The British government said on Tuesday it would close a loophole that allows retailers to provide free vape samples to children in a crackdown on e-cigarettes, whose colorful designs and fruity flavors make them stand out on supermarket shelves.
“I am deeply concerned by the sharp increase in vaping by children and appalled by reports of illicit lead-containing vaping in the hands of school children,” British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in a statement released by the Department of Health. report last week.
“The illegal marketing and sale of vaporizers to children is totally unacceptable.”
The statement cited a 2023 survey conducted by public health charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) of 11-17 year olds, in which 2 in 5 young people said they smoked vapes just to try it , while 1 in 5 said they do it because of peer pressure.
The problem is not unique to the UK, where it is illegal to sell vapes to anyone under the age of 18. An estimated 2.55 million U.S. middle and high school students reported using e-cigarettes in early 2022 in a survey, a level health officials have described as “worrying.”
“We must continue to encourage smokers to switch to vaping as the lowest risk, while avoiding the marketing and sale of vapors to children,” England’s chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty said in the statement.
The government also said it would review rules on issuing fines to shops selling vapes to under-18s to allow local authorities to more easily issue on-the-spot fines and set penalty notices.
Source: Terra
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