Smoking in United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, smoking is allowed but tobacco products are subject to certain regulations. Under these regulations, there is a complete ban on all forms of tobacco advertising. Cigarettes can be purchased online, but not through vending machines. The importation of cigarettes for trade is allowed with an import license. Additionally, health warnings on cigarette packaging are required, and the minimum legal age for purchase is 18 years. Legal restrictions on smoking in public places are also enforced. Cigarettes in the UK are subject to an excise tax of 50.56% and a total taxation rate of 83.72%. Statistics show a gradual decline in the current smoking prevalence in the UK since 2000. There were approximately 6.7 million current adult smokers in the country in 2024, representing an adult current smoking prevalence of 11.8%. This was 13.1% in 2022, and 27.1% in 2000. Smoking prevalence was higher among males with 13.6% than among females with 10.1% in 2024. Daily smoking prevalence among adults was 9.1% overall, 8.1% among females, and 10.2% among males in 2024. In 2021, smoking led to 75,848 deaths in the UK, of which 44,400 deaths were among males and 31,448 deaths were among females. This shows that smoking consisted 11.05% of all deaths in the country, including 12.6% of all male deaths and 9.42% of all female deaths.
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June 20, 2023 by theguardian.com
Disposable vapes cause fires and cost taxpayer, English and Welsh councils say
Disposable vapes are increasingly causing fires in bin lorries and recycling issues at a “great cost” to the taxpayer, councils have said.
The Local Government Association, which represents councils in England and Wales, said single-use vapes such as Elf bars, Lost Mary and Juul were almost impossible to recycle. They are designed as one unit so batteries cannot be separated from the plastic.
The organisation said the lithium batteries inside the plastic can sharply increase in temperature if crushed and can become flammable. This costs taxpayers money through fire damage to equipment and the specialist treatment needed to deal with hazardous waste.
June 16, 2023 by nypost.com
‘Worrying’ rise in vaping ‘disorders’ in children alarms health officials
British healthcare officials are “seriously concerned” about a surge in youth experiencing lung damage and other harmful effects of vaping.
Forty children and teens were admitted to hospitals in England last year for “vaping-related disorders,” up from 11 two years prior, according to the UK National Health Service.
NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard addressed the issue Wednesday at the NHS Confed Expo in Manchester, noting that the colors and flavors of e-cigarettes make them extremely appealing to kids.
June 13, 2023 by inews.co.uk
Glastonbury telling people not to bring disposable vapes will do so much more harm than good
Good afternoon and welcome to the weekend. The pain and despair that follows is of a far superior variety to that which preceded it, I find, mostly because it starts later in the day.
The negative news coverage of vaping is now a daily occurrence. It's not seismic. It's not devastating. Instead, it seeps a consistent low-level message into the public consciousness. Vapes are bad. They pollute the environment, cause children to become addicted, carry unknown health risks and irritate bystanders. Drip, drip, drip. And each day that it continues, you can feel the mood turning.
June 07, 2023 by sciencemediacentre.org
expert comments on whether disposable vapes should be banned
There have been reports this morning that Dr Mike McKean, vice-president of policy at the RCPCH, has said: “Without a doubt, disposable e-cigarettes should be banned”. Here are some further comments on banning disposable vapes in case useful.
June 06, 2023 by bbc.com
Ban disposable vapes to protect children - doctors
Children's doctors are calling for a complete ban on disposable vapes because they may damage young people's lungs and are bad for the environment.
But an anti-smoking campaign group says a ban would make it harder for some adults to give up smoking and increase the trade in illegal vapes.
UK governments are planning steps to reduce vaping among under-18s.
These are likely to include tighter rules on how vaping products are marketed and promoted.
Selling vapes or e-cigarettes to children is illegal, but that has not stopped a rise in 11 to 17-year-olds experimenting with vaping - from 7.7% in 2022 up to 11.6% in 2023, according to a YouGov survey for Action on Smoking and Health (Ash).
June 05, 2023 by lgcplus.com
Trading standards to get more powers to crack down on underage vaping
Local trading standards will be given more powers to issue fines to stop shops selling vapes to children in a government move to stop under 18’s vaping.
The Department of Health & Social Care will undertake a review into the rules around local trading standards to allow them to issue on-the-spot fines and fixed penalty notices to shops selling vapes to under 18s more easily.
Recent NHS figures show 9% of 11–15-year-olds are used vapes in 2021, up from 6% in 2018.
Prime minister Rishi Sunak last week also announced the government would consider banning the sale of ‘nicotine free’ vapes to under 18s.
May 31, 2023 by filtermag.org
How Vaping Has Surged Among Prisoners in the UK
Prisoners in the United Kingdom spent close to £8 million on nicotine vapes in the 2021-22 financial year, according to Ministry of Justice figures recently obtained by Metro. That’s up from about £4.5 million a couple of years previously. Vapes have been available in prisons since 2015, and prisoners who smoke are also able to access nicotine replacement therapy (NRT).
The sharp rise in vaping has happened in the context of a total smoking ban in all UK prisons (since 2017, in England and Wales), which some question on ethical and practical grounds. The Ministry of Justice now portrays England as having the largest “smoke-free” prison system in Western Europe.
May 29, 2023 by bbc.com
Why Australia decided to quit its vaping habit
"The horse has bolted now, they are addicted," says Chris, a high school teacher in New South Wales.
He's talking about students in his class, teenagers, who can't stop vaping.
He sees the effect of the candy-flavoured, nicotine-packed e-cigarettes on young minds every day, with children even vaping in class.
"The ones who are deepest into it will just get up out of their seat, or they'll be fidgeting or nervous. The worst offenders will just walk out because they're literally in withdrawal."
Those who are most addicted need nicotine patches or rehabilitation, he says, talking about 13 and 14-year-olds.
May 29, 2023 by theguardian.com
Ministers urged to ban single-use vapes amid rising popularity with UK children
Ministers are facing mounting pressure to impose an outright ban on single-use vapes, amid concern about their rising popularity among children and wider worries that officials have minimal grip over a fast-moving sector.
While it is illegal to sell e-cigarettes to under-18s, some experts suggest as many as 15% of 11- to 15-year-olds use vapes, with Rishi Sunak saying this week he was worried that his daughters could be “seduced” by a heavily flavoured product often packaged in bright colours.
May 23, 2023 by bbc.com
Vaping: High lead and nickel found in illegal vapes
Vapes confiscated from school pupils contain high levels of lead, nickel and chromium, BBC News has found.
Used vapes gathered at Baxter College in Kidderminster were tested in a laboratory.
The results showed children using them could be inhaling more than twice the daily safe amount of lead, and nine times the safe amount of nickel.
Some vapes also contained harmful chemicals like those in cigarette smoke. High levels of lead exposure in children can affect the central nervous system and brain development, according to the World Health Organization.