Prominent medical professionals in the United Kingdom asked lawmakers on Wednesday to enact laws that would outlaw all flavors other than tobacco in order to combat the “vaping epidemic,” which is especially affecting youth.
The call came alongside the publication of a British Medical Association (BMA) report which it said was a “blueprint” for the “bold actions needed”.
Earlier this year, the outgoing Conservative government announced intentions to gradually phase out smoking in addition to outlawing disposable e-cigarettes and limiting the flavors and packaging of these devices.
The proposed legislation has been brought back to life by the new Labour administration, which came to office early this month, but it has not yet revealed its precise strategy.
According to the BMA survey, the number of children and young people using vape devices has nearly doubled over the past ten years.
It pleaded with the government to “stem the trend” by not “shying away from taking brave action”.
“There is no denying we are living in a vaping epidemic,” Professor David Strain, chair of the BMA’s board of science, said in comments accompanying the report’s release.
He noted one in 10 ten adults now vape, while calling the six-fold increase in those aged between 11 and 17 who now vape “far more worrying”.
“As a doctor, I understand the role vapes can play in helping people to stop smoking, but they have no rightful place in our children and young people’s lives,” Strain added.
“An industry so obviously targeting children with colours, flavours and branding, to push a product that can lead to nicotine addiction and potential further harms cannot be allowed to happen any longer.”
The report recommends banning all disposable vape and non-tobacco flavour sales, as well as using imagery, colouring and branding on packaging and devices.
That would mirror current restrictions on cigarettes.The BMA also wants curbs on advertising and marketing, and rules keeping vapes behind retail counters and not on display.
Meanwhile, it is recommending government education campaigns on the dangers of vapes to reduce their appeal, especially among youngsters.
“We are calling on ministers to take bold and brave actions that will make a real difference,” Penelope Toff, the BMA’s public health medicine committee head, said.
A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care declared that it was “utterly unacceptable” to promote vapes to children and teenagers.
According to the spokesperson, legislation that “regulates flavors, packaging, and changes how and where they are displayed in shops” will make the practice illegal.
