Public consultation opens on a smoke-free generation and vaping
The government launched a public consultation this week to seek views from teenagers and adults on its plans to create a smoke-free generation and curb vaping use by young people.
KEY QUESTIONS IN THE PUBLIC CONSULTATION
The government seeks feedback from people aged 13 and up, via an online survey, whether they back plans to:
- make it an offence for anyone born on or after 1 January 2009 (turning 14 this year) to ever be sold tobacco products
- make it offence for older people to buy tobacco for the age group to be covered by the new law
- include all types of tobacco products (such as shisha)
- restrict the flavours (such as sweets and fruits) of vapes and views on how (such as by banning references to these flavours in vape ads or removing them as ingredients)
- restrict vapes being on display in shops and put them out-of-view like cigarettes (and whether there should be an exception for vaping shops)
- ban cartoons, characters, animals and other child-friendly imagery from vape packaging, or ban any imagery apart from the name and logo of the product
- ban or restrict the sale of disposable vapes
- increase the price of vapes to deter children from buying them
- allow local authorities to issue on-the-spot fines to retailers who sell tobacco or vapes to under-age people (and what the level of these fines should be).
Share your thoughts via survey
The consultation closes on 6 December 2023.
In a separate development, NHS England is trying to recruit people to give feedback on a new NHS digital stop smoking app, which it plans to start testing in 2024. If you're interested, take part in a survey and register your interest by 15 November.