Vape companies ‘are trying to get children hooked’ Harris wants law to ban flavours aimed at kids
THE Health Minister has lashed out at vaping companies for trying to “hook a new generation on addiction”.
Simon Harris said they are doing this through deliberately targeting children with sweet flavours of the addictive products like bubblegum and candy floss.
He was speaking at a launch of new research which shows teenagers believe the firms are targeting them specifically.
Focus group research by Ipsos MRBI among third and fourth-year students showed they do not believe sweet e-cigarette flavours were designed for adults only.
Instead, they told the researchers they were strongly associated with snacks, treats and sweets that appeal to young people.
The Irish Heart Foundation and the Irish Cancer Society co-sponsored the study and both charities are now calling for a ban on flavours that could attract children.
Mr Harris recently announced a ban on the sale of all e-cigs to under-18s, but the opponents of vaping want him to go further and ban flavours kids might like.
He said: “The tactics being employed by the e-cigarettes industry are clearly having an impact on our young people. We’ve heard very clearly the voices of young people through this research, that the flavours being used, the advertising being used are clearly trying to do one thing, to hook a new generation of Irish people in relation to addiction.
“And we’re not going to stand for it, and I don’t think the parents of Ireland are going to stand for it and we need to legislate in this regard. “That’s why I intend in 2020 to ban the sale of e-cigarettes to anyone under 18 and also to introduce a number of advertising restrictions.”
Mr Harris explained that even though he would like to ban the flavours designed to attract younger people, it is not that easy. For instance, he said that if bubblegum
flavour was axed, the chemists at the manufacturers’ factories could easily come out with another flavour the next day, just slightly-tweaked and called something different.
Mr Harris added: “So working together with the people who I like to call the public health lobby, just like we did with the Public Alcohol Act, I believe this is an area we can make really good progress in.”
Irish Cancer Society’s Averil Power said: “Banning the sale of e-cigarettes to under 18s is important, but it’s not enough to protect young people.
“We have to extend this ban to flavours and aggressive advertising tactics that have led in the US to what the Surgeon General described as an ‘epidemic’ of youth e-cigarette use.”
SIMON Harris was scathing of vape companies’ sweet flavours to get kids hooked on e-cigarettes.
And rightly so – we have no idea yet what damage their cocktail of chemicals can do, just because they don’t contain tobacco.
And what we must not forget is the happygo-lucky executives behind vaping are the same as the smiling Day-glo “ad men” of the 1950s who promoted cigarettes.
That’s because Big Tobacco owns majority of the new vaping companies.
So, fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice... the