Keep vapes out of sight of children – LGA on ASH survey on e-cigarette use among 11 to 17 year olds

Commenting on a survey by stop smoking charity ASH that found trying vaping once or twice is up by 50 per cent on last year for 11 to 17 year olds, Cllr David Fothergill, Chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board said:

“As this stark research shows, it is deeply worrying that more and more children – who have never smoked – are starting vaping. This is becoming a major concern for councils, who are seeing a sharp rise in cases of shops and other outlets selling vaping products to people under 18.

“To tackle this issue and ensure vaping is kept out of reach of children, vapes should be sold in plain packaging and be out-of-sight behind the counter. As well as this, age-of-sale signage on vaping products must be made mandatory in the same way that it currently is for cigarette products.

“We know that vaping plays a part in helping long term smokers quit, improving their health outcomes and reducing pressure on overstretched health and social care services but must not be used by children.”