The UK Vaping Industry Association welcomes the news that the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is launching a ten-year research project into the long-term health effects of vaping on young people’s health, alongside wider influences on adolescent health.
DHSC said the study is one of three sets of research being commissioned by the government, alongside the launch of England’s first ever public health marketing campaign to educate children on vaping harms.
It said: “The long-term health impacts of youth vaping are not fully known, and this comprehensive approach will provide the most detailed picture yet, giving health carers and policymakers the robust evidence they need to protect the next generation from the potential health risks.”
John Dunne, Director General of the UKVIA said:
Announcement of UK government project on adolescent health
“We welcome the news that the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is launching a project to assess the long-term effects of vaping on young people, as part of a wider project on adolescent health.”
Vapes are for adults
“Vapes are age-gated products – for adults only! No one who is underage should be using them. But we live in the real world, and we know that sometimes that this will happen. It is essential, therefore, that we have as much data as possible to guide health-care professionals, parents and policymakers.”
Vape education campaigns
“The announcement of England’s first ever public campaign to educate children on vaping harms is good news. But what about the adult smokers for whom these products are intended? Misinformation is the main reason that so many smokers who would benefit from switching are not doing it. Half the adults in the UK already believe vapes to be as harmful or more harmful than cigarettes.”
Licensing and Enforcement
“Selling vapes to under 18s is illegal. But the laws are not sufficiently enforced and the penalties are inadequate. We need a licensing scheme for vape retailers, which would help stop unsuitable businesses such as take aways, hairdressers and taxi offices from selling vapes. The £50 million generated every year from fees and fines could fund enforcement action from Trading Standards, Border Force and other bodies.”
Dr Marina Murphy, UKVIA Scientific Spokesperson said:
Stop propagating misinformation:
“The last thing we need is the DHSC adding to the epidemic of misinformation.
“The press release included a statement to the effect that nicotine damages the brain – a statement that is not backed by any evidence. We all know how dangerous smoking is, but nicotine is not the problem. Nicotine has been used safely in medicines for over 50 years – medicines containing nicotine are approved for over 12s. There is also no evidence of brain damage in older generations of smokers, millions of whom regrettably started smoking at a very young age.”
Flavours help adults quit
“There are several studies demonstrating the importance of flavours to vapers – especially as they regain their sense of taste when they give up smoking. Vapers who use flavours are more likely to successfully quit, which is why it’s no surprise that fruit, bakery and dessert are the most popular vape flavours.”
Banning flavours increases smoking
“It’s easy to assume that banning flavours will reduce youth uptake or the recruitment of non-users (of nicotine), but the real-world consequences are very different. In the US, there have been a number of state bans. Product sales data collected post bans showed that while, not surprisingly, vaping rates declined, smoking rates went up.” (Studies below).
- Friedman, A. S., Pesko, M. F., & Whitacre, T. R. (2024). Flavored E-Cigarette Sales Restrictions and Young Adult Tobacco Use. JAMA Health Forum, 5(12), e244594. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamahealthforum.2024.4594
- Saffer, H., Ozdogan, S., Grossman, M., Dench, D. L., & Dave, D. M. (2024). Comprehensive E-cigarette Flavor Bans and Tobacco Use among Youth and Adults (Working Paper 32534). National Bureau of Economic Research. https://www.nber.org/papers/w32534
- Cotti, C. D., Courtemanche, C. J., Liang, Y., Maclean, J. C., Nesson, E. T., & Sabia, J. J. (2024). The Effect of E-Cigarette Flavor Bans on Tobacco Use (Working Paper 32535). National Bureau of Economic Research. https://www.nber.org/papers/w32535
- Friedman, Abigail and Liber, Alex C. and Crippen, Alyssa and Pesko, Michael, E-cigarette Flavor Restrictions’ Effects on Tobacco Product Sales (January 29, 2024). Available at SSRN: https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=4586701
- Friedman AS, Xu S. Associations of Flavored e-Cigarette Uptake With Subsequent Smoking Initiation and Cessation. JAMA Netw Open. 2020 Jun 1;3(6):e203826. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.3826. PMID: 32501490; PMCID: PMC7275248.
- Yong Yang, Eric N. Lindblom, Ramzi G. Salloum, Kenneth D. Ward, The impact of a comprehensive tobacco product flavor ban in San Francisco among young adults, Addictive Behaviors Reports, Volume 11, 2020, 100273, ISSN 2352-8532, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.abrep.2020.100273.
- Tam J, Jimenez-Mendoza E, Buckell J, Sindelar J, Meza R. Responses to Real-World and Hypothetical E-Cigarette Flavor Bans Among US Young Adults Who Use Flavored E-Cigarettes. Nicotine Tob Res. 2024 Jul 22;26(8):1113-1117. doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntad258. PMID: 38141252; PMCID: PMC11260892.
Read full report here: DHSC: 10-year study to shed light on youth vaping