Shadow Health minister Earl Howe has warned the Tobacco and Vapes Bill could have unintended “perverse consequences.”
The controversial bill – which includes a generational ban on smoking and strict new controls on vapes – is currently being considered by the House of Lords.
At its third reading last week, Lord Howe told his fellow peers that restricting vape flavours and advertising could inadvertently lead to more people smoking for longer.
He said: “The Bill also includes the power to restrict the flavour of nicotine products and the government has signalled that they are considering certain flavours of vaping liquids. On the face of it, this may seem a reasonable proposal bearing in mind the troubling rise in youth vaping. The problem here though, is one of perverse consequences.
Flavours a ‘key factor’ in helping smokers quit
“There is increasingly strong evidence that access to a variety of flavours is a key factor contributing to smokers making the switch to vaping and then not going back to cigarettes.”
Lord Howe referred to evidence given previously to the House of Commons by Louise Ross, who he said launched the world’s first stop smoking service.
He said: “[She] wrote in her submission: ‘Flavours are really important to adult users of the products. Whether they are new users or those who are staying smoke free with a vape.’
“And she added that ‘those who use vaping products report that it is the flavours that stop them from going back to cigarettes, which they found tasted terrible after a few weeks of vaping’. Now evidence of that kind should, I believe, give us pause before we go hurtling into a ban on what some see as no more than a tempting gimmick to trap unsuspecting teenagers. Once again, our Committee stage will enable us to dig deeper into these questions.”
Concerns over vape advertising ban
Lord Howe said he had similar concerns around the proposed ban on the advertisement of vapes, as it could go against efforts by the NHS to help smokers quit.
He said: “I think there is a danger that part six of the Bill, which would ban advertising on all vape and nicotine products in all scenarios may turn out to work against the very valid efforts of the NHS to encourage smokers to give up cigarettes.
“It’s quite telling that the government’s own impact assessment for this Bill admits that the ban on vape advertising could lead to more people smoking for longer.
“And it says ‘whilst smoking prevalence in the UK has been falling for many years, the risk of this policy is that the potential for gains from reduced vaping consumption could be offset by a slowing of smoking cessation at a societal level.’”
Bill ‘could drive more people to illegal market’
Lord Brady of Altrincham, officer to the APPG (an all-Parliamentary group focused on vaping), agreed with Lord Howe’s concerns about the Bill.
“..I strongly endorse the initial comments made by my noble friend Earle Howe in talking about the danger of unintended consequences,” he said.
“The possibility that by regulating some things in certain ways you might drive more people to the illegal market. The possibility that by regulating the current products available in certain ways you might actually make it less likely that the people who are currently smokers would use certain types of vapes to assist them in giving up.”
Vapes ‘an opportunity not a threat’
Life peer and former smoker Clare Fox gave a powerful statement making the point that vapes should be seen as an opportunity in the fight to stop smoking rather than a threat.
She said: “Let’s take the Bill’s motives on face value: to stop people smoking for their health. Luckily some innovative geniuses have invented vapes, with unambiguous evidence – they actually work and have enabled millions to quit.
“Even the NHS Better Health web page includes the message ‘you’re roughly twice as likely to quit smoking if you use nicotine vapes compared with other nicotine replacement products’. But instead of celebrating this success and seeing vaping as an opportunity, this Bill irrationally treats it as a threat.”
She also addressed the misconceptions around vaping that could prevent many smokers from making the switch, and challenged the proposal to ban flavours.
She said: “Alarmingly, over half of adults who smoke mistakenly believe that vapes are equally or more harmful than smoking. Similarly, why oh why is the government so demonising flavoured vapes?
“Does the minister (Conservative MP Dr Caroline Johnson) really believe only children like sweet things? Has she not noticed the exponential rise in the flavoured gin market for adults?
“Research shows that 65 per cent of adult vapers find sweet and fruit flavoured e-liquids preferable – ironically, often because of the perceived difference to the tobacco they are quitting.”
The Bill now awaits its Committee stage in the House of Lords, with the date yet to be announced. Following this, any amendments will be reviewed by the House of Commons before the Bill can proceed to receive Royal Assent and become law.
