Vaping companies set sights on Gulf’s young smokers
As the pounding music echoed across Zabeel Hall, flashing lights dazzled and pungent clouds filled the air, Dubai’s first world vape event felt more like a nightclub than a trade show.
The vaping industry is geared up to impress the teen market, something that has attracted controversy and tighter regulation in the US.
Criticism of the industry’s intentions is unlikely to fade after the three-day Dubai World Trade Centre extravaganza, where stands such as Chubby Gorilla, Vampire Vape, Suicide Bunny and Vroom targeted new users and smokers to switch to what many claim is a less harmful alternative to tobacco.
In the UAE, the legal age for vaping is 18 and over.
So why are vaping products being so aggressively marketed?
Marketed to smokers wanting to quit but unable to kick the habit, vaping became an alternative that provided users with the hit of nicotine but without the accompanying tar.
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