Many teenagers still buying vapes at Dutch stores despite ban

Even though stores in the Netherlands are not allowed to sell vapes or cigarettes to minors, 38 percent of underage smokers still buy their supplies from Dutch tobacconists, convenience stores, or gas stations, Parool reports from a study by Dutch doctors among young vapers.

The #DoctorsSlaanAlarm action group of doctors surveyed nearly 2,000 school children with an average age of 14.8 years. Over a quarter had used nicotine in the past year. Of this group, 48 percent buy their vapes illegally online. An only slightly smaller group, 38 percent, simply go to a physical store to do so.

The researchers asked the children to be specific about where they buy their vapes and cigarettes. 27 percent said from tobacco shops, 19 percent from convenience stores, 9 percent from gas stations, and 5 percent from news agents. Of the kids who buy their smoking products illegally online, 41 percent do so from dealers on Snapchat.

In collaboration with the research program Pointer, the doctors also mapped out how many tobacconists were located close to the 1,912 secondary schools in the Netherlands. They found that 299 schools have a tobacco sales point within 250 meters. About 20 percent of schools have a sales point within a 5-minute walk.

In Rotterdam, teenagers have an average of over eight tobacconists within cycling distance from their school. In Amsterdam and The Hague, there are around six.

The outliers are mainly in city centers. Around the private school De Nieuwe School in Amsterdam, there are 44 tobacco and nicotine shops within a 5-minute bike ride. At the Grafisch Lyceum in Rotterdam, there are 22.

“Very worrying,” Luc van Lonkhuijzen, a gynecological oncologist at Amsterdam UMC and one of the doctors in #DoctorsSlaanAlarm, told Parool. “It shows that the tobacco industry and its sellers are perfectly happy to profit off the backs of children. Young people are particularly vulnerable. They become addicted more quickly, and the damage to the developing brain is greater than the damage to the brain in adults.”

Last year, the previous government launched the Action Plan Against Vaping, aimed primarily at combating illegal trade. That’s a great start, according to the doctors. But the government also needs to act against legal shops that don’t adhere to the ban against selling nicotine to minors. They suggest stricter enforcement, high fines, and the option to revoke a vendor’s license. The doctors also advocate for a new licensing system that would allow municipalities to ban nicotine sales near schools.