On October 4th, 2023, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak delivered a speech to the Tory Conference in which he explained the next steps that the Government wanted to take to stop a new generation of smokers from starting, as well as nipping the youth vaping problem in the bud also.
Labelled the “Stopping the Start” campaign, the plans were clear and concise including the proposal of a historical new law to raise the legal smoking age as well as introducing more restrictions to the vaping industry, specifically Disposable Vapes, to help combat the ever-rising numbers of youths vaping here in England.
We are going to take a look at what exactly this campaign is setting out to do and explain it in depth as well as explaining what impact it could have on you as a vaper should these new regulations come to pass.
What Is The Stopping The Start Campaign?
The Stopping the Start Campaign is the name given to the set of plans that Rishi Sunak delivered at the conference earlier this month.
The campaign focuses on three primary target areas which are;
- Creating A Smoke Free Generation – How the Government are aiming to create a smoke free generation is introducing a historical new law which will raise the legal smoking age.
The plan is that anyone born on or after January 1st, 2009, will never be able to legally purchase tobacco products. And the follow-on idea from this is to continue raising the legal age by one year, every year, until it applies to the whole population.
- Tackling Youth Vaping – Several options were proposed in Rishi Sunak’s speech which would constitute towards tackling the problem of youths vaping here in England.
They included banning Disposable Vapes, restricting vape flavours and the colours/images put onto packaging much like tobacco products.
- Enforcement – The plan also approached the need to provide additional funding for local Trading Standards authorities to increase their task force, as well as giving them new powers to enforce fixed penalty notices to those who choose to break the law and sell tobacco products and vapes to underage users.
Why Is It Happening?
It’s quite clear to see that the main driving factor behind all of these proposals is to protect the younger generation here in England from starting to smoke and becoming addicted to Nicotine, or helping those who may already be addicted by limiting the availability of the products they’re using such as Disposable Vapes.
Youth Vaping is a topic that has been at the centre point of nearly all vaping related content in recent times, with many calling for something to be done to stop the numbers from rising.
Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) conduct a yearly survey looking at the subject of Youth Vaping and it’s incredibly detailed and well worth a read if you get a chance.
In their latest survey published earlier on this year (2023) it showed that the amount of children aged between 11-17 years old that had experimented with Vaping had increased by 50% year on year, moving from 1 in 13 to 1 in 9.
As well as this statistic, it also shows that Disposable Vapes are the most frequently used device amongst this age demographic and this has also grown year on year. A staggering 69% of those surveyed admitted to using Disposable Vapes which is up from 52% from the year prior.
And finally, 48% of those surveyed said that they obtain their vapes from shops, which shouldn’t be happening at all considering they are below the legal age limit for purchasing a vape device in the UK.
Banning the supply and sale of Disposable Vapes completely was one of the key suggestions made by Rishi Sunak as well as restricting vape flavours to make vapes less appealing to the younger generation here in England.
Trading Standards agencies across England are massively stretched, and it’s a well-known fact they are running on skeletal numbers – a point highlighted in 2022 during a debate about the rise of disposable vaping.
This translates to a lack of manpower preventing a task force from being out on the streets clamping down on these shops who are freely breaking the law by supplying under-18s with vapes and not facing impactful consequences for their actions.
This is why the Government are willing to offer an injection of cash to boost the task force and begin clamping down on offending retailers as well as introducing a fixed penalty system which is currently not in place as it stands.
How Will This Affect Me?
You may be reading all of this and asking the question above to yourself, especially if you are a Disposable Vape user and there’s a potential ban on the horizon.
Disposable Vapes are a massively convenient way to vape for people who may not want anything too technically like what some vape devices are on the market today. However, buying these regularly soon adds up and they certainly are not an affordable way to vape.
If you’re looking to get ahead of the potential curve that’s coming, then we have just launched our brand-new range of Nicotine Salt e liquids called Bar Salts. This range is inspired by the popular flavours seen in Disposable Vapes at a fraction of the cost of a single Disposable.
At only £2 for 10ml, this is under half the average price of a Disposable Vape and you also get 5x the amount of vape juice found in Disposable Vapes.
These will need to be used in a refillable vaping device of which we have a great selection to choose from, and they’re pretty user friendly and not overly complex to use which is something we kept in mind when selecting what devices we sell here at LiQuid.
The Uwell Caliburn G3 pod system is a device that is so user friendly and easy to use, we couldn’t recommend it enough! You can purchase one from us here for only £19.99…which is less than the cost of 5 Disposable Vapes!
Have Your Say During The Consultation Period
After the speech was delivered by Rishi Sunak, a consultation period was announced to be happening for the general public to have their say on the points made within the speech and the potential new regulations being implemented and this consultation period is now officially open.
This is a really good opportunity for you to have your say on things if you feel that these potential new changes will affect you, and you can say whether you agree or disagree with anything that’s been proposed.
It’s totally anonymous and only takes a short time to complete, so if you want your voice heard then follow the link below and fill out the survey with your views!
