E-cigarettes are also hazardous to health
The government is right to impose restrictions on what is also known as vaping, as Hong Kong continues to move towards becoming a smoke-free society
Doctors and medical authorities are united against cigarette smoking. That is not the case with electronic cigarettes, or vaping.
Some countries, including Singapore and Australia, ban them. The local medical profession thinks Hong Kong should do the same.
The World Health Organisation urges restrictions on their sale and use. But Public Health England, a government agency, has published a review of evidence that says vaping poses only a small fraction of the risks of smoking and the benefits of switching to e-cigarettes include helping to quit smoking.
The British Medical Association says there are potential benefits in reducing the harms linked to smoking.
On the other hand, an analysis of hundreds of studies by the American National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine found that while e-cigarettes are safer and may help adults quit smoking they may also entice young people to start, and the public health consequences are unknown.
A recent census report showed that the number of smokers in Hong Kong had dropped to the lowest-ever rate of 10 per cent.