Country can kiss goodbye to its 2034 smoke-free ambitions, says UKVIA

On the Scottish government’s move to consulting the proposal to restrict promotion and advertisement of vape products, the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) comments that the country can kiss goodbye to its 2034 smoke-free ambitions.

Doug Mutter, director at both Edinburgh-headquartered VPZ, one of the UK’s leading vape retail and UKVIA, said: “We agree wholeheartedly with the view of the Scottish Grocers’ Federation and believe that any controls placed on vaping promotion could be catastrophic, are completely in denial of the facts, will represent a massive own goal for the NHS in Scotland.”

He emphasises, “However, there is incontrovertible independent evidence that vaping is the most effective quit method for adult smokers, having double to triple the success rate of Nicotine Replacement Therapies, such as gums and patches.”

Mutter said that there is very little evidence of non-adult smokers turning to vaping which forms part of the basis for the Scottish government’s consultation in placing further marketing controls on the category. An ASH study amongst adult vapers in Great Britain last year revealed that fewer than 1% of never smokers are current vapers. Therefore, the current situation already ticks the Scottish Government’s box that vape products should only be used as a means to stop smoking tobacco.

The association hopes that this consultation brings the opportunity to discuss the mounting evidence, including the view of NHS Scotland, which has come out openly to say vaping is definitely less harmful than smoking tobacco and that there is no evidence of e-cigarettes acting as a gateway to smoking. “And this at a time when the British government is considering putting vape products on prescription given the phenomenal impact they have had on the lives of former smokers,” said Mutter.

Supporting the need of the long term evidence of the effects of vaping, he adds, “Many people have been using e-cigarettes for more than a decade and yet there has not been one conclusively evidenced death arising from vaping in the UK in that time.”

He further advises that a consultation on how to promote the positive facts of vaping and sound advice to support successful smoking quits through switching to e-cigarettes would have a significantly better impact on the public health of the Scottish people. “By going down this route the Scottish government is scoring a massive own goal for the country’s NHS, risking the lives of its adult smoking population – some 17% of its people – and placing a greater financial burden on the health service. And it can effectively kiss goodbye to its smoke-free 2034 aspirations by denying the opportunity for vaping to make its fullest contribution.”