Shops break the law selling nicotine products to children

Nearly ninety per cent of shops in Medway selling e-cigarettes are breaking the law by selling nicotine products to children.

These are the findings of a Medway Council Trading Standards operation to see if shops are following new rules which mean it’s illegal to sell e-cigarette products containing nicotine to anyone under 18.

Officers sent a 14-year-old volunteer into eight shops in Medway specialising in e-cigarettes and they were alarmed that seven allowed the youngster to buy nicotine products.

All shops in Medway known to Trading Standards as selling large amounts of these types of products were approached, most of them in Gillingham and Chatham.

Under new legislation brought in on 1 October, Nicotine Inhaling Products ( Age of Sale and Proxy Purchasing ) Regulations 2015, retailers selling e-cigarettes or their pre-filled refill cartridges and refill liquids that contain nicotine to under 18s, could be fined £2,500.

On this occasion, Medway Council Trading Standards will be writing warning letters to the seven retailers who did sell products to a 14-year-old as part of their operation, because the legislation is relatively new.