E-cigarettes to be slapped with new tax and hidden in shops under new plans to protect kids from vaping
VAPES could be hidden behind shop counters in plain packaging like cigarettes under plans to protect kids from nicotine.
They may also be slapped with an extra tax so they cannot be bought with pocket money.
Ministers have drawn up proposals for a crackdown on Britain’s teenage vaping scourge, including bans on candy flavours, colourful packaging and single-use devices.
E-cigarettes’ popularity is booming and one in five kids aged 11 to 17 – 21 per cent – have now tried vaping at least once.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay told The Sun: “I am deeply concerned by the dangers vaping poses to our children.”
The scheme also includes Rishi Sunak’s plan to increase the legal smoking age by one year every year so people born after 2008 will never legally be allowed to buy fags.
The Prime Minister said: “I promised to create the first smokefree generation and I am wasting no time to deliver on that promise.
“Our ambitious plans will reverse the worrying rise in youth vaping while protecting our children from the dangerous long-term effects of smoking.”
Research suggests e-cigarettes help up to 70,000 people quit deadly smoking every year.
But new rules will control flavours, packaging and displays to crush their appeal to children and teenagers.
They could also add duty to increase the cost and deter kids, and outlaw disposable vapes to reduce waste.
Tougher regulations may also apply to nicotine pouches.
A public consultation will run for eight weeks with laws drawn up in the new year.
Sarah Woolnough, chief of the charity Asthma and Lung UK, said: “It is clear we must act urgently.
“Disposable vapes at their current pocket money prices, with cartoons and bubblegum flavour options, are far too attractive and easy for children to access.”
Chief medical officer, Professor Sir Chris Whitty, added: “Vaping is less dangerous than smoking but still has risks and can cause addiction.
“It can be useful for smokers to quit, but should not be marketed to non-smokers and marketing to children is utterly unacceptable.”
Figures from the Office for National Statistics show a record 4.5million Brits now vape regularly.
Daily use increased from 7.7 per cent in 2021 to 8.7 per cent in 2022, with the fastest rise in women under the age of 25.
Tobacco smoking is at its lowest level on record, with 6.4 million smokers, but is still linked to 64,000 cancer deaths per year in England.