Gareth Johnson is the MP for Dartford and chairs the newly launched APPG for Responsible Vaping
Most will agree that children should not be vaping and that those who have never vaped should not start. However, we must ensure that any future regulatory regime is proportionate and does not hamper the benefits that vaping can bring to helping adult smokers stop smoking.
With the publication on Wednesday of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, it is timely that we have launched the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Responsible Vaping. The group will provide parliamentarians with the opportunity to scrutinise the Government’s proposals and to help ensure that they are balanced and workable.
As someone interested in vaping for some time, I am pleased to be chairing this new group that will bring together MPs and Peers from across the political spectrum, including a former Health Secretary.
Supported by the Independent British Vape Trade Association, the APPG will act as a focal point for vaping issues within Parliament, particularly in making representation to the Government as it seeks to introduce a raft of measures in the coming months, including a new vape tax and a ban on disposable vapes. The Bill will also give the Government wide-ranging and currently undefined enabling powers to regulate packaging, display, and flavours.
The sheer volume of legislation in the sector over the next 18 months is considerable. We must get the balance right. Millions of smokers have quit due to switching to vaping but there are still 6.4 million UK smokers. IBVTA research shows 46 per cent of smokers and 37 per cent of ex-smokers in the UK have used vaping as a tool to kick cigarettes, contributing to around 70,000 additional quit attempts each year, and a substantial 72 per cent of ex-smokers (quit in the past 5 years) stating that vapes helped achieve a smoke-free life.
IBVTA also research found that of those that vape, 41 per cent used fruit flavours, and 8 per cent used other flavours such as cola and vanilla most often. 59 per cent report that having a range of flavours helps them to reduce their smoking or deters them from going back to smoking. Disproportionate restrictions on flavours would clearly deter smokers from quitting and undermine the Government’s ambitions for a smoke-free future by 2030
The APPG will also want to understand and highlight best practices in the sector in supporting adults to quit smoking as well as addressing key issues including stopping children from accessing vapes, protecting the environment, and tackling the illicit vape trade.
The industry is making significant efforts to address these issues including launching an industry code of conduct with changes to products, descriptors and flavours. But more can clearly be done and the APPG will play a role here in encouraging and highlighting industry-led improvement.
Vaping has the potential to save so many more lives. If half every current smoker quits, it would save the NHS £500 million per year. But it is critical as this legislation is designed and moves forward onto the statute book, that there is a strong voice on vaping in parliament.
I would thus urge ministers to constructively engage with the APPG over the coming months to ensure that the regime we end up with is fair and balanced, and safeguards children and the environment, without risking the many benefits that vaping can bring.
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Author: Gareth Johnson MP
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