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Opinion: Don’t ban vapes, just make them really boring
Writing in The Times, columnist Hugo Rifkind discusses recent proposals to ban disposable vapes and the role that vaping can play in reducing smoking rates.
Rifkind posits that e-cigarettes are a “useful smoking replacement but there’s really no need for them to be bright pink and watermelon-flavoured”.
Rifkind cites smoking prevalence data showing that the rate of children between the ages of 11-15 trying smoking has decreased from 49% in 1996 to 12% today, and regular smoking is down to 1% compared to 22% in 1997.
Rifkind makes the point that the ease at which children can get a hold of and use vapes is contributing to their popularity. 9% of children ages 11-15 currently vape and around 1 in 5 have tried it. He states that vaping is better than smoking but that he “wouldn’t like to bet that there is no long-term cost here at all.”
Rifkind concludes by saying that the UK should follow France’s approach in banning single-use vapes, ban flavours like they have in Germany and finally ban “advertising or presentation that makes vapes look fun”. He uses the EU banning menthol cigarettes and the UK’s law introducing plain packaging on cigarettes as evidence of the success of these suggestions in decreasing the smoking rate.
Source: The Times, 4 September 2023
See also: ASH Mythbuster: Addressing common myths about vaping: Putting the evidence in context
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Teenage vaping
Vaping has become a way of life for Leia, 17, alongside a growing number of children across the UK. She spoke to BBC Panorama about the hold vaping has over her life - and her determination to quit.
Leia started smoking cigarettes when she was 12 and switched to vapes at 14 as a healthier alternative.
Health experts largely agree that vapes - or e-cigarettes - are a good way to wean adults off smoking. This is because it is widely thought that vaping is substantially less harmful than smoking because there are far fewer toxins in vapes than in tobacco smoke.
But the e-cigarette vapour that is inhaled contains nicotine, which can be highly addictive.
While it is illegal for shops to sell vapes to under 18s, Leia says she has never been asked for ID in the three years she's been buying them from convenience stores.
Figures from the 2023 Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) survey of young vapers in England, Scotland and Wales suggest one in five children (11-17 year olds) have tried vaping.
The numbers of children experimenting with vapes (trying them once or twice) is up 50% from the 2022 survey.
Leia's mum would like to see her daughter quit vaping, but thinks it is probably better than smoking.
There are few restrictions on how vapes are marketed in UK shops and she agrees with those who argue that, with their bright colours and fruity flavours, disposable vapes are deliberately designed to appeal to young people.
In a statement, the Department of Health said it was "concerned" about the rise in youth vaping.
"We held a call for evidence to identify opportunities to reduce the number of children accessing and using vape products and we are considering a range of options," it said.
In May, the government announced it would close a loophole which allowed the vaping industry to give out free vape samples to children.
It has also allocated £3m to tackle the sale of illegal vapes in England.
Source: BBC News, 4 September 2023
See also: BBC Panorama: Teenage Vaping: What’s the Harm?
ASH response to consultation: Youth vaping: call for evidence
ASH mythbuster: Addressing common myths about vaping: Putting the evidence in context
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Australia: Threats and bribe fears confront tobacco 'inspectors'
Bureaucrats whose job is to measure goods have spoken of their fear of being harmed and offers of bribes as they check on illicit cigarette traders.
The concerns were raised in an auditor-general report tabled in federal parliament on Tuesday, which examined the industry department's National Measurement Institute.
Responsible for measuring $750 billion a year in traded goods, the institute has an agreement with the federal health department to undertake tobacco plain packaging information visits.
The auditor-general found the institute prioritised this work over its own responsibility for trade measure compliance.
Institute officers raised concerns about making the illicit tobacco compliance checks "and the risks to them associated with illegal activity".
One inspector spoke of an incident in which a shop assistant went to the front door, locked it and removed the key, leaving him with no way to leave.
"After leaving the premises, I was followed and approached by the trader and offered what might be considered a bribe, not to report what I had witnessed in his store," the inspector said.
In another anecdote provided "and when inspecting a drawer which contained the tobacco to be inspected, identified a gun and knife in the same drawer".
"The liquor store attendant indicated that the gun was not real, and removed it from the drawer and took it elsewhere."
Source: Daily Mail, 5 September 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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