The Ministry of Education has called on schools at all levels to update their regulations and ban e-cigarette use on school property.

K-12 Education Administration Division Head Huang Ching-i yesterday said that the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act (菸害防制法) already prohibits smoking cigarettes at high-school level and below.

However, while young children and teenagers are aware of the health risks of cigarettes, they are liable to misunderstand the dangers of novel e-cigarettes, given that they are promoted as “healthier,” “free from secondhand smoke” and “helpful for quitting smoking cigarettes,” she said.

Ministry of Education guidelines for schools on the prohibition of e-cigarettes on school premises are pictured in an undated photograph.

Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Education

Huang said that people or companies who manufacture, import or sell e-cigarettes containing nicotine are in contravention of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act (藥事法) and could face imprisonment.

Those who make false claims about any supposed benefits of e-cigarettes could face a fine, and their products would be confiscated and destroyed, she added.

Huang said her division has commissioned National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University to develop teaching materials for e-cigarette avoidance.

Such materials could help teachers understand the types of harm caused by additives in e-cigarettes. which are sometimes illegal, along with the risks for addiction.

It also asked schools to update their...