York: Rachael Maskell MP calls for ban on vaping advertisements

Rachael Maskell, MP for York Central, urged the Government to put regulations in place to make vaping less attractive in a bid to stop people getting hooked on nicotine at a young age.

The Labour MP used the Under-age Vaping Debate to outline a series of reforms the Government needs to implement.

These include not only a total ban on advertising but also removing easy access, introducing plain packaging and making flavours and the shape of some vapes less attractive.

“Whilst across the health sector it is widely recognised that vaping is a safer alternative to smoking, we must recognise that what is going on today with the industry is something completely different to when ‘Cig-a-like’ products were first introduced as a smoking-cessation tool to help adult smokers to quit,” said Ms Maskell.

Rachael Maskell, MP for York Central (Image: Supplied)

“Today we are seeing an industry aggressively advertising to children and young people, using child-friendly packaging, bright colours and sweet treat flavours such as banana milkshake and jelly babies, which can contain the highest concentration of nicotine allowed in the UK.

“Evidence shows that brains of children and young people are wired differently from adults and so they get addicted to nicotine much faster than an adult.

“It really is a huge concern especially because we don’t yet know the long-term effects of vaping, including some of the other toxins inhaled, especially on young people.

“Children and young people are therefore rapidly becoming addicted to vapes and some are taking ill, including admitted to hospital, because of the quantity of nicotine they are inhaling.

“The Government need to call time on this, as a matter of urgency, and put in firm regulations on the vaping industry so that children and young people are no longer exploited.

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“Profit should never come before our young people’s health and without a full and extensive response from the Government this will continue to be the case.

“As with decades previous, with the sale of cigarettes, the vaping industry is set on recruiting a new generation of addicts, that then depend on their products, which then turns into significant profits.

“I have spoken to public health leaders in the city of York to ensure that we have robust public health practices in place, including in our schools, to prevent the further take up of vaping by young people, and adults who currently do not smoke.”

Research by the charity ASH (Action on Smoking and Health) found that In March/April 2023 the proportion of children experimenting with vaping had grown by 50 per cent year on year, from one in 13 to one in nine.