Background
Vaping has become increasingly popular amongst people in the UK whilst incidences of smoking continue to decrease year on year. In Great Briton, 4.7 million adults use vapes.
Statistics show that the use of vaping amongst children between the ages of 11-18 years has grown by 50% year on year. In 2023, 20.5% of children had tried vaping, up from 15.8% in 2022 and 13.9% in 2020 prior to the first Covid19 National Lockdown. 11.5% of children who have tried vaping have never tried smoking.
The flavours, colours, accessibility, and affordability of disposable vapes are believed to be the main causes for the significant rise in youth vaping, as it is considered that they are being purposefully marketed at children.
Smoke Free Generation
The UK government are committed to bring about the first ‘smokefree generation’ by 2030, having pledged to introduce legislation to make it illegal for any person born on or after 1st January 2009 to purchase tobacco products.
On 29th January 2024, the Government announced that disposable vapes will be banned in the UK as part of plans to address the rise in youth vaping. The measure comes as part of the response to the government’s smoking and vaping consultation which took place between October to December 2023. The ban will introduce new powers restricting flavours, packaging the displaying of vapes in retail premises. The objective being to reduce their appeal to children. Moreover, vaping alternatives such as nicotine pouches will also be outlawed for children to purchase.
In a bid to reduce underage sales the government will also bring in new fines for shops in England and Wales which sell vapes illegally to children. Trading Standards officers will be empowered to act ‘on the spot’, building on the £2,500 maximum fine that can already be imposed by LA’s.
Vape Safety
- Research shows that you are more likely to quit smoking by using vapes containing nicotine than other nicotine replacement therapies.
- Nicotine is a highly addictive substance; however, it is not the major cause of the damage to health caused by smoking tobacco products.
- Research has found that vapes containing nicotine are much less damaging to your health than smoking tobacco, at least in the short to medium term.
- We do not yet fully understand the long-term effect that vaping might have on our health. The available evidence is only able to look at the effects of vaping on health for up to 2 years. Research into the health effects of vaping is continuing.
- Rechargeable vapes have been known to explode or catch fire. It is important that for all rechargeable electrical devices that you use the correct charger and do not leave it charging unattended or overnight.
- In England, certain chemicals are prohibited in vaping liquid as they are known to cause cancer and other serious diseases. As a result, it is important to ensure that you only buy vapes that are approved under the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016.
- The main safety messages associated with vapes are:
If you are an adult who has never smoked don’t vape
If you are a child don’t vape
PPP Vaping Education and Enforcement
The PPP have developed a vaping enforcement campaign across Bracknell Forrest, West Berkshire and Wokingham, this consists of:
- Underage sales test purchasing
- Vape seizures and testing for suspected illegal vapes
In conjunction with West Berkshire Council’s Public Health and Wellbeing Service, a vaping education provision is being offered to all secondary schools across the local authority and Newbury college.
Associated Links
Use-of-e-cigarettes-among-adults-in-Great-Britain-2023.pdf (ash.org.uk)
https://ash.org.uk/uploads/Use-of-vapes-among-young-people-GB-2023-v2.pdf?v=1697209531
https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD010216.pub7/full
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nicotine-vaping-in-england-2022-evidence-update
https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/chief-medical-officer-for-england-on-vaping
Disposable vapes banned to protect children's health - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 (legislation.gov.uk)
