Parliamentary Matters 3
Our fourth day at Westminster sees Planet of the Vapes return to the House of Commons as the Department for Health and Social Care fields further questions
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by Dave Cross
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Our fourth day at Westminster sees Planet of the Vapes return to the House of Commons as the Department for Health and Social Care fields further questions. Conservative Assistant Whip Andrew Snowden is thinking about children in Fylde while Transport Committee chair Ruth Cadbury isn’t sweet on the teens in Hounslow.
Andrew Snowden asked the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care what assessment has been made of the potential impact of increased use of e-cigarettes on young people in the Fylde constituency.
Ashley Dalton, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health and Social Care, provided clarity: “The health advice is clear, that while vapes are less harmful than smoking and can be an effective quit aid for smokers, children and non-smokers should never vape. The main established health risk associated with vaping is from nicotine, which can cause addiction. Children and young people are particularly susceptible to the addictive nature of nicotine as their lungs and brains are still developing.”
Err, did we write clarity?
“This is why the Tobacco and Vapes Bill will ban vapes and nicotine products from being deliberately promoted and advertised to children to stop the next generation from becoming hooked on nicotine,” she continued.
Vapes were already banned from sale to teens.
“The bill, currently going through Parliament, includes a range of measures to tackle youth vaping, which will benefit the young people of Fylde. In addition, the disposable vapes ban came into effect on 1 June, making the sale and supply of single use vapes illegal. This ban protects the environment and removes products from the market that particularly appeal to children.
“We are also committed to funding research in this area to inform policy across the United Kingdom. Earlier this year, we announced a £62 million research project into adolescent health, funded by UK Research and Innovation, that will investigate the long-term health effects of vaping on young people’s health and wellbeing. We have also commissioned, via the National Institute for Health and Care Research, the most comprehensive analysis of youth vaping studies ever conducted in this area, which is due to be published later this year.”
The ban doesn’t remove any products from the market that were illegal before the ban, remain illegal, and are still being sold by rogue traders.
In a similar vein, Ruth Cadbury asked the Secretary of State what steps the Department is taking to reduce the use of vapes by children under 16 years of age in the London Borough of Hounslow.
Ashley Dalton trotted out the stock response: “The Government is taking progressive national-level action through the Tobacco and Vapes Bill to protect future generations from the harms of addiction and nicotine. The Bill includes strong measures to tackle youth vaping, including a ban on the sale of all vapes and nicotine products to children under the age of 18 years old and ending the free distribution of these products to anyone. The Bill will also ban the advertisement and sponsorship of all vapes and nicotine products and provides new powers to limit the flavours, packaging and changing where and how vapes and other nicotine products can be displayed.
“The Bill also takes bold action to strengthen enforcement and tackle underage sales. This includes the introduction of new £200 fixed penalty notices to support Trading Standards to crack down on underage sales, and powers to introduce a licensing scheme for the retail sale of tobacco, vape and nicotine products. Alongside the Bill, the Government is investing over £100 million over five years to boost HM Revenue and Customs and Border Force enforcement capability. The Government is investing £10 million of new funding in Trading Standards this year to support the enforcement of illicit and underage tobacco and vape sales. This funding is being used to boost the Trading Standards workforce by recruiting over 80 new apprentices. Hounslow has been allocated a new apprentice.”
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.
