Vietnam has implemented a blanket ban on all vapes with hefty fines and jail time for offenders.
The new legislation – which came into effect on January 1 – prohibits the production, sale, import, storage, transportation and usage of vapes with the aim of ‘protecting people’s health’.
Anyone caught vaping or bringing vapes into the Asian country, including tourists, will be fined up to two million Vietnamese dong (€75.2) or face up to five years in prison.
Those caught importing, trading, transporting and/or producing vapes and related materials will see even stiffer penalties. They will be fined up to three million dong (€114) or handed a sentence of up to 15 years in prison, depending on the scale of offence.
Vietnam joins other countries including Singapore, Thailand, India and Australia in banning vapes.
Incidentally, the largest tobacco company in Vietnam is state-owned.
The National Assembly, which holds primary legislative authority in Vietnam, requested the government introduce the ban alongside an awareness campaign on the “harmful impacts” of vapes.
Concerns for young people
Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan said in November that vapes must be banned because of the rapid increase in their use and the “potential health and safety risks” they pose, particularly for young people.
She cited the results of a survey conducted in 34 provinces and cities across Vietnam in 2020 that showed the rate of vape use among adults aged 15 and over had increased 18 times in five years. It went from 0.2 per cent in 2015 to 3.6 per cent in 2020, she said.
There were no statistics given, however, on whether this rise in vaping coincided with a drop in more harmful smoking.
Lan said that although Vietnam has not officially made the sale of vapes or heated tobacco legal, the products have become widespread in the market due to “high profits and aggressive marketing from foreign manufacturers and smugglers”.
She also displayed several vape products currently being sold, pointing out that they are “visually appealing and designed to attract teenagers and children”.
To address the issue, the minister proposed amending Vietnam’s ‘Law on Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harms’ to include provisions to ban vapes and heated tobacco products.
Assembly delegates agreed with Lan that policies to ban vapes and tightly monitor illegal sales are necessary.
When asked about support for smoking cessation, Lan said the government was using a tobacco control fund to create a “network to help people quit smoking among its tasks.”
When prohibition backfires
While Vietnam’s reason for the ban is to protect young people from the perceived harms of vaping, mounting evidence from other countries show strict bans can backfire dangerously.
In Australia, where vapes are now only legally available from pharmacies, the black market has ballooned. Dozens of tobacco shops have come under attack from fire bombings as criminal gangs fight for control over illegal sales.
In the UK, surveys suggest more than two million people could return to smoking if a new law cracking down on vapes is passed by Parliament.
Meanwhile, in Sweden – which has a progressive approach to harm reduction, making vapes and other nicotine alternatives widely available to smokers wanting to quit – the smoking rate has plummeted to under five per cent. The country has now officially been declared smoke free.
A landmark report earlier this year shows that Sweden has the lowest percentage of tobacco-related diseases in the EU and a 41 per cent lower incidence of cancer than other European countries.
