PM: I’ll crack down on marketing vapes to kids
RISHI Sunak has vowed to take “further action” to stop vape retailers targeting children.
The Prime Minister warned vape ads could even be banned in the UK after ministers confirmed sellers would be forbidden from giving youngsters free samples.
Speaking from a vape chemical testing lab in Kent, Mr Sunak did not rule out outlawing commercial advertising of e-cigarettes entirely.
He said: “There are a range of products which are clearly not designed for adults. They are designed to appeal to children in the way that they are marketed, promoted, the flavours they use.
“At the moment we are asking for people’s views and that may be one of the steps we take to change how we regulate the promotion of vapes.
“They shouldn’t be deliberately targeting children, that’s illegal. If we need to take further action to do that, that’s what we will do.”
Ministers cited 2021 NHS figures showing that nine per cent of 11 to 15-year-olds used e-cigarettes, up from six per cent in 2018.
The Prime Minister said he was “deeply concerned” about an increase in children vaping and was “shocked by reports of illicit vapes containing lead getting into the hands of schoolchildren”.
Mr Sunak referred to his children – Krishna, 12, and Anoushka, 10 – and said he was “first and foremost a parent and a dad of two young girls,” adding: “I do think it’s something that we should look at.”
The crackdown will see the risks of vaping included in Relationships, Sex and Health Education lessons as part of the Government’s review of the curriculum. Dedicated police education liaison officers will work to keep illegal vapes out of schools. Chief Medical Officer Professor Sir Chris Whitty called the decision to close the loophole allowing firms to hand out free samples a “very welcome step”.
He added: “Vaping can be an effective quitting tool for smokers. “There has been a particularly worrying rise in the number of children using vapes with companies clearly marketing these products at children. We should continue to encourage smokers to swap to vaping as the lesser risk, whilst preventing the marketing and sale of vapes to children.”