Hong Kong Vaper Describes Addiction Struggle Amid Ban, Online Purchases
22-year-old Elio started smoking at 16 in New Zealand, switched to e-cigarettes after 2020 collapsed lung, now circumvents 2022 vape ban by buying pods online
Quick Look
- A 22-year-old Hongkonger named Elio began smoking at 16 while studying abroad in New Zealand and developed a nicotine addiction to cope with stress about his uncertain future.
- Despite suffering a collapsed lung in 2020, he resumed smoking and drinking, then switched to e-cigarettes when tobacco taxes rose.
- After Hong Kong banned vape sales in 2022, he restricted himself to one capsule every three days—equivalent to 20 cigarettes of nicotine—but continues purchasing pods online privately to avoid enforcement.
AI-generated summary
Twenty-two-year-old Hongkonger Elio* started smoking at the age of 16, when he was studying abroad in New Zealand. But what started as a way to kill time soon became a daily habit to relieve the stress of an uncertain future. Despite suffering from a collapsed lung in 2020, he resumed smoking and drinking a few months after recovery, later switching to e-cigarettes amid rising tobacco taxes. After the 2022 ban on the sale of vapes, he restricted his habit to one capsule every three days – equivalent to 20 cigarettes in terms of nicotine content – but continued to purchase pods online to sustain his supply. He vapes only in private to avoid enforcement officers. “If I haven’t vaped in a while, I feel really down and lethargic,” he said.
