COVER UP VAPES THE SAME AS CIGS
Call for measures to help protect kids MSP raises health risk concerns
SHOPS should put disposable vapes behind the counter the same as cigarettes, an MSP has said.
Greens health spokeswoman Gillian Mackay said it was too easy for underage teens to pick up throwaway e-cigs.
She said many Scots, even parents, didn’t seem to realise the sweet-flavoured vapes were illegal for under-18s.
Recent figures revealed one in 10 under-age S4 pupils now saying they use the gadgets.
It comes amid the Record’s campaign to outlaw singleuse vapes which have become a plastic pollution menace. Mackay, who raised our campaign with ministers and secured an “urgent review” of the products, said retailers should take action now.
She told the Record: “I would really like to see supermarkets putting these behind cover. We’re hearing of young people going into shops and being able to pick them up off the shelf. That shouldn’t be happening.
“That’s putting people’s health in danger. So, I really encourage retailers to do that – to get them out of the road, behind cover like conventional cigarettes.”
The Central Scotland MSP also called on all those responsible for sales to ensure they’re making proper age checks.
She said: “That goes for delivery companies as well, like Just Eat, Amazon, whoever is delivering these things to houses.
“They need to make sure they are doing the appropriate age restriction checks.
“One of my big messages to parents, carers and adults is if you wouldn’t want to buy your child a bottle of vodka or a beer or a pack of cigarettes – this is the same age restriction.”
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “Any action we seek to take will build on the regulations already in place.”
Ewan MacDonald-Russell, deputy head of the Scottish Retail Consortium, said: “Retailers do not promote these products at young people and take the same Challenge 25 approach as with other restricted products.”