Kent May Face Stricter Rules as 1 in 10 Britons Now Use E-Cigarettes

KentOnline / KMTV

A new study found that one million people in England now vape even though they were never regular smokers before picking it up, the number is highest in people aged 16-24.    Kristin Hawthorne reports

Transcript

00:00A new study has found that 1 million people in England vape, even though they had never

00:05smoked regularly beforehand.

00:07The amount of people using vapes in this way has dramatically increased in the past few

00:12years as figures show that in 2021 the amount of people using vapes was 1 in 200, but this

00:19year it has risen to 1 in 28.

00:22This increase has been largely driven by young adults who had never regularly smoked before.

00:28It has also been found that vape sales are the highest amongst people aged 16 to 24.

00:33I've been stood outside of this vape shop in Gillingham for about an hour now and I've

00:37already noticed a lot of young people coming into the store, buying vapes and showing a

00:41lot of interest in different flavours and varieties that they have to offer.

00:45As an example I picked up this one which has an interactive screen, four different flavours

00:49and a charging port.

00:51And after speaking to some people who vape they told me that it's reasons like this which

00:55makes vaping so addictive and makes it have such a large appeal.

00:59I think mostly the packaging as well and the flavours as well, yeah.

01:03I feel like they do put the flavours out for kids, like strawberry unicorn or stuff like

01:08that, they do put it out for young kids, like and how colourful they are, whereas like if

01:12you bought cigarettes they'd be like, it says on it this will kill you if you smoke it but

01:16actual vapes they're all colourful, like this one is literally like, it's bright green.

01:21In England it is estimated that 5.1 million people aged 16 and over in Britain use e-cigarettes.

01:29This means that 1 in 10 people now use vapes.

01:33When I first started it was actually due to my friends smoking that like enticed me to

01:38try it and then I actually didn't like it in the end and I decided to vape when they

01:42first started to come out and yeah then they just become more of a thing and then I decided

01:47to do it more.

01:49Health experts are concerned with these new findings and suggest stricter regulations

01:53to make the vapes look less appealing.

01:55We do worry about younger people taking up anything with nicotine in it because of the

02:00fact that certain things like their brains are still developing and their bodies are

02:04still developing so the effect of nicotine is likely to have a larger effect.

02:09Also if they get hooked in childhood or teenage years and they carry on for longer term, that's

02:15a longer period of time during which they're exposed to potential hazards and that can

02:19then lead to problems.

02:21Although plans have already been made to ban disposable vapes, many brands have already

02:25started releasing reusable products which are marketed in the same way and have the

02:30same appeal as the disposable ones.

02:33Kristen Hawthorne, KMTV in Gillingham.

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