2 days Ago By Isabela Boechat
THE Government last week agreed to ban the sale of disposable vapes in Ireland. There will also be a restriction on the sale of flavours which appeal to children , while all vape products need to be hidden in shops in a similar way to cigarettes . Anyone selling disposable vapes after they are banned could face up to six months in prison and a €4,000 fine.
The coalition voted last week to ban selling, importing or manufacturing the single use items in Ireland as new data showed that more than a million are sold every week. Writing in the Irish Sun today, Minister of State with responsibility for Public Health, Wellbeing and the National Drugs Strategy, Colm Burke, says the Government moved as we do not know the true scale of the damage these products could cause. VAPING is the revenge of the tobacco industry, and we will not stop taking action until the health of our youngest and brightest is protected.
Government decided to take a much-needed step this week to further clamp down on vapes, a significant move that I believe will have an important impact. Research has shown that there has been an increase in children and young people using nicotine inhaling products regularly in recent years, with 13 per cent of 12–17-year-olds having used them in the last 30 days and 18 per cent of 15–24-year-olds currently using them. Young people are now more likely to experiment with e-cigarettes than cigarettes and the tobacco industry has seized the opportunity to target young people to make multi-millions of euros in profit without consideration for the impact it will have on their health.
According to the HSE , vaping increases people’s chances of having asthma and nicotine exposure during the teenage years can harm brain development, which continues until about age 25. It can impact learning, memory, and attention, and increase risk for future addiction to other drugs. And the true reality is, we do not know the true scale of the damage these products can cause.
Government has already taken action to reduce the widespread use of vapes with a ban on the sale of nicotine inhaling products to those aged under 18. However, the tobacco industry continues to attempt to lure young people to purchase products with attractive packaging, flavours and sophisticated marketing techniques. And as Government, we want to take further action.
We must reduce the influence that the multi-million euro tobacco industry is trying to exert over young people. Government has now agreed to draft new laws to reduce the appeal and availability of vapes to young people. We plan to restrict colours, imagery on products as well as restrictions on the devices resembling or functioning as other products such as toys or games.
We will also clamp down on the multiple flavours on offer by the tobacco industry, prohibiting all flavour descriptors and language other than basic names. The Minister for Health of the day will also have the power to further amend limiting flavours, to keep up with the industry. Many of these products are positioned at cash tills and at eye level where they are hard to miss and, for many, hard to resist.
Our new laws will also prohibit point-of-sale display and advertising with exemptions only for retailers who only sell these products. There is evidence that point-of-sale display and marketing of vapes increase youth awareness and decrease harm perceptions. While evidence from tobacco point-of-sale restrictions show that restricting the display and advertising may particularly reduce experimental use among young people.
As well as reducing the appeal to young people, we have also taken a decisive step to ban single-use vapes to tackle littering and protect the environment. Adults can make up their own minds about purchasing vapes but it is our duty as a government to do whatever we can to protect the health of our youngest and brightest. As the minister responsible for public health, wellbeing and the national drugs strategy, I will work hard to ensure we take responsible measures to protect our citizens.
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