The 16-year-old ordered so strong nicotine bags that their toxicity is warned by the skull
Nicotine|The law contains a loophole that allows for the ordering of strong nicotine bags for minors without restrictions. The situation is unfortunate, says the customs inspector.
The abstract is made by artificial intelligence and checked by man.
Helsinki mother was shocked to find very strong nicotine bags in her 16-year-old son’s room.
The boy had ordered the bags from the foreign online store himself, which is possible due to the loophole in the law.
The Finnish Tobacco Act does not limit the import of nicotine bags or the possession of minors.
A change in law is being discussed in Parliament, which would tighten the regulation of nicotine bags and repair the current loophole.
Helsinki Mom was shocked when she found very strong nicotine bags in her 16-year-old son’s room.
The boy had more packages. One reel bags contained up to 50 milligrams of nicotine per bag.
The Agency for Safety and Chemicals (Tukes) has prohibited the sale and marketing of nicotine bags with more than 20 milligrams in Finland.
Experts have been worried for longer for very strong nicotine bags. When swallowed, such bags cause a risk of poisoning especially for children. Medical magazine More often than every other day, there is a nicotine bag in the mouth of a toddler and calling the poison information center.
Mom asked her son where he had got the bags for himself. It turned out that the boy himself had ordered them from a foreign online store with his own money.
The e -commerce that sells the preparation boy describes that the product is not « for beginners ». According to the mother, there is a picture of the skull indicating immediate toxicity on the back of the reel.
“The products are toxic and can be deadly when swallowed, when they get on the skin and/or inhalation,” writes Tukes in the description of the warning badge.
« How can you even make these things or legally to sell? Do young people buy them all the time? » She wondered in her response to HS’s survey.
HS has interviewed the mother, but because it is about the use of substance abuse, the identities of the mother and son are not stated.
How is it possible for a minor to be able to order potentially toxic substance abuse on their own?
Reason There is legislation that is currently so deficient that authorities have no authority to intervene.
Customs inspector Let the rock According to the Tobacco Act, nicotine bags are currently seen as tobacco fees. It leads to the fact that they are not subject to prohibitions or restrictions. In addition, the law has not imposed a prohibition on possession of nicotine bags for minors.
“The situation is quite unfortunate,” says Kallio.
Mightily In Finland, an e-commerce store cannot send nicotine bags by mail, as nicotine bags may not be sold or handed over to a person under 18, and the seller has, in practice, a statutory obligation to constantly monitor the purchase situation.
However, the authority of the authority does not extend abroad.
“These are often ordered from abroad and there are legislation in their countries,” Kallio says.
Son You ordered nicotine bags from Denmark, where the strength of nicotine bags is not regulated, at least for the time being. HS asked the company who sold nicotine bags to the boy, how they secured the age of their customers, but the company did not answer the question.
Since there are no restrictions on importing nicotine bags in Finland, Customs has no reason to monitor the matter.
« In a way, the only control over the Customs currently doing in nicotine bags is tax control.
Customs does not have data on how much minors bring nicotine bags to the ground. However, according to Kallio, it is a « quite common » phenomenon based on discussions between authorities.
Customs has previously stated that during the investigation of crime, minors will also buy intoxicating products from illegal online markets, especially nicotine products, snus and drugs.
« Unfortunately, the Finnish authorities are unable to prevent minors from ordering tobacco, alcohol or even drugs online, » said the Customs Criminal Investigation Head Hannu Sinkkonen In an interview with YLE last year.
For example, if a minor is caught in ordering alcohol, Customs will take over the products and notify the caregiver and the child welfare authority.
However, the situation is about to change soon.
On Wednesday, Parliament approved a change in the regulation of nicotine bags. In the future, the upper limit for the strength of the bags will be 16.6 milligrams. At the same time, a loophole hole that allows minors have been able to order nicotine bags.
In the past, Valvira has proposed that the law would enter into force after three months after the confirmation. The Committee on Social Affairs and Health has hoped that the law would be effective faster.
How Strong dose 50 milligrams of nicotine then?
« If a person has not used nicotine before, then that is already a drastic dose. It does play a pretty good risk of poisoning, » says the docent of pharmacology Outi Salminen.
Nicotine absorption is influenced, among other things, by dosing, operating time and other ingredients in the product.
According to Salminen, studies have found that nicotine absorption is strongly influenced by the alkalinity of the product. Thus, the flavors in the nicotine bag are not just « healing » the taste, but also often reinforce the effect of nicotine by increasing alkalinity.
That’s why Salminen is concerned about allowing mentholus, because at least in the smoking tobacco, the mentholi contributes to nicotine absorption.
Generally It is thought that a bag containing 6-10 milligrams of nicotine corresponds to about one cigarette.
When you throw a 50 milligram bag under your lip, it is practically the same as you start burning five cigarettes at the same time. This will probably lead to symptoms of poisoning quickly: heart rate, nausea, vomiting and increased blood pressure.
« The first symptoms are so unfortunate that the person hardly holds the bag under the lip for a very long time. »
