Strangers coax Hanoi primary school students to smoke e-cigarettes

Citing reports by teachers, students and parents at the Lai Yen primary school in Hoai Duc District, the Committee said some children were offered to smoke e-cigarettes by five people with unconfirmed identity two weeks prior. They told the children that if they agreed to smoke and persuade others to join, they would be gifted the e-cigarette and VND50,000 ($2.13). Some children agreed to smoke, the Committee said.

The Committee said drugs and other addictive substances are finding their way into school grounds in the form of food, snacks and other items.

“In recent times, addictive substances have been found inside e-cigarettes,” it said.

Le Duc Thuan, head of the Ba Dinh District education division, said the district has requested the division to inform schools about the incident, adding that no similar incident has happened in Ba Dinh yet.

Multiple cases of poisoning caused by smoking e-cigarettes have been reported recently. In December last year, eight third graders in Hanoi were hospitalized for experiencing nausea after smoking an e-cigarette they picked up during recess.