As many will be aware, last Tuesday the Tobacco and Vapes Bill received its second reading in Parliament and was voted on by MPs. The Bill will make it an offence to sell tobacco products to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009, aiming to stop the start of addiction whilst not affecting any of the rights of existing smokers or stopping adult smokers from switching to vapes.
The Bill will also introduce new powers to tackle the sharp rise in youth vaping by restricting vape flavours and their packaging and introduce on-the-spot fines to retailers who break the rules.
This topic is one on which MPs are given a free vote, meaning that as it is a matter of conscience we are not told how to vote by our parties - so this is something that I have put a great deal of thought and consideration into. For my part, I voted in favour of these measures, and I would like to use my column this week to briefly explain why.
Firstly, it is indisputable that this Bill will save thousands of lives. Smoking is the number one preventable cause of death, disability and ill health in the UK, causing around 80,000 deaths per year. Whilst youth smoking is reducing, rates in older teens remain high with over 12% of 16- to 17-year-olds smoking in England along with over 30% of under-18 pregnant mothers, thus proving the need to act.
Secondly, the Bill will significantly reduce the burden on the NHS. Almost every minute someone is admitted to hospital because of smoking, and up to 75,000 GP appointments could be attributed to smoking each month – over 100 appointments every hour. Smoking also costs the economy and wider society £17 billion a year, equivalent to the annual salaries of over half a million nurses, 390,000 GPs or 400 million GP appointments. Reducing the prevalence of smoking will therefore save significant amounts of time and resources which can be reinvested into vital care and cutting waiting lists.
Finally, the measures in this Bill relating to vaping will help protect our children from ever taking up the habit. Whilst vaping can play a role in helping adult smokers quit, the health advice is clear: if you don’t smoke, don’t vape, and children should never vape. Despite this, vapes are being targeted and marketed towards children, and the number of children using vapes has tripled in the past three years with 20.5% of children (aged 11 to 17) having vaped when surveyed in March - April 2023.
I am pleased that this Bill was approved by MPs last Tuesday and enjoys wide public support, with a recent YouGov poll showing that 75% of adults in England support the government’s smoke-free ambition, along with the great majority of smokers who wish they had never started but are trapped by addiction.
This column was first published in The Forester newspaper.