Rishi Sunak has set out plans to get rid of disposable vapes to tackle the rise in young people vaping and protect children's health. The announcement forms part of the government's response to its consultation on smoking and vaping, which was launched in October last year. The ban is expected to come into force at the end of 2024 or the start of 2025. Report by Jonesia. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
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00:00 They're a familiar and colourful sight on our high streets and an unwelcome addition
00:05 to our landfill.
00:07 Now disposable vapes are set to be banned in Britain as part of plans to tackle the
00:11 rise in young people vaping.
00:14 It forms part of the government's commitment to create a smoke-free generation with an
00:19 incremental raising of the legal smoking age.
00:21 "And have you seen that it's become an increasing issue?
00:25 It's getting worse, you think, over the past year or two, just generally?"
00:29 New data show the number of children vaping in the last three years has tripled and use
00:34 among younger children is also rising, with 9% of 11-15 year olds now using vapes.
00:40 "If you talk to any parent or teacher, as I've been doing here at this school in Darlington
00:45 this morning, they'll talk about the worrying rise in vaping amongst children.
00:49 Children shouldn't be vaping, we don't want them to get addicted, we still don't understand
00:52 the full long-term health impacts of vaping, so it's right that we take strong action to
00:57 stamp this out."
00:58 Dr Ronnie Chung is a parent and a consultant paediatrician.
01:02 He says vaping amongst young people is now an epidemic.
01:05 "We've seen children who've come into intensive care because of the effect it has on their
01:11 lungs.
01:12 But those are rare cases in the short term.
01:15 What we don't know is the greater effects in the long term and actually the likelihood
01:19 is that we're going to end up having cases of lung cancer, heart disease and all of those
01:25 things that we see with smoking in the longer run with vaping."
01:30 It's not just young people's health.
01:32 There are environmental concerns over the growing popularity of disposable vapes.
01:36 "We know that 69% of young people who vape use disposable vapes and we also know just
01:43 from walking around our high streets the impact that they have.
01:46 Some 5 million disposable vapes are thrown away on the street or in our bins every single
01:51 week.
01:52 So to tackle all of that we're bringing in this ban on disposable vapes but vaping will
01:56 still be available of course to adults who want to quit smoking."
02:00 Not everyone in the Conservative Party is behind the government's plans.
02:04 Rishi Sunak's predecessor Liz Truss said on Sunday that the proposals are profoundly un-conservative
02:10 and that the government should not be seeking to extend the nanny state.
02:14 However, Labour says it backs the smoking ban, making the government's measures likely
02:18 to pass through the Commons.
02:19 "I'm going to say to the Tories, we'll always act in the national interest.
02:23 We'll help you get these proposals through because we know you're so divided but we'll
02:27 help you get these proposals through."
02:29 The body that represents the vaping industry says it welcomes moves aimed at under 18s
02:34 but is concerned about the potential impact on adult smokers.
02:38 "Elderly, certain socio-economic groups actually find single use very straightforward.
02:44 You don't have to refill, they're not fiddly and actually therefore helping them with these
02:48 very simplistic products, they are smokers and we want to help them transition away from
02:52 that has been critical.
02:54 So the challenge for those groups is which products can they use to ensure that they
02:58 maintain that quit journey that they wish to go on."
03:01 The government says it will provide an additional £30m a year to enforcement agencies, including
03:07 Border Force and Trading Standards, to implement the new measures.
03:11 The ban is expected to come into force at the end of this year or the start of the next.
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