The use of e-cigarettes is increasing among minors, especially the so-called disposable models. However, it is not the use itself that primarily worries the police. It is the way young people obtain their e-cigs.
"It is similar to the shady way in which older young people acquire drugs," says Kristian Bergström, municipal police officer in the Sollentuna local police district.
The police in Sollentuna/Upplands Väsby issued a warning to parents in the region this week. The message was that more and more children in their early teens increasingly found with e-cigarettes at school and after school.
"E-cigarettes are often sold through groups on Snapchat and Instagram, where young people can become intermediaries to larger criminal groups. They risk getting very close to criminal circles" says Kristian Bengtsson.
Different from cigarettes
Kristian Bergström is a municipal police officer who works closely with young people in the Sollentuna local police area. The development has worried him since more and more reports of e-cigarettes have come in from schools in the past year.
"The thing itself is not very alarming. It is not a directly life-threatening behavior, even if it involves nicotine. Kids have been smoking for generations. What I am reacting to is the way, and in which contexts, they acquire the e-cigarettes. It's different from how you get cigarettes." says Kristian Bengtsson to Vejpkollen.
Shops are doing well
He does not believe that e-cigarettes are passed on to young people via classic langnining, where an older friend "buys out" from a shop. And he feels that the vejpshoppes and shops that operate in the Stockholm region are decent in this context.
"The municipality carries out regular checks and my impression is that the shops handle this quite well. They are also careful about their licenses to sell the products" says Kristian Bengtsson.
The black market is growing
As previously reported by vejpkollen the black market in disposable models increased in several parts of the world, including Europe.German police made large seizures of unauthorized disposable weapons at the border, indicating a large illegal trade. At the same time, there are repeated reports from individual shop owners in Sweden that many varieties of unregistered products are in circulation.
"We often have customers who come in and ask for disposable models with 7000 flares or similar. These are models that are not approved in Sweden or the EU because of too much wicking capacity and of course nothing we can sell. But obviously there are shops or private individuals who do it anyway" says Filip Jansson, shop assistant in one of the Gothenburg's largest vejpshoppar to Vejpkollen.
"Like when older people get drugs"
Kristian Bengtsson is on the same track. He does not want to swear to whether the sellers have links to further organized crime. But he is certain that it is a shady environment.
"It often happens in the same way as when older young people acquire drugs. They contact someone online, meet on the corner, swish the money and get their goods" states Kristian Bengtsson.
He believes that selling, and the contacts it creates, can open the door to worse things for young people in the future.
"It will be like a gateway. Today, the connector sells disposable vapes with nicotine. In a few years it will be cannabis or something even heavier. The contact is established early and in this way drugs become more accessible to young people" says Kristian Bengtsson.
Informing parents
According to Kristian, it is therefore important to communicate with parents about what e-cigarettes are and how young people can get hold of them. In several cases, staff at schools and recreation centers have also taken care of models and notified the police.
"We don't generally visit schools to talk about vejping and e-cigarettes. But there have been times when we have spoken in classes where the school has noted more widespread use" says Kristian Bengtsson.
How do you talk about vejpning with young people?
"We try not to point fingers and scold them for vejping or smoking. However, I want to inform them of the risks that come with the sale and the danger of them being in these environments. Today, they are buying e-cigarettes in this way. In a few years, it could be heavier stuff on the same street corner from the same guy. It's a potentially very dangerous environment"
How widespread is vejping among young people and is there a difference in different areas?
"The use has increased overall and I don't see that it is worse in socio-economically more vulnerable areas than in others. This is clearly a fad that is very much in vogue among all young people right now."
THC also in circulation
Although the vast majority of disposable models that appear in young people only contain nicotine, there are also variants with thc - cannabis.
"The narcotics police have noted that there are more cannabis vapes in circulation than before. This is new for us too and we have no direct statistics on how much is involved. But we in the police need to adapt. We are used to looking for rizz papers and smelling our way to the seizures. With this type of device, it's completely different." Kristian Bengtsson.
I've never heard a politician or other government official so clear about where the problems lie.
We in NNA Sweden have warned politicians for a long time that the sale of contraband once in a while becomes a good reason for the dealer on the corner to cultivate a younger customer group, but no one thought then that it could be so. Now it IS so. The engine in this is not just to be able to sell to children. The engine is that restrictions on the number of models and the level of taxation mean that the white market can neither compete on price nor product in the disposable market, even among those who are of age and then there is the volume and margins to operate a black market. If the regulations and tax rates had been different, the conditions for this market would not have existed and young people would have had to rely on adult friends who can set up and "buy out", as in the cigarette market.
The solution does not lie in tougher legislation against the white market, but on the contrary, combined with better import controls.