Rachel de Souza, the children’s commissioner for England, released a statement following the conclusion of the government’s consultation on youth vaping.
Between April 11 and June 6, 2023, the Office for Health Improvements and Disparities called for professionals to provide evidence on children vaping. The hearing covered a range of topics, such as the appeal of vapes, marketing, social media prevalence, educational approaches, and environmental impact.
In a comment on her website, Rachel wrote, “I want all children to be able to grow up physically and mentally well, with access to support quickly and locally when they need it. As part of The Big Ask, I asked children about all aspects of their health and wellbeing. I was shocked and concerned to hear from children as young as 12 who told me that vaping was normalised among their peers – even on school premises.
“The data in this report interrogates this troubling trend further, underlining that children and young people’s vaping is a fast-growing problem – and one that is still poorly understood by many parents and services supporting children.
“Both legal and illegal vapes pose risks to children’s health and wellbeing, not least because they are often highly addictive. It is deeply worrying to hear accounts from children who now struggle to concentrate for whole lessons, unable to use their vape. Other children are avoiding using school toilets, for fear of peer pressure to join in. Schools have been horrified to discover that vapes confiscated from their students contain dangerously high levels of chemicals like nickel and lead, exposure which can affect the central nervous system and brain development.
“This report has also highlighted the glaring gaps in evidence on drivers and the long-term effects of vaping on children’s health. For adults overcoming nicotine addiction, vapes may represent a lower-risk alternative to smoking cigarettes. However, the risk calculation for children is not the same. Many children who are addicted to vaping have never smoked tobacco, with vaping acting as a gateway rather than a quitting strategy. I am unequivocal in my view that to lead healthy lives, children should not be smoking or vaping. We have failed a generation if we allow these highly addictive and sometimes dangerous products to become mainstream.
“Both children and parents are crying out for more information about, and regulation of, this ‘Wild West’ market. It is insidious that these products are intentionally marketed and promoted to children, both online and offline. I strongly welcome the Government’s recent move to close the loophole that allows companies to give free vaping samples to children – but this should have never been legal. Other measures, including the new Illicit Vape Enforcement Squad, are also welcome. However, to avoid even more children becoming addicted to these products, we need stricter regulation now. For children for whom it is sadly too late to prevent them from becoming addicted, we must provide swift and non-judgmental health-based support to them.
“Children deserve to lead long, happy, healthy lives. The Department for Health and Social Care’s consultation on youth vaping is a timely opportunity to listen to both the evidence on the harms and unknown risks of youth vaping and what children and parents tell us they want and need. I strongly hope it will be the catalyst for change that is so urgently needed.”
Following Rachel’s statement, John Dunne, Director General of the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA), released his response.
He said, “We absolutely agree that children’s wellbeing is precious at all times so they can lead healthy and happy lives. We also agree that youth vaping has to be urgently tackled, but banning single-use vapes is not the answer to the issue.
“Vapes, whether designed to be single or multiple-use devices, are age-restricted products, such as alcohol or aerosol spray paints and should never be sold to children. This is an access issue, not a product issue.
“The answer is not to ban any category of vape device and deny adult smokers and vapers effective choices, especially those in high smoking, low-income areas but to ensure that the regulations are stringent enough and the penalties severe enough so that those who have up to now been intent on breaking the law are discouraged from ever selling to minors again.
“The enforcement of age regulations in the vaping sector is currently a broken system. Research just published by Arcus Compliance this week following Freedom of Information Requests reveals just two successful prosecutions against illicit vape traders across six major UK cities over the past three years. In addition, across the same cities and time period less than £2,500 in penalties – the maximum for one offender – were issued to retailers for underage/illicit sales.
“The fact is Trading Standards needs increased government backing to tackle rogue traders and cut off the source of supply to minors.
“The UKVIA, which represents a significant proportion of the UK vaping market has, for the last two years, been calling on the government to clamp down hard on this issue by introducing measures including:
- “On-the-spot fines of at least £10,000 per instance for those caught selling to young people or selling illegal products (up from £2,500 maximum)
- “A retail registration scheme that would ensure retailers meet strict standards before they are permitted to sell vapes, including robust age verification processes
- “A national test purchasing effort to ensure those selling vapes under the registration scheme aren’t supplying minors, a scheme similar to what the UKVIA does with its own members.
“We see recent measures announced by the government as a step in the right direction, including a £3m illicit vapes enforcement squad to tackle illegal sales of vapes to under 18s and the introduction of a test purchasing programme in convenience stores and vape shops. We also welcome the Children’s Commissioner’s call for on-the-spot fines for rogue retailers, which we have already made; as well as the banning of nicotine-free vapes to children. The UKVIA is on record, on multiple occasions, in calling for nicotine-free vapes to be covered by exactly the same regulations which prevent the sales of nicotine vapes to those under 18.
“Finally, we disagree with the Children’s Commissioner about its proposal to introduce plain packaging as it will conflate vaping with smoking and will add to the misperceptions that already abound regarding the relative risk of vaping compared to smoking; thereby potentially deterring smokers from attempting to quit using vapes; and raising doubts amongst vapers who may then consider returning to their former smoking habits. Interestingly, new research just conducted by YouGov amongst 1,000 16 and 17-year-olds has revealed that only eight per cent would stop vaping if vapes became plain in colour.”