Urgent warning over illicit vapes laced with ‘dangerous’ levels of nicotine – as experts warn ‘kids are at risk’
MORE than one million illicit vapes were seized by Trading Standards last year as MPs prepare to vote on a massive industry crackdown today.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting warned last night that an entire generation of kids will suffer “a life imprisoned by addiction” unless MPs approve landmark smoking restrictions.
The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will prevent anyone born after January 2009 from ever being able to legally buy fags.
Measures designed to stop children vaping will include a ban on bright packaging and flavours like bubble gum, gummy bear and cotton candy designed to lure youngsters.
The legislation will further prohibit vapes being sold in vending machines or handed out for free, as well as a blanket ban on the e-cigs being advertised.
Figures released today by the Trading Standards Institute showed officers confiscated 1.19million dodgy e-cigarettes from sellers in 2023/24.
Illegal and harmful vapes are putting consumers and children at risk
Andrew Gwynne
Most contained illegally high concentrations of nicotine.
Excessive amounts of the stimulant – which may be reached faster by children – can cause heart palpitations, dizziness, vomiting and breathing difficulties.
Research and patients’ horror stories increasingly suggest vaping damages the lungs, heart and blood vessels.
Operation Joseph, in conjunction with the government and medical regulator, also caught shopkeepers willing to sell vapes to under-18s in one in every four mystery shopper tests.
Under new potential restrictions, suppliers caught selling vapes to children will be slapped with on-the-spot £200 fines.
The Bill will also ban smoking outside parks, hospitals and schools – but pub gardens will be exempt after a massive hospitality backlash.
Wes Streeting said: “The number of children vaping is growing at an alarming rate and without urgent intervention, we’re going to have a generation of children with long-term addiction.
“The Tobacco and Vapes Bill provides the protection that children and young people need to avoid a life imprisoned by addiction.
“That’s why it’s so incredibly important it is voted through.”
Lord Michael Bichard, chair of National Trading Standards, said: “The reality is that further action is necessary to remove more illegal and, in many cases, dangerous products from sale.”
It is a free vote, although is expected to pass its first Commons reading comfortably.
Public Health minister Andrew Gwynne said: “This shows just how many illegal and harmful vapes are on our streets, putting consumers and children at risk.”
Conservative opposition to bill
The Bill was originally proposed by Rishi Sunak and was backed by Labour, charities and doctors, with opposition from staunch conservatives.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch will vote against the Bill, as she did when the issue first came to Parliament.
Her spokesman said: “Kemi acted on her convictions in voting against the Bill once before. “Now Labour have made a bad Bill even worse and she will be voting against it once again.”
A recent Yonder poll for smoking campaign group Forest found 60 per cent of respondents said 18-year-olds should be allowed to buy cigarettes if they can vote and buy booze.
Director Simon Clark said: “A generational ban on the sale of tobacco is unnecessarily divisive because it will create a two-tier society in which some adults have different rights to others.”
What are the new vape laws?
Ministers have pledged to crackdown on poorly regulated vapes and e-cigarettes following an explosion in the number of teenagers who use them.
New rules for manufacturers and shopkeepers are expected to come into force in late 2024 or early 2025.
They are set to include:
- Higher tax rates paid on vapes increase the price and make it harder for children to afford them
- A ban on single-use vapes in favour of devices that can be recharged
- A ban on colourful and cartoonish packaging that may appeal to youngsters
- Tighter controls on flavourings and a ban on unnecessarily sweet or child-friendly ones like bubblegum and candy
- More regulation on how and where they are displayed in shops, potentially putting them out of sight
- Harsher penalties for shops caught selling them to under-18s
The ban on disposable vapes is part of ambitious government plans to tackle the rise in youth vaping.
A report published by Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) last June found 20.5 per cent of children in the UK had tried vaping in 2023, up from 15.8 per cent in 2022 and 13.9 per cent in 2020.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt also announced plans to impose a tax on imported e-cigs and manufacturers, making vapes more expensive.
The duty will apply to the liquid in vapes, with higher levels for products with more nicotine.