Korean adolescents start to vape when they are just 13 or 14 years old, a study suggests, often lured by advertising for slick vaping devices.
The Chosun Ilbo interviewed children in an elementary school in Suwon south of Seoul last week and found that some kids associate the aesthetics of e-cigarette ads with virtual-reality games or futuristic devices.
After being presented with an ad claiming that e-cigarettes emit 95 percent less hazardous substances than traditional cigarettes, most kids said they believe the claim. But some experts dispute it, saying the long-term effects of vaping -- which administers a vapor of nicotine-laden droplets rather than smoke to the lungs -- have not been sufficiently studied.
But a bigger worry is that vaping is a gateway habit to smoking harmful cigarettes, and that teenagers are equally vulnerable to tobacco advertising.
For example, five convenience stores within a 500 m radius of the school advertise e-cigarettes. Children said they noticed the flashy cigarette ads rather than the warning signs that are also displayed.
To put things into perspective, only 2,018 people have died of or with coronavirus in Korea, but up to 61,723 Koreans die every year from smoking-related illnesses.
That is why many countries ban the open display of tobacco products in convenience stores, and some health professionals want e-cigarette advertising banned as well.
