{"id":12601,"date":"2024-11-12T09:44:29","date_gmt":"2024-11-12T09:44:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/uk-vape-clampdown-could-lead-to-more-smokers-governments-own-report-warns\/"},"modified":"2025-01-06T16:09:46","modified_gmt":"2025-01-06T16:09:46","slug":"uk-vape-clampdown-could-lead-to-more-smokers-governments-own-report-warns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/post\/uk-vape-clampdown-could-lead-to-more-smokers-governments-own-report-warns\/","title":{"rendered":"UK vape clampdown could lead to more smokers, government\u2019s own report warns"},"content":{"rendered":"

Labour\u2019s crackdown on vaping could backfire and lead to more people smoking, the government\u2019s own impact assessment warns. <\/strong><\/p>\n

An \u201cunintended consequence\u201d of banning disposable vapes and certain flavours \u201cis that it could encourage more people to try smoking\u201d it says. <\/p>\n

The report, published before the Tobacco and Vapes Bill<\/a> was reintroduced to parliament last week, highlights a study from the U.S<\/a> that found an extra 15 cigarettes could be sold for ever 0.7ml vape pod not sold. <\/p>\n

The new Bill, if passed, will stop anyone born after January 2009 from ever being able to legally buy cigarettes, and ban smoking in a range of outdoor areas such outside hospitals and children\u2019s play areas. <\/p>\n

It also includes tighter restrictions on the advertisement, packaging and sale of vapes and other nicotine alternatives, including banning sweet or fruity flavours <\/strong>which are proven to help smokers quit. <\/p>\n

Under separate environmental legislation, disposable vapes will be banned from June 1, 2025. <\/p>\n

An \u2018unintended consequence\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

However, it has now emerged that the Health Department\u2019s own impact assessment – published under Rishi Sunak\u2019s Conservative government in April, warned the measures could turn more people to far harmful smoking.<\/p>\n

It said: \u201cA possible unintended consequence of the vaping policies is that it could encourage more young people to try smoking.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor example, a study from the US found that restricting flavours of vapes led to an additional 15 cigarettes sold for every 0.7mL vape pod not sold.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It was hoped that an outdoor smoking ban would help \u201cmitigate\u201d some of this consequence, but government plans to extend this to pub gardens were abandoned following a fierce backlash from the hospitality industry. <\/p>\n

The report also points to a Bristol University study<\/a> that found banning vape flavours drove more people to smoking, as well as evidence from the U.S.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe study found that as a result of the flavour ban more adults may go back to smoking tobacco cigarettes,\u201d it says. \u201cThis is in line with recent evidence on the flavour bans that have been imposed in the US.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ban \u2018denies smokers an alternative\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Reem Ibrahim from the Institute of Economic Affairs said: \u201cThe government\u2019s own impact assessment indicates that this draconian vape crackdown will push more people back to smoking – and not in small numbers.<\/p>\n

\u201cLabour may be pursuing a smoke-free future, but by denying smokers an alternative, it is hard to follow their logic. Rather than rushing through this legislation, the government must re-consider these knock on consequences.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ed Argar MP, Shadow Health Secretary, said: “It’s clear that in Labour’s efforts to rush through the Tobacco and Vapes Bill there are serious questions arising from their impact assessment, on which the British People and Parliament need and deserve greater clarity from the Government about the detail of that impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

Former Conservative Party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said Labour \u201cmust have some pretty clear evidence that there is harm\u201d before going ahead with a vapes ban. <\/p>\n

\u2018Regulatory overkill\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Marcus Saxton, group chief executive of vape online retailer Totally Wicked and chairman of the Independent British Vape Trade Association (IBVTA), warned that \u201cregulatory overkill\u201d could harm vaping\u2019s role in helping people quit smoking. <\/p>\n

He said: \u201cExcessive restrictions on the types of products that our members can provide may reduce the products\u2019 appeal. Even worse, they may contribute to continued misperceptions about the harm of vaping relative to tobacco smoking. <\/p>\n

\u201cSpecifically, the role of flavours in supporting adult smokers to a successful quit attempt is accepted and understood by most public health stakeholders, and we believe to have been fundamental to the success of vaping in reducing smoking rates. <\/p>\n

\u201cTherefore, any reference to potential powers to restrict flavours is very worrying, as it threatens the government\u2019s own goal of the UK becoming smoke free by 2030.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Meanwhile, Eve Peters, director of government affairs for vape manufacturer Elf Bar in the UK, pointed to estimates that around a third of vapers could return to smoking if the Bill is passed.<\/p>\n

Vapes are a \u2018key smoking cessation aid\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWhilst we recognise and support that action must be taken to address youth vaping, it\u2019s important to acknowledge that vaping products, including single-use, are a key smoking cessation aid, with millions of adult smokers having quit as a result,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn impact assessment by Defra highlights that three in ten current vapers will either revert or relapse to smoking tobacco as a consequence of the ban, with officials cautioning that a rise in cigarette use could lead to significant health \u2018disbenefits\u2019 \u2013 posing serious health risks and endangering the Government\u2019s smokefree targets.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elf Bar has urged the government to evaluate the evidence before any further restrictions on vaping are considered, particularly concerning flavours \u201cwhich are vitally important to adult smokers\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u200d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An \u201cunintended consequence\u201d of banning disposable vapes and certain flavours \u201cis that it could encourage more people to try smoking\u201d it says.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":990002,"featured_media":12607,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[257],"tags":[],"slider":[],"class_list":["post-12601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/990002"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12601"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12601\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15960,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12601\/revisions\/15960"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12607"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12601"},{"taxonomy":"slider","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/slider?post=12601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}