Police cracked down hard on vape users at Finland's oldest rock festival. Over 90 were fined - even teenagers as young as 11 were caught with illegal vapes.
The fact that vaping has become a red rag to the Finnish authorities was evident during the major music festival Ruisrock in Turku. Almost 90 people were fined - for taking a puff on an e-cigarette.
In Finland, the rules for e-cigarettes among the strictest in Europe. Vape products with flavours other than artificial tobacco flavours are completely banned, the nicotine content of legal products must not exceed 20 mg/ml, and the sale of vape devices via the internet is prohibited. Use or possession of stronger products is considered a violation of the Tobacco Act and can lead to fines or reporting to the police.
Oldest rock festival in Finland
Ruisrock is a rock and metal-focused festival that has been held annually since the 1970s on the island of Runsala in Turku. This makes it Finland's oldest rock festival - and the second oldest in Europe.
Everything from Nirvana to Rammstein, Iron Maiden to U2 and pretty much everyone else under the rock umbrella has played. But a summer like this has never been seen before - where police have had to fight the "pandemic" they believe vaping to be.
"Vaping was crazy"
Police in south-west Finland conducted an extensive crackdown on vape users in public this year. According to Sergeant Janne Aro-Heinilä, who was interviewed by Yle - Finland's answer to DR - the police issued around 90 fines and police reports for the use or possession of illegal e-cigarettes alone.
- Vaping in public was crazy there, he tells Yle.
Aro-Heinilä has extensive experience in drug-related crime fighting, but has recently turned its focus to vaping. In the past year, the number of illegal vape models and nicotine liquids seized has risen sharply, especially at large events. At Ruisrock, the trend was clear - even among very young people. Police seized products from children as young as 11 years old.
At the same time, 47 people were arrested for drug offences during the festival, which attracted 105,000 visitors this year.
Buying whole boxes
The authorities did not apprehend any sellers on the festival grounds, according to the police. Instead, Aro-Heinilä points to sales via apps like Telegram as a growing problem. According to him, there is extensive reselling, with young people ordering large quantities of nicotine flavoured vapes from abroad - either for their own use or to earn a little extra money.
- We've met students who buy a box of ten vapes and sell them on for a small profit, he tells Yle.
He emphasises that all sales of nicotine liquids with more than 20 mg/ml nicotine are considered smuggling - even if it's just a few products brought home from a holiday. In such cases, the limit for personal use is set at 200 milligrams in total.
Pointing out health risks
Although the police in Finland clearly classify vaping as a public order problem, the tone from the authorities is sharper than in many countries where both cannabis and opioids are much bigger social problems. In interviews, police refer to the long-term health risks and the risk of nicotine addiction - but from a Danish perspective, it's surprising that colourful plastic sticks are being chased harder than heavy drugs.
Last year, Finnish police issued around 400 fines for vape-related offences. This year, they've already reached almost a quarter of that - in one weekend.
- Many young people realise that it's a fine, but we do it anyway - as a preventive measure," says Aro-Heinilä.
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