The electronic cigarette industry is 20 years old this year, but Ira Simeonidis fears that the golden age of e-cigarettes has passed. "It's a bit ruined," said the organizer of the Hall of Vapes, Europe's largest e-cigarette trade fair, held this month in Stuttgart.
His exhibition has attracted over 20,000 visitors who attended lectures, partied with DJs, and browsed renowned designers showcasing their latest "mods" - intricately crafted equipment for inhaling nicotine - and other selected substances.
This is for professional and enthusiastic electronic cigarette users," said Simeonidis. "It's a community event where people gather once a year to enjoy each other's company, drink beer, and vape together.
However, that has changed. Despite being suspended for two years during the pandemic, the world of electronic cigarettes has undergone a transformation. Markets all over the world are flooded with a large production of disposable electronic cigarettes, a product that used to only be found in specialty stores but is now found on the shelves of corner stores, cellphone accessory stands, and tourist booths.
Simeonidis stated that the number of designers attending his exhibition this year decreased by over half. Due to the absence of concerts, many of his booths were occupied by companies selling disposable technology. "They are cheaper, and lithium batteries are disastrous for the environment," he lamented. "Also, there are children to consider.
Whack-a-Mole game
The rise of single-use products has caused concern not only among electronic cigarette purists. This has prompted regulatory bodies around the world to pay increased attention, fearing the explosive growth of e-cigarettes among young people (including school-age children). They are being lured in by the dark marketing tactics of social media influencers and enticing flavors like caramel custard, sour fruit and Swedish fish.
Data indicating a significant increase in the use of e-cigarettes and disposable products continues to emerge, with a survey focused on British children revealing that by 2022, the number of young people using e-cigarettes had more than doubled, while the usage of disposable products surged by 600%. These trends are primarily occurring among youths who are already smokers, even though studies from Australia, New Zealand, and the United States suggest that more teenagers in these countries who use e-cigarettes may not have been exposed to traditional cigarettes.
Another way to measure the explosive growth of disposable products is the proliferation of candy-colored ink cartridges, now scattered around many college and school campuses. "A garbage collector told me he believed they were highlighter pens - students becoming very diligent in the park," said Freddy Dawson, editor of Tamarind Intelligence, a company that tracks the industry, based in Dublin.
You only need to walk on the street and see what vapes young people are using - it's always, forever disposable.
Despite ongoing debates about whether electronic cigarettes are a life-saving tool for smokers trying to quit or a way for the nicotine industry to attract a new generation of addicts - and perhaps both - concerns over teenage use of e-cigarettes and their impact on the environment continue to drive a new wave of global regulations.
Australia has announced that it will implement the strictest restrictions among all developed markets, completely banning recreational e-cigarettes and limiting their sale to pharmacies with a doctor's prescription.
Dawson stated that while other countries may not go to such extremes, many are tightening their regulations and treating e-cigarettes more like traditional cigarettes. The Netherlands has already banned flavored e-cigarettes this year, and France has indicated that they may ban disposable e-cigarettes by the end of 2023. In Ireland, children under 18 can legally purchase e-cigarettes from any store, but the Irish parliament is now working to rectify this loophole.
New Zealand has implemented a world-first generational smoking ban, prohibiting anyone aged 14 and under from legally purchasing cigarettes for life. According to the latest data, New Zealand adults who vape (8.3%) outnumber smokers (8%), but as in other places, this growth is particularly strong among young people. The e-cigarette usage rate among 14-15 year olds has doubled, leaving lawmakers shocked.
The New Zealand government is reviewing its regulations in response to calls from doctors and health organizations for a stronger stance on vaping. Ayesha Verrall, Deputy Minister of Health and a leader in multiple smoking-reform efforts, acknowledged in January that "the proportion of young people using e-cigarettes is too high" and that the government "needs to strike a better balance.
The UK is facing an awkward situation as it attempts to curb what an expert has called a "child epidemic" of using e-cigarettes, while simultaneously offering e-cigarette starter kits to smokers in the UK. The UK government has acknowledged that research it commissioned shows that e-cigarettes are not without risk, but that in the short and medium term, the risks are only a small fraction of those posed by smoking.
Estimates of the number of people using electronic cigarettes vary greatly worldwide, ranging from 40 million to over twice that amount. The majority of users are believed to live in affluent or middle-to-high income countries, and even with newly implemented tariffs, electronic cigarettes remain cheaper than heavily taxed traditional cigarettes.
As the price of electronic cigarettes drops, their usage is skyrocketing in several dozen countries including South Africa and Malaysia, where regulations are only just emerging. Lawmakers are expressing concerns about teenagers using e-cigarettes.
In China, where much of the world's electronic cigarettes are produced, tobacco flavored products will be the only legal option by 2022 due to recognition of their apparent danger to children. While the export of similarly flavored products to other regions of the world will still be allowed, this practice continues to thrive.
India leads Australia by four years in completely banning electronic cigarettes, but its experience raises another question for lawmakers: how to effectively regulate e-cigarettes? A survey released this year targeting young Indians found that despite the ban, over one-fifth of respondents had at least tried e-cigarettes, and one-fifth plan to try them next year.
Monika Arora, the vice president of the India Public Health Foundation, expressed concern about the rampant sales of electronic cigarettes through home delivery and online channels. She stated that their collaboration with students has shown that they start experimenting with e-cigarettes from a very young age, as early as 8th grade (13-14 years of age).
Governments around the world may face similar challenges in attempting to take e-cigarettes away from young people. For example, by banning specific flavors, manufacturers may slightly adjust their formulas to bypass regulations. Completely banning e-cigarettes may lead to the continued existence of a black market-- much like any other drug. "It's a game of whack-a-mole," says Dawson.
Enthusiasts may believe that the golden age of e-cigarettes is already over. However, the era of e-cigarettes, along with all of the concerning issues it has brought about, is just beginning.
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