In the past year, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized the first type of heated tobacco product to be marketed in this market, designated as a reduced tobacco product. exposure to substances harmful to the body compared to cigarettes.
This FDA decision is also a response to some of the concerns of governments around the world about the increase in young users. Other concerns were also addressed by experts.
“Logically, minimizing exposure will help reduce harm.” To date, health authorities have argued that the FDA’s decision only allows the product to be designated “reduced exposure”, but that does not prove that heated tobacco products reduce the risk of disease to the health of the user. use. In addition, there have also been some medical experts who have made statements that contradict the FDA’s decision, saying that the product is not different from cigarettes. According to official information from the FDA, studies on heated tobacco have demonstrated that the aerosols produced by these products still contain high levels of harmful and potentially harmful ingredients, including: formaldehyde, acrolein, carbon monoxide; NNN and NNK (substances related to diseases caused by tobacco smoke) but significantly lower than the currently circulating combustible cigarettes. Specifically, depending on the type of substance, the average concentration in aerosol gas will be reduced from 55% to 99% compared to the smoke of cigarettes. 
The FDA declares a heated tobacco product to be marketed in the United States as a risk-modified tobacco product. At the same time, the FDA also said that in the process of reviewing the records, FDA has consulted users. The results showed that users also found that the risk of using these products was lower than that of smoking cigarettes. However, they are also fully aware that using this heated tobacco product carries a higher risk than quitting smoking or using nicotine replacement products. PGS.TS.BS. Tran Van Ngoc – Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Respiratory Association said that, logically, minimizing exposure will help reduce harm. Assoc. Dr. Le Van Quang, Director of Central K Hospital also stated: “From the oncologist’s perspective, when a patient smokes, the greater the amount of carcinogens exposed, the higher the cancer risk. And for cigarettes, one thing is important: nicotine is not the cause of cancer caused by smoking, but the cause of cancer is the molecules in the smoke created by the combustion of cigarettes. leaves”. Heated cigarettes: Young people are many times harder to access than cigarettes The US FDA is a reputable health authority in the US as well as globally. Accordingly, protecting the young generation and people’s health is the top goal of FDA. Therefore, allowing a single heated tobacco product to be allowed access to the US market shows that they have done thorough research and considered carefully before making a decision. Not only in the US, but in countries where this product is allowed to be sold, it is almost impossible for young people to access the product. In order to make a purchase, the buyer must go through a background check to ensure that the buyer is a smoker and is of legal age of majority in the country of origin. At the same time, although allowing this tobacco product to be commercialized, FDA also requires manufacturers to regularly update their sales and trade processes to ensure control of young people’s access to the product. This product is at its lowest. Meanwhile, compared to heated cigarettes, young people can easily buy cigarettes anywhere with as cheap as giving. FDA representative, Dr. Priscilla Callahan-Lyon, confirmed that the FDA has carefully studied the issue of the product’s impact on young people. Accordingly, in terms of appearance, a heated cigarette is a rather large set of equipment, difficult to conceal and is not cheap, must be used with its own custom cigarette, and this product also does not contain attractive aromas. young. Not only in the US, but in countries that allow the circulation of heated cigarettes, the level of impact of this product on young people or new users is almost under control. Despite accounting for 85% of global sales of heated cigarettes, only 0.1% of middle and high school students in Japan use heated cigarettes daily, which is only one-fifth of the total. percentage of students smoking burned cigarettes. It is worth noting that the number of students using heated cigarettes is the same group of students who have used cigarettes before. According to an independent study of 7,000 teenagers in Germany, the number of people aged 12-17 who used a heated tobacco product in the 30 days before the survey was almost zero. One study Another independent study of more than 11,000 teenagers aged 11-15 years old in Switzerland also found that less than 2% had ever used heated tobacco, while the number of people who smoked lit cigarettes in this same age range increased. to over 33%. Regulating heated tobacco: No violation of the FCTC . Framework Convention In a seminar held recently, Ms. Tran Thi Trang, Deputy Director of the Legal Department, Ministry of Health said: “The Ministry of Health proposes not to allow the import and sale of e-cigarette products, heated cigarettes because these products are addictive, harmful to health, and cannot be piloted for people’s health.” If according to the above argument, invisibly, cigarettes – the product with the highest level of addiction and harm to the health of users and the community – becomes a product that is protected exclusively and consumers. no longer have the right to choose harm reduction products. “Smokers don’t deserve to die just because they don’t know about less harmful nicotine products,” said Cliff Douglas, director of the University of Michigan’s Tobacco Research Network and former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. American Cancer Society (ACS) Tobacco Control Policy, former Advisory Counsel on Tobacco Control Policy to the US Surgeon General. Meanwhile, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) of the World Health Organization (WHO) also recognizes heated tobacco as a tobacco product. Therefore, if Vietnam manages heated tobacco like the current tobacco control law in the host country, it is also completely consistent with what the Framework Convention has stipulated. 
Lawyer Phan Hoang Lam, Law Firm DT LAW. On the other hand, Lawyer (LS) Phan Hoang Lam, DT LAW Law Firm said that: The Law on Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harms 2012 defines “tobacco is a product produced from all or part of tobacco ingredients, processed in the form of cigarettes, cigars, tobacco, pipe tobacco or other forms”. On this basis, heated tobacco is considered “tobacco” because it contains tobacco leaf ingredients, consistent with the concept of “tobacco” under the current legal provisions of Vietnam. Therefore, this drug should absolutely be regulated by Vietnam’s Drug Prevention and Control Law. According to LS Lam, in order to manage smokeless tobacco products more effectively, Vietnam needs to consider international scientific bases to evaluate and compare the level of harm to health of tobacco. smokeless compared to burned cigarettes. At the same time, with the function of State management, in order to create free and fair competition among manufacturers and products and protect the interests of consumers, protect public health, regulatory agencies The state should immediately come up with a plan to build a legal corridor for the production, circulation and control of these products.
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