Government to ban specific vape flavours in latest crackdown
The UK is taking another stance against vaping in its latest move to remove certain flavours as it considers other restrictions.
Vaping – you either love it or hate it.
But one thing is for sure: the flavours are very much part of the appeal.
Being able to get your nicotine hit without stinking like ciggies and smoke is a luxury smokers never had before.
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Instead, you can smell like peaches and custard, or vanilla and cherry fizz.
However, ASH reports around 5.5 million vapers are actively smoking this stuff in Great Britain alone, with one in five (19%) of 11-17-year-olds in Britain have tried vaping.
This is why the government has now decided to restrict which vapes and juices you can and can’t buy.
Say goodbye to your gummy bears and flying unicorns (if that’s even a flavour), because now, flavours that could potentially entice kids to the habit are being removed from shelves, as reported by the Telegraph... and that’s not all.
Whether they are brightly coloured vapes or names that sound fun, edible, or drinkable, the Government has now proposed that all vapes should look less attractive for children.
This includes vape colours, which the gov has suggested to be monochrome (while, black or grey) and sold in plane white packaging.
Research published last year by UCL and King’s College London found that 38 per cent of 11 to 18 said their peers would be interested in vapes in plain packaging, down from 53 per cent who said the same when shown standard colourful packaging.
So, the numbers are in favour of this change.
As for flavours, they’ll be limited to exactly the name of the flavour they contain, such as standard ‘apple’ or ‘raspberry’, instead of Blue Voltage and similar names.
The UK health secretary, James Murray, told the Press Association that the government was launching a 12-week consultation.
He said: “We all know that the way that some of the vaping products are promoted – the very colourful packaging and names that might be aimed at children and young people. That’s wrong because we want to make sure that, as well as being a smoke-free generation, we want children and young people not to start vaping in the first place.”
But that’s not all the gov is going after.
Other potential changes in the UK could see an overhaul on things like Lost Marys and Elf Bars being more expensive in Norwich, as its City Council debated on June 30 whether vapers should charged a £5 deposit for each device they buy.
This is so people dispose of their vapes properly after a spat of fires in Norfolk.
This comes after the controversial banning of single-use vapes came into force last year.
Britt Jones