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** 20 July 2023
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** UK
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** MPs call for restrictions on disposable vapes to limit use by children (#1)
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** Opinion: People are fascinated by the sober and sober-ish. But the real question is – why aren’t there more of us? (#2)
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** Parliamentary Activity
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** APPG on Smoking and Health meeting: The Smokefree 2030 ambition: four years on (#3)
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** UK
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** MPs call for restrictions on disposable vapes to limit use by children
MPs have urged the government to introduce restrictions on the packaging and marketing of disposable vapes to tackle the “alarming trend” of children using these addictive products.
MPs call for restrictions on disposable vapes to limit use by children
Chair of health committee says packaging and marketing of vapes should be restricted
Single-use vapes, from brands such as Elf Bar and Lost Mary, have soared in popularity, and since 2021 the proportion of 11- to 18-year-olds vaping (7.6%) has been greater than those smoking (3.6%). The latest survey for Action on Smoking and Health found 20.5% of children had tried vaping, up from 15.8% in 2022 and 13.9% before the first Covid lockdown.
The Conservative MP Steve Brine, chair of the health and social care committee, said decisive action was needed from the government and the vape industry “to tackle an alarming trend in the number of children vaping and to protect them from its harmful effects”
He said: “The vaping industry has not gone far enough to ensure that its products don’t appeal to children. When you have brightly coloured and branded vapes with flavours that name unicorns, sweets and popular fizzy drinks displayed in locations ranging from newsagents to chicken shops, it’s disingenuous for the industry to claim otherwise.
The committee believes that the government can maintain a public health message on the potential value of vapes to smokers while ensuring that it keeps them out of sight and reach of children.
MPs called for a review of trading standards enforcement powers to prevent vapes being sold to children. They also urged the government to assess the impact of a proposed excise tax on disposable vapes, which would help to stop imports of illegal products.
Source: The Guardian, 19 July 2023
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** See also, a letter from the Health and Social Care Committee urges the government to impose heavier restrictions on disposable vapes to limit child use: [link removed]
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Read Here ([link removed])
** Opinion: People are fascinated by the sober and sober-ish. But the real question is – why aren’t there more of us?
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**
In an opinion piece in the Guardian, Moya Lothian-McLean writes about her experience being “sober adjacent”- a term to describe those who are not completely teetotal, but more often than not refrain from drinking.
Despite noticing more friends cutting back on alcohol, she discusses the fascination from those around her on why she has chosen to be sober. Whilst she often quotes the health, financial and social context, she reflects that what people are really asking is how she has managed to give up alcohol in a culture where drinking is at the centre of so much of our social lives.
For Moya, those choosing to be sober or sober-adjacent are still ‘outliers’ in a society which often leaves people compelled to drink, offers no state-provided assistance in reducing consumption and assures people that all of this is normal.
Quoting a figure that ten million people in England regularly exceed drinking guidelines, Moya discusses the cultural stigma surrounding the image of the alcoholic which she believes prevents people from seeking what help there is, while acting as a source of denial that they have not yet reached “rock bottom”.
Instead, the burden often falls on the individual to “moderate” their drinking or to simply give it up. However, Moya reflects that this is easier for some than others, referencing Tom Holland’s recent articulation of his struggles with reducing his alcohol consumption. Moya ends by worrying that we are a long way off fixing our relationship with alcohol, calling for better understanding of when help is needed and structured help to support people.
Source: The Guardian, 20 July 2023
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Read Here ([link removed])
** Parliamentary Activity
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** APPG on Smoking and Health Parliamentary Event: The Smokefree 2030 ambition: four years
Yesterday, the APPG on Smoking and Health held an event in Parliament to mark the fourth anniversary of the Government’s smokefree 2030 ambition, announced in the prevention green paper. The meeting was an opportunity to reflect on the progress made so far towards the ambition and how it can be achieved.
Bob Blackman MP, Chairman of the APPG on Smoking and Health, opened the session and highlighted the progress that has been made in reducing smoking rates and the need to go further and faster if the Smokefree 2030 ambition is to be achieved. He also highlighted the Smoking survivors campaign launched by Fresh as an example of the kind of hard-hitting mass media campaigns which are needed across the country.
Steve Brine MP, chair of the Health and Social Care Committee, reflected on his own experience as a former Public Health Minister and calls for a new ambitious strategy to tackle smoking that builds on the successes of the past and gets us closer to a Smokefree 2030.
Public Health Minister, Neil O’Brien MP, reiterated the Government’s commitment to achieving the Smokefree 2030 ambition and highlights the new ‘swap to stop’ scheme and national financial incentives for pregnant women who smoke.
Shadow Public Health Minister Andrew Gwynne MP set out the Labour Party’s commitment to the smokefree ambition and reflected on the strong cross-party support for tobacco control and the role of both Labour and Conservative governments in taking us closer to ending smoking.
Dr Javid Khan OBE, author of the 2022 independent review of smoking policies reiterated that the 15 recommendations he made to the government were not ‘pick and mix’ and urged the Government to take seriously all recommendations, without which the Smokefree 2030 will not be achieved.
Sue Mountain, former smoker and three-time cancer survivor reflected on the lies she was told for years by tobacco companies that supported a decades long addiction which led her to a cancer diagnosis. She highlighted the importance of mass media campaigns to educate the public on the health impacts that smoking has on individuals and their families.
Prof Bola Owolabi, GP and Director of health inequalities at NHS England spoke of the importance of a strategic alliance between ICBs and Local Authorities to ensure that smokers can access the support they need to quit. She also highlighted the centrality of smoking to the Core20PLUS5 approach to reducing health inequalities.
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