If the British Labour Party wins the next general election, it could follow Australia’s lead and make vaping products prescription-only, according to Vaping360. The next general election will take place no later than January 2025. The Labour Party has led in the polls for about two years.
“I’m looking very carefully at what Mark Butler and the Australian Labor government have announced,” said Wes Streeting, the Labour Party’s shadow health secretary. Streeting speaks for the party on health issues and is the likely current choice for health secretary if the party gains a majority in Parliament.
“Their policy is in part driven by the evidence here in Australia that vaping has become a gateway drug to smoking,” Streeting said. “So, I think we need to look carefully at what the U.K. evidence is on that front.”
According to Streeting, the vaping industry has “peddled itself as an altruistic smoking cessation service at the same time as addicting a generation of children [to] nicotine.”
“This whole business model is built on addicting people to one of the most addictive substances known to man or woman,” Streeting said, “so we’re going to go hard on marketing selling to children, but I also want the vaping industry to go back to its roots as a genuine smoking cessation tool.”