The British Medical Association has urged the government to take stronger action against the “growing epidemic of vape use in the UK”.
Vaping, which has drawn intense criticism for environmental reasons and its appeal to underaged smokers, is nonetheless a fast-growing consumer product.
Data supplied by the British Heart Foundation-backed charity Action on Smoking and Health shows that vape use among 11-17-year-olds has increased sixfold in the past decade.
Under the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, the previous Tory government under Rishi Sunak moved to ban disposable vapes and marketing that could appeal to children, but concrete policies are still yet to be put in place.
The BMA has laid out a wishlist of policies surrounding vapes, including some previously mentioned by the government. These include neutral packaging, a ban on flavoured vapes and a ban on disposables.
Additionally, the BMA wants to see vapes removed from shop displays and kept behind counters with combustible tobacco products.
Penelope Toff, chair of the BMA’s public health medicine committee, said: “We are calling on ministers to take bold and brave actions that will make a real difference, like banning all vape flavours other than tobacco so that the grip these products have on our children and young people is released, while still ensuring they remain an option to help some people stop smoking.
“Likewise, there is no reason why they should need colourful branding and displays; they should be relegated to behind the shop counter, in plain packaging, like cigarettes have been for years.”
Vape distributors, including AIM-listed Supreme PLC (AIM:SUP), are balancing on a regulatory tightrope as the moral panic over vapes escalates.
In an annual report published on Tuesday, Supreme threw its weight behind certain measures including plain packaging and flavours, in-store disposable bins and increased due diligence on retail partners.
However, the group has stopped short of supporting a behind-the-counter approach to selling vapes.
Rather, Supreme “has strongly recommended to its extensive retail network that the company’s vaping products should not be located or displayed close to confectionery and is liaising with retailers to help find suitable locations in their stores to reduce the chance of underage vapers coming into contact with vaping products”.