Oxford medic joins calls for plainer packaging on vapes

Dr Rachel Hoyles, a consultant at Welbeck Oxford, made the comments while Government proposals to introduce plain packaging are being considered to make them less appealing for children.

The Department of Health and Social Care is now consulting on potential changes to vape packaging, device appearance, and retail displays.

Under the Tobacco and Vapes Act, there are plans for plain packaging for all tobacco products and to keep vapes out of sight in shops and airports.

Dr Hoyles said: “There are clearly some very serious issues currently when it comes to the predatory product design of vapes.

“There is absolutely no reason for companies to mimic the design and flavours of sweets and confectionery items, or to market vapes to children, except for profit.

“Vapes are being marketed as a lifestyle accessory, especially to teenage girls for whom appearance is so important, particularly in today’s social media age.

“There is a normalisation of nicotine use among children, and I support proposals to change the packaging of vapes from bright to plain, with clear labelling of vapes solely as nicotine replacement products to help with smoking cessation.

“Vapes need to be less attractive for children, it’s as simple as that.”

According to the public health charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), around six per cent of 11 to 17-year-olds in Great Britain currently vape.

Nineteen per cent have tried vaping, with an estimated 140,000 young people vaping daily.

Dr Hoyles said: “Health concerns are likely underestimated.

“We don’t fully know what impact vapes are having on teenage brain development and the mental health of our children.

“Vaping from an early age can cause a series of health issues and just like there was with smoking, we don’t know what the long-term consequences of vaping are.”

She acknowledged that vaping can help adults quit smoking but warned against losing sight of the need to discourage vaping overall.

Dr Hoyles said: “People can consider therapy strategies such as patches, gums, nasal sprays and nicotine inhalers to get out of the habit of using cigarettes and vapes.”

She will lead a team of respiratory health experts at Welbeck’s state-of-the-art £30m medical practice in Jordan Hill when it opens later this year.

The centre will deliver on-the-day checks of people’s lungs to understand any damage that has been caused, with breathing tests also used to determine if a smoker is suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).