What to do about the upcoming return of the Tobacco & Vapes Bill

[dansus]

Not advised to read the comments without blood pressure pills..

Protect children from vapes epidemic, doctors urge government

The British Medical Association is asking the government to ban all flavoured and disposable vapes.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[andipandi]

The BMA has a long history supporting measures to reduce tobacco-related harm and have wide-ranging policies aimed at strengthening tobacco control and helping smokers to quit.


Vapes – a need for better regulation

Vapes have been found to aid smoking cessation. However, they are not intended to be used beyond this purpose. Yet vape use has risen significantly over recent years, particularly by children and young people. 7.6% of 11-17 year olds are now vaping, compared to 1.3% in 2014. This urgently needs to be addressed.

The latest BMA report sets out what is needed to address their growing appeal, especially among children and calls on UK Government to implement tighter regulations of vapes.

Key recommendations

The BMA calls on UK Government to:

Recommendation 1 - Ban the manufacture for commercial sale, and the commercial sale of all disposable vapes, on the grounds of disproportionate and harmful use by children and young people and their adverse impact on the environment.

Recommendation 2 – Ban all non-tobacco vape flavours.
Recommendation 3 – Prohibit the use of all imagery, colouring and branding for both the packaging and vape device.
Recommendation 4 – Reduce visibility of vapes through further restrictions on all advertising and marketing; and ensure vapes are kept behind the counter and not on display in shops and retail outlets.

Recommendation 5 - Tackle the illegal sales of vapes by accompanying tighter regulations with:

• a) The requirement for manufacturers to provide clear product information.
• b) Government funded and delivered education campaigns:
• for retailers on products, details of regulation and consequences of non-compliance
• for the public on the dangers of vapes to reduce appeal
• c) Increased and adequate resources, funding and powers for regulating bodies such as Trading Standards and Border Force to enable regular and consistent monitoring and enforcement.
• d) An increase in the limits of fines and sanctions that regulatory bodies can issue.

Recommendation 6 - Implement tighter regulation and restrictions for related nicotine products, such as nicotine pouches to prevent their availability and marketing towards children and young people. This should include age of sale restrictions, plain packaging, clear product contents information and restricted point of sale displays.

Tobacco

The BMA has a long history supporting measures to reduce tobacco-related harm and have wide-ranging policies aimed at strengthening tobacco control and helping smokers to quit.

www.bma.org.uk

https://www.bma.org.uk/media/gibk2p2y/bma-vape-report-v5.pdf

 

[Toby iVapour]

Vapes have been found to aid smoking cessation. However, they are not intended to be used beyond this purpose.

Did the BMA write the rules? Are they the fucking oracle?

I hate it when medical types write statements as if it is irrefutable, just cos they've got 'Professor' in front of their name...

Recommendation 2 – Ban all non-tobacco vape flavours.

There was some professor type on the news stating this, and saying "there is no need for non-tobacco flavours".. it shows how much they know... (fucktards )

 

[DMAN]

People are trying to give up tobacco, so the BMA thinks it's a good idea to only have tobacco flavours? Idiots!

 

[Toby iVapour]

The BMA advertises its incompetence to the world

Doctors are routinely shown to be woefully ignorant about nicotine. Their union is content that they remain that way.

martinthr.substack.com

Media is alive this week with the bullshit opinions of the UK doctors’ union, the British Medical Association, about vaping.

When vaping went mainstream over a decade ago, and it was no longer possible to ignore the significant benefits of the products for improving public health, one by one British health charities and NGOs fell into line in recognising the benefits of devices which were proving to divert millions from the harms of combustible tobacco use. The very last institution to do so was the British Medical Association.

It would seem it has never been an easy fit for the ideological anti-industry blowhards at the BMA, though, as they have just released a 19 page report clinging to every anti-vaping myth they could cram into one document.

Of course, the UK’s brainless media - thirsty as they are for scandalising clickbait content - have fallen for it hook, line, and sinker.

 

[Toby iVapour]

Next Wednesday 17 July, The State Opening of Parliament and The King's Speech will take place.

The Tobacco & Vapes Bill is expected to be followed through (in whatever form).

You can find your MP below and contact via email -

https://members.parliament.uk/FindYourMP

Or -

WriteToThem

WriteToThem is a website which provides an easy way to contact MPs, councillors and other elected representatives.

www.writetothem.com

And/or you can send an email to Wes Streeting, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care here: [email protected]

I emailed my MP and Wes Streeting. Here is what I wrote -
Dear [MP],

I am writing to you with great concern about what legislation the government is intending on implementing via the Tobacco and Vapes Bill in terms of tobacco harm reduction, when it is brought back (in whatever form). I will keep this fairly brief and just cover some of the points.

I have been vaping since 2008, and have not smoked since then. I found no other method as a way of giving up smoking; I assumed I would be a smoker for life. I liked smoking, but I hated what smoking was doing to my body. Within a week or so, I could feel how much better my lung capacity was, and was playing sport again (something I hadn’t done for years).
I enjoy vaping. In fact, I was so impressed by vaping that I set up a retail vape business iVapour in 2009. We have just one shop in Haxby Shopping Centre.

I will start with the crux of my argument (which can not be denied) -
The more restrictions that are put on vaping, the more people will smoke.

Disposable Vapes

I could go into detail about disposable vapes, but this appears to be a done deal already (getting banned April 2025).

Flavour Restrictions

It is with great dismay that the previous version of the Bill announced that flavours will be restricted in some way, when the wide array of flavours currently available are vital for the success of vaping products to tempt people who smoke to switch to vaping, to not smoke, and stay not smoking.
There has been some mention that candy flavours are there “to market to children”. This is complete nonsense, as most adults like sweet flavours. In fact fruit, dessert and candy flavours are the most popular category among adult vapers, with more than half of all vapers choosing them. If the flavours were say limited tobacco and mint, there would be many vapers who would not want to vape those flavours, and liable to go back to smoking.

Fruit, dessert and candy flavours are the most popular category among adult vapers, but why should they be penalised just because they are also the most popular amongst underage vapers? Why should the far larger demographic of adult vapers (4.5 million) be ignored?

Tax

In the previous version of the Bill, for medium to high strength nicotine liquid, excise duty was due to be added at a rate of £3 (plus VAT) per 10ml bottle. This would at least double the price to the consumer.
Research shows that taxes on vaping products increase cigarette sales and use.
https://f1000research.com/articles/12-121
Vapes and cigarettes are economic substitutes—meaning that taxes, flavor restrictions, or other government actions that reduce e-cigarettes’ competitive advantages versus tobacco will increase cigarette sales and smoking, including among teenagers.
There will be a number of unintended consequences if an extra tax is put on vapes, including suppressing sales of legal and taxed vapes, an increase in demand for cigarettes, and incentives to buy and sell illicit products or otherwise avoid tax.

Why should people be penalised for not smoking?
Why should higher nicotine users be penalised more than lower strength users?
Why should people who use zero nicotine be penalised with tax at all?
Not only are they not smoking, they are not using nicotine either!

There is a detailed scathing response/critique of the tax plan from the New Nicotine Alliance (NNA) here -
https://nnalliance.org/blog/395-the...ong-in-principle-and-childlike-in-application

Negative Propaganda

Any kind of ban or restrictions on vaping will be perceived as a negative risk communication about vaping or harm reduction in general.

In 2023, 57% of smokers believed e-cigarettes to be equally or more harmful than cigarettes (compared to 41% in 2014).
The proportion of smokers who thought vaping is less harmful than smoking is 27% (compared to 44% in 2014).
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2815561
And the enormous amount of misinformation and negative propaganda in the press will have had a direct effect on that statistic.

Vaping is the most effective quitting aid ever.
But many people actually enjoy nicotine, and they don’t want to quit nicotine - why should they?
This section of the population is unrepresented.

Summary

Here is the response to the previous consultation from Clive Bates (former director of Action on Smoking & Health), and he answered broadly the same as I did, but worded so much better -
https://clivebates.com/uk-smoking-and-vaping-policy-consultation-my-draft-response/

The focus of the proposed regulation concerning young people is inappropriate – almost as if the effect on older adult smokers, often living in poverty, is of little concern to the government. Yet that is the sub-population at greatest risk and by far the greatest in number.
However, given that vaping is widely accepted to pose a “small fraction of the risk of smoking”, it is clear that any uptick in smoking (in both adolescents and adults) would be likely to overwhelm any benefits from reductions in youth vaping.

The UK has been leading the world globally in tobacco harm reduction, and it will be a real shame if that reputation is reversed. These proposals not only risk trashing our reputation amongst credible global public health academics, but will also lead to promotion of ignorance and poor policy in other countries which will cost lives worldwide.

I hope you consider my points and will protect & encourage tobacco harm reduction in all forms.

If you want to meet in person, I would be more than happy to discuss any of these points (or others).

I haven't received a reply from my MP, but I got this email below from the Department of Health and Social Care -

Thank you for your correspondence of 13 July about vaping. I have been asked to reply and apologise for the delay in doing so.

I appreciate your concerns.

The Government recognises the role that vapes can play as a smoking quit aid and it is not its intention to restrict the accessibility of vapes to adults in the upcoming Bill.

Any measures brought forward through the upcoming Bill will be designed to curb youth vaping whilst having a minimal impact on adult vapers. The number of children vaping has tripled in the last three years, with one in five having used a vape in 2023, and the Government’s aim is to stop future generations from becoming hooked on nicotine. 

While it is certainly true that adults prefer fruit and sweet flavours, many flavours on the market are overly appealing to children. Evidence shows that children are attracted to the fruit and sweet flavours of vapes, both in their taste and smell, as well as how they are described. Many flavours have attractive wording and names that entice children to try vaping, such as ‘gummy bear’ and ‘rainbow burst’.
The Government is aware that vape flavours are an important consideration for adult smokers when seeking to quit smoking and it will carefully consider any restrictions to avoid unintended consequences. The primary purpose of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill is to reduce smoking rates by bringing forward a generational ban on the sale of tobacco, making it an offence for anyone to sell tobacco products to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009. This policy is not being implemented for vapes because the health advice is clear that vaping is less harmful than smoking; however, vaping is not risk-free and nor is the consumption of nicotine.

Nicotine causes addiction rapidly and can increase the risk of developing conditions such as cardiovascular disease, gastrointestinal disorder and more rapid development of some cancers. Giving up nicotine is very difficult, and withdrawal symptoms can include cravings, irritability, anxiety, trouble concentrating, headaches and other mental symptoms. Evidence also suggests that the brain in adolescence is more sensitive to the effects of nicotine, so there could be additional risks for young people. That is why it is vital that vapes are only used as a smoking cessation tool.

Vapes are an effective quit tool for smokers, particularly when combined with behavioural support. Therefore, it is important that vapes remain accessible to adult smokers. The Government remains fully committed to the Swap to Stop scheme, which involves swapping cigarettes for vapes. 

The Vaping Products Duty did not form part of the previous Government’s Tobacco and Vapes Bill. Taxation is the responsibility of HM Treasury, which ran a public consultation on the proposals for the duty from 6 March to 29 May. HM Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs are currently considering responses to that consultation. There are no plans to introduce any tax changes as part of the upcoming Bill.

Yours sincerely,

Correspondence Officer
Ministerial Correspondence and Public Enquiries
Department of Health and Social Care

(no name given, and from a do-not-reply email address)

 

[Toby iVapour]

.. from the Department of Health and Social Care -
Evidence also suggests that the brain in adolescence is more sensitive to the effects of nicotine, so there could be additional risks for young people.

FDA Briefs U.S. Supreme Court on the Nicotine Brain Fallacy

Responding to a petition from the FDA, the Supreme Court agreed to review the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decision in the Triton case (...

rodutobaccotruth.blogspot.com

“Let me be crystal clear. The harm in brain development federal officials talk non-stop about only happens in laboratory torture of mice. Mouse studies are well known to be of questionable value in predicting human effects. There is absolutely no scientific evidence to support the claim that nicotine causes harm to human brain development, so it is astounding that federal officials traffic in this false narrative. This nonsense is an affront to 34 million adult current smokers and 55 million former smokers in the U.S., virtually all of whom started when they were teenagers. There is no evidence that their brain development was harmed.”

The facts remain the same today, and still the unfounded attacks on THR continue. For example, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) recently published a viewpoint authored by tobacco prohibitionists Robert Jackler and Pamela Ling (here). Criticizing Medscape for creating continuing medical education courses on THR, they also attacked my design of the course content, complaining that my “expert opinion” conflicts with the CDC’s claim that “nicotine can harm brain development…until about age 25.” They cited a review that purportedly contains “a sizable body of human data,” but that treatise actually offers no evidence of harm to brain development in human smokers. The fact is that no study has ever demonstrated that human brain development is harmed by nicotine.

It is a travesty that bad science and fraudulent claims against THR have persisted for so long.

 

[dansus]

Vape shows would be the first to go under..

There is a chance that the new Tobacco and Vapes Bill, if passed, could see vapes treated more like cigarettes are now. Ministers are said to be looking at banning vaping in all indoor public places.

UK outdoor smoking ban WON’T include vapes

The proposed UK ban on smoking in outdoor public places is not set to include vapes, it has been revealed.

www.clearingtheair.eu

 

[Toby iVapour]

UK outdoor smoking ban WON’T include vapes

The proposed UK ban on smoking in outdoor public places is not set to include vapes, it has been revealed.

www.clearingtheair.eu

There is a chance that the new Tobacco and Vapes Bill, if passed, could see vapes treated more like cigarettes are now. Ministers are said to be looking at banning vaping in all indoor public places.

And vape shops too? (FFS)

 

[dansus]

And vape shops too? (FFS)

They will probably get the same exemption as cigar shops.