Evapo CEO and Founder Andrej Kuttruf has taken part in interviews with BBC South and BBC South East to discuss how we can work to prevent youth vaping while recognising the important role that e-cigarettes play in helping adult smokers to quit.
This comes after the close of the UK Government open consultation on smoking and preventing youth vaping, which proposes some drastic policy changes that could inadvertently have detrimental affects on the benefits of vaping as a smoking cessation tool.
The crucial role of vape flavours
Arguably the most controversial action proposed is the restriction of vape flavours, which could go as far as to limit vaping products to only tobacco and menthol flavours.
While it is easy to see how some flavours can be appealing to underage people, it is important to also recognise the crucial role that vape flavours play to support adult smokers in successfully making the switch to a less harmful alternative.
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) identified that vaping is at least 95% less harmful than smoking in their Nicotine vaping in England: 2022 evidence update. E-cigarettes have also been found to be an extremely effective smoking cessation tool, with the most recent Cochrane review finding vaping to be twice as effective as nicotine replacement therapies like patches and gum.
The availability of a wide variety of different flavours is a big part of what makes vaping not only an appealing alternative for adult smokers, but also an effective one. Fruit flavours are by far the most popular flavour category, with research from the Independent British Vape Trade Association (IBVTA) finding that 39% of adult vapers use a fruit flavour, compared to 21% who use tobacco flavours and 20% who use menthol flavours.
This research went on to reveal that 59% of adult vapers report that having a range of different vape flavours helps stop them from returning to smoking, or has helped them reduce their use of tobacco products.
Evapo are instead proposing the removal of youth-appealing flavour names and bright coloured packaging, and regulating vape packaging which can help reduce the appeal of these products to underage people, without affecting their availability to adults. The IBVTA research supports this, finding that only 21% of smokers would be less inclined to vape if more standardised packaging was introduced.
Ex-smokers find disposable vapes a helpful tool
The possibility of banning disposable vapes is another suggested policy change that has been highly discussed recently. These devices have seen a distinct rise in popularity, including among minors.
Their ease of use and convenience means that disposable vapes can be a helpful tool for smoking cessation, and 72% of ex-smokers in the IBVTA study believe that disposable vapes are helpful in assisting people to quit smoking.
Unfortunately, the rise in youth vaping can be linked to the proliferation of disposable vape sales in locations which realistically have no place to be selling vaping products, such as mobile phone shops, car boot sales, and even tanning salons. Not only are these locations unlikely to have the vaping knowledge to be able to advise customers on which products would be most appropriate for them, but they also often have little regard for age verification, making it easy for minors to purchase products which should legally only be sold to those over 18 years of age.
An outright ban on these products would mean removing them completely as an option for adult smokers, whereas better enforcement of current regulations and stricter penalties for rogue retailers could prevent the sale of disposable vapes to minors without restricting access to adult users.
How we can tackle youth vaping
In the BBC interviews Andrej Kuttruf explained some of the actions that organisations like the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) have proposed as a way to prevent youth vaping, which recognise the importance of vaping as a smoking cessation tool for adult smokers and balances these two priorities.
He delved into the procedures that Evapo already have in place to prevent underage sales and ensure that we adhere to age verification standards, such as monthly mystery shoppers in all our 47 retail stores. We also operate the ‘Challenge 25’ initiative, which means that any customer who looks to be under the age of 25 will be asked to show proof of age before being able to make a purchase. Our online store also operates strict age verification processes, verifying the age of all customers.
Licensing scheme
The introduction of a specialized licensing scheme for the sale of vape products, similar to the alcohol licensing scheme, is something that many in the industry are advocating for. It would stipulate strict rules on age verification, how products are displayed, and can even include proximity restrictions to schools.
Andrej Kuttruf explains:
‘I think we have to recognise that the majority of the vaping industry is very responsible and is passionate about helping adult smokers to make the switch to a less harmful alternative.
Unfortunately, it is the minority that are willingly flouting the law and selling to children, discrediting the rest of the industry and undermining the benefits that e-cigarettes can have as a stop smoking tool, and that is really what needs to be tackled.
We believe that the solution is to focus on enforcement. The introduction of a vape licensing scheme with strict stipulations would encourage retailers to treat age verification with the necessary importance, especially with the risk of the licence being revoked for non-compliance.’
Not only would this kind of licensing scheme encourage more responsible retailing but by charging a licensing fee this could raise substantial funds at no cost to the taxpayer, which can be used to bolster enforcement from authorities like Trading Standards.
Enforcement and stricter penalties
The vaping industry have been calling for more effective enforcement of current regulations for some time, especially when it comes to disposable vapes. Information gather by the UKVIA in association with Buckinghamshire and Surrey Trading Standards found that the highest total amount of fines issued within this jurisdiction was £1,878, much less than the £2,500 maximum fine. This is because it is difficult for these local authorities to issue substantial penalties on the spot.
The introduction of drastic on-the-spot fines of £10,000 is something that many in the vaping industry, ourselves included, are advocating for. This would not only act as a much stronger deterrent against underage sales, but would also make it easier for enforcement authorities to crack down on rogue retailers.
We have shared these proposals in the Government’s open consultation, and hope that the outcome will recognise that vaping is far less harmful than smoking cigarettes and can help people to quit, and that any policy changes will balance the importance of tackling youth vaping with the crucial role they play in smoking cessation.
Sources
gov.uk 29/09/2022
cochrane.org 17/11/2022
tradingstandards.uk 04/2022
