Online retailers must clear out their e-cigarette products. CFP
You probably know that smoking is bad for our health. But what about e-cigarettes? Introduced as a “less-harmful or safer” alternative to smoking, “vaping” has gained increasing popularity.
你或许知道吸烟有害健康。那么吸电子烟呢？“蒸汽烟”曾被称为“更健康更安全”的香烟替代品，逐渐流行开来。
However, the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration and the State Administration for Market Regulation released a joint notice to ban the online sales of e-cigarettes from Nov 1 and further reduce minors’ access to the products.
不过，11月1日，国家烟草专卖局、国家市场监管总局联合发布了一则电子烟线上禁售的通告，进一步保护未成年人免受电子烟侵害。
This means that e-cigarette makers have to close their online stores and take down online advertisements for e-cigarettes.
这意味着要求电子烟制造商关闭其网店，并取消电子烟相关产品的广告投放。
So far, some e-cigarette firms have closed sales links on their websites, and more than a dozen online stores have removed related products, Xinhua reported.
据新华社报道，一些电子烟公司已经关闭了网站上的销售链接，十几家网店已经下架了相关产品。
This is not the first government measure to limit the use of e-cigarettes. In August 2018, e-cigarettes were banned from sale to people under the age of 18. But age verification is hard to do online.
这并非是我国政府首次采取限制电子烟使用的举措。自2018年8月起，我国禁止向18岁以下的未成年人出售电子烟。但核查年龄在网上很难实现。
Research has shown that e-cigarette companies tend to target young people with their advertising campaigns, according to the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration.
国家烟草专卖局表示，研究表明，电子烟公司倾向于将广告宣传瞄准年轻人。
It’s found that many firms have been misleading young buyers with messages like, “E-cigarettes could help you quit smoking,” and, “E-cigarettes are healthy and harmless.”
调查发现，许多公司都存在投放误导年轻消费者的信息，如“电子烟助你戒烟”以及“电子烟健康无害”等。
Some even claim that vaping symbolizes“young,” “fashionable” and “trendy” to attract minors.
一些商家为吸引未成年人，甚至还称电子烟象征着“青春”、“时尚”与“潮流”。
Michael Blaha, a researcher at the Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease, also mentioned that a lower per-use cost than traditional cigarettes and a wide range of sweet flavors, like apple pie and watermelon, contribute to vaping’s popularity among young people.
来自约翰·霍普金斯西卡罗内心脏病预防中心的研究员迈克尔·布哈拉也曾提到，和传统烟草相比，蒸汽烟更低的价格以及多种多样香甜的口味，如苹果派和西瓜等，令其在年轻人中流行起来。
The high rate of young e-cigarette users is worrying. According to Xiao Lin, a researcher of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, “China has about 10 million e-cigarette users who are aged 15 and above, while most users are young people aged between 15 and 24. Among them, 45.4 percent get the vaping products through the internet,” she told Xinhua.
使用电子烟的年轻人占比之高令人担忧。中国疾病预防控制中心研究员肖琳表示：“中国15岁及以上使用电子烟的人数约为1000万。使用电子烟的人群主要以年轻人为主，15—24岁年龄组的使用率最高，他们获得电子烟的途径现在主要是通过互联网，比例占到了45.4%，”她在接受新华社采访时如此表示。
Because nicotine is the main ingredient, e-cigarettes are harmful to health. Exposure to nicotine during youth can lead to addiction and cause long-term harm to brain development. Flavorings added to e-cigarettes can produce more harmful toxins after heating.
以尼古丁为主要原料的电子烟有害健康。青少年时吸入尼古丁不光会染上烟瘾，还会对大脑发育造成长期不良后果。电子烟中添加的风味剂在点燃后会产生更多有害毒素。
As of Nov 20, the US had reported 2,290 cases of vaping-related lung injuries and 47 deaths had been confirmed, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
据美国疾病控制和预防中心数据显示，截至11月20日，因电子烟产品引起的肺部损伤，在全美确诊的病例已达2290人，目前已造成47人死亡。
