Doctors call for total ban on disposable e-cigarettes to tackle youth 'vaping epidemic'
Top doctors have called for legislation aimed at tackling youth vaping to include a total ban on disposable e-cigarettes and all flavours apart from tobacco.
The British Medical Association (BMA) has urged ministers to "take bold and brave actions" to protect the health of children and young people amid a "vaping epidemic".
Former prime minister Rishi Sunak introduced the Tobacco and Vapes Bill earlier this year, which included plans to ban disposable e-cigarettes and introduce restrictions on flavours and packaging.
However, it was shelved after the General Election was announced in May.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer revived the Bill following Labour’s victory at the July 4 vote, although details on the measures are yet to be published.
Professor David Strain, chair of the BMA’s board of science, called on the government "to go even further" than the plans outlined by Mr Sunak.
He said the new government has an opportunity to "bring vapes back to what they were originally designed for".
"These are a quit tool, these are supposed to help smokers stop," he told ITV News.
Speaking to ITV News, Professor David Strain said 'we need to nip this in the bud now'
The BMA's report - Taking our breath away: why we need stronger regulation of vapes - calls for a ban on the sale of disposable vapes which would cause both harm to children and to the environment.
The BMA also suggests all vape flavours apart from tobacco should be banned, with measures introduced to prohibit the use of imagery, colouring and branding on packaging and e-cigarettes, as well as further restrictions on all advertising and marketing.
Prof Strain warned that over the last three years we have seen almost a five-fold increase in the risk of hospitalisation of children due to vapingrelated disorders.
"We need to nip this in the bud now," he told ITV News.
He explained that the BMA wants all flavours to be banned, apart from tobacco, because the majority of adult vapers are actually ex-smokers.
"The most common flavour they choose is tobacco - they're moving from a cigarette to a vape, and they're trying to use them as a quit tool," he said.
'Vapes should be behind the counter, right next to cigarettes,' says Professor David Strain
"The other flavours, the bubblegum flavours, gummy bear, lemonade fizz and all of these, they're just there to attract new users, to create new nicotine addicts, and that's the bit that we want to nip in the bud.
"We want to try and reduce the attractiveness of this to children and young people, to make sure that we don't see the adverse effects of nicotine for generations to come."
Publication of the BMA’s report comes after analysis by public health charity Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) found 11% of the adult population in Britain vape - the equivalent of 5.6 million people.
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The figure is the highest since Ash started asking about vaping in its Smokefree GB analysis in 2017.
A separate report by Ash also estimated 18% of 11 to 17-year-olds in Britain - or around 980,000 youngsters - have vaped in 2024.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "The marketing of vapes to children and young people is utterly unacceptable.
"Vapes can be an effective way for adult smokers to quit, but we have always been clear that children and adult non-smokers should never vape.
"The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will stop vapes from deliberately being branded and advertised to appeal to children, including by regulating flavours, packaging, and changing how and where they are displayed in shops."
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