Wednesday, 31 January 2024

Agreeing With Rishi Over Vaping

Say it quietly but i have found myself agreeing with the Conservatives three times over the last few days, and all around smoking and vaping.
Firstly the plan to make it an offence for anyone born on or after 1 January 2009 to be sold tobacco products which effectively raises the smoking age by a year each year until it applies to the whole population and has the potential to phase out smoking in young people almost completely as early as 2040.
Then the plan to ban disposable vapes and again, i am fully behind it as used one time plastic vapes are dumped everywhere and we really need to cut down on the amount of plastic waste so again, pat on the back for Rishi and then much to my surprise, another one for planning to restrict the flavours of vapes which could appeal to younger vapers which i have posted on before.
The use of e-cigarettes has become more and more popular and there is a valid arguments that i find hard to argue against.
The first is that the e-cigarette companies are aiming their wares at the under 18 market with enticing flavours such as ice cream, bubble gum and candy floss which could attract non-smokers and worryingly youngsters, to try vaping and thereby introducing them to the nicotine addiction.
A YouGov study put the number of e-cigarette users in the UK at 3 million and most, like me, use flavoured nicotine (Juicy Peach, Spearmint, Cola and Coconut are my choice) but we have to find a midway between keeping any of those 3 million returning to cigarettes by removing the flavours that enticed them to vaping while not making it attractive to youngsters, mainly by not selling flavours that sound like they come from a sweet shop.
Obviously, three good decisions doesn't make up for the god-awful mess they have made, and continue to make, regarding everything else but i'm with you on this one Rishi but of course i will just deny it anyone asks me.