TOUGHER packaging and naming regulations for vapes have been called for by the Scottish Grocers’ Federation (SGF) to help deter child vaping.
The convenience store trade body has written to Scottish Government public health minister, Jenni Minto, outlining a series of measures which it said it believes can ‘dramatically’ reduce vaping amongst kids whilst also ensuring that adult smokers – who wish to quit smoking – can freely access the ‘life-changing’ and ‘life-saving’ alternatives to cigarettes.
As well as restrictions on the naming and packaging of vapes to make them less appealing to children, the proposed measures include asking producers to encourage alternative vaping products over disposables, and working with retailers to provide recycling options for disposable vapes.
However, the SGF said it opposes a restriction on flavours, which it said is proven to be the ‘key factor’ in switching from cigarettes to ‘less harmful’ vapes. The organisation also asked the Scottish Government to rule out an outright ban on disposable vapes, warning that it could lead to illicit trade being fuelled.
A new document titled Healthier Choices, Healthier Communities, is being shared with all MSPs to highlight the steps being taken to ensure responsible retailing balances with the need to support the use of vapes as an alternative to tobacco.
SGF chief executive, Dr Pete Cheema OBE, said, “Scotland has been a trailblazer on smoking harm reduction. But to take the next step towards a smoke-free generation, we need a more nuanced debate about vaping. There is a poor and unproductive relationship between some manufacturers of vaping products, retailers, regulators, and policy-makers, and it is creating unintended consequences.
“The Healthier Choices, Healthier Communities campaign is about balance. We want to help create public policy which simultaneously encourages vaping amongst adults who wish to quit smoking and discourages it amongst non-smokers, particularly given the evidence of young people vaping.
“We will strike that balance by advocating for a change in the naming and packaging of vapes, particularly the single-use variety, while also strongly resisting restrictions on the use of flavour – the critical characteristic of vaping products which stop smokers from lapsing back to cigarettes.”
