Medical Group Urges Action Against Vaping

The British Medical Association (BMA) is calling on the government to stop the growth of vaping in the U.K.

In a report titled Taking Our Breath Away: Why We Need Stronger Regulation of Vapes, the BMA sets out its blueprint for what legislation should include to tackle rising vape use, especially among children and young people. Recommendations include:

• banning the commercial sale of all disposable vapes;
• banning all nontobacco vape flavors;
• prohibiting the use of all imagery, coloring and branding for both the packaging and vape device, similar to current restrictions on cigarettes;
• further restrictions on all advertising and marketing, and ensuring vapes are kept behind the counter and not on display in shops and retail outlets; and
• government education campaigns for the public on the dangers of vapes to reduce appeal, especially among children and young people.

While the BMA recognizes that vapes can be a useful tool in helping some people to stop smoking cigarettes, the organization stresses that they offer a less dangerous rather than a risk-free alternative. “Vaping can lead to nicotine addiction, with nicotine having the potential to cause health problems such as high blood pressure and increased risk of COPD,” the BMA wrote in a statement. “Further, some e-cigarettes have been found to contain other harmful substances such as lead.”

Vaping industry representatives cautioned that the proposed measures could have unintended consequences.

“The UKVIA [U.K. Vaping Industry Association] agrees that stronger measures are needed to cut off the supply of youth vaping and illicit products; however, actions laid out in this report would sooner supercharge the black market and push the nation’s smoke-free ambitions further out of reach by deterring adult smokers from making the switch and driving current vapers into the hands of underground sellers or back to cigarettes,” said John Dunne, director general of the UKVIA, in a statement.

“The BMA undersells the quitting power of vapes when it says the reduced-risk alternative ‘can be useful in helping some people to stop smoking.’ The latest data from leading public health charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) U.K. found more than half of ex-smokers in Great Britain who quit in the past five years used a vape in their last attempt—ASH also reports that current and ever use of vapes among 11[-year-olds to] 17-year-olds has decreased since last year.”