MANILA - A doctor's prescription should be required in buying vape and e-cigarettes, the age of access to which could be lowered by a proposed law, the Philippine Medical Association said Thursday.

Under the vape bill, passed by both houses of Congress on Jan. 26, individuals aged 18 and above would be allowed to purchase vaping products, as opposed to the current age requirement of 21. The measure is up for President Rodrigo Duterte's approval.

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The use of vape and e-cigarettes must come with a doctor's prescription to limit its sale to the youth, said Dr. Benito Atienza, president of the Philippine Medical Association.

"Dapat may reseta ng doctor, ang mga gagamit nito mga naninigarilyo para ma-regulate. Dapat nga may reseta pa yan. Sa pagbaba ng edad from 21 to 18 mas madadagdagan ang mga gagamit nito at mas makakasama sa mga bata na gagamit nito," he said.

(A doctor's prescription should be required, those who should use it are those who smoke. It should require doctor's prescription. In lowering the age of access to 18 from 21, there will be more users of this product and it will be detrimental to children who will use it.)

"Nahihikayat ang maraming kabataan na magvape, baka sila ang manigarilyo sa susunod kasi naengganyo sila. Ang mga vape shops nasa tapat ng eskwelahan."

(It encourages children to use vape, it might lead to them smoking. Vape shops are in front of schools.)

Teens who use vapes have "four times the risk of being a regular user of the cigarette," according to Dr. Riz Gonzalez, fellow at the Philippine Pediatric Society.

"Ang goal ng tobacco and nicotine control is to quit, hindi (not) to shift. There has been no studies to prove na yung mga nag-e-cigarette (that those who used e-cigarrete) were successful in quitting. Children who were nonsmokers have 4 times the risk of being a regular user of the cigarette," she said.

"In the US, they are now seeing fibrosis, those are early signs of COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) among the young users. Eh COPD saan natin nakikita? Sa adults, 50 years old and up. Do we want our children, do we want us to face COPD in the young and make them unproductive in a very young age?"

(Who usually suffers from COPD? Adults 50 years old and up.)

Vapes and e-cigarettes are not among cessation services recommended to stop smoking tobacco, said Dr. Boss Sobremesana from the Department of Health.

"Syempre meron tayong mga kababayan na gustong magsimula ng paraan para makawala sa kanilang pag-vape o pag-smoke, 'pag lumapit sila sa ating cessation services, walang magrerekomenda na gamitin ang vape o vapor products para sa cessation ng smoking," he said.

(Of course there are people who want to quit vaping or smoking, when they approach our cessation services, vape or vapor products are not recommended in cessation of smoking.)

Flavors of vape products "add up to the addiction of nicotine," Gonzalez added.

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"Sumasama sa gateway papunta sa utak ng bata, papunta sa dopamine reward system. Kaya sabi namin age 21 or 25 ang access because developing pa ang brain," she said.

(It travels to the dopamine reward system. That's why we suggested age 21 or 25 for access because the brain is still developing.)

"What's our goal, it's clean air for children, not based on chemicals. There's no place for bisyo (vices) for our children dapat."

Lawmakers who cited developed countries such as the UK in passing the bill did not consider its strict tobacco regulations, according to lawyer Sophia San Luis of Imagine Law.

"Sa UK wala silang point of sale display, di naa-advertise aggressively ang produktong ito," she said.

(In the UK, there's no point of sale display, these products are not being advertised aggressively.

"How is this a sign to prevent use and access eh binaba nila ang (when they lowered the) age of access."

The proposed measure also transfers regulatory powers over the products from the Food and Drug Administration to the Department of Trade and Industry.

"These should be classified as medical products, not consumer products," Sobremesana said.

The Senate version of the vape bill prohibits the marketing of vaporized nicotine to minors or non-smokers.

It also prohibits the use of vape in schools, hospitals, government offices, and facilities intended particularly for minors.

The bill granted the DTI jurisdiction over e-cigarettes to ensure that defective and substandard products are kept off the market.

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