Plans to amend smoking regulations might be announced as soon as next month, and disposable vapes could be prohibited within months as part of a crackdown on “sweet shop” advertising.
Rishi Sunak launched a thorough review into vaping and smoking practises today, with the Prime Minister prepared to ban single-use vapes if required.
He also intends to raise the smoking age by “one year, every year,” making purchasing cigarettes illegal for everyone born after 2008.
The smoking legislation amendment is scheduled to be included in the King’s Speech on November 7.
Mr Sunak announced the proposal to bring up a “smoke-free generation” at Tory Party conference last week.
He also pledged to look into how vaping is marketed, including the use of attractive flavours and colours targeted at children.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay said the Government is cracking down on the marketing of vapes “like it’s a sweet shop”.
“As a father of young children I’m alarmed as a dad at the fact that the number of children vaping has gone up three-fold in the last three years,” he said.
“The Prime Minister is very clear that we’re taking action on this. We want to get the policy right on things like disposable vapes, because, as I say, there is an interplay with the adult market in terms of vaping. But we’re clear it is wrong for children. As a dad I want to see it stopped.”
The eight-week consultation could see restrictions on vapes introduced next year. These could include changes to vape flavours, regulating vape packaging with the possibility of introducing plainer packaging, regulating whether they are on display and increasing the price of vapes so they are not sold for as low as a few pounds.
On vape flavours, options may include restricting descriptions so words like “candy floss” or “muffin” cannot appear, with just generic descriptions of flavours used instead.
Some experts, including the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) and Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza, have called for an outright ban on disposable vapes after data published in May showed a 50% rise in the last year in the proportion of children trying vaping.