Youth vaping crackdown: Government launches consultation to dull appeal of devices to children

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The UK government has launched a 12-week consultation to reduce youth vaping by proposing plain packaging and restrictions on flavor descriptions and branding to curb appeal. Health experts welcome the initiative aimed at preventing children from developing vaping addictions due to targeted marketing.

Ministers plan to radically reduce the appeal of vapes to stop children being drawn to experiment with them and into possible addiction.They propose that vapes should be put in plain packages and placed out of sight in shops, with strict curbs on enticing brand imagery and flavour descriptions.Child health experts and antismoking campaigners have welcomed the 12 week consultation—which includes a ban on the use of vape names linked to sweets and alcohol—announced by the government on 10 July as part of wider action to tackle vaping among young people.Evidence indicates that colourful packaging, prominent retail displays, and appealing flavours are among the factors leading young people to take up vaping, ministers say.Steve Turner, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH), said, ”As paediatricians, we are deeply concerned by the insidious marketing practices used by tobacco and vaping companies to target our future generations.“It is clear...