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{
    "id": 1284292,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1284292/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 204,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Cherarkey",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13217,
        "legal_name": "Cherarkey K Samson",
        "slug": "cherarkey-k-samson"
    },
    "content": "I have interacted with a very senior person about these e-cigarettes. I do not want to divulge who he was. It was in New York at the United Nations General Assembly in 2017 and at that time, e-cigarettes had not become common. The cigarette was associated with the cool kids and people with means. We were in a small room in one of the seven- star hotels in Manhattan, New York. We did not find it unusual because we did not notice anything unusual until we were shown an e-cigarette. You do not see the smoke but you just see somebody getting drunk. We found it very interesting. Mr. Speaker, Sir, this is a new phenomenon. These are small gadgets that have batteries and are charged. They then put in a substance called aerosol. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) Africa and the WHO, that substance has nicotine. There is a wrong perception that e-cigarettes do not have nicotine. They do. They have other substances such as thick metals like lead and tin that are carcinogenic. When you smoke, it goes right deep inside the lungs because of the small particles. That is why we have lung diseases among the smokers of e-cigarettes. Therefore, the fact that nicotine is present as a substance, it also has an effect on growth. Young people grow until their mid-twenties according to research and the good doctor is seated next to me. It stifles growth. By the way, the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) and CDC are yet to give us conclusive aspects of the effect of e- cigarettes. It is not good for the youth. There is also a notion that the brains of pregnant people and youth who smoke e-cigarettes continue to shrink, thereby stunting growth and it is not good. It is just like a normal cigarette. I am told Sen. Mumma is nursing some ambitions of leading some county. She will tell you that some of these substances that I have mentioned exist and they are carcinogenic. That is why I always see young people in places when they are pigaringsherehe, do it with passion and compassion at the same time. After five or 10 years, they put the slogan “Kenyans for Kenya” and a Safaricom pay bill number that they have to be flown to India because of cancer issues. It is about lifestyle diseases. As a country, we must be honest and tell the young people – I being one of them – that the way you lead your life will have tremendous effects. You are enjoying yourself and abusing substances such as nicotine, cocaine, bhang and others. Five or 10 years later, you will be calling us for a harambee to raise money for you to go to India for cancer treatment. This is a conversation that we need to have. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I request Sen. Mumma to start by amending the Tobacco Control Act, Cap 245A, which was revised in 2012. Bring an amendment to that Act so that we can see this new phenomenon of e-cigarette. There is a wrong conception, especially for chronic smokers that smoking e- cigarette assists one to quit smoking. No, it does not. Research has shown that it is a wrong perception. I think we need to call out these companies. Sen. Mumma should even summon them here. This is because if they are selling in Kenya, it means they have premises and yet I know they are international companies. There is misleading information that when you smoke an e-cigarette, you quit the normal smoking of the cigarette. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard Services,Senate."
}