The tobacco and vapes bill will be introduced to Parliament today, the government has confirmed.
The bill will contain measures to ‘create a smokefree generation’, including phasing out the legal sale of tobacco to anyone currently aged 15 or younger, as well as a ban on vape advertising and sponsorship and tightening the regulations on vape flavours, display and packaging. Separate legislation will also see disposable vapes banned from June next year.
The indoor smoking ban will also be extended to ‘certain outdoor settings’, the government states. These could include playgrounds and the areas outside schools and hospitals, subject to consultation. However the government appears to have abandoned plans to include outside pubs and restaurants, beer gardens, and nightclub smoking spaces in the legislation, following concerns about the potential impact on the hospitality industry.
The government is also considering ‘tougher action’ to address youth vaping, it says, with the latest ONS figures showing that a quarter of 11-15-year-olds had tried a vape, with 9 per cent vaping regularly. The number of 11-15-year-olds who had ever smoked tobacco, however, has fallen to its lowest ever level, at 11 per cent. Plans to make smoke-free spaces vape-free spaces as well are also being considered, again subject to consultation.
The tobacco and vapes bill was originally introduced by the last government but was shelved following the announcement of a general election.
The bill forms part of the government’s ‘reform agenda to shift the focus of healthcare from sickness to prevention, and will address one of the biggest risk factors driving poor health’, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) states.
‘A smokefree country would prevent disease, disability and premature deaths for children born today and for people long into the future,’ said chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty. ‘Smoking causes harm across the life course from stillbirths, asthma in children, cancers, strokes and heart attacks to premature dementia. Most smokers wish they had never started, but are trapped by addiction.’
The rising numbers of children vaping was a ‘major concern’, he said, and the bill would ‘help prevent marketing vapes to children, which is utterly unacceptable. This is a major piece of legislation which if passed will have a positive and lasting impact on the health of the nation.’
See tobacco harm reduction feature in the new issue of DDN here