Ban disposable vaping to save young people from ‘Wild West market’ in e-cigarettes, says England’s children’s commissioner
- Dame Rachel de Souza fears that children are being pressured to participate in the custom
- She said some students avoid using the school restrooms because they are vaping hot spots
Disposable vapes should be banned and others sold in plain packaging to end the ‘Wild West market’ in e-cigarettes, England’s children’s commissioner has said.
Dame Rachel de Souza fears children feel pressured to participate in the harmful habit.
Some students now avoid using school restrooms because they’re a hot spot for vaping, while others have trouble concentrating in class because of their nicotine addiction, she said.
Dame Rachel said: ‘It is insidious that these products are deliberately marketed and promoted to children, both online and offline.
“I am concerned about the increase in the number of children vaping in this country, especially given the risks it poses to their health and well-being.
Disposable vapes should be banned and others sold in plain packaging to end the ‘Wild West market’ in e-cigarettes, the Children’s Commissioner for England (pictured) has said
Dame Rachel de Souza fears children feel pressured to participate in the harmful habit
“It is deeply disturbing to hear of children feeling pressured to vape. We urgently need stricter regulation of this “Wild West” market.
“Children deserve to live long, happy and healthy lives, which is why I firmly believe that no child should smoke or vape.
“It is deeply disturbing to hear stories of children now struggling to concentrate for entire lessons, unable to use their vape.
‘Other children avoid the school toilet for fear of peer pressure to participate.’
Some vapes seized by schools contain dangerously high levels of nickel and lead, “to which exposure can affect the central nervous system and brain development,” she added.
Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) reports that the number of children trying vaping has increased by 50 per cent in the UK over the past year.
It found an increase in experimental vaping among 11- to 17-year-olds, from 7.7 percent last year to 11.6 percent this year.
As children get older, the use of vaping and experimentation increases.
About 10.4 percent of 11- to 15-year-olds had vaped, rising to 29.1 percent of 16- and 17-year-olds.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Health said: ‘It is illegal to sell nicotine vapes to children.
‘We are cracking down on underage sales to children with the £3million illegal vapes enforcement squad.’