Act, should strictly be implemented for vape manufacturers. Adding guidelines to Ra 11900, also known as ‘Vaping Law,’ on how disposable vape companies would handle the waste they’re producing might discourage them from putting wasteful products in their boxes. Group BAN Toxics also urges manufacturers to be responsible for disposing of the products they are producing.
Unless there’s a strict implementation of laws to regulate the sale of disposable vapes, its effects on the children and environment will stay there until the worst thing happens: a cancer-stricken generation and a dirtier Philippines.
This is one of my school assessments.