The report recommends a ban on the sale of all disposable vapes and non-tobacco flavors. Image for representation. | Photo credit: AP
Leading UK doctors on Wednesday (August 28, 2024) urged the government to pass legislation to tackle the “vaping epidemic”, particularly among young people, including banning disposable e-cigarettes and all flavours other than tobacco.
The call came with the publication of a report by the British Medical Association (BMA) which it said was a “blueprint” for the “bold actions needed”.
The previous Conservative government unveiled plans earlier this year to phase out smoking, while also banning disposable e-cigarettes and restricting their flavours and packaging.
The new Labor administration – which came to power early last month – has revived the draft bill, but has not yet detailed its exact approach.
The BMA report says vape use among children and young people has increased almost six-fold in the past decade.
It urged the Government to not shy away from taking bold action to arrest this trend.
“There is no denying that we are living in a vaping epidemic,” Professor David Strain, chair of the BMA’s science board, said in launching the report.
He said one in ten adults now vapes, while describing a six-fold increase in the number of vapers aged between 11 and 17 as “more worrying”.
“As a doctor, I understand the role vapes can play in helping people stop smoking, but they have no proper place in the lives of our children and young people,” Mr Strain said.
“An industry that is clearly targeting children through colours, flavours and branding, and promoting a product that can cause nicotine addiction and potentially other harms, will no longer be allowed to continue.”
The report recommends a ban on the sale of all disposable vapes and non-tobacco flavors, as well as the use of imagery, color and branding on packaging and devices.
This would be similar to the current restrictions on cigarettes.
The BMA also wants to restrict advertising and marketing, and rules that vapes must be kept behind retail counters, not on display.
Meanwhile, it recommended the government launch education campaigns about the dangers of vapes to reduce their attractiveness, especially among young people.
Penelope Toff, head of the BMA’s public health medicine committee, said: “We are calling on ministers to take bold and courageous action that will make a real difference.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said selling vapes to children and young people was “completely unacceptable”.
The spokesperson said the planned law would outlaw the practice, as well as “regulate flavours, packaging, and change the location and manner of their display in stores”.