Vaping has been plagued with the problem of underage usage. It seems that it has hit the point where the companies are contemplating adding a tracking chip in every vape pen. Some of the people have labeled the idea as impossible. However, it can happen sooner than you think.
How does the tracing work?
Dave Morris is the creator of the Trace/Verify mechanism, which is designed to curb underage usage. He is the person who has created this RFID chip, which can be installed on every vape pen or any age restricted item.
Here is how the whole mechanism is poised to work:
- As the adult buyer purchases the item, the RFID chip will contain the information about the original buyer since they have to show a state-issued ID card
- In case any other person is found with the same pen, the RFID can be scanned and information about the original buyer can be found.
Stopping straw purchases
There are places where the sale of vape pens are highly regulated. In these areas, people such as scalpers or other dealers buy a large number of vape pens to later sell to underage people.
With the RFID technology in place, the element of straw purchases will be eliminated. The influence of adults is a big reason behind the use of vape pens. A survey found out that the reason behind the high number of users was the fact that they saw some other person use the device.
Bona fide intentions
Morris has created the device and his actions reflect the opposite of the attitude held by the vaping industry. Most of the people in the industry are not addressing the problem. Morris thinks that leaving the problem unaddressed is equivalent to self-sabotage. This is because the government will clamp down hard otherwise.
It will lead to overregulation on the people who are using the device. Moreover, an industry has to maintain an image in front of the people. If the people think that the entire industry is full of corporations who do not care, the use of the product will suffer.
People have also criticized this solution and said that it can be solved by performing simple ID checks. So, do you think this is the solution? Keep on reading Smoke Alley to find out more.