CRUK’s Prevention Report

The mixed method study used UK-wide, nationally representative online surveys looking at young people (11-17 years, n=2,372) and adults (18+ years, n=2,185). It focussed on young people who vape (14-17 years, n=27) and adults who vape and/or smoke (n=36) in England and Scotland

Key findings:

• Young people and vape displays:
• Young people are more likely to notice and view brightly coloured vape displays positively. These eye-catching displays make young people feel that vapes are ‘for them’.
• They reported that corner shops with bright, unprofessional signage and eye-catching vape displays were perceived as more likely to sell vapes to underage customers, with knowledge of such retailers often shared among peers.
• Adults also perceive these displays as targeting young people.
• Purchasing vapes:
  • Only 4% of underage young people succeeded in buying vapes directly in the past year. Most accessed vapes through proxy purchasing – being given them by someone they know.
  • Young people from the most deprived areas (IMD quintiles 1 – 3) were more likely than those from the least deprived areas (IMD quintiles 4 and 5) to have attempted to purchase vapes.
  • For both adults and young people, the three most important features of the retail environment for purchasing vapes were 1) being able to see the range of vapes/vaping products available; 2) price; and 3) an easy process for buying/ordering.
  • Not everyone knows the legal age of sale for nicotine-containing vapes - only 44% of all adults, and just over half (55%) of all young people, correctly responded that it was 18 years and over.
• Policy options:
  • Many adult focus group participants believed that the number and/or types of shops selling vapes could be reduced without affecting accessibility.
  • Placing vapes behind the counter next to tobacco signalled they were age-restricted, which both young people and adults saw as appropriate.
  • However, strict restrictions could lead to the perception that vapes are more harmful than tobacco.
  • Adults were often unaware, surprised, or concerned about vapes being sold in pharmacies, as they were worried about unknown future risks and mixed messages about vaping being 'healthy'. Negative views on pharmacies selling vapes were linked to perceptions of harm.

Based on the findings of this report, five key policy implication areas have been identified:

• Vape displays, packaging and flavours; and marketing of vapes outside shop
  • Vapes should be less appealing to youth while remaining accessible to adult who smoke and looking to quit. Policies should regulate shop marketing and balance flavour restrictions.
• Type of vaping products people buy
  • It will be important that the UK Government mitigates against people relapsing into smoking or being deterred from quitting smoking, by ensuring rechargeable products remain affordable and accessible to adults who smoke and want to quit.  
• Price and affordability of vapes
  • It is necessary to strike a balance between making vapes less affordable to young people, while ensuring they are available and affordable to those who smoke and want to quit.  
• Awareness of legal age of sale of vapes
  • Action must be taken to increase the awareness and visibility of the legal age of sale for vapes; government mass media campaigns could help with this.
• Retail environment 
• There is support for the Tobacco and Vapes Bill to introduce licensing limits on vape retailers. Policies should consider preferences of adults who smoke and address misconceptions about vaping as a smoking cessation tool.

Dave Cross

Journalist at POTV

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Dave 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.