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The message that vaping is 95% safer than smoking has backfired, encouraging some children to vape, says a top health expert. Dr Mike McKean treats children with lung conditions and is vice-president for policy at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. He says the 2015 public messaging should have been clearer - vapes are only for adults addicted to cigarettes. Evidence on the possible health risks of vaping is still being gathered.

Vaping does not act as a gateway into smoking, the most comprehensive study carried out suggests. Researchers at Queen Mary University of London said there was “tentative” evidence that products such as e-cigarettes might be speeding up the demise of smoking. Professor Peter Hajek, director of the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine’s Tobacco Dependence Research Unit at Queen Mary University of London, said: “The results of this study alleviate the concern that access to e-cigarettes and other low-risk nicotine products promote smoking.

A new nationwide survey released [...] ahead of Stoptober shows nearly all (95%) ex-smokers see positive changes in their life as early as 2 weeks after quitting. Stoptober’s mass quit attempt will launch on 1 October, calling on smokers in England to join the thousands of others committing to quit. While smoking rates are declining, over 5 million adults in England still smoke and smoking remains the single biggest cause of preventable illness and death in the country - linked to 64,000 deaths a year.

Disposable vapes could still be given to smokers to help them quit cigarettes, despite the Government drawing up plans to ban them, i understands. Ministers are understood to be finalising plans to ban single-use vapes amid concerns they have sparked an epidemic of youth vaping across Britain, with a decision set to come as early as next week. However, health department sources suggested that disposable vapes could be still available to smokers under NHS “swap to stop” schemes, despite any potential ban.

Vapes, unlike patches and nicotine gum, work particularly well for many would-be quitters because they go with the grain of human behaviour rather than demanding a hair-shirt approach. They mimic the physical activity of smoking while carrying a fraction of the risk (vapes do not burn tobacco, or produce tar or carbon monoxide). Disposable vapes offer the same convenience as cigarettes. You can buy one on the move, with no worries about refilling or charging your device. The Government’s imminent ban on disposable e-cigarettes may seem trivial, but it’s a vivid example of making the perfect the enemy of the good. [...]

Disposable vapes and those with flavours designed to appeal to children face being banned under a government crackdown due within weeks. Rishi Sunak is understood to be putting the finishing touches to a package designed to restrict teenagers’ access to highly addictive products, which could be published as soon as next week. The prime minister has taken a keen interest in the issue after criticising the “ridiculous” marketing of vapes designed to appeal to children. Ministers have also been working for months on a series of measures.

Leading doctors and councils have welcomed reports that ministers are preparing to ban single-use vapes in the UK, but others have expressed fears a ban could lead to a “flood” of illegal products on the market. The reports of plans to stop the sale of disposable e-cigarettes come as fears grow about their environment impact and the health risks they pose to the large number of teenagers taking up vaping. An announcement from the government is expected soon after it concluded that single-use vapes are aimed at children.

The UK government will not block plans for a drug consumption room pilot in Scotland, the Scottish secretary has confirmed. Alister Jack said Westminster would not intervene, but that there were no plans to devolve drugs laws to Holyrood. It came after the Lord Advocate said it would not be in the public interest to prosecute users of drug consumption rooms for simple possession offences. The Scottish government is backing plans to set up a pilot in Glasgow.

The proportion of young people in London who smoke has halved in over a decade, new figures have revealed, amid a sharp rise in vaping. Analysis by the Standard shows that just 10.1 per cent of people aged between 18 and 24 regularly smoked cigarettes in 2022 - a drop of 10.7 per cent on the figure reported in 2011. Londoners in the age group are the least likely to smoke of any region in England, according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Men were slightly more likely (10.7 per cent) to smoke than women (9.4 per cent).

Ministers are reportedly poised to ban single-use vapes, after a series of calls from councils, leading paediatricians and public waste campaigners to make selling the disposable devices illegal on health and environmental grounds. The move could come next week after the government concluded the products are overwhelmingly aimed at children, who then become addicted. It is due to be revealed in a consultation issued by the Department of Health and Social Care next week, though timings could alter, according to the Daily Telegraph.