Call for urgent ban on flashy e-cigarettes 'popular with kids'

France’s anti-tobacco lobby us calling for the immediate ban of a brand of flavoured, disposable e-cigarettes that have become a hit with teenagers.

Boxes of "Puff" disposable electronic cigarettes on sale in a vape shop in northern France. AFP - DENIS CHARLET

Sold for as little as 8 euros, the Puff electronic cigarettes come in brightly coloured tubular packets and sweet flavours such as “sparkling cola”, "bubble gum" and “strawberry ice-cream”.

The “mini-cigarettes” are designed to look like a fluorescent marker pen, which critics say allows them to be hidden in pencil cases where parents and teachers will not notice them.

"We've all tried it; it's the fashion,” 14-year-old schoolboy Théo told France Bleu. "I like the colour and how it is made.”

'Pediatric epidemic'

The Alliance Against Tobacco (ACT) on Tuesday issued a statement demanding Puff be taken off the shelves of tobacconists and convenience stores – arguing the e-cigarettes are a “tool to turn young people into the smokers of tomorrow”.

The alliance surveyed teenagers aged 13 to 16 on their use of Puff – which contains up to 20mg/ml of nicotine and which has been popularised via social networks including Tik Tok and Instagram. 

One disposable e-cigarette contains up to 600 puffs, or the equivalent of a packet of cigarettes.

One in 10 teenagers surveyed said they had already tried Puff, while two-thirds knew of the brand. A quarter said the products were easy to obtain despite a ban on their sale to minors.

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ACT president Loïc Josseran, a professor of public health, denounced what he called a "pediatric epidemic" in an interview with France Info – warning the consumption of Puff among young people was "exploding”.

"You just need to walk down the street. We see more and more kids using this.”

The alliance in particular denounced the way Puff was being marketed, pointing out that 81 percent of teenagers surveyed considered them to be “a gadget”. 

Most teens said they found Puff’s appeal was thanks to its original flavours and because it was “fun to play with the cloud of vapour”.