"Smart vapes" have arrived in Netherlands; Doctor concerned
Smart vapes have arrived in the Netherlands. Pediatric pulmonologist Sanne Hammer spotted her first one on a 16-year-old patient in the Amphia Hospital in Breda this week. Doctors are very concerned, RTL Nieuws reports.
The smart vape is an e-cigarette with a screen that you can connect to your phone. In addition to vaping, you can use the device to check notifications, play games, send messages, and make calls.
“They have combined the two most addictive products for children at the moment, the telephone and the vape, and made an even more addictive product out of it. That is really next level,” said Danielle Cohen, a lung pathologist at LUMC who developed a teaching package on vaping and volunteers in classrooms to explain the dangers to children.
It is not clear how widespread this new vape is in the Netherlands, but pulmonologist Hammer has spotted more than one in the past week, she told RTL Nieuws. She and her colleagues at the Amphia Hospital were shocked. “We all thought: gosh, what is this? Does this really exist?”
The Netherlands only allows the sale of tobacco-flavored vapes to people over the age of 18. According to RTL Nieuws, these smart vapes come in all kinds of flavors and are, therefore, not legally available in the country. But they are quite easy to obtain. RTL found various Telegram groups and Dutch-language websites that advertise the devices.
“How addictive can you get?” Wanda de Kanter, a pulmonologist and chair of the Rookpreventie Jeugd, told the broadcaster. “By giving the vape functions like texting, the vape becomes even more of your friend. Your buddy. Something you always want close to you. And every time you see the vape, you want another puff. Because that’s how addiction works.”
According to Cohen, the makers, importers, and sellers of these vapes “have no moral sense whatsoever.” She called the device “the ultimate low point.”
