"Nicopuff" unapproved vaping goods are spreading among Japanese youth
Nicotine-vaping devices, collectively known as "nicopuff" in Japan, are gaining popularity among young people, although they are unapproved and their sales are prohibited in the country.
Nicopuff, which heats a nicotine-containing scented liquid to produce vapour, involves "the danger of serving as a gateway to illegal drugs," an expert warns.
"What's appealing is that it generates little smoke odour, and I can vape in my room," a 20-year-old part-timer said in the Minami downtown area of Osaka, western Japan, holding a grape-flavoured nicopuff device in his hand.
He started using nicopuff after a friend gave him a device about a year ago. "I like the refreshing taste," he said. "I didn't know that giving (nicopuff) to others is illegal."
"It costs less than heated cigarettes, and I was attracted to it because it's fashionable," a university student said. "Many people around me use nicopuff."
On a sales website, brightly colored nicopuff products with various flavours, such as apple and mango, are offered for several thousand yen each, with such selling points as "satisfaction similar to cigarettes" and "a variety of flavours."
In Japan, it is not illegal to import nicopuff products for personal use through the internet or other means.
However, because it has not been approved under regulations for nicotine-containing products, selling it in Japan violates the pharmaceutical and medical device law.
According to the Osaka prefectural police, the number of cases involving nicopuff has been increasing since last summer.
In March this year, the police took enforcement actions against university and high school students for selling such products. The university student repeatedly bought the products from overseas websites and sold them through social media.
In another case, a group of boys attacked a boy they met through social media and robbed him of cash and e-cigarettes, believed to be nicopuff.
"Compared with conventional tobacco products, nicopuff contains fewer harmful substances, but it still produces carcinogens," said Masakazu Nakamura, an adviser at a medical research centre of the Japan Association for Development of Community Medicine and an expert on tobacco issues. "As with tobacco products, Japan should prevent minors from buying these products," he added, pointing to a lack of relevant laws to restrict the use of such products by minors.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
