Following a worldwide backlash against vaping and e-cigarettes, Chinese regulators have placed an outright ban on online e-cigarette sales and advertising, effective immediately.
China Daily reports that the ban takes effect amid “growing health concerns that vaping and a fledgling online market may victimize minors,” according to a government notice released last Friday. China had banned the sale of e-cigarettes to minors as of August last year, but age verification becomes difficult to enforce in online marketplaces like Taobao and Tmall.
The emergence of e-cigarettes has presented a challenge for legislators around the world. But in China — a country where an estimated 300 million citizens smoke cigarettes — their electronic counterparts were touted in some quarters as a new pathway to helping smokers quit for good.
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Despite how pervasive smoking is, popular attitudes towards it are conflicted, to say the least. When TFBoys member and pop idol Roy Wang was photographed smoking, it sent the Chinese internet ablaze with debate and criticism. (Wang later apologized to his fans, saying that “as a public figure,” he would “pay more attention to [his] public words and actions.”)
Much like cigarettes and e-cigarettes, the regulation of hemp is also characterized by conflicting attitudes and uncertainty. Though China has a zero tolerance approach to marijuana, surprisingly it is the world’s largest producer of hemp.
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Calls for a clear policy when it comes to industrial hemp and CBD products are increasing, as is the plant’s production in the country.
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