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Times letters: smoke-free Britain
Sir, to quote Lucy Frazer, the culture secretary, “the public should not have to bear the cost of treatment when a punter becomes an addict” (“Gambling white paper would make firms fund NHS help for addicts”, Apr 27). This is true, but it is even more so for smoking, as all smoking is harmful and addictive. The cost of smoking to the public purse is £21 billion, nearly double tobacco tax revenues, and 40 times the cost of gambling.
When announcing its “smoke-free 2030” ambition the government promised to consider a “polluter pays” levy to pay for it. However, the House of Lords amendment to the Health and Social Care Bill requiring a government consultation was revoked in the Commons. Recent announcements by Neil O’Brien, the health minister, provided only a quarter of the £125 million that Javed Khan’s independent review told the government was needed to put us on track to a smoke-free 2030.
A “polluter pays” levy could fill the gap and is supported by Khan, health leaders and three quarters of the public. The culture secretary vowed to “match words with deeds” on gambling; we need the health secretary to do the same on smoking.
Lord Crisp, NHS chief executive 2000-06; Lord Faulkner of Worcester; Lord Rennard; Lord Young of Cookham
Source: The Times , 4 May 2023
See also: The Khan review - making smoking obsolete
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Vapes with tank size over eight times legal limit among 1,000 seized from Notting Hill shop
Vape pens with a tank size over eight times the legal limit are among 1,000 illegal devices seized from a shop in Notting Hill.
Kensington and Chelsea council, which carried out the raid, is warning of a “growing risk” of illegal vapes being purchased by “unaware” teenagers.
Some vape pens had a tank size of 16ml - which would last around 7,000 puffs - well above Britain’s legal 2ml tank size, which would last around 600 to 800 vapes.
During the raid by trading standards officers, 27 unsafe travel adaptors, nine pouches of oral tobacco and 62 packets of shisha tobacco were also discovered.
The seized vape pens had varying tank sizes from 5ml to 16ml - between 3,000 and 7,000 puffs, the council said on Wednesday.
Councillor Josh Rendall said: “Illegal vapes are becoming prominent in shops around London with unscrupulous businesses selling non-compliant and oversized fake vapes.
In Britain it is illegal to sell cigarettes or vapes with nicotine to anyone aged under 18 and businesses can be prosecuted if they are caught.
Source: The Evening Standard, 4 May 2023
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Opinion: I tried to properly recycle a disposable vape. It did not go well
Emma Snaith, an editor with the Guardian, writes of the difficulty she had recycling a disposable vape she bought. Snaith writes that the advice is unclear; the packaging only shows that it is not suitable to be added to the rest of your rubbish and, despite regulations saying that any retailer selling more than £100,000 worth of vapes are obliged to provide a take-back scheme, most supermarket staff knew nothing of this scheme.
Snaith writes that, according to research carried out by Material Focus, 1.3 million disposable vapes are thrown away every week and when littered can leach out toxic material into the environment. Additionally, there is enough lithium in a year’s worth of discarded vapes to make 1,200 electric car batteries.
Scott Butler, the executive director of Material Focus, states that all retailers should have vape drop off points and recycling points should be added to public places where they are frequently discarded such as parks and clubs.
Snaith however, feels that an outright ban is the only real solution and adds that there is growing momentum on this issue. Scotland have launched a review into the environmental impact of disposable vapes and Conservative MP Caroline Johnson has introduced a private members bill which if successful would prohibit the sale of disposable vapes.
Snaith concludes by saying that her experience with trying to properly dispose of a vape has put her off buying a new one, but most will not understand what they are discarding.
Source: The Guardian, 3 May 2023
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