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** 30 May 2023
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** UK
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** Vaping: Government plans underage crackdown (#1)
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** Majority of Scots want age to buy tobacco raised to 21 and restrictions on who can sell products (#2)
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** International
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** Canadian provinces pressed to curb smoking in tobacco negotiations (#3)
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** UK
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** Vaping: Government plans underage crackdown

A loophole allowing retailers to give free vape samples to children is set to be closed under government plans to curb their use among young people.

A new crackdown on vape marketing would prevent the "unacceptable" targeting of children and teens, Rishi Sunak said.

There will also be a review into the rules around the sale of "nicotine-free" products to under-18s.

By tightening the law, it said it would be easier for local trading standards officials to issue on-the-spot fines and fixed penalty notices to shops who sell vapes to underage people.

While tobacco products cannot be given out to under-18s for free, this is not currently the case with nicotine products like vapes.

The government said that while most businesses are not carrying out this practice, some rogue traders are taking advantage of the loophole.

Chief Medical Officer Professor Sir Chris Whitty called the decision to close the loophole a "very welcome step".

He said vaping was a good alternative for adult smokers, but raised concerns about companies "clearly marketing these products at children".

Linda Bauld, professor of public health at Edinburgh University, said vaping was far less harmful than smoking for children but the longer terms risks were not fully understood.

She told BBC Breakfast: "We do know there are toxins and carcinogens in vape products, albeit at lower or trace levels, and if those are exposed to young developing lungs, particularly chronically over a long period, there may well be real risk associated with that."

Campaigners are already arguing that it needs a bolder approach with taxation to make vapes less affordable, while continuing to promote them as an option for adult smokers wanting to quit the habit.

Deborah Arnott, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) chief executive, welcomed the government's actions but said the prime minister's proposals were just "baby steps", and called for a minimum price of £5 to be imposed in order to price out young buyers.

Source: BBC, 30 May 2023

See also: ASH – Resources on youth vaping ([link removed]) | ASH - Response to the Government announcement on youth vaping ([link removed]) | ASH - Headline results ASH Smokefree GB adults and youth survey results 2023 ([link removed]) | Guardian – Ministers plan to close vaping loophole ([link removed])
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** Majority of Scots want age to buy tobacco raised to 21 and restrictions on who can sell products

Two-thirds of Scots want to raise the legal age to buy tobacco products to 21, a health survey has found.

The Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) report also found people want more to be done to limit the sale of tobacco products.

The survey, commissioned by the Scottish Government, asked questions which will form part of a refreshed plan to be published this autumn to support a tobacco-free Scotland.

The Citizens’ Panel survey, between November and February, found that, of the 667 people who responded to the survey, 75 per cent want more action to be taken to further limit who can sell tobacco products.

And, while 63 per cent agreed the legal age to buy them should be raised from 18 to 21, just 25 per cent were opposed.

Approximately two-thirds (67 per cent) felt packaging, in-pack information and the appearance of cigarettes should be made more unappealing.

Some 64 per cent agreed taxes on tobacco and vaping products should be raised, but nearly a quarter (23 per cent) disagreed.

There was also broad agreement that the smoking ban should be widened to create more smoke-free areas where children congregate, such as outside schools and play parks, with almost nine in 10 (86 per cent) in agreement. Just eight per cent disagreed.

Clare Morrison, director of community engagement at HIS, said: “As Scotland looks to become tobacco-free in the near future, this shows the majority of people believe more should be done to limit access for younger people to tobacco and vaping.”

Source: Scottish Daily Express, 28 May 2023
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** International
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** Canadian provinces pressed to curb smoking in tobacco negotiations

Three national health organizations want Canada’s premiers to push for initiatives to reduce smoking during settlement negotiations with major tobacco companies, years after provinces sued to recoup health-care costs.

In an open letter, the Canadian Cancer Society, the Canadian Lung Association and Heart and Stroke Foundation say governments should make cutting tobacco use a top priority in talks that began four years ago as part of the provinces’ lawsuits seeking a collective $500 billion in damages.

“Tobacco causes a devastating toll in disease and death, a toll that is contributing to the ongoing crisis in the health-care system,” the groups say in the letter released Monday, ahead of World No Tobacco Day, an annual campaign by the World Health Organization to raise awareness about the harms of tobacco use.

The health organizations say at least 10 per cent of the money from a settlement should go toward long-term funding, independent of government, to slash smoking. They are also calling for a ban on tobacco promotion by the industry and measures that would require the defendants to make additional payments if targets to reduce tobacco use are not met. And they want the companies to publicly disclose millions of pages of internal documents.

Cynthia Callard, executive director of Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada, said Canadian jurisdictions should introduce measures that would force tobacco companies to wind down their businesses “instead of getting them to foot the bill on traditional programs.”

“What we really need is to have this industry disabled,” Callard said.

Source: Global News, 29 May 2023
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ASH Daily News is a digest of published news on smoking-related topics. ASH is not responsible for the content of external websites. ASH does not necessarily endorse the material contained in this bulletin.

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