UK Government to Regulate Vapes Amid Concerns of Children's Addiction and Lung Damage
The UK government is considering regulating vapes in response to concerns that growing numbers of children and young people are becoming addicted to nicotine and risking lung damage by taking up vaping.
Some countries, such as Australia, have banned recreational vaping and restricted access to flavored vapes, while the Netherlands has banned flavored vapes.
The main benefit of vaping is that it can help people quit smoking, and it is easy to buy vapes in the UK which usually contain nicotine but do not have tobacco in them.
However, there is a debate about the impact of vaping on children and whether it should be regulated.
Some health experts are concerned by the emerging evidence of the long-term risks of vaping and the lack of clinical studies to fully understand its impact.
Professor Daniel Sgroi of the University of Warwick suggests that the phenomenon of dual use of vaping and smoking, where people vape in areas where smoking is banned but continue to smoke elsewhere, is an important aspect of the vaping industry that has been "largely ignored." He argues that this behavior, in combination with the established link between vaping and smoking as a gateway to smoking, particularly for young people, and the growing evidence of medical risks associated with vaping, explains why many countries are being cautious in their approach to vaping.
The main benefit of vaping is that it can help people quit smoking, and it is easy to buy vapes in the UK which usually contain nicotine but do not have tobacco in them.
However, there is a debate about the impact of vaping on children and whether it should be regulated.
Some health experts are concerned by the emerging evidence of the long-term risks of vaping and the lack of clinical studies to fully understand its impact.
Professor Daniel Sgroi of the University of Warwick suggests that the phenomenon of dual use of vaping and smoking, where people vape in areas where smoking is banned but continue to smoke elsewhere, is an important aspect of the vaping industry that has been "largely ignored." He argues that this behavior, in combination with the established link between vaping and smoking as a gateway to smoking, particularly for young people, and the growing evidence of medical risks associated with vaping, explains why many countries are being cautious in their approach to vaping.
