Help Save Flavours!
Major companies in the vape industry have launched a petition in bid to stop MPs in Parliament voting to restrict flavoured e-liquids – and they need your help!
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by Dave Cross
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Major companies in the vape industry have launched a petition in bid to stop MPs in Parliament voting to restrict flavoured e-liquids – and they need your help! This Wednesday 26th March, the UK Government will meet for the final House of Commons reading of its Tobacco and Vapes Bill. Part of the Bill grants the ability for ministers to restrict flavoured juices, and Ashley Dalton, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Prevention, has said this is something they plan to do.
The Tobacco and Vapes Bill is set to pass into statute due to the government’s huge majority. The industry says this will lead to measures including a ban on selling tobacco to anyone born after 2009 - and with restrictions on the flavour of vapes.
New data released last week shows smoking rates are rising in some regions of the country, with the south-west of England seeing the biggest jump rising by 17% between 2020 and 2024.
A new survey by VPZ, the UK’s leading vape specialists, has uncovered that a restriction on flavours would push around 3,000 smokers back to cigarettes - leading to smoking rates climbing even higher.
In response to the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, VPZ have created a petition on behalf of the industry, to prevent ministerial powers to restrict vape flavours as they believe it will undermine efforts to help smokers quit.
The company has currently met 45% of their target to 10,000 signatures. Once this reaches 10,000 signatures, the government will respond to this petition and at 100,000 signatures, the petition will be considered for debate in Parliament.
Greig Fowler, Director at VPZ, says: “Some studies show flavoured vapes can help people stop smoking. Vape flavours play a crucial role in smoking cessation by helping smokers’ transition away from tobacco, helping to provide an alternative source of sensory satisfaction while breaking the psychological associations tied to smoking.
“We believe limiting flavour options risks pushing users back to cigarettes or other products, endangering public health.
“We believe flavoured vaping products already play a crucial role in helping smokers quit smoking cigarettes. Restricting flavours could bring more harm than good, revering smoking cessation progress or even pushing users to dangerous black-market products.”
It is imperative that UK vapers stand with the industry to kick back against a move that would jeopardise successful quitting. Planet of the Vapes is calling on everyone to visit the petition website and sign it: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/713128
Photo Credit:
Protestor photo by Guillaume Issaly on Unsplash
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 start-ups to develop content for their websites.
