Sunak Is Desperate To Create Smoke Free Society As 25% of Gen Z Buy Single-Use Vapes Daily

Today, 12 October, the UK government have launched a public consultation that sets out to create the first smoke-free generation.

The consultation is open to anyone, of any age, and will discuss ways to make vapes less appealing to young people. People who attend the meeting will discuss their experiences with vaping, as well as their opinions on the bright-coloured packaging that appeals to youngsters.

The crackdown on youth vaping comes after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced his plans to reduce the appeal of smoking and vaping.

The consultation will pave the way for Sunak's unveiled plans to introduce a new law that bans children who were born after 2009 from ever purchasing tobacco or cigarette products.

In regard to the influx of young people using vape products, at the Conservative Party Conference, Sunak declared: "We must act before it becomes endemic so we will also bring forward measures to restrict vapes to our children, looking at flavours, packaging and disposable vapes."

Smoking is considered the UK's biggest killer which is the source of around one in four deaths caused by cancer.

Financial reports show that in England alone, the detrimental effects of smoking cost the economy at least £17 billion each year.

Consumer Intelligence polling showed that one in four, 25 per cent, Gen Z respondents admitted to buying a new single-use vape every day.

After recognising the extent of their nicotine addiction, 13 per cent of the Gen Z interviewees, aged 26 and under, found that they spend between £125 to £150 on their habit each month.

With the average cost of a vape being £7.50, it has been estimated that a vape user who purchases a disposable device every day, spends around £225 a month – equivalent to around a staggering £2,740 a year.

Speaking of his desire to make England a smoke-free nation by 2030, Sunak explained: "Our ambitious plans will reverse the worrying rise in youth vaping while protecting our children from the dangerous long-term effects of smoking as quickly as possible."

The new law will make it a criminal offence for anyone born on or after 1 January 2009 to be sold tobacco products.

The flavours and packaging of vapes and e-cigarettes will also be adapted under the legislation, to ensure that the products are no longer marketed towards youths.

Disposable vapes will also be hidden away and out of sight in retail outlets, to stop them from appealing to teenagers.

The right-wing government also announced in a statement, that they have also been exploring whether increasing the price of vapes with reduce the number of young people being drawn to them.

In his announcement at the Conservative Party Conference, Sunak also revealed that the government is planning to increase the legal smoking age of 18 annually by one year.

The Consumer Intelligence poll also found that 22 per cent of millennials, aged 27 to 42, admitted to smoking tobacco. However, a separate 20 per cent, one in five, of the adults said that they used vapes.

The new legislation has been pre-planned to keep ex-smokers a priority, with the government noting that they hope to keep vapes as a tool to encourage people to give up smoking.

A recent UCL study proves that swapping to vaping has already helped between 50,000 and 70,000 people quit their tobacco habit each year.

Recognising the nicotine involved in vaping, the Chief Medical Officer for England, Professor Chris Whitty said: "Vaping is less dangerous than smoking but still has risks and can cause addiction."

"Vaping can be useful for smokers to quit, but should not be marketed to non-smokers and marketing them to children is utterly unacceptable," he added.