The government has announced a crackdown on vape marketing to stop the “unacceptable” targeting of children and teens.
Rishi Sunak has pledged to close a loophole which allows retailers to give free samples of vapes to children in England.
The move comes a week after a recent BBC investigation found high levels of lead, nickel, and chromium in vapes confiscated from school pupils.
These vapes were subsequently tested in a laboratory at Baxter College in Kidderminster where it was revealed that child users could be inhaling more than twice the daily safe amount of lead, and nine times the safe amount of nickel.
Lab co-founder David Lawson said: “In 15 years of testing, I have never seen lead in a device.
“None of these should be on the market – they break all the rules on permitted levels of metal. They are the worst set of results I’ve ever seen.”
Equally shocked at this finding, the prime minister aims to tighten the law making it easier for local trading standards officials to issue on-the-spot fines and fixed penalty notices to shops that sell vapes to under-age children.
He said: “The marketing and the illegal sales of vapes to children is completely unacceptable and I will do everything in my power to end this practice for good.
“Our new illicit vape enforcement squad – backed by £3m – is on the case but clearly there is more to do. That is why I am taking further action today to clamp down on rogue firms who unlawfully target our children with these products.”
Plans to introduce this new “squad” were unveiled in a government press release last month which, led by Trading Standards, will share its findings across regional networks and local authorities and have the power to remove illegal products from shops and at our borders.
Similar action was taken earlier this year in Cheetham Hill where 18,200 non-compliant vape products were seized by Trading Standards under Greater Manchester Police’s Operation Vulcan.
#OpVulcan | 18,200 illegal vapes seized by Operation Vulcan and Trading Standards as part of a joint visit yesterday (9/3/2023) to a premises on Overbridge Road in Cheetham Hill
— Greater Manchester Police (@gmpolice) March 10, 2023
Read more ➡️ https://t.co/OzAOUmlvd4 pic.twitter.com/VZKF29nKH3
Yet, illicit vape sales appear to still be rife in the area as one student at Blessed John Henry Newman RC College in Oldham collapsed this week after just one puff of the vape pen purchased from a shop in the area.
Headteacher Mr Glynn Potts said: “Young people need advice and information that this type of device is not safe,”
“Even in the most simple nicotine vape, they contain 12 times the amount of nicotine that a cigarette does. I’m not sure that an 11, 12, 13-year-old body can handle that,” he added.
Featured image by tomkohhantsuk from Pixabay
