The New Rules
New legislation has resulted in a rash of emails to vape customers.
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by Dave Cross
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The legislation has added in the wording “nicotine products” and requires that vendors take steps to ensure they do not sell to under-18s. Anybody now caught selling to youths and children faces a fine of up to £2,500 per incident. The prospect is bleak as any company being duped into making a sale also runs the risk of being banned from selling nicotine-containing products for up to a year.
With a law aimed at protecting children some are left wondering how under-18s are meant to cope if they are currently smokers? Traditional replacement therapy products have been shown to be failing and there are documented successes by using ecigs.
The Huddersfield Daily Examiner reports that local trading standards officers are gearing up to enforce the new legislation. “Age curbs on e-cigarettes are now in force,” they say, and “West Yorkshire Trading Standards will be enforcing rules on under-age sales of electronic cigarettes, inhaling devices and refill cartridges and substances.”
As well as it being illegal for retailers to sell electronic cigarettes or juices to children it will also be against the law for adults to purchase or attempt to purchase them for under-18s. ASH detail that offenders face a £50 fixed penalty notice or a trip to court with the prospect of up to £2,500 in fines.
The Daily Examiner reports Ken Smith, a member of the West Yorkshire Trading Standards Committee, saying: “It is important that retailers have procedures in place to ensure they do not break the law, which is designed to protect children. It is vital we all do what we can to enforce this. Anybody who is unclear about the law should contact trading standards.”
Vapers on the Planet of the Vapes forum came up with a mixed response to the emails beginning to come out to clients from manufacturers and vendors. While some were accommodating of the situation companies are being placed in others found requests for further personal details a step too far.
One tired and emotional member wrote: “Just because some object bureaucracy tells you you that ‘This is the way’ do you have too????”
A manufacturer of popular eliquids replied: “We are all having to look into ways of doing the age verification. Clicking a box saying 18 is no longer enough. In theory the fact someone has a PayPal account or credit card should mean they are over 18 anyway - this apparently...is no longer enough.”
Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous vape companies to develop content for their websites.
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